26 Mini-Power Plants Sanctioned
Lambi-Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, today formally inaugurated a 14.5 MW biomass electricity generation plant in this village that had remained waterlogged in the past. Power would be generated by the Rs 80 crore plant from agricultural residue. Encouraged by Punjab’s fast march in the area of renewable energy, his ministry had sanctioned 26 more such mini-power plants besides sanctioning pilot projects in the area of solar, hydel and wind energy, Abdullah said. He said his ministry under the pilot project was planning to provide solar and wind run water pumps to the farmers of Punjab in which farmers would contribute minimal amount. He said, if successful, it could save Rs 3,500 crore power subsidy being provided by state to the farmers. He appreciated Sukhbir Singh for having set an example before the country by making determined forays in renewable energy sector with the target to generate 500 MW in next two years.
He said the residents of the villages around such projects would be benefited, as their agricultural waste would be procured for generating electricity. Speaking on the occasion Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh said 29 such plants would be operational all over Punjab in next 18 months. He said each plant would buy agricultural waste to the tune of Rs 30 to 40 crore from the farmers in its 30-km radius. He said the farmers economy was set to get a boost as they would be earning Rs 900 crore by selling agricultural waste which was earlier burnt by them. Badal said the plant would utilise agricultural wastes like cotton and rice husk, cow dung, straws and stalks of paddy, cotton and wheat to produce electricity. He said Punjab was committed to generate 10 per cent of installed generating capacity from renewable energy sources. Badal said he had launched three-pronged strategy to realise mission of making Punjab Power surplus. Sukhbir Singh said this same company would setup two more plants in Ferozepur and Mansa at the cost of Rs 250 crore. He said with 20 lakh million tonne agricultural residue being generated every year, Punjab can produce over 1,000 MW power from agro waste alone. Bipin Bhardwaj adds from Binjon (Hoshiarpur): After generating power from hydel, thermal and solar projects, the union government would focus on wind energy. The next step to generate power would be from underground gases. The UPA government will do its utmost to tap maximum natural resources of new and renewable energy, said Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah. Dr Abdullah was here to lay the foundation stone of a 10 MW biomass power project being set up by Green Planet Energy Pvt Ltd, a Maharashtra-based company at a cost of Rs 68 crore.
Bittu launches awareness drive
Badal (Muktsar) Punjab Pradesh Youth Congress (PPYC) president Ravneet Singh Bittu today launched the party’s much-hyped awareness drive, Aam Aadmi ka Sipahi (AAKS), in Punjab from here, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s native village.
Following in the footsteps of Rahul Gandhi, Ravneet Bittu visited some Dalit homes, listened to their grievances and shared tea and food with them. Speaking about the concept of the AAKS, Ravneet Bittu said it was to identify enablers who would work at the panchayat level to facilitate, sensitise, create awareness and assist “aam admi” (common people) in not only knowing about but also availing themselves of the UPA government’s welfare schemes, especially the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Indira Awaas Yojna and the Krishi Vikas Yojna. The AAKS would make people aware of the Right to Information Act also, which was brought into the system by the UPA government. “In the past we observed that ruling SAD leaders had been mischievously flaunting the UPA government schemes as their own. Moreover, the funds, which the Union Government had released for state welfare, were either misused or refunded due to non-utilisation.”
Ravneet Bittu took the SAD-led state government to task. He alleged that a budget worth Rs 2.28 crore for NSS camps, Rs 58 lakh allocated for the youth welfare board and a huge sum allocated for sportspersons could not be used in the state as SAD leaders did not want the UPA schemes to be highlighted. He said: “All these sipahis have been voluntarily coming forward, with no condition relating to designation or incentives. We are taking literate persons so that they can help villagers fill forms and write applications. Besides educating people in procedural issues related to their land and the benefits of schemes, the sipahis will launch anti-drug campaigns.”
“Before launching the drive, we have already decided the issues to be worked upon in all 12,400 villages of the state. The 2,900 delegates belonging to 208 blocks of the state have undergone training and submitted their targets to be achieved through the AAKS within a time-frame. Once the scheme is properly implemented, the results of the AAKS will be checked on a regular basis,” added the PPYC president. When questioned about the image of the AAKS in Punjab as one of a Congress brigade to counter the “goons” of the ruling SAD, Ravneet Bittu said, “These sipahis will work in a non-violent way but, if required, they will be in a position to tighten the noose on miscreants.”
