Category Archives: Education

UoH gets award for being disabled-friendly

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

University of Hyderabad has been selected for the seventh NCPEDP- Mphasis Universal Design Awards for carrying out exemplary work towards the cause of accessibility and ensuring dignity for people with disabilities, under the category of corporates and organisations.

Other winners in this category include IndiGo, National Informatics Centre (NIC), and SAP Labs India Pvt. Ltd, among others. UoH is the only university and education institute to receive the award this year.

Dr. S. Rajgopal, a life science faculty and chairman of the Empowered Committee for Differently-Abled Persons (ECDAP), said, “The recognition jointly accorded to UoH by a reputed international non-governmental organisation, NCPEDP, and a multi-national corporation known for leading business solutions, Mphasis, is very special to us because it speaks volumes on the invisible work carried out for the benefit of students with special needs.”

National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), in association with Access Ability and Barrier Break, and with the support of Mphasis, instituted the NCPEDP – Mphasis Universal Design Awards in 2010.

The university got a grant-in-aid of about Rs. 6 crore by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, after a disability audit was done in 2012-13. The grant given is being utilised for installing 18 lifts in fifteen buildings on the campus. Each lift is fitted to accommodate wheelchairs in accordance with the Bureau of Indian Standards. Other fittings like auditory signals, Braille signing, etc. have also been undertaken, a press release said.

The recognition is very special to us because it speaks volumes on the invisible work carried out for the benefit of students with special needs.
Dr. S. Rajgopal,chairman, ECDAP

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – July 02, 2016

University of Hyderabad’s journalism department is India’s best

Education, Records, All

UOHtelan28jun2016

Hyderabad :

The department of communication of University of Hyderabad has been ranked as the country’s top-ranked department of communication and journalism of any university.

According to the latest rankings of mass communication and journalism institutions released on Sunday by Outlook India based on a national perception survey, the UoH department that has been offering masters and doctoral programmes in communication for over 25 years is the only public institution listed in the top 10 apart from Jamia’s MCRC which is a research centre. Overall, the department is ranked fourth among the top 10 colleges of mass communication in India with an overall score of 802.8 out of the total 1,000.

The department, which is part of the SN School of Arts and Communication, UoH, was ranked fourth overall and stood second in academic excellence with a score of 169.3 and third in infrastructure with 208.

Besides AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia (an independent media centre), the department of communication of UoH is the only department at a public university to be featured in the top five. The rest in the list are private institutes.

“With national and international recognition for many of its faculty members, the department attracts students from across the country and a few even from abroad,” Prof. Vinod Pavarala said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / June 27th, 2016

Not an average 8-year-old

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All
Suram Vignesh Arjun
Suram Vignesh Arjun

Suram Vignesh Arjun set a record in the Telugu Book of Records recently by reciting 100 Vemana poems in about five minutes

He is a just a class 4 student, and yet he can deliver many an extempore on a wide range of subjects. And, he has amazing memory.

Meet eight-year-old Suram Vignesh Arjun who set a record in the Telugu Book of Records recently by reciting 100 Vemana poems in five minutes and 45 seconds.

He shot to fame during the separate Telangana movement when he was only six years old. He eloquently spoke about the bifurcation movement and also about Jayashankar who espoused the cause.

Impressed by his extempore at one such meeting last year at Kakatiya University, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari presented him a cash reward of Rs. 10,000 instantly.

Son of Narender, a farmer, and Laxmi, a teacher, Suram is studying in Nachinapalli in Duggondi mandal.

His uncle, Ch. Venkat Reddy, who is also a teacher, said the boy developed amazing memory when he was very young.

Whatever was taught to him, he would say the same again, said Mr. Reddy.

Having developed multi-skills, the boy came second in the sloka recitation competition, rendering 29 slokas from 11th chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

He also bagged second prize reciting C. Narayana Reddy’s poems at the Balotsav in Kothagudem in national-level competition.

Speaking to The Hindu , Suram said he spends time reading books or browsing internet searching for information for his speeches.

He does not have a television at home, which is seen as a major distraction for children.

“I want to become the Chief Minister like Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao or the Prime Minister like Mr. Narendra Modi after growing up,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao / Warangal – June 27th, 2016

UoH scholar to showcase play in South Korea

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

Research scholar from the University of Hyderabad, Shaik John Basheer, who is also a children’s theatre practitioner, has been invited to participate in the International Theatre Exchange Workshop and Festival by Mindulle Theatre Village, a leading theatre company in South Korea.

Basheer will direct a play and tour across South Korea from July 1 to 29 starting with Hwaseong City.

