General Update | Filing PF withdrawal Claims Online Likely to be a Reality in December

 The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will launch the online facility for submitting provident fund withdrawal claims in December, which would quicken such settlements and benefit its over five crore subscribers.

At present, subscribers of the retirement fund body have to file PF settlement claims manually after they leave a job or after their retirement. The online application of such claims would enable EPFO to eventually settle those within three days.

"EPFO has decided to provide the facility of online application for PF withdrawal claims. It will be launched by mid-December," a source said.

According to the source, all those subscribers whose PF and bank accounts are linked with Aadhaar number would be able to avail this facility.

Elaborating further he said that since Aadhaar number provide anywhere anytime authentication of identity on the basis of captured biometric details of a person, there would be remote chances of fraud or cheating.

A senior official said that sometimes EPFO takes more than mandated 30 days for settling provident fund withdrawals claims due to various reasons including errors while filling the manual form.

He said, "EPFO would eventually settle all type of claims including PF withdrawal and transfer within three days of filing those applications."

EPFO has planned to settle 20-30 per cent of PF claims online by the end of this financial year. During the last fiscal year, it had settled a total of 1.21 crore claims including over a million PF transfer cases.

The body has recently issued over four crore Universal PF Account Numbers (UAN) which are being seeded with Aadhaar number and bank accounts. This portable PF account would enable subscribers to have only one account while working with various employers throughout his/her life.

Source | http://profit.ndtv.com/news/your-money/article-filing-online-pf-withdrawal-claims-likely-to-be-a-reality-in-december-702148

This app trains you to read a 1,20,000-word novel in 2 hrs

It lets your eye take in huge quantities of words at an accelerated rate

In the movie Lucy, Scarlett Johansson plays a woman who ingests a drug that gives her super-intelligence, allowing her to read huge volumes of material in just minutes.In real life, Boston tech startup Spritz has made a speedreading app that allows you to do just that.

After a small amount of practice reading with the Spritz app, you should be able to read at 1,000 words per minute -a speed fast enough to let you take in a 1,20,000 word novel in just two hours.

The app has a novelty factor -it feels bizarre to let your eyes passively take in huge quantities of words at an ac celerated rate instead of leisurely scanning sentences the old-fashioned way. And as everything comes at a constant speed, you can't slow down to savour a passage or skip past the boring bits. But in terms of raw factual intake, it can't be beaten.Will consumers get used to it? Probably: They got used to the pageless pagination of the Kindle, after all.

Spritz founder and CEO Frank Waldman believes his company will give birth to a golden era of speed reading.

Samsung's line of Gear smart watches, t he impending launch of the Apple Watch, and Google Glass a l l b e g the same question: How will these new, tiny screens deliver information? Spritz solves that problem by delivering words in a stream instead of in a series of lines. In fact, Spritz is already integrated into the Gear 2 watches, Waldman said.

However, anyone who worries about constant information overload in the digital age might not be too enthusiastic about Spritz's other interesting effect: Waldman says that just because Spritz allows you to read twice as fast doesn't mean you're going to cut your reading time in half. “It enables readers to read more. if you read twice as fast you don't read half .the time, you read twice as much,“ Waldman says 

Source | Economic Times | 14 November 2014

Teaching with technology

While 88 per cent of educators consider technology to be important and 95 per cent are convinced that it helps to improve the pace of student learning, only 32 per cent of schools have actually introduced virtual learning. "We all understand the need for technology but don't know how to harness its potential," explains Anil Sethi, director, commercial channels, Dell India. Held last month in New Delhi, the Learn Today Educational Technology Summit brought together nearly 120 different school principals, academics, administrators and technology experts to discuss not just the benefits but also the steps needed to set up virtual classrooms. "This is the era of connectivity and individualism. On one hand we are more connected to the people around us but on the other hand we are very bad at dealing with them. Social growth and aesthetics have been forgotten and learners are much more emotionally disturbed today; they have the means but don't know how to use it effectively. This is why familiarisation with social interaction and networks from an early age is important," says Rajendra Pawar, co-founder, NIIT and keynote speaker at the summit. "Each of us needs to learn how to curate new information and be independent learners in a wired world," he adds.

