by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Events, News, Politics, Social Round-up
By Aroonim Bhuyan,
New Delhi : When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Sweden and England from April 16 to 20, during the course of which he will participate in the first ever India-Nordic Summit and this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), cooperation in the areas of innovation, technology and education will top his agenda.
Modi will reach Stockholm on April 16 evening in what will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to Sweden in 30 years since the visit of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988.
On April 17, Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven will hold a bilateral summit during which bilateral, regional and global issues are expected to figure.
According to Sweden’s Ambassador to India Klas Molin, innovation is an important aspect of the India-Sweden relationship.
“How do we cooperate further, how do we get our best and the brightest people together, how do we also perhaps think about funding certain areas, how do we go into areas where we can cooperate even more and develop new technologies, create employment and sustainable solutions on a number of issues,” he said.
During Modi’s visit, an India-Sweden Innovation Partnership is also expected to be launched.
“I think it is something we are discussing with the Indian side but exactly how this will look, of course, will have to be finalised,” the ambassador said.
“But I think it is a way of focusing our attention on both sides to create a platform that, in turn, can attract investments, that can attract companies to plug in.”
With education being another sector in which the two sides are expected to forge deeper ties, Molin said “we are hoping to increase exchanges between our universities”.
“Student exchanges… graduates, doctorate and post-doctorate. The sky is the limit here,” he said.
On bilateral economic relations, the Ambassador said that trade is growing on both sides “and quite impressively so”.
Though bilateral trade dipped to $1.9 billion in 2016-17 from $2.17 billion, both countries have set a lofty total trade target of $5 billion.
There are over 170 Swedish companies in India that have invested $1.4 billion since 2000 while 70 Indian companies have established their presence in Sweden.
On April 17, India and Sweden will also co-host the first ever India-Nordic Summit, where, apart from Modi and Lofven, the Prime Ministers of the other four Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway will also be present.
Molin said that Nordic countries are close as neighbours and cooperate very closely in a number of issues.
“But we are not a political entity in that way,” he said. “It’s not like the EU, it’s not a regional organisation in any way. It’s a convenient forum.”
According to Subrata Bhattacharjee, Joint Secretary (Central Europe) in the Ministry of External Affairs, the Nordic region represents a prosperous society with high incomes and a strong focus on quality and innovation.”
“For India, Nordic countries are a potential source for clean technology, environmental solutions, port modernisation, cold chain, skill development, innovation etc.,” Bhattacharjee said at a media briefing here in connection with the upcoming visit.
According to figures provided by the External Affairs Ministry, India’s trade with the Nordic countries totaled around $5.3 billion in 2016-17, with cumulative foreign direct investment in India at $2.5 billion.
From Sweden, Modi will leave for Britain on April 17 evening. This is the third exchange of prime ministerial visits after Modi’s visit to Britain in November 2015 and British Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to India in November 2016, her first outside the European Union after assuming office.
At a separate media briefing here, British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith said the visit comes at a time when the bilateral relationship is in “very, very good health”.
Modi’s visit to Britain this time has been themed “Living bridge and tech partnership”. Modi and May are scheduled to hold a bilateral summit on April 18.
Stating that trade between the two countries increased by 15 per cent in the last one year, Asquith said that it is “remarkably balanced” in terms of trade in goods and services.
In terms of finance, he said the London Stock Exchange is playing an increasingly important role as a place to raise money to meet India’s huge infrastructure requirements.
In terms of investments, he said that while Britain is the largest investor in India among the G20 countries, India is the fourth largest investor in Britain.
“Then what will be very much a focal point is the technology partnership between the two countries,” he said. “The complementaries, strengths that each of us have and they are truly complementary.”
Asquith said that both sides will look into putting more resources in this sector in areas like digital aspect of technology, collaboration, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and data protection and the fintech that goes with that among others.
According to K. Nagaraj Naidu, Joint Secretary (Europe West), both sides are looking at announcing an India-UK Tech Alliance which will comprise young CEOs from both the countries who have done exceptionally well in the tech space.
In terms of cooperation in education, Asquith said that there was a 30 per cent rise in the number of student visas issued by his country to Indians last year.
