IIT Kharagpur has signed a technical collaboration agreement with US-based George Washington University (GWU) for cooperation in the field of comprehensive formal education in intellectual property laws in India. GWU will help the Indian institute in formulating curriculum and training of faculty for its planned Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSOIPL).

After signing the agreement on the sidelines of the CII-organised IPR Summit 2006, Prof Frederick Lawrence, dean, George Washington University Law School said, Our India Project is to expand contacts in the IP law and IP regime areas from individuals to academicians, judges, lawyers and companies. We will be training people in this space on all levels. The agreement with IIT Kharagpur is part of it. We will also take up an advisory role at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal.

IIT Kharagpurs RGSOIPL will commence its three-year Bachelor of Law in Technology and Intellectual Property Law and a 18-month part time PG diploma in Intellectual Property Law courses in July. It is recognised by the Bar Council of India and people who do the three-year course can practice in court, Prof Probir K Gupta, dean, Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur said.

According to Prof Kalyan Chakravarti, project leader of the task force for setting up of the law school, the centre will start with 30-50 students for both courses. There is a lot of demand for people trained in IP law. Our five-year plan is to hike the intake to 500 and by eight years reach 800 students. We will then move the school to Kolkata from Kharagpur, he added.

The eligibility for both the courses is a degree in engineering/technology or PG degree in any branch of science or MBA. The institute proposes to introduce five and six year integrated dual degree programmes of Engineering/Technology and IP Law, MBA and IP Law, Master of IP Law and Doctoral (Ph D) degree in IP Law apart from various short term courses later.

Date: 31st Jan 2006
Source: The Economics Times

News of IIT Kharagpurs

Online testing and instant evaluation are all set to change the examination scenario. Tests, results and even evaluation of mistakes are now just a click away.

A n examination that gives results immediately and also evaluates the mistakes committed is going to be a reality with the introduction of online examination system by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), the first one to do so in the country. Engineering students of 240-odd colleges affiliated to the JNTU in Hyderabad now don’t have to go through the age-old tradition of writing the examinations. They will simply click the mouse and after the scheduled time the result will be flashed on the screen along with the mistakes committed and also solutions for the wrongly answered questions. “Online system is being introduced for internal assessment of marks as of now and its extension to other exams depends on the feedback,” says JNTU Vice-Chancellor K. Rajagopal.

Question Bank

The university has created a question bank for each subject designed by subject experts. The student just needs to get onto the system at the college and key in the hall-ticket number. The computer randomly picks 20 questions with four choices of answers for each question. After the specified time the question page automatically vanishes and then within minutes the score sheet appears along with the correct answers. The software ensures that no two students get the same question paper. “The score is also recorded immediately at the central server thus negating any chances of mischief,” says K. Vijay Kumar Reddy, Controller of Examinations. The system that comes into effect from this year has inherent advantages to plug leakage of question papers, bias and effective monitoring of the conduct of internal examinations by its large pool of affiliated engineering colleges. “Colleges that give marks without conducting the test cannot tamper with the system now,” says Dr. Reddy. It will also be ensured that the standard of questions is the same for all students.

Date: 6th Jan 2006

Source: The Hindu (Chennai)

news of JNTU

NCERT books may or may not be ready in time, but students in far-flung corners of the country are often deprived of the textbooks because of the absence of a proper distribution network. But now books will be made available online. Students and teachers would be able to access these books on the Internet as they are made public. The council has decided to not only increase the number of its distributors in the country and overseas wherever CBSE schools are operating. We have over 100 distributors in India, while books are shipped to overseas destinations like Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia where NCERT books are used. We will grant distributorships in all these countries and increase the number of distributors in India to 165 to cover distant areas better, said an NCERT official. Distribution of NCERT textbooks that are the most widely used publications in the country are basically monitored by the councils regional centres in Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. But NCERT insiders say the present strength is not exactly adequate for handling the scope of the distribution process in the country. All CBSE schools, apart from many state-run schools use NCERT books. There are over 8,000 CBSE schools in India. This will allow teachers to go through the texts much before the academic session begins. Since the new syllabus comes into force for classes 3, 6, 9, 11 from 2006, this will prove to be crucial, said NCERT director Krishna Kumar. So far textbooks of subjects like English, Political science, (Geography, Business Studies, Accountancy, Psychology, Economics, Mathematic, Biology, Physics, and Social Science for Class XI and XII have been made available on the Internet. NCERT officials say that textbooks for senior classes will be put on the Internet first to allow both teachers and students to get a feel of whats in store for them next year. But part of the reason is also the fact that the Class XI syllabus was the last to get the syllabus monitoring committees approval last month. The syllabus for all the other lasses have already been approved and textbooks sent in or printing.

Date: 4th Jan 2006.

Source: Hindustan Times

News of NCERT

Didnt get through this years CAT? Take heart, the ministry of human resources development plans to increase the intake of students at all levels in IIMs as well as IITs. In a new action plan prepared to give a boost to higher education in the coming academic year, the HRD ministry wants to increase the number of students at the undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral levels. It is for the IITs and the IIMs to specify the additional seats. We have told them that the intake has been increased to meet the demands of the market, said a senior ministry official. The new courses, the official added, would bring more revenue to the IITs and the IIMs. At present, there are about 23,000 students in seven IITs and about 10,000 students in IIMs. But the institutes lose money on each student because of the high input costs. For example, an IIT spends Rs 1.90 lakh on a student every year whereas the money recovered from the student is only Rs 30,000. More students will help to bridge the gap, the official commented. Though the opening of new IITs has been ruled out, the ministry wants these premier institutes to open study centre in the far-flung areas of the country One such centre of IIT-Kanpur has been opened in Amethi. Each IIT should have at least one centre, an official said. The ministry has already decided to upgrade seven institutes to the level of IITs. Officials estimate that the up gradation will require additional funds of Rs 1,000-1,500 crore depending on the final report of the expert committee which is constituted to study the vision documents of the seven institutions. We have asked for Rs 21 crore for the next financial year when the basic work will start. The money will be allocated once the committee submits its report by mid-January the up gradation will commence from 2007-08, the official said.
Date: 3rd Jan 2006.
Source: Hindustan Times

Notification

With globalisation fast catching up in the field of technology, IIT Kharagpur will start the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property (IP) laws to educate students on protection and exploitation of technological IP. The Union government has already given its nod for the project and we will start it in July 2006, S K Dubey, Director, IIT Kharagpur.

Unique school

Dubey, who is in Goa to participate in the international conference on advanced materials design and development, jointly organised by IIT Kharagpur and Georgia Tech, Atlanta, USA, said the school would be unique in the country educating students on technology related IP. Since we lack IP focus, we tend to lose many things. We have lost many things only because we dont know how to protect them, Dubey said speaking about the overall IP scenario. If you are not aware of the laws protecting your IP, you tend to lose, he said, adding, We feel that the technologists should be aware of IP laws. The IP School would produce technological lawyers as the traditional lawyers are not strong enough when it comes to IP of technology, Dubey added. The school would impart education on IP protection in the wake of new patent laws, developing technologies and international laws.

News of IIT Kharagpur

The State Government has allotted 11 acres of land sought by the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) for setting up a research park, through a government order recently.

The plans and other financial arrangements for the building are ready and the project is expected to start soon.

In 2003, IIT-Madras had asked for 12 acres in Taramani and the State Government allotted 6.59 acres in 2005. The IIT-M sought additional land to improve its connection with the IT corridor and also construct an 18-m access road. This 18 m road would enable IIT-M to construct a multi-storied building.

More : hindu.com

The prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM) will soon be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh said here on Saturday.

AP will have an IIM in this plan period, Singh said.

He was speaking after inaugurating the South Central regional centre of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com