Human values and professional ethics to be part of PTU curriculum

Chandigarh: Similar to the model that had been implemented by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in Delhi and Kanpur, around 306 colleges affiliated with the Punjab Technical University (PTU) have decided to teach "human values and professional ethics" as part of their curriculum. Out of the 306 colleges, 49 of them are in theChandigarh region alone. PTU Vice Chancellor Rajneesh Arora was at the Panjab University campus for the valedictory function of and international conference that had been organized by students of the varsity. He said that the inculcation of values was important for students in order for them to apply their technical knowledge in the right direction. He said that the academic council at the university had resolved that it would be necessary for students who had enrolled after the year 2011 to study thefoundation course in human values and professional ethics that is being introduced at the university. "The inspiration for the introduction of the course had been drawn from the National Resource Centre for Value Education in Engineering (NRCVEE) at IIT-Delhi. Several technical institutions now have already realized the importance of inculcating such a course as part of the curriculum such as IIT-Kanpur, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT)-Hyderabad and UP University," Arora stated. Apart from value education, the foundation course would include topics such as harmony in nature and society and widening the vision of students from a family order to the world family order. Seven chapters of the course would be devoted to harmony with self, family, body, nature, society and existence. The new course would also be involving subjects such as self-exploration and would focus on the importance of right understanding and other topics such as professional ethics in light of right understanding. Coordinator for the value education cell at PTU, R.P. Bhardwaj emphasized on the need for the introduction of such a course and said that the syllabus for thefoundation course in human values and professional ethics would be framed not only in English, but also Hindi, Punjabi and other languages. "The purpose for the introduction of the course is to address the real purpose of education. A series of workshops have been organized by PTU commencing in May 2011 along with eight-day workshops for teachers and students.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Punjab/Human_values_and_professional_ethics_to_be_part_of_PTU_curriculum_13557/

New IIIT to be set up in West Bengal

 The central government has approved the plan to set up an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in West Bengal, the state's Information Technology Minister Debesh Das said here on Thursday.

"The government of West Bengal has got an IIIT. The centre has sanctioned our proposal for setting up of the IIIT," Das said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of INFOCOM here.

"The centre will provide 50 percent of the cost, state will provide 35 percent and the rest will come from the industry," he added.

He, however, did not give details of the project.

"In 2006, the people working in the (infotech) sector was 32,000 and in 2010 it stood at 105,000. In 2006, IT export from the state was Rs.2,700 crore and in 2010, it became Rs.6,500 crore," Das said.

"In these four years (from 2006 to 2010), several IT firms, including Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Patni and Tech Mahindra, bought land for their campuses here," Das said.

"We have more potential, to use this potential we need things (infrastructure) to be tripled in the coming three to four years," he said. 

source:http://indiaedunews.net/West_Bengal/New_IIIT_to_be_set_up_in_West_Bengal_13539/