English Corner
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference, use as + adjective + as:
Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.
More examples:
Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
NOT AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
Difference can also be shown by using not so/as ...as:
Mont Blanc is not as high as Mount Everest
Norway is not as sunny as Thailand
A bicycle is not as expensive as a car
Arthur is not as intelligent as Albert
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
To show no difference: as much as , as many as, as few as, as little as
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
Examples:
With countable nouns: more / fewer
Eloise has more children than Chantal.
Chantal has fewer children than Eloise.
There are fewer dogs in Cardiff than in Bristol
I have visited fewer countries than my friend has.
He has read fewer books than she has.
With uncountable nouns: more / less
Eloise has more money than Chantal.
Chantal has less money than Eloise.
I spend less time on homework than you do.
Cats drink less water than dogs.
This new dictionary gives more information than the old one.
So, the rule is:
MORE + nouns that are countable or uncountable
FEWER + countable nouns
LESS + uncountable nouns
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show no difference:
as much as , as many as, as few as, as little as
as many as / as few as + countable nouns
as much as / as little as + uncountable nouns
Examples:
With countable nouns:
They have as many children as us.
We have as many customers as them.
Tom has as few books as Jane.
There are as few houses in his village as in mine.
You know as many people as I do.
I have visited the States as many times as he has.
With uncountable nouns:
John eats as much food as Peter.
Jim has as little food as Sam.
You've heard as much news as I have.
He's had as much success as his brother has.
They've got as little water as we have.
Mild traumatic brain injury may not be so mild after all
Lambi-Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, today formally inaugurated a 14.5 MW biomass electricity generation plant in this village that had remained waterlogged in the past. Power would be generated by the Rs 80 crore plant from agricultural residue. Encouraged by Punjab’s fast march in the area of renewable energy, his ministry had sanctioned 26 more such mini-power plants besides sanctioning pilot projects in the area of solar, hydel and wind energy, Abdullah said. He said his ministry under the pilot project was planning to provide solar and wind run water pumps to the farmers of Punjab in which farmers would contribute minimal amount. He said, if successful, it could save Rs 3,500 crore power subsidy being provided by state to the farmers. He appreciated Sukhbir Singh for having set an example before the country by making determined forays in renewable energy sector with the target to generate 500 MW in next two years.
He said the residents of the villages around such projects would be benefited, as their agricultural waste would be procured for generating electricity. Speaking on the occasion Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh said 29 such plants would be operational all over Punjab in next 18 months. He said each plant would buy agricultural waste to the tune of Rs 30 to 40 crore from the farmers in its 30-km radius. He said the farmers economy was set to get a boost as they would be earning Rs 900 crore by selling agricultural waste which was earlier burnt by them. Badal said the plant would utilise agricultural wastes like cotton and rice husk, cow dung, straws and stalks of paddy, cotton and wheat to produce electricity. He said Punjab was committed to generate 10 per cent of installed generating capacity from renewable energy sources. Badal said he had launched three-pronged strategy to realise mission of making Punjab Power surplus. Sukhbir Singh said this same company would setup two more plants in Ferozepur and Mansa at the cost of Rs 250 crore. He said with 20 lakh million tonne agricultural residue being generated every year, Punjab can produce over 1,000 MW power from agro waste alone. Bipin Bhardwaj adds from Binjon (Hoshiarpur): After generating power from hydel, thermal and solar projects, the union government would focus on wind energy. The next step to generate power would be from underground gases. The UPA government will do its utmost to tap maximum natural resources of new and renewable energy, said Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah. Dr Abdullah was here to lay the foundation stone of a 10 MW biomass power project being set up by Green Planet Energy Pvt Ltd, a Maharashtra-based company at a cost of Rs 68 crore.
Bittu launches awareness drive
Badal (Muktsar) Punjab Pradesh Youth Congress (PPYC) president Ravneet Singh Bittu today launched the party’s much-hyped awareness drive, Aam Aadmi ka Sipahi (AAKS), in Punjab from here, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s native village.
