School students learn about alternative energy sources

With a view to learning more about the practical applications of alternative sources of energy, the students of Edify School, Ranipet, visited the CO2 (carbondioxide) and Green Technologies Centre at the VIT University and witnessed the eco-friendly activities.

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The university has been promoting the use of alternative energy on its campus. It has a self-supporting green campus where much of waste generated are re-cycled and put to optimum use. In order to create awareness among the school children in the neighbourhood VIT invites them to visit its CO2 & Green Technologies Centre. Professor R Natarjan, general manager, CO2 and Green Technologies Centre, gave the visiting students an overview of the centre. He mentioned that VIT has been promoting the use of alternative energies. Under a scheme, VIT has commissioned solar electricity generating facilities at a cost of Rs 39 lakhs. About 8.25KW of electricity is produced which caters to the needs of streetlights on the campus. School students R.Shreya, Marcel Michael Raj. Gokul, Ashish Jonathen said that they witnessed the process of production of electricity from wood chunks and also learnt about its uses. Children enquired about the production of electricity from solar energy and learnt about the importance of using alternative sources of energy. The students also saw an automotive, which uses CO2 as fuel. They elicited details from the staff about the operation of the vehicles with CO2 as its energy source. They also observed the process of manufacture of tiles with the help of emissions from the automobile and thermal plants.

Cambridge to study ancient Sanskrit texts

A major exercise in 'linguistic archaeology' has set out to complete a comprehensive survey of Cambridge University South Asian manuscript collection, which includes the oldest dated and illustrated Sanskrit manuscript known worldwide.

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Written on now-fragile birch bark, palm leaf and paper, the 2,000 manuscripts in the collection at the University Library express centuries-old South Asian thinking on religion, philosophy, astronomy, grammar, law and poetry.    The project, which is led by Sanskrit-specialists Dr Vincenzo Vergiani and Dr Eivind Kahrs, will study and catalogue each of the manuscripts, placing them in their broader historical context, a university release said. Most of the holdings will also be digitised by the library and made available through the library's new online digital library (http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/). 'In a world that seems increasingly small, every artefact documenting the history of ancient civilisations has become part of a global heritage to be carefully preserved and studied,'explained Dr Vergiani, who is in the University's Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. 'Among such artefacts, manuscripts occupy a distinctive place - they speak to us with the actual words of long-gone men and women, bringing their beliefs, ideas and sensibilities to life'. He added: 'One reason this collection is so important is because of the age of many of the manuscripts. In the heat and humidity of India, materials deteriorate quickly and manuscripts needed to be copied again and again. As a result, many of the early Indian texts no longer exist'. Some of the oldest holdings of the Library's South Asian collection were discovered not in India but in Nepal, where the climate is more temperate.    In the 1870s, Dr Daniel Wright, surgeon of the British Residency in Kathmandu, rescued the now-priceless cultural and historical artefacts from a disused temple, where they had survived largely by chance. An early catalogue of part of the collection in 1883 found among its treasures a 10th-century Buddhist Sanskrit manuscript from India - the oldest dated and illustrated Sanskrit manuscript known worldwide. More than half of the collection is in Sanskrit, a language that has dominated the literary culture of pre-modern South Asia for almost three millennia.

Consulting offers in big numbers at summer placement in IIM-A

Summer placements at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) commenced yesterday with major consulting firms offering roles to first year Post Graduate Programme (PGP) students in Ahmedabad, in large numbers.

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The firms regularly visiting campus during summer placement such as Boston Consulting Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Accenture made offers in double digit. More than 20 firms conducted interviews in cluster one comprising three cohorts – i-banks, consulting, and private equity firms, venture capital and investment management firms- at the placement process at IIM-A. The B-school saw participation from around 20 regular recruiters, including McKinsey & Co, Boston Consulting Group(BCG), Bain & Company, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank abd Royal Bank of Scotland. "BCG made 12 offers at IIM-A for summer recruitments this year. IIM-A continues to be one of our core campuses for recruitment and we look forward to continue recruiting large numbers," BCG India Partner and Director Ravi Srivastava said. "Despite the market conditions being comparatively less buoyant this year, the number of acceptances in cluster one was marginally lower than last year," Recruitment Secretary Placement at IIM-A Ravish Kumar said. The placements in next cluster are scheduled for November 14 which shall include roles on offer in domestic banking, financial services, consulting, business development, general management and FMCG marketing. Summer placements at the IIM-A are for internship of student with private firms as part of their curriculum.

India, US looking to partner in education sector

India and the US were looking at a "range of ways," to partner across areas of education and promoting research and scholarship which has been a hallmark of the bilateral partnership, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

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"Promoting research and scholarship has been a hallmark of the US-India partnership, providing scholars the opportunity to collaborate and share their ideas with new communities," US Consul general Jennifer A McIntyre said. In her address at the Madras Christian College (MCC) in Chennai, while promoting International Education Week, she said while more than one lakh Indian students were currently studying in the US, "an increasing number of Americans are discovering India as a quality educational destination". "Our two governments are partnering to offer Fulbright – Nehru Awards, higher education fellowships for the most outstanding students, academics and professionals in India and the US to study, research and engage in work experiences that benefit both countries," she said. India had the largest Fulbright scholar exchange programs worldwide, with more than 17,000 fellowships and other grants awarded to Indians and Americans, she added.

Loyola College students to get US bachelors degree

Concordia College, a coeducational institution in New York, through its direct Indian registered representative Concordia NY Admission Services LLP, has partnered with Loyola College to give the students of the college an opportunity to pursue final year of their UG programme in the United States and secure an American graduation.

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According to a press release, Business, English, Psychology and Sociology are the course pre-approved and covered under the academic co-operation tie-up. Maximum number of students' intake is limited to 5-8 for each course. The programme is valid for students joining the courses from the academic year 2011-12 onwards.  Giving the best of both worlds, the agreement will allow meritorious Loyola College students to spend two years studying pre-approved course here at Chennai and continue the rest of their programme (varying  between 12 and 16 months depending upon the course opted) at Concordia in New York. The tie-up has also facilitated scholarship of up to 40 per cent for eminently qualified students from Loyola College. For details contact: 98405 52149/ 4554 4267, the release said.