The Conference will host tutorials on the first day in a few frontline topics, followed by Keynote Lectures by international experts in their respective domains, covering both academia and industry. There will be contributed paper presentations of high quality considering the rigorous selection process they have undergone, and also presentations by winners of a Hackathon competition sponsored by Nvidia. Apart from these, there will be an Inaugural Function attended by some top dignitaries and scientists in the country, and also a Cultural Program in the evening of the 22^nd. All these details may be found in the conference website.

The main speakers at the Inaugural function include Dr. Kota Harinarayana, former Director-General of the Tejas aircraft program and former VC of University of Hyderabad, Dr. Anil Sahasrabuddhe Chairperson of national accreditation programs NBA and NAAC, and Prof. Nikhil Pal of Indian Statistical Institute, former International President of the Computational Intelligence Society of IEEE.

Interested persons from academia and industry are welcome to attend and partake of the proceedings. More details may be found in the Conference website https://www.ietcint.com/ .

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• IIT Roorkee Convocation – 2023: A total of 1916 will receive their degrees 

• The multidisciplinary approach of NEP will encourage students to explore various subjects and develop well-rounded skill sets

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) is all set to conduct the Institute’s Convocation-2023 Ceremony on 28^th July 2023 in the Convocation Hall at the Roorkee campus for the graduating students. A total of 1916 will receive their degrees in the ceremony which will be chaired by the Chairman of the Board of Governors Shri B V R Mohan Reddy. Shri Dattatri Salagame, CEO, President and Managing Director of Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW) will be the Chief Guest for the ceremony.

The 176-year old premier Institute has been leading the technical education in the country. The Institute is also in the fore front while implementation of the National education policy (NEP) 2020.  The institute has recently revised its undergraduate curriculum aligned with the NEP 2020 and aims to keep pace with the global aspirations of the students. It is also in the process of updating its Masters curriculum.

The institute is rolling out the new UG curriculum starting with the new UG students who are joining the institute on August 01, 2023. With emphasis on skill development and entrepreneurship, the new curriculum provides multi-disciplinary and holistic education opportunities to the students in a highly flexible framework as envisaged under the National education policy (NEP) 2020. The curriculum revision philosophy was based on ‘STEPS’ (Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Project-based education and Societal connect). Accordingly, while the institute is offering its students mandatory courses in the cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, it is also teaching the students course on ‘Indian Knowledge System’ and connecting the students with the society through the ‘Community Outreach’ course. As the nation is celebrating its three years of successful implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, the institute boasts of being part of the celebration by creating an education system rooted in the Indian ethos that contributes transforming India. The futuristic curriculum, which was designed through a long and rigorous consultation process and brainstorming sessions with experts and stakeholders, has been seen as a model framework in the technical education system in India while implementing the NEP 2020.

In the new curriculum, the students in all programs will be studying courses on Soft Skills, Tinkering and Mentoring, Data Science, Indian Knowledge System (IKS), Environmental Science and Sustainability (ESSC), Community Outreach (CORE), apart from Physics, Mathematics and Computer Programming.

While, project-based learning has been one of the hall-marks of the new curriculum, the institute also enables the students to develop vocational skills in the collaboration with Industry as emphasized in the NEP 2020. The institute has created provisions for Credit Transfer from other institutes of repute, Semester Exchange program for UG, Masters & PhD students, Joint & Dual Degree Programmes with global partners.

In the spirit of the NEP 2020, IIT Roorkee has created ample opportunities for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary education. The institute offers minor specialization and Integrated Dual Degree (IDD) programs across the disciplines. Thus, a mechanical engineering student can earn a minor specialization in economics. Similarly, multiple departments in the institute jointly offer single program creating an ecosystem for the students to learn from multiple areas being in a single platform. The institute also offers Joint Degree and Dual Degree programs with institutes of repute outside the country.

The institute nurtures inclusive environment for all irrespective of caste, creed, gender, nationality etc. In order to foster the same, the institute has created various innovative schemes in academics such as ‘SAKUNTALA’ (Scheme for Aspirants of Knowledge Under Talent Advancement) Fellowship in Ph.D., ‘Golden Girl’ in Masters & Ph.D., application fee waiver for female candidates & supernumerary seat for female and international candidates. The institute has also developed a robust Exit Policy in the spirit of the NEP and has implemented National Academic Depository (NAD).