Stating that 14,000 Indian students go to Britain for masters degree programme every year, he added that “we want to build on that”.
Regarding this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which Modi will attend in London on April 19-20, the High Commissioner said that around 50 heads of state and government will be present.
The agenda, he said, will include climate change, vulnerability of small island nations, peacekeeping and helping poorer countries.
(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, Large Enterprise, Marketing Basics, Markets, News, Online Marketing, Technology
Hyderabad : Education is at the heart of new digital economy and the digital learning solutions’ market in India is currently at $2 billion — the second largest market for digital education after the US, global networking giant Cisco said here on Thursday.
Realising the need to skill students in disruptive technologies like Big Data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security, Cisco on Thursday announced a “Blueprint for Digital Education” here.
The blueprint will allow colleges and universities to enable students learn anywhere with “Cisco Connected Classroom” solutions which use the Cisco “Digital Network Architecture” (Cisco DNA) and collaboration solutions such as “WebEx” online meetings and Cisco “Spark” all-in-one communications solution.
Currently the Indian education industry at $97.8 billion and is set to grow to about $140 billion by 2020.
“Education is at the heart of new digital economy and the digital learning solutions’ market in India is currently at $2 billion and outside the US, India is the largest digital education industry,” Sudhir Nayar, Managing Director, Commercial Sales, Cisco India and SAARC, told reporters here.
He was speaking at the Cisco “Digital Education Summit” at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here.
“Cisco Connected Campus” provides extensive network analytics to help administrators make data-driven decisions while managing facilities, lighting, parking and transportation.
“We are committed to create environment that enables solutions and tools for digital learning and digital campus in the country,” Nayar said.
“Today, we are for the first time launching a complete digital blueprint for education institutions that can help transform the Indian education sector,” he noted.
The blueprint aims to help colleges and universities create a completely integrated digital environment that meets the high expectations of the industry.
With approximately 30 per cent of India’s current population in the 0-15 age group, the education sector in India is poised to witness significant growth.
However, the education system faces challenges such as capacity, scale and quality.
“At Cisco, we create the infrastructure that can help the education system to transform,” Nayar said.
The blueprint is based on Cisco’s highly secure core network and unified voice, video and wireless communications, protected by state-of-the-art security solutions and lay the framework for connected campuses, empowered educators, informed administrators and students.
“In terms of affordability the new model would cost Rs 200 per student per month, which includes automated attendance, browsing facilities for the students, among others,” Nayar noted.
Currently, 500 institutes and colleges (60 per cent urban and 30 per cent in rural areas) across the country are using Cisco digital education solutions for their digital journey.
It also includes leading institutions such as Manipal University, Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Jamia Hamdard and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.
“With smart workspaces that automatically track student attendance and progress, schools and universities can operate efficiently in a rapidly changing environment,” Cisco said in a statement.
Digital learning classrooms can support new online learning experiences, worldwide collaboration and rich online media consumption with virtual classrooms.
Cisco “Connected Research” solutions are also helping researchers, faculty and students conduct high-performance computing (HPC) in a secure environment and quickly scale computing resources to fuel innovation.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Books
By Mohammed Shafeeq,
Title: Education of an Ambassador: Reflections on Higher Education Reform in Kerala; Author: T.P. Sreenivasan; Publisher: Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd; Pages; 248; Price: Rs 800
Reforms anywhere face resistance. This will be severe in a system where there are multiple forces opposing any change to the status quo and there are ideological conflicts.
This book captures the saga of resistance diplomat-turned-educator T.P. Sreenivasan had to face in his attempts to introduce reforms in the higher education space in Kerala, the state with 100 per cent literacy.
The retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer has penned his experiences as the Vice Chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) during 2011-16. Two years after laying down office, he has given a detailed account of the reforms initiated by the council under his leadership and the opposition they had to face from a wide variety of players, ranging from lethargic and egoist bureaucrats to forces playing petty politics.
N.R. Madhava Menon, Chancellor, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, in his foreword, has described the book as a revealing document on what keeps higher education in Kerala regressive while talented youth migrate in large numbers to institutions outside the state for higher studies.
He notes that there is not only opposition to reforms on ideological grounds but teachers, students and even the ministerial staff of colleges and universities are unionised on the basis of their political affiliations.