Following in the footsteps of Rahul Gandhi, Ravneet Bittu visited some Dalit homes, listened to their grievances and shared tea and food with them. Speaking about the concept of the AAKS, Ravneet Bittu said it was to identify enablers who would work at the panchayat level to facilitate, sensitise, create awareness and assist “aam admi” (common people) in not only knowing about but also availing themselves of the UPA government’s welfare schemes, especially the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Indira Awaas Yojna and the Krishi Vikas Yojna. The AAKS would make people aware of the Right to Information Act also, which was brought into the system by the UPA government. “In the past we observed that ruling SAD leaders had been mischievously flaunting the UPA government schemes as their own. Moreover, the funds, which the Union Government had released for state welfare, were either misused or refunded due to non-utilisation.”
Ravneet Bittu took the SAD-led state government to task. He alleged that a budget worth Rs 2.28 crore for NSS camps, Rs 58 lakh allocated for the youth welfare board and a huge sum allocated for sportspersons could not be used in the state as SAD leaders did not want the UPA schemes to be highlighted. He said: “All these sipahis have been voluntarily coming forward, with no condition relating to designation or incentives. We are taking literate persons so that they can help villagers fill forms and write applications. Besides educating people in procedural issues related to their land and the benefits of schemes, the sipahis will launch anti-drug campaigns.”
“Before launching the drive, we have already decided the issues to be worked upon in all 12,400 villages of the state. The 2,900 delegates belonging to 208 blocks of the state have undergone training and submitted their targets to be achieved through the AAKS within a time-frame. Once the scheme is properly implemented, the results of the AAKS will be checked on a regular basis,” added the PPYC president. When questioned about the image of the AAKS in Punjab as one of a Congress brigade to counter the “goons” of the ruling SAD, Ravneet Bittu said, “These sipahis will work in a non-violent way but, if required, they will be in a position to tighten the noose on miscreants.”
English Corner
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference, use as + adjective + as:
Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.
More examples:
Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
NOT AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
Difference can also be shown by using not so/as ...as:
Mont Blanc is not as high as Mount Everest
Norway is not as sunny as Thailand
A bicycle is not as expensive as a car
Arthur is not as intelligent as Albert
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
To show no difference: as much as , as many as, as few as, as little as
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
Examples:
With countable nouns: more / fewer
Eloise has more children than Chantal.
Chantal has fewer children than Eloise.
There are fewer dogs in Cardiff than in Bristol
I have visited fewer countries than my friend has.
He has read fewer books than she has.
With uncountable nouns: more / less
Eloise has more money than Chantal.
Chantal has less money than Eloise.
I spend less time on homework than you do.
Cats drink less water than dogs.
This new dictionary gives more information than the old one.
So, the rule is:
MORE + nouns that are countable or uncountable
FEWER + countable nouns
LESS + uncountable nouns
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show no difference:
as much as , as many as, as few as, as little as
as many as / as few as + countable nouns
as much as / as little as + uncountable nouns
Examples:
With countable nouns:
They have as many children as us.
We have as many customers as them.
Tom has as few books as Jane.
There are as few houses in his village as in mine.
You know as many people as I do.
I have visited the States as many times as he has.
With uncountable nouns:
John eats as much food as Peter.
Jim has as little food as Sam.
You've heard as much news as I have.
He's had as much success as his brother has.
They've got as little water as we have.
Mild traumatic brain injury may not be so mild after all
WASHINGTON: Overlooking mild traumatic brain injury may amount to ignoring a major health issue, researchers have warned.
Douglas Smith, director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair and professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues have been concentrating their efforts on mild TBI (mTBI), commonly called concussions.
The experts said this 'mild' form of injury induced persisting neurological and cognitive problems in many patients, exacting an enormous emotional and financial toll on society.
Using advanced neuroimaging techniques, the boffins found distinct changes throughout the white matter in the brain after injury.
Smith said: "This is not inconsequential. Indeed, the observation that brain pathology can be detected after a concussion calls for much more extensive efforts to prevent, diagnose, and treat mild traumatic brain injury."
The team proposed a potential molecular mechanism to explain their findings.
British PM to present 'Amitabh' to Big B
London (PTI) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will present 'Amitabh', a module diabetes unit-bus to be based in Mumbai, to Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan here on Monday.
The bus will help screen people in Mumbai for diabetes and has been donated by diabetes prevention charity organisation 'Silver Star' funded by Indian-origin Labour MP, Keith Vaz. Brown will present the bus to Big B on behalf of Silver Star at a dinner on Monday. The bus has been named 'Amitabh' in honour of the 67-year-old Bollywood star and will bring hope of diabetes diagnosis to thousands of Indians.
Silver Star, founded by Vaz in 2007, carries out free diabetes testing and promotes culturally sensitive healthcare, focusing particularly on the high prevalence of diabetes amongst the South Asian community in Britain and Internationally.
Since 2007, Silver Star has tested 4695 people in Britain.There are two such mobile units in the UK.
'Amitabh' will be the second Silver Star Mobile Diabetes Unit in India. Last year Bachchan launch the first mobile unit in Goa, which has so far tested 2075 people. Vaz, Britain's longest serving MP of Asian origin and represents Leicester East which boasts UK's largest South Asian population outside of London, said: "I am absolutely delighted that the Prime Minister will be presenting Bachchan with the second Mobile Diabetes Unit for India, especially because it will be a life saving service for the people of Mumbai.
"...Seven million people in the UK have diabetes and have not been diagnosed and over 50 million people in India are diabetic," he said.
Adverse effects of oral antidiabetic drugs
Insulin sensitizers — Pioglitazone and rosiglitazone are the two agents in clinical use. The major side-effects of rosiglitazone and pioglitazone are weight gain, fluid retention and fractures. These drugs should be avoided in active liver disease and heart failure.
Sulfonylureas — Glimepiride, glipizide and glibenclamide are agents in clinical use. They may produce hypoglycaemia, severe enough to produce hypoglycaemic coma (rarely). This class of drugs should be avoided in active liver disease.
Alpha glucosidase inhibitors — Acarbose, miglitol and voglibose are in common use and may produce flatulence and diarrhoea.
Metformin — Weight loss and abdominal pain are the common adverse effects. And very rarely is lactic acidosis seen which is a serious condition. Metformin should not be used in patients with kidney dysfunction and failure. It should also not be taken with simultaneous use of radio-contrast.
These oral antidiabetic tablets must never be used during pregnancy. These should also be avoided in type 1 diabetes.
The writer is Senior Consultant, Endocrinology, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, and can be contacted at k.singh@fortishealthcare.com
Gums — a boon for diabetes, cholesterol management
Dr Jaspreet Singh and Dr Lovedeep Kaur
Plant-derived gums are excellent stabilising and thickening agents, and are traditionally used for many food applications. There is a steady rise in the use of gums in the processed food products because of the rapid increase in the consumption of ready-made meals and novelty foods.
Some of the commonly used food gums are locust bean (or carob), gum arabic, guar gum and cassia gum, and most of them are grown or available in India.
A commercial gum may contain around 75-80 per cent soluble fibre, 5-7 per cent insoluble fibre, 2 per cent crude protein, 0-1 per cent total lipids, 7-10 per cent moisture, and 0.5-0.8 per cent of ash (minerals). Most of the gums are generally recognised as safe for use in food products.
An increased amount of dietary fibre and low quantity of fat and sugar are required in the diet due to our modern life styles and prevalence of diseases such as diabetes and hypercholesterolemia.
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder marked by chronic hyperglycemia and has harmful effects on the vital organs. The diets containing large amounts of rapidly available carbohydrates (such as starch) raise the blood glucose and insulin responses immediately and could have detrimental effects on the health.
In many countries, gums are now regarded as a soluble fibre and have also been used as fat replacers in low-calorie food products. During digestion, the soluble dietary fibre of gum acts like a sponge and absorbs water in the human intestine; mixes the food into gel and thereby slows down the rate of digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, which lowers postprandial blood glucose levels.
Gums, due to their viscous nature, slow down the gastric emptying, which generates a feeling of fullness and suppresses appetite. Therefore, it leads to a satiety-promoting effect and ultimately weight loss. The presence of gums thickens the intestinal contents that delay glucose absorption, resulting in a decrease in blood sugar spikes following a meal. Gums have also been reported to lower blood cholesterol levels (both total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-c) and prevent hypercholesterolemia with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
A study based on rat experiments proved that consuming traditional wheat flour chapattis containing guar gum and legumes had a significant cholesterol-lowering effect.
Enteral nutrition has become more popular during the last two decades in post-operative patients and as a supplement in artificial nutrition. The gums also play an important role in the preparation of therapeutic enteral diets. The formulation of enteral feeds with soluble dietary fibre in the form of gums can help overcome constipation and maintaining a health microflora in the large bowel in post-operative patients.
The writers are research scientists at Massey University, New Zealand. Email:j.x.singh@massey.ac.nz.
“T-10 Gully Cricket: Season 2"-Divya Dutta unveiled ‘Ludhiana Gullies’ Jerseys designed for Ludhiana
CHANDIGARH: “T-10 Gully Cricket: Season 2 -‘Ab Har Koi Khelega’ which completed its group matches at Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal National Cricket Academy, Sirsa, Haryana from 19th January – 26th January 2010 witnessed the 7 teams Jalandhar, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Daman, Ballia, Ludhiana and Sirsa join Surat in the Super 8 stage of T 10 Gully Cricket – Season 2.
These 8 teams would now battle it out from 3rd March to 7th March 2010 at Sirsa, Haryana. Sixteen teams competed at the Group Stage. The live telecast commences 4.30 p.m between 3rd March to 7th March over DD-Sports . Ludhiana Gullies open their Super 8 campaign with a match against home team Sirsa on 4th March , owned by Sanjay Dutt .
The Super 8 teams are divided into 2 groups of 4 each, the Group 1 which includes Jalandhar, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Daman and Group 2 includes Ludhiana, Surat, Ballia, Sirsa.
Fireworks are expected to fly between Sanjay Dutt, Prachi Desai and Divya Dutta when their teams will be at loggerheads at this stage of the tournament. Each team would play the other team of their group once during the Super 8 stage. The points tally would determine the passage of top four teams to the semi finals and then eventually the finals. The live telecast would be a far upgraded version of the Group Stage with all kind of technology being thrown in.
Divya Dutta who originally hails from Ludhiana now owns and patronizes "Ludhiana Gullies" - The Ludhiana Cricket Team of T 10 Gully Cricket Season 2 - A Unique Talent Hunt cum Social Initiative for all Cricket Enthusiasts & young Indians to showcase their talent.
Divya got herself into grass root involvement in all aspects of the team from call for entries to selection, grooming of the players, cheering the team and getting various corporate sponsorships for her team in this season.
Divya Dutta Team Owner, Ludhiana Gullies said: "I am genuinely delighted to be an owner of this wonderful team; it gives me an opportunity to connect with my root as I am primarily from Ludhiana. For decades this city and this state has always displayed extraordinary sporting skills in all disciplines, but many of these talents never got their due credit, Ludhiana Gullies being the runner up in the first season only consolidates their cricketing prowess. I will be personally involved in all the aspects of my team right from the starting and appeal to corporates, institutions and society as a whole to extend their cooperation & support for this social cause. T-10 Gully Cricket format comes across at an apt stage for the youngsters to showcase their talent. "
Divya Dutta, added, “Firstly, I would like to extend my best wishes to my team. It indeed is a very big moment today and it gives me immense pleasure to unveil this Jersey for the team. The entire team is so excited for their debut match at the Super 8 stage . Wearing this jersey and performing in the ground in front of the crowd will just be a huge motivating factor and an adrenaline rush. I am sure they will play well and showcase outstanding performance in the matches. I would also like to welcome all the other teams on board ”
An ecstatic Prachi Desai , owner of Surat Gullies, enthused, “I am grateful to T10 Gully Cricket for polishing the unpolished diamonds of my team.” She also warned Divya Dutta , the owner of Ludhiana Gullies to better tighten her laces as Surat has now entered the race and is in the same group of the Super 8.”
On her part , Divya has her battle lines clearly defined when she emphatically cautions Prachi “Last time Ludhiana lost to surat though but I was not the team owner then” . Now with the sahnewal lass owning this team the equation has changed . The boys are all pumped to prove a point to their owner . The Surat vs Ludhiana is scheduled to be played on 5th March .
Jimmy Shergill , the proud owner of Jalandhar Gullies was euphoric and stated ‘I am extremely thrilled to see my team reach the super 8 stage of T-10 Gully Cricket Season 2 . We feel pleased to welcome Divya Dutta’s Ludhiana Gullies into the super 8 and keenly look forward to contesting against them “ Being slotted in two different groups , they are likely to clash only at the semi final stage .
Sanjay Dutt, the owner of Sirsa Gullies is a happy man and proud of his foresightedness to have adopted the team. He says, “am very happy for my boys to have reached this stage . Welcome on board Divya and her team Ludhiana Gullies for the super 8 stage but be forewarned that we not only have a great team but also the home advantage on our side .” This needle clash takes place on 4th March at 9 P.M, Prime time .
Anoop Wadhwa, Director, Reasonable Communications Pvt. Ltd said, remarked, “The all new T-10 Gully Cricket Season 2, with Bollywood glitz and cricket razzmatazz combined will make another appearance in Sirsa, and I hope the first ever night T-10 tournament is going to be a huge success in the city. The performances by these cricketers in Season I have captured the imagination of the audiences and added to the popularity of the game and a phenomenal increase in the fan following in tier-II & III cities and I hope T-10 Gully cricket season 2 with all its glamour will encourage the pipeline of cricket development and further ignite the passion of cricket lovers in Punjab. It is definitely the format of the future
Anoop Wadhwa, added “We are happy to have this specially designed jersey for the team unveiled today. It will help as a unifying factor and bond the players well, it’s an epitome of oneness and team spirit as the team will be playing their first group matches soon.”
‘Smart Class’ has a digital edge
Rakesh Bharti
“The digital revolution is far more significant than the invention of writing or even of printing.”— Douglas Engelbart
TODAY, our education system demands changes to meet the local and global needs. From individuals to nations, innovations in information technology influence almost every sphere of life. Therefore, classrooms can no longer afford to be left behind. There is great need for a new approach, new methods and new tools in teaching. Mere the chalk-and-talk method of teaching does not add any spice in the teaching-learning process. Worldwide there has been a strong push to get educational technology into the hands of teachers and students. However, it remains a reality that most teachers across the country continue to struggle with their day-to-day challenges in classrooms and remain completely aloof from technology even today.
With technological changes many traditional methods of teaching have become obsolete. Bringing technology to the classroom has given vent to the ‘Smart Class’ programme, a digital initiative which is rapidly transforming the way teachers teach and students learn in schools with innovative and meaningful use of technology. It provides tools and contents for interactive self-paced learning by students, as well as rich-media presentations for teacher-led classroom learning. Whatever the teacher teaches would be in an animated form, so that the student could easily relate themselves to the visuals and it would be easier for them to understand and remember the concept.
Smart Class is actually a high-end educational technology in which the traditional class becomes all the more interactive with loads of streaming videos, animations, graphics and other digital contents. Each classroom is set up by fixing an interactive touch screen board, and through an LCD projection, the content is displayed on the screen. The content available consists of pedagogically sound- and visually-rich curriculum resources mapped and customised as per the school’s scheme of work. The content repository consists of highly animated, lesson specific, 3D and 2D multimedia modules. This content can be streamed into the classroom and shown by teachers in the classroom to make abstract concepts real. Students learn difficult and abstract curriculum concepts watching highly engaging visuals and animations. This makes learning an enjoyable experience for students while improving their overall academic performance in school. Smart Class has a unique delivery model for schools. A knowledge center is created inside the school equipped with the entire library of Smart Class digital content. The knowledge center is connected to the classrooms through the Intranet. Teachers get the relevant digital resources such as animations and videos, interactive virtual labs tools, etc., and use them as part of their lesson plans in every class. The classrooms are equipped with custom-designed electronic interactive white boards, projection systems, PCs and UPS. Teachers use the digital resources while teaching inside the classrooms enabling students to acquire a faster and a better understanding of the concepts taught. Towards the end of the class, the teacher displays a set of questions on a large screen and the students get ready to answer the questions with their personal answering device— a smart assessment system. Students click the answers instantly, while the teacher is able to get a score sheet for every student. At the end of the class, the teacher repeats those parts of the lesson which were not understood well by the students.
This results in faster and accurate understanding of the concept and helps improve the overall academic performance of students. Teachers are able to keep students engaged in the learning process and also get an instant and accurate assessment of learning outcomes achieved at the end of the class. In fact, Smart Class has been conceived and developed around the ideology that for technology to become an integral part of day-to-day teaching and learning practices in schools, it needs to be taken to the classrooms where students and teachers spend over 80 per cent of their teaching-learning time. With the blend of new technology, traditional classrooms can become interactive and more interesting. No doubt, the Smart Class programme is a comprehensive solution designed to assist teachers in meeting with classroom challenges and enhancing students’ academic performance with simple, practical and meaningful use of technology. I hope that sooner or later, this new-age technology movement will make its presence felt in every class and every progressive school in India.
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