In a comprehensive briefing at the event on implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) in IIT Roorkee, the institute celebrates the successful three years of NEP. With the implementation of the NEP 2020, Honb’le Prime Minister aims to have an education system by 2040 that is second to none, with equitable access to the highest-quality education for all learners regardless of social or economic background. This National Education Policy 2020 is the first education policy of the 21^st century and aims to address our country’s many growing developmental imperatives. This Policy proposes revising and revamping all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance, to create a new system aligned with the aspirational goals of the 21^st-century education, including SDG4, while building upon India’s traditions and value systems.

It is also worth noting that the Institute is readying itself to celebrate its annual degree conferment event along with the third anniversary of the implementation of the NEP 2020. Prof. Apurbba Kumar Sharma, Dean of Academic Affairs, announced that the number of the graduating students to receive the Bachelor’s Degrees is 1,076, while 686 students will receive their Masters’ Degree, and 154 students will be conferred PhD degrees.

A large number of graduating students, guardians and other faculty members will participate in the graduation ceremony which will be chaired by Shri B V R Mohan Reddy, Chairman, BoG. Prof. K K Pant, Director of the Institute, will give the welcome address and present the Director’s report. Prof. Pant took the opportunity to congratulate all the graduating students. In his report, the Director highlighted various achievements of the Institute while briefly dwelling upon the NEP 2020. He expressed confidence that the new UG Curriculum will bridge the gap between the current learning outcomes and the requirements of the industry while adhering to the highest level of quality, with equity and integrity.

While referring to stories of how some students in the graduating batch embraced the unprecedented change and yet stayed positive during difficult times, Prof K K Pant shared examples of how they seized opportunities and exploited the worst to extract the best. He said, “Developing some control over how and what you think is part of learning. A sense of direction and passion are essential to steering through the life. The institute is proud to contribute to the pool of extremely talented work force of the future who will, in turn, contribute to changing the society.” He further added that he is very optimistic about the outcome of the adoption of the NEP 2020.

Prof. Pant expressed that the quickly changing employment landscape and the global ecosystem demand a shift in how education is approached. Instead of solely focusing on the content, he stressed on the importance of teaching students to think critically and solve problems, fostering creativity and multidisciplinary approach, and encouraging innovation in the face of new challenges and opportunities.

This forward-thinking approach of the institute, as outlined, aligns with the goals of NEP 2020, which emphasizes skill development, holistic education, and preparing students to excel in a rapidly evolving world. 

Perspectives of NIT Uttarakhand and Uttarakhand Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on NEP 2020

During the press conference, Shri Ravi Chilukoti, the Regional Director of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in Uttarakhand, shared valuable insights on integrating skill development initiatives with the National Education Policy (NEP) implementation. He emphasized the importance of equipping students with practical skills essential for employability in today’s competitive landscape. Shri Ravi Chilukoti highlighted the collaboration between skill development programs and academic institutions like IIT Roorkee and NIT Uttarakhand, aiming to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. His address shed light on the efforts to nurture a generation of skilled individuals capable of contributing meaningfully to the country’s economic growth and development.

Similarly, Prof. Lalit Kumar Awasthi, the Director of NIT Uttarakhand, added valuable perspectives on how the NEP has influenced the academic landscape and policies at NIT Uttarakhand. He discussed the institute’s initiatives in embracing the multidisciplinary approach and fostering a culture of innovation and research among students. Prof. Awasthi also highlighted the institute’s commitment to inclusivity and providing quality education to all, aligning with the core principles of the NEP.

They emphasized the value of joining hands and pooling resources from different sectors, including academia, industry, and the government. By fostering strong collaborations, they can collectively create an inclusive and vibrant educational ecosystem that caters to the diverse needs of students and equips them with the skills, knowledge, and values necessary to thrive in the 21st-century global landscape.

During the press conference, Shri Ravi Chilukoti, the Regional Director of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Uttarakhand and Prof. Lalit Kumar Awasthi, the Director of NIT, Uttarakhand, expressed their gratitude to IIT Roorkee for organizing the press conference on their campus. Prof Awasthi acknowledged the institute’s proactive efforts in providing a platform to address the media and share valuable insights on the successful implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and its impact on the academic landscape of India in the near future.

