|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
IBM India has felicitated the winners from India, who qualified in the Asian regional rounds
leading to the finals of the 31st ACM (Association for Computer Machinery) ICPC (International Collegiate Programming Contest) 2006. The ACM-ICPC is the oldest and the largest computer programming contest in the world, and helps facilitate the recognition of upcoming high-calibre engineering talent across the globe. India’s winners this year — IITMumbai, IIT-Chennai and NIT-Trichy — were felicitated by Nobel Laureate J. Georg Bednorz at an IBM event recently, and will compete in the world finals being held in Tokyo, Japan from March 12-15, 2007. The ACM-ICPC regional contest which helps determine qualification of teams for the finalswas held in India for the 8th year in a row, with participation from more than 154 teams comprising 460 students from over 100 colleges across India and neighbouring countries. Felicitating the students, J. Georg Bednorz, IBM Fellow and Nobel Laureate said, “In today’s extremely competitive scenario, possessing technical competence alone is not enough. Students need to be prepared for real life, and also posses other skills crucial to their success as professionals. Today, agility and ability to respond to dynamic environments is critical to the success of any engineering effort. In the real world, IT professionals have to deliver under tight deadlines, hectic schedules and ever changing requirements — the ACM-ICPC contest helps students focus on, and strengthen this particular skill.” The contest was held in two rounds. The first round consisted of an online test, where the participating teams had to answer four questions in four hours. The second round comprised an in-person test for the shortlisted students at IIT-Kanpur and Amrita University, Coimbatore. These winning teams from India will compete with 87 other teams from around the world who have likewise qualified in their own regional contests. — TNS IGNOU moots school of translation studies The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will soon start a school of translation studies and training, its Vice-Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said in Coimbatore recently. "One-year certificate and two-year diploma courses will begin from the next academic year in Indian, Asian and European languages," Pillai said. Stating that there were 200,000 openings for translators in India alone, he said the number would be around five million across the world. After seeking advise from experts, IGNOU may introduce short-term courses in major Indian and foreign languages, including the trade and commercial sectors, he said. To start with, the focus would be on Chinese, Japanese, German, French and Arabic languages, the most preferred foreign languages at present, Pillai said. IGNOU would introduce on-line course material from this academic year, apart from the regular printing and electronic materials, he said, adding that internet infrastructure and Broadband connectivity would be obtained for this purpose. As part of the government plan to provide education to the deprived classes, IGNOU would start Village Education Centres, based on the recommendations of the Moily Committee, he said. There is a proposal to start special study centres for deprived classes and others, based on the Sachar Committee recommendations, Pillai added.
— PTI
|
