1. Xtra Edge February 2012 - Career Point

25% increase in number of girls
from Bombay zone for IIT-JEE
There are far more girls set to appear
for the Indian Institute of Technology
Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE) in the
Bombay zone in April 2012 than
before. The number of applications by
girls has increased by nearly 25%
compared to last year. The Bombay
zone includes Maharashtra, Goa,
This year, girls account for nearly
27% of the total candidates applying,
with around 20,300 girls from among
76,600 candidates. The IITs have been
constantly trying to address the
skewed male-female ratio at the IITs.
“This is a significant increase,” said
AV Mahajan, chairperson for JEE
2012, Bombay zone. “One reason for
this could be that it was free for girls
to apply online this year as well as
cheaper to apply offline as compared
to male applicants.”
Two IT-BHU students to start
entrepreneurship club for school
students
VARANASI: When they cracked IIT-
JEE two years ago, getting attractive
jobs in top IT companies was their
dream. Now, they want to promote
entrepreneurial skills in young school
children (Class X onwards) by
establishing entrepreneurship club for
schools.
Bhanu Swami and Varun Agrawal, B
Tech (III) students of electrical
engineering of Institute of
Technology, Banaras Hindu
University (IT-BHU), are on their way
to launch country's first entrepreneurship
club targeting students (Class
X onwards). The initiative not only
aims at tapping and promoting
entrepreneurial skills in young
students, but also promises to turn
these students into entrepreneurs. This
way they would become job providers
rather than job seekers.
Akash 2 tablet to be launched by
April 2012: Govt.
The government has expressed
confidence it will be successful in
bringing out the improved version of
the Aakash tablet by April this year.
The Aakash 2 is likely to have several
improved specifications such as
elongated battery life and faster
processor. The government has been
striving hard to make its Aakash project
successful. The device, which is also
touted as the world's cheapest tablet,
faced harsh criticism from several
quarters for its poor quality and dismal
features.
IIT Rajasthan, which developed the
prototype of the device along with Data
Wind, found a series of faults in the
device, prompting the government to
reconsider extension of the LC to the
Canadian company. Under pressure to
provide better endowed low-cost
device, the government has now its
turned attention to the Aakash 2, which
is likely to come at the same price tag
of the original Aakash.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said that
the government will be looking for
more manufacturers to manufacture the
Aakash 2 tablets, attributing
the massive demand for the move.
“We want to make sure that the
upgraded product caters to the need of
the customers... We have involved ITI
in order to upgrade it... We will be able
to bring in Aakash-II by April," Kapil
Sibal said.
Last week media reports
had hinted that the government might
shelve its Aakash project in view of the
harsh criticism from most quarters. The
reports were triggered by DataWind's
opposition to certain test criteria
suggested by the IIT. Read our previous
coverage
IIT Techfest 2012 : All about
Robotics
One of the highlights of the Techfest
2012, which held at IIT Bombay,
was its international exhibitions
arena. Evidently dominated by
robots, the robotic section had
covered several aspects - humanoid,
surveillance, educational and
industrial. The robotic platform at the
Techfest 2012 showcased bots
expressing emotions, playing
intelligent games and serving as a
model for military training, among
others. With a great potential for
applications in future in varying
fields, lets look at these robots one
by one.
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IIT-KGP celebrates the 9 th
annual Alumni Meet 2012 while
its alumni commits to give back
to their Alma meter
IIT Kharagpur celebrated its 9th
Annual Alumni Meet. While it
honoured its alumni with the
Distinguished Service Award more
alumni committed towards the cause
of contributing to their Alma mater.
A galaxy of alumni from world wide
graced the 3-day dynamic event
Auto Expo 2012 : Hydrogenpowered
3-wheeler at expo
NEW DELHI: The world's first
hydrogen-powered three-wheeler,
'HyAlfa', was showcased at theAuto
Expo on Monday. Part of a
development project dubbed 'DelHy
3w', a fleet of 15 HyAlfa threewheelers
will run on an experimental
basis at Pragati Maidan, where a
XtraEdge for IIT-JEE 3 FEBRUARY 2012