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The second edition of the flagship event will be focused on providing strategic support to Indian students to accelerate their journey to study in Georgian universities & colleges

To help Indian students step up in higher studies and to open paths for them to study abroad, the Embassy of Georgia is hosting one of the largest foreign education fairs in India. The second edition of the flagship event will be focused on providing strategic support to Indian students to accelerate their journey to study in Georgian universities and colleges.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Archil Dzuliashvili, Ambassador, Georgia said, “The response we got in our first event exceeded our expectations. We are delighted to host another event in just 6 months of time frame to bring all the necessary information about getting admission to a Georgian college under one roof. The day-long fair welcomes students from different cities of India to serve with an abundance of information and help them prepare for their study abroad journey.”

Representatives of all 11 Georgian Universities will include Alte University, Caucasus International University, David Tvildiani Medical University, Caucasus University, East European University, European University, Georgian American University, Georgian National University SEU, Kutaisi University, Teaching University Geomedi and University of Georgia.

Georgia Education Fair curate’s exclusive opportunities for Indian Students in both Medical and Non-Medical streams to pursue higher education in leading universities of Georgia. The most sought-after courses by Indian students include MBBS, Dentistry, Computer Science, Undergraduate Medical Doctor Program (MD), BBA and other courses related to Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, and IT (Information Technology), Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

Georgia Education Fair will provide participation in its exclusive Admission Fair and Workshop with the in-person participation of the universities. The event will provide comprehensive details on admission procedures, courses, internship opportunities, eligibility criteria, scholarships, and fee structure.

Georgia boasts world-class universities with high-quality education and advanced teaching patterns. It offers student-friendly Georgian culture, lifestyle, and standard of living with great affordability.

Currently, more than 20,000 Indian students’ study in Georgia and the number is continuing to increase at an unprecedented pace. The safe and conducive environment for students has made Georgia one of the favourite overseas study destinations.

The event is expected to witness a footfall of 10000 students in each city. Students can apply for entry pass through https://forms.gle/tX5fn3MSRZQ9cWcX9

The entry is free for everyone.

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Basic courses in computing and data sciences should be compulsory for students in all varied disciplines, Vice-President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu added. Also, premier institutes like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) should share their expertise, technologies and best practices with other institutions in the same region, the Vice President said.

“Innovation and collaboration should be embedded into the very DNA of all higher education institutions. I call upon educational institutions, researchers and developers to strive and come out with practical solutions of artificial intelligence in the fields of agriculture, health, science, governance and education,” Mr. Naidu said.

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WizKlub is a Bengaluru based ed-tech startup that builds Future Skills for school children through its research-based programs. Our easy-to-navigate platform is for 6-16 year olds where we deliver a personalized learning path for every child for maximum efficacy. Our HOTS Program develops higher-order thinking skills to ensure that every child is a smart reader and an adept problem solver. The WizKlubSmartTech Program focuses to build lifelong skills and confidence to create tech products by application of coding, design, robotics, and IoT smart devices.

We have progressed 10000+ children through our programs.

Tell us more about WizKlub’s Young Product Designers Programs?

WizKlub’s Young Product Designers Program (YPDP), a first-of-its-kind for children as young as 6 years, is designed to get children to Build and Code Technology Products. The program takes a child through the journey of creating products including skills related to Hardware, Coding, and Design in an easy drag-and-drop environment that even a 6 year old is using to create products.

The program builds lifelong skills and confidence to create tech products and makes a child Tech Explorer and Creator for life. Every month, the child builds and codes a Tech Product (such as Smart Light, Gesture Remote) assisted through a certified instructor that takes the child through the structured program. The entire set of tools including hardware and the drag-and-drop blocks is provided by WizKlub.

The program makes the child a technology enthusiast who looks at tech products from the eyes of an explorer and creator and not just a passive consumer. This leads to building the skill of using tech to solve real-life problems, a must-have skill for the future.

Each child gets a personalized learning path based on their existing proficiency and learning capacity. Every week, the child interacts with the facilitator to master 1 skill and then move to the next one. The sessions are conducted in small groups of 5-6 children. 

USPs

The ed-tech sector offers multiple choices to children depending on their interest/ focus area.

Our target, the k-12 market, can be divided into two segments – one that caters to the curriculum support (Language, Math, Science) and has companies like Byju’s, Toppr, Vedantu, among others and the other is the early years segment where parents look for programs beyond the school curriculum to focus on building skills.

The second segment is fragmented and has a lack of quality solutions. WizKlub is catering to the early years market and is offering affordable solutions that impart quality experience at scale that build future skills of children.