As a part of this tour, he will showcase his play at well-known theatre festivals, including the PUM Theatre Festival.

Basheer was honoured with a Nandi Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2010.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – June 21st, 2016

Paramita rewards ISEF participants

Education, Records, All, World Opinion

Paramita Educational Institutions chairman E Prasada Rao has announced a cash reward of Rs 20,000 each to three students of their school, who brought laurels to Telangana with their participation in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the USA recently.

Students D Nikhitha, D Vamshi and T Meghana have won accolades for their science model “Reflected altitude triangle” from the district-level to international level.

The science model helped them travel throughout the country and also the USA. The students also shared their experiences while participating in various national and international science fairs.

At a function at Paramita High School here on Sunday, Mr Prasada Rao felicitated the students.

Directors Anukar Rao and Rashmita and others were also present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Karimnagar – June 14th, 2016

TIDE signs incubation agreements with start-ups

Business & Economy, Education

The Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurship (TIDE) at the University of Hyderabad signed incubation agreements with three start-up companies – Neoscript Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Sapphire Technologies LLP, and Aapka Painter Solutions Pvt. Ltd. – on Wednesday.

The TIDE-UoH is providing seed funding as part of its incubation support. The start-ups can use the varsity’s infrastructure facilities, and will also get technical mentoring by the university’s faculty.

Neoscript Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a platform aimed at improving consistency and efficiency in learning quality of codes by providing automated evaluation and timely feedback. Sapphire Technologies LLP, with its platform www.ekgeo.com, is a social media built on the principle of radio, radar and broadcasting, said a press release on Wednesday.

The third start-up, Aapka Painter Solutions Pvt. Ltd., streamlines tire painting process and standardises the experience of getting spaces painted through technology. The programme was chaired by UoH Vice-Chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile. TIDE and TBI are recognised incubators in the Start-up India initiative of the Government of India.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – June 09th, 2016

IIIT-Hyderabad to fund three innovative startups

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

At a time when most of the startups are focusing on solving fairly shallow problems, Avishkar, the start-up accelerator programme of International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) on Friday took three companies under its wings to encourage entrepreneurs who are into solving deep-tech problems.

Screened from about 140 applications across the world, the top three companies are all set to form the first batch of the six-month long programme. The selected startups will now work closely with the Avishkar team and the faculty members of IIIT-H labs and other partners over the next six months to get to a level of investment-readiness that will launch them to the next stage of their journey.

“We are a four-month-old company trying to build a virtual personal stylist for women. Through our app, we want to offer all the services that a stylist offers to women. In other words, we want to create artificial intelligence (AI) of a personal stylist. The best part about Avishkar is that unlike many accelerators, the programmes here are personalised for each and every startup and would be helpful for us to grow faster,” Komal Prajapati, founder, Fabulyst, said.

IIITtelangana31may2016

Aronin P, founder of Sastra Robotics, which made it to the first batch of Avishkar programme, said,“Our aim is to build next generation robotics arm that has special abilities and for that we need a fully equipped R&D lab and experienced people to guide us. Also, as this is an ambitious project, we need financial help at some point or the other. Through this programme, both these concerns are addressed.”

The programme facilitated by IIIT-Hyderabad Foundation, Co-Creation Consulting and 50K Ventures, aims to select 10 startups during the first year and each of the selected startups will receive `10 lakh seed funding.

Prof. Vasudeva Varma, Dean (R&D) said, “The Start-up ecosystem in India is currently very vibrant. However, most of these ventures cannot survive and be successful unless they have huge differentiation in terms of technology. With Avishkar, we will give these companies a massive edge by providing the required base of technology, mentorship, and talent on a need basis in addition to initial funding.”

Startups selected in 1st batch Fabulyst:

A start-up with a core team of data scientists, working on providing a superior and personalised search experience to women using advanced machine learning and AI technologies, thus creating a unique advantage in the online fashion market.

Sastra Robotics: Initially incubated at Startup Village, Kochi, the startup develops high-precision robots to automate and redefine hardware testing practices and has been successful in mimicking the human hand capabilities.

Endless Robotics: Founded by a team of students from BITS Pilani, this startup has already built intelligent wall painting robots to provide cheaper, faster and high-precision solutions to real estate owners. They are now working towards providing deeper image processing capabilities to their robots.