DIGITAL LEADERSHIP

According to Pawar, the reputation of a school is inversely proportionate to their investment in technology. "Most educators realise the benefits of technology in schools. They are also committed towards increasing the use in their own institutes. But commitment without involvement leads to nothing," he explains. He further recommends that top management in schools keep aside a technology hour every day so that teachers, management and students can interact and update one another on what is being done with various software and devices in school. He also feels a teacher should clock atleast eight hours of technology usage in a month so as to become more familiar with different kinds of technology. "Management also needs to be more proactive in resolving conflicts between users and IT providers. There is a widening gap because of a lack of communication and awareness on both ends. This needs a hands-on approach in order to be overcome," he says.

AWARENESS IS KEY

Most speakers agreed that schools remain largely unaware of the new ways in which technology can redefine classroom learning. According to a survey conducted by PEW Research, on an average a teacher only voluntarily uses technology one to two times in a whole year. "From online parent teacher meetings to instant report cards and individual analysis, there is a whole world of interactive, simple and fun features that schools are missing out on if they chose to ignore technological innovations," says MM Pant, former pro-vice chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Pant delivered a talk on the need for sustained integration of technology in the classroom at the summit. "Education is something you can talk about for years and still not come to a complete resolution but that doesn't mean you should stop trying. The new generation today has different interests and challenges to face than their predecessors. Teaching has to be adapted accordingly," adds Pant.

21ST CENTURY SKILLS

Sam Al-Schamma, director, education sector, Asia-Pacific region, Intel Corporation also stressed upon the changing nature of skill training required for students today at the summit. "Jobs and lifestyles are different today - let us accept this. Today students no longer want to learn blindly. They want to interact and collaborate and tackle tasks in a more practical manner. It's sad that classrooms have not changed to match this mindset yet," he says. According to Al-Schamma the days when teachers spoke and students listened passively are over. "Imagine a child who plays with his gaming console and surfs the Internet for cartoons in the evening. And the next day he has to sit silently and stare at a blackboard. Neither is he learning anything nor is he being prepared to face 21st century workplaces. Companies don't need passive workers, they need, rather demand, employees who can think critically, work in teams and come up with innovative solutions," adds Al-Schamma.

STUDENT AS TEACHER

One of the major ideas generated at the summit was that of evolving the classroom into a student-centric environment without leaving teachers behind. Many felt that the solution lay in finding the right device and medium; one that a teacher is comfortable using on a daily basis. Often small problems such as ambiguous maintenance procedures or a cluttered interface can deter teachers from coexisting with technology. Interestingly a number of software and hardware providers are now recognising these user challenges and coming up with solutions accordingly. For example, Jumping Frog, an advanced student management software developed by Netspec Global, offers teachers a simple dashboard from where they can maintain individual student profiles. Teachers can upload performance, quizzes, friend circles, hobbies and behaviour patterns for each student. This comprehensive e-profile can then be accessed by the school, parent and student - thus building an accessible network between all stakeholders. As Al-Schamma sums it up, "the magic is not in technology but in the teacher. The minute a teacher understands technology and starts to work with it, that's when the real magic happens in the classroom."

Source | http://indiatoday.intoday.in/

Pvt sector must be encouraged to broaden role in scientific research

Modern India has had a strong rhetorical focus on science and technology, considering it a key element of economic growth and the development of a rational and critical worldview. This rhetoric, while uplifting, failed to impact on poverty reduction and development. Careers in science no longer provide enough remuneration or prestige to draw top-level talent. Our translation of R&D into actual production has been weak. Technological imports, whether in electronics or fighter engines, have grown rapidly. Our scientific manpower was built on a small, educated pool of scientists, most of whom chose to leave for distant shores. Despite the dawn of the computing age, India missed out on semiconductors and silicon chips. We chose to adopt and purchase, instead of innovating. 