We work towards a child’s holistic development by honing their skills like logical, creative, critical thinking and a tech perspective that allows them to create solutions to complex problems in the future. WizKlub programs are designed to build future-ready skills while bringing out the best in every child. At WizKlub, we evoke possibility, ease of learning, wonder and curiosity, so kids gain new insights and a new lens of perspective, perception and possibility.

The strength of the company is to use technology in innovative ways to impart a great learning experience for the children. The core team has been in the field of education for over a decade and has a deep understanding of how to deliver high quality learning experiences at scale.

Our products ensure that this generation of kids is totally equipped for the future. Whether it is the skills required for rewarding careers or to cope up with the rapidly changing environment, our programs ensure that kids are on top of their game.

What was the idea behind the startup and the challenges you faced?

This is the third edTech venture of the core team together. The earlier 2 ventures were in higher education and in those ventures we realized that by the time a student is in college, the basic aptitude of the student is already defined. One can train a student on various tools such as how to program using Java framework but if the relevant aptitude is not in place (logical thinking and problem solving for a programmer), the student would not become a good programmer. The same applies to all careers- if the underlying core aptitude required for that job is missing, the person would not become a good professional in that field.

More research in this area revealed that the core aptitude of an individual is largely determined by the age of 14-15. The same is established by various research around the world – Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University found that the brain development around higher cognitive functions such as logical reasoning, critical thinking, creative thinking and complex problem solving (https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/)

However, when we look at the Indian school system, it is still largely focused on curriculum rather than developing skills. The careers in the coming decade would require students to be high on proficiency in these higher order thinking skills and use of tech to solve problems.

WizKlub is committed to empower children with these skills in a fun and easy manner.

We faced challenges that any other start-up faces in the earlier days. The typical challenges were getting the right product market fit, finding ways to acquire customers in a profitable manner and then scaling operations while maintaining the key business metrics.

Some of the challenges were specific to the edtech sector. One such challenge that we faced initially was that the product was delivering results in terms of improved learning and problem-solving aptitude but ONLY those parents who were involved with their kids’ learning journey were able to witness the results. The involved parents could see that the child has become an active reader, is able to get the larger picture, able to connect information, is asking intelligent questions, is more inquisitive, is not scared of unseen problems, which was not the case before joining the program. However, the other set of parents were unable to appreciate the difference as they were expecting results in terms of visible output. We solved this problem by demonstrating the improvement on the world’s most popular IQ test for children, WISC (Weschler’s Intelligence Scale for Children). We were able to demonstrate a similar efficacy of 85% improvement on the third-party assessment WISC as well.

How do you keep the parents informed about technology?

Parents do not need to be informed about the technology. Infact, even the children who are learning technology today would not be using the same technology stack by the time they start their careers. However, what they need to develop at this age is the perspective of creating solutions using technology. If they start connecting the dots of how technology works, they become lifelong Tech Explorers and Creators. 

What are your future plans?

We are on our way to have over 50,000 students acquiring these future skills on our platform next year. We would continue to invest in enhancing our product and use the power of technology to drive engagement and learning efficacy. We are looking to establish WizKlub as the undisputed #1 player for developing these future skills at high proficiency levels in early years.

https://wizklub.com/

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According to the details shared by the institute, ScAI plans to start offering its own PhD program in the next admission cycle i.e. from January 2021. Apart from this, the institute also plans to launch PG programmes as well which will be offered as part of this school.

Why School of Artificial Intelligence?

Going by the details shared by Professor V Ramgopal Rao, director of IIT Delhi, the establishment of School of Artificial (ScAI) has been to achieve any of the two following goals:

• It will bring together over 50+ faculty members from IIT Delhi, who are currently invested in various aspects of the field. This way ScAI will act as a force multiplier and augment overall research productivity.
• It will enhance global visibility of IIT Delhi and place the institute on the global map of AI. With ScAI, IIT Delhi will allow focused hiring of faculty members and students to increase global visibility.

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The industry is adapting the technology in a very frequent manner. With more exposure to data from the patient, clinical trials, hospital and clinics, there is always a question of security and data leakage. India has seen IoT adoption in education, governance and financial services. Much riskier is seen in the medical devices sector.

Many other factors also double the risk of the implant and other diagnoses to patients and hospitals like outdated OS, poor network security,

“India has an acute shortage of doctors which impacts both the quality and reach of healthcare services in rural and urban centres,” John Samuel, Managing Director (health and public service) at Accenture, told IANS.

“A digital platform powered by advanced digital technologies can enable continuous remote patient monitoring and reporting, allowing hospitals to extend care to more people, and reduce the burden on healthcare infrastructure,” Samuel added.

It is emerging as the next big thing to become a $300 billion global industry by 2020 and India is all set to capture at least 20 per cent market share in the next five years, says a Nasscom report.

Recent WannaCry ransomware attack in 2016, which affected over 300,000 machines across 150,000 countries, including the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

“Despite suffering from ransomware attacks, organisations remain unprepared for the next round of large-scale attacks,” Yariv Fishman, Head of Product Management (Cloud Security and IoT) at Check Point Software Technologies, told to IANS.

To ensure security, medical device designers (particularly those with IoT components) should have a 360-degree view of the various parts of the network, said Fishman to IANS.

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Reliance will hold about 87% of the business with the rest being held by Haptik founders through stock option grants,” RIL said in a press statement.

The venture will help Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd influence Haptik’s capacities to manufacture India’s biggest AI associate across chat, voice and vernacular languages, RIL said.

The Haptik group will keep on driving development of the business, including the enterprise platform as well as digital consumer assistants, RIL said.

“This strategic investment underlines our commitment to further boost the digital ecosystem and provide Indian users conversational AI enabled devices with multi-lingual capabilities,” said Reliance Jio director Akash Ambani. “We believe voice interactivity will be the primary mode of interaction for Digital India.”

“We look forward to using this strategic opportunity to exponentially scale up the business across various product lines,” said Haptik co-founder and CEO, Aakrit Vaish.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm is helping the clients on matrimony sites to discover not only based on their preferences but also by watching and understanding user’s pattern, behaviour and recommending real-time appropriate profiles.

“AI algorithm knows more about what you are searching for than you may yourself! This makes us easy to find the best results for our clients – not just by searching according to preferences but by observing user behaviour and proposing similar matches,” Shaadi.com Chief Technical Officer Siddharth Sharma told PTI.

Meenakshi Variankaval, Head (Data Sciences Lab) at Matrimony.com, which owns BharatMatrimony, said AI is helping the matrimony services to comprehend the assorted variety and a few different components for matchmaking.

As indicated by Variankaval, Matrimony.com utilizes data-driven techniques, which offer recommendations on a real-time basis, consistent and prescribe suitable profiles to the users, in this way improving their experience and helping them discover a match dependent profile based on their query.

According to Sharma, machine learning is utilized from the very beginning when a client registers and aides through his or her adventure.

On being asked whether AI system would replace the traditional questionnaire format to gather the information at the time of opening a user’s account, Sharma said: “To a large part but not completely” “For example, from the name, one can surmise the community and language preferences. One can make educated guesses by observing their likes and dislikes and start to build a picture of what kind of matches, they are looking for. “However, matchmaking often requires precise information such as date of birth, education, occupation and income which is not something that can be surmised. So yes, while AI can help make the questionnaire much shorter, it cannot eliminate it entirely,” said Sharma to TOI.

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Turing award often referred to as the ‘Nobel Prize of Computing,’ the award is named after Alan Mathison Turing, the British mathematician who articulated the mathematical foundation and limits of computing. Turing was also instrumental in British code-breaking work during World War II.

The techniques the trio developed in the 1990s and 2000s enabled huge breakthroughs in tasks like computer vision and speech recognition. Their work underpins the current proliferation of AI technologies, from self-driving cars to automated medical diagnoses.

Deep learning methods are used in computer vision, speech recognition, natural language processing, robotics, and other applications. Behind all such techniques, the algorithm developed by them is the fundamental formula for all such innovation.

Who are these Trio?

Geoffrey Hinton is currently the vice president and a senior researcher at Alphabet Inc.’s Google Brain, chief scientific adviser of the Vector Institute and a professor at the University of Toronto. He co-invented Boltzmann machines.

Yann LeCun designed a neural network that could read handwritten letters and numbers. He is a vice president and chief AI scientist at Facebook and a professor at New York University. Bengio and LeCun are also co-directors of CIFAR’s Learning in Machines and Brains program.

Yoshua Bengio is a professor at the University of Montreal and the science director of both Mila (Quebec’s AI Institute) and the Institute for Data Valorization. His methods to apply deep learning to sequences, such as speech, and understanding text.

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