Deep Tech Accelerator

The programme focuses in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Intelligence (IA), and Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR). The onus is on improving human comfort using cutting-edge technology.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. Nirupa Sathya Sree / by Express News Service / May 28th, 2016

UK-based journal ranks UoH 7th in artificial intelligence research

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

UnivHydTELAN26may2016

Hyderabad :

After being ranked among the best universities in the country, the University of Hyderabad (UoH) here on Wednesday was placed among the most productive organisations involved in artificial intelligence research in India by a UK-based journal.

According to the study published in Science & Technology Libraries Journal, United Kingdom, UoH has been ranked 7th among 160 organisations, as most-productive organisation involved in artificial intelligence research in India.

The top 20 most productive organisations involved in artificial intelligence research in India published 53 or more papers each and contributed 2,219 papers. The average citation per paper achieved by the total papers of these 20 organisations was 4.68, and eight organisations achieved a higher average citation per paper ratio than the group average.

The institutions listed include Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras (10.21); Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata (9.97); IIT, Mumbai (8.44); IIT, Roorkee (7.36); IIT Delhi (6.38); International Business Machines (5.84); UoH (5.36); and PSG College of Technology (4.84).

Also, Dr Alok Singh, Associate Professor in the School of Computer and Information Sciences at UoH, has been ranked 12th among top 15 most productive researchers in artificial intelligence research in India.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / May 26th, 2016

The IITian touch

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

IITsTELAN26may2016

Hyderabad :

The students of Ordinance Factory government High School are also known for their discipline are participation in social activities. All this was possible only because of the initiative taken by the school principal, Sangareddy mandal in-charge education officer, M Venkatesham and IIT Hyderabad, ordinance factory management’s efforts. IIT students have been teaching Maths and English to the students since 2013.

The poor students are being taught in centralised air-conditioned classes in IIT campus. Two to four special classes are being conducted for students in a month and PG students are taking the classes for the students.

In 2013, 20 students appeared for exams and 19 of them passed. After this, the school management and IIT students aimed for 100 per cent pass result.

They started concentrating on the weak students and started special classes. As a result, students achieved 100 per cent results in 2014, 2015 and created a record in the district.

IIT students teach the students in their campus and also last year in ordinance factory high school for 50 days which was organised by Alfa India Limited industry and Alfa India management took care of refreshments for the children.

Training was free of cost and also included students of Indrakaran and Eddumailaram high school students. Currently, special classes are being conducted for Class IX students at IIT Kandi campus and also in ordinance factory temporary college.

This time classes for ordinance factory high school students were held in Gitam University Hyderabad campus also.

School principal and in-charge MEO Venkateshwarlu says that by conducting special classes to students in these prestigious universities and colleges, the confidence level of the students will increase and they will see a new atmosphere which helps them in confidence building. These students also excel in social activities too.

Even as the government postponed the programme due to severe heat wave, the students and teachers of this school planted 150 saplings, that has changed the face of the school. The factory management, as appreciation allotted two acres of land. Students had adopted the plants and are also taking care of them.

The teachers of this school Rama Devi and Sujatha are encouraging the students and moving forward with them.

Locals said that ordinance factory government high school stand as role models for not just the students, but also other school teachers.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by P. Krishna / Express News Service / May 26th, 2016

Dictionary is her Bible for scrabble

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Sports

VaishnaviTELANGANA18may2016

Hyderabad :

You think scrabble is a child’s game? Well, 13-year-old Vaishnavi Reddi has surely turned heads as she recently won the scrabble championship held at Landmark, Somajiguda. In an astounding display of vocabulary, this child prodigy from Alwal competed against 128 children and emerged victorious, making her parents proud.

“I started playing scrabble when I was eight and I keep practising with my elder sister and this has given me the edge over others,” says Vaishnavi who is also a voracious reader and loves fictional fantasy, her current favouite being The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater.

Landmark has taken up the initiative to bring back the frenzy of board games with this scrabble championship amongst children amidst their obsession with gadgets and the social media. Children of age group 6-14 participated in this competition. “I was a little unsure about myself in the beginning but I started believing in myself and played with a clear mind.” smiles this vibrant child who loves playing the piano. She actively participates in various co-curricular activities in her school – St. Andrews, Bowenpally.

The Class IX student had to clear two rounds before qualifying for the finals. “I check up sites like ‘Dictionary.com’ to brush up my glossary to learn new words and synonyms.” says the winner who bagged a trophy for the scrabble championship.

On being asked how does she manage to keep herself updated with new words and this upcoming prodigy quips “Learning new words and their meanings is super fun, I never procrastinate and complete my homework in school so that I have ample time to practice at home.”

Vaishnavi is planning to participate in the Spellbee competition too.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Soumyani Ghoshal / May 18th, 2016