Strange that I never saw it that way. Hats-off to the guys who wrote this...
Myth: we have to save the earth. Frankly, the earth doesn't need to be saved. Nature doesn't give a hoot if human beings are here or not. The planet has survived cataclysmic and catastrophic changes for millions upon millions of years. Over that time, it is widely believed, 99 percent of all species have come and gone while the planet has remained. Saving the environment is really about saving our environment - making it safe for ourselves, our children, and the world as we know it. If more people saw the issue as one of saving themselves, we would probably see increased motivation and commitment to actually do so. -Robert M. Lilienfeld, management consultant and author (b. 1953) and William L. Rathje, archaeologist and author (b. 1945)
Friday, February 6, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Couldn’t join IIT? Enrol for virtual university
D Suresh Kumar | TNN
Chennai: Soon, students across the country who have missed joining premier technical institutions, would get to learn from the expertise of academic brains that drive the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), through online course modules.
The Union HRD ministry has embarked on an initiative to launch a Virtual Technical University (VTU) to impart training to a large section of students who are keen to receive instructions in an ambience similar to the IITs and the IISc. “The proposed VTU will serve as a nodal agency for imparting training to the undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as the newly recruited teachers in the fields of science, technology, management, architecture, pharmacy and other applied areas. The university will provide flexible, credit-based technological courses to all registered participants using modern technology,” a HRD ministry official told TOI.
“The VTU will engage a large pool of talented faculty members from IITs, NITs, IISc and other national technological institutions, including the superannuated faculty. As such the huge reserve of well known superannuated faculty members from the IIT system, and IISc will play a vital role in content creation. The course material will be in the form of video tapes, web-based learning information as well as course ware in the form of reference material,” he said. The ministry also has plans to engage international faculty for developing online course modules in specialised fields such as railway technology.
The ministry had earlier this month approved a 111-page document prepared as part of the ‘National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology.’ The mission has laid special emphasis on launching the VTU. HRD minister Arjun Singh is slated to launch it at the Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati on February 3. “We plan to deliver the course through three modes—videobased lectures, web-based learning material and transmission of live lectures using satellite and Internetbased technology,” the official said. To begin with postgraduate programmes will be offered, for which a repository of video-based courses will be developed by experts. In the second phase, the VTU will offer course for undergraduate students.
The Union HRD ministry has embarked on an initiative to launch a Virtual Technical University (VTU) to impart training to a large section of students who are keen to receive instructions in an ambience similar to the IITs and the IISc. “The proposed VTU will serve as a nodal agency for imparting training to the undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as the newly recruited teachers in the fields of science, technology, management, architecture, pharmacy and other applied areas. The university will provide flexible, credit-based technological courses to all registered participants using modern technology,” a HRD ministry official told TOI.
“The VTU will engage a large pool of talented faculty members from IITs, NITs, IISc and other national technological institutions, including the superannuated faculty. As such the huge reserve of well known superannuated faculty members from the IIT system, and IISc will play a vital role in content creation. The course material will be in the form of video tapes, web-based learning information as well as course ware in the form of reference material,” he said. The ministry also has plans to engage international faculty for developing online course modules in specialised fields such as railway technology.
The ministry had earlier this month approved a 111-page document prepared as part of the ‘National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology.’ The mission has laid special emphasis on launching the VTU. HRD minister Arjun Singh is slated to launch it at the Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati on February 3. “We plan to deliver the course through three modes—videobased lectures, web-based learning material and transmission of live lectures using satellite and Internetbased technology,” the official said. To begin with postgraduate programmes will be offered, for which a repository of video-based courses will be developed by experts. In the second phase, the VTU will offer course for undergraduate students.
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