“My experience was an eye-opener to the higher education system in Kerala, the bureaucracy at different levels and the strengths and weaknesses of the state. It convinced me that Kerala can realise its full potential only if fundamental changes are made in the mindset, outlook, work culture and ethics of its people,” Sreenivasan writes while summing up his experiences.
The council, under his leadership, submitted as many as 16 reports to the government, laying out a roadmap for reform, touching upon the most crucial areas such as infrastructure, teachers’ training, technology-based education, autonomy, research and internationalisation.
“It is unfortunate that most of our recommendations have remained unimplemented. Proposals like allowing the operation of private universities in Kerala and cooperation with foreign universities were countered on ideological grounds. The reports were not studied or processed for decisions by the government on account of general lethargy and turf battles.”
Sreenivasan believes that higher education has changed globally in the last 10 years rather than in the previous 100 years. “Unless we catch up with these changes and reform the way we teach and learn, we will be unable to make use of the opportunities and meet the challenges of the 21st century,” writes the former diplomat, who had set the goal of ‘Higher Education 2.0’ for the state.
He considers creating of awareness of the need to bring about major changes in education was the most significant achievement of the council during his tenure.
While explaining the logic of the measures recommended by the council and the benefits that are likely to accrue if they are implemented, he highlights the unfinished business of reform and stresses the need for recommendations to be examined by the government.
“Kerala seems to lack the mindset to change and the money to invest in education. Some champions of change in all areas oppose change in education. Absence of a prosperous private sector is also a handicap,” he writes.
He notes that as an advisory body, KSHEC was at the mercy of the Department of Higher Education, which has its own priorities.
“The very authorities who entrusted me with the responsibility of running the system lacked energy and enthusiasm and were concerned only about protecting their own interests. They had no hesitation in countering new ideas, delaying action and conspiring against change,” is how the reformer expresses his frustration.
The author notes that the proposal for permitting private universities got highly politicised even when a committee set up by the council was studying the issue. He recalls that then Education Minister P.K. Abdu Rabb opposed the private universities even as then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy suggested that the committee’s report be discussed by the cabinet and an all-party meeting.
Sreenivasan mentions how the recommendation for an Arabic University was opposed by some who argued that it would be a nest of terrorists. “I pointed out that Islamic Centres functioned around the world in cities like Washington and that it would be wrong to identify terrorism with a language or religion.”
He writes at length about the incident of January 29, 2016, when he was attacked during a student demonstration near the venue of Global Education Meet. He observes that those who wanted to deny the credit of higher education reform to the Congress-led United Democratic Front government used the internationalisation agenda to demonise the Global Meet as a conspiracy to smuggle in private and foreign universities.
Is anyone listening?
(Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Abu Dhabi : Abu Dhabi University has launched a happiness course as part of its Public Health programme’s core requirements across campuses in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
Marking the first time that such a curriculum is to be offered at ADU, the Introduction to Happiness and Positive Psychology Course focuses on the definition of happiness, positive psychology, principles of positive psychology and happiness as well as on positive psychology strategies and the practical application of happiness, a report said on Monday.
It will also cover the core components of positive psychology with an emphasis on the optimistic side of human nature and the most effective ways for individuals to thrive and achieve their potential.
At the launch, Deena Elsori, Head of Department of Applied Sciences and Mathematics at ADU, said: “The happiness course is a fruitful outcome of several rigorous workshops and training programmes for our faculty members on the concept and notion of happiness.
“We are confident that this first-of-its-kind course will help our students focus better on their individual well-being,” Elsori said.
—IANS/WAM
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Patna : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday announced scholarships for students of government-affiliated madrassas. He also pledged to appoint Urdu teachers in all high schools.
“Students of government-affiliated madrassas will be provided scholarships,” Nitish Kumar said at a function here to mark Urdu Day.
He said the government would strengthen madrassa infrastructure in the state.
He also expressed regrets for not learning Urdu during his student days.
“It is my desire that all should learn and study Urdu. Both Hindi and Urdu are Hindustani languages. The government will work for the promotion of Urdu.
“It is wrong to associate Urdu with a particular community,” he added.
—IANS