A new science policy: India lies in the lowest quartile on R&D, both in terms of spending (<1% of GDP) and researcher count (<100 per million population). Our R&D allocation is dominated by the public sector (>80%), with universities left with a paltry 3%. In most countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, it’s the opposite — the private sector contributes the majority, with universities coming at around 20%. 

We need to address our limited scientific base. This will require a three-pronged approach focused on knowledge creation and commercialisation, inclusive innovation and subsequent knowledge diffusion and absorption. This needs to be supported by a focus on higher education, information infrastructure and innovation financing. The private sector needs to be encouraged to take greater risks in innovation, bolstered by an encouraging policy and regulatory framework. 

Public policy has its role to play. With a stronger Intellectual Property Regime (IPR), matching grants and tax subsidies, knowledge creation can be boosted. A simplified technology licensing policy, combined with good infrastructure and a stable macroeconomic environment, can work wonders. 

More physicists, fewer managers: Gross enrolments in higher education continue to remain below 20%. Just 16% of Indian manufacturing firms offer in-house training. Basic skill deficits need to be addressed by investments in primary, secondary and vocational education, and by building manager and worker skills. The quality of India’s engineers and researchers needs to be improved substantially through investment in ITIs. Financial support for early stage technology development should be addressed by regulatory efforts to deepen the pool of early stage venture capital and a promotion of pro-poor inclusive banking. Micro, small and medium enterprises should be offered viability gap funding through existing government innovation programmes. 

Expanding our technological base: Political prestige seems to drive our scientific allocation. Defence research and space are considered paramount, while our IITs are announced grandly and located in politically vital constituencies, with little consideration to their faculty and catchment area. Less than 20% of public research spending is allocated for civilian applications; 8% to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and 4% to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). Our public civilian research spending needs to go up. The CSIR, along with the ICAR and the Department of Science’s laboratories, needs to be restructured and refocused on the market, along with more fiscal and managerial autonomy. University R&D should be supported by competitive grants, along the lines of the US National Science Foundation, along with greater academic partnerships and researcher exchange programmes. The Sponsored Research and Development Programme and Small Business Innovation Research Initiative need to be expanded. 

Indian Patent Offices should be upgraded to cater to individuals and organisations. A special Court of Appeals for intellectual property rights should be set up, along with a policy think tank. Links between industry, universities and public laboratories should be strengthened by providing support for technology transfer. 

Private and inclusive innovation: Private firms need to be encouraged to spend on R&D, by expanding early stage technology development programmes and utilising public procurement to promote innovation. Tax regimes should encourage a favourable treatment of R&D. Technology parks and incubators should be expanded through fiscal incentives. Inclusive innovation is also necessary. Formal R&D efforts for the poor should be scaled up and focused on informal enterprises. The CSIR’s technology applications, like e-Choupal, should be scaled up across the country’s villages. The National Innovation Foundation’s grassroots innovation repository (>50,000 products) should be commercialised, with benefits flowing down to local communities. The Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network should be expanded to serve as an incubator for local innovation. 

Grand challenges still matter. Cleaning up the Ganga or making India clean should be showcases for innovative products and practices. By making local communities and officials compete, we could solve our budding congestion and water crisis. A simple light-touch oversight mechanism that links such local initiatives with innovation hubs and provides viability gap funding will help provide appropriate monitoring to achieve realistic targets. ‘Make in India’ can mean high technology as well.

Source | Hindustan Times | 6 November 2014

Indians prefer printed books over e-books: Survey

Despite all the strides taken by India in the digital world, nearly four out of five respondents in the Tata Literature Live! Survey 2014 conducted across the country say they favour printed books over electronic reading. 

In an attempt to understand the evolving landscape of literary reading, amidst technological, social and behavioural impacts, the survey brought forth key insights into Indians' reading habits, a press release from the Tata Group said.

According to it, the results of the survey revealed the preference of printed books across all generations. 

From among the respondents, hyper-connected post-millennials in the age group of less than 20, rank highest in this preference with 81%. This is followed by those in the age group of 21-30 with 79%, 31-40 age group and 41-50 age group with 75% each, the lowest being the age-group of 50 and above with 74%.

Regionally, Mumbai respondents lead with 80% opting for the printed word. This is followed by Delhi with 79%, Kolkata with 78%, Bengaluru with 77% and Chennai with 76%.

"The Tata Literature Live! Survey 2014 is an effort to look into contemporary India's literary leisure reading. The survey has not only explored reading tastes, but more importantly how India is reading today. It is heartening to see India's love for the written word, and the findings encourage us to celebrate it even further at the forthcoming editions of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest!" says Mr. Anil Dharker, Founder and Festival Director of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest.

Dr. Mukund Rajan, Member – Group Executive Council and Brand Custodian, Tata Sons, says, "The Tata Literature Live! Survey has thrown up very interesting findings. In a world of primetime TV, breaking news, and intensive social networking, reading books remains a popular activity. Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest endeavours to promote the cause of literature, particularly amongst the younger generation, and the findings of the survey enthuse us to strengthen our efforts in this direction."

The survey looks deeper into other aspects of reading habits as well. Some of the highlights are:

• 60% respondents read a literary piece once a week 
• 42% respondents ranked reading as the best means to survive a bad day
• 74% respondents prefer reading to internet, social media or gaming 
• 69% respondents prefer reading over watching television shows or movies 
• 61% respondents prefer reading over socialising 
• 60% respondents prefer reading over outdoor/indoor games 
• Mumbai respondents show highest preference for printed books (80%) and choose reading over digital entertainment (78%), socialising (66%) and indoor/outdoor games (64%)
• The survey crowns Kolkata as the literary capital of India as - 67% people opt for leisure literary reading once a week, 17% respondents have more than 300 literary books and 49% people choose reading as an escape from a bad day, all highest among other metros
• Across generations, it is the post-millennial readers (73.49%), who read literary pieces more often than any other age-group
• Also, people of 50 years and above emerge as the generation of book hoarders, with 20.59% claiming to have more than 300 books on their shelves
• Further, disclosing author preferences, respondents across regions and age-groups shared mythology as a genre where they enjoy Indian authors more than their non-Indian counterparts.
• Interestingly, when quizzed about what they would bargain to read, about 37.61% of the respondents are willing to let go off their daily dose of favourite TV shows for reading, ranking the highest amongst other categories such as, giving up their lives, skipping a plan/party with friends, taking a day off at work, or not giving up anything at all

Tata Literature Live! Survey 2014 is an exclusive study by the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest on Indian reading habits. Conducted in October 2014, the survey took a close look into the evolving landscape of literary reading amidst technological, social and behavioural impacts. It focuses on how India is reading today and dwells into the perceptions on literature, across demographics. The research was conducted online, accumulating responses from 1,426 individuals, across the country.

The fifth edition of Mumbai's international literary festival, Tata Literature Live, brought internationally renowned writers and performances from all over the world to Mumbai. The festival which took place at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, and, for the first time, at Prithvi Theatre and The Easel in Juhu, had an invigorating line-up of debates, talks, and creative performances which not only started a vibrant exchange of ideas, but also connected with literary conversations currently happening on a broad global stage.

Extremely happy with this year's edition, Dharker said, "The past four days have been an incredible experience. We have witnessed a huge turnout of audience which is overwhelming. Our sessions have seen full attendance and we have had live projections to other venues which have been full as well. Literature has taken hold of the city in a significant way and perhaps Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest! has contributed in a small way to that."

Over 120 writers, thinkers and performers from countries as diverse as England, the USA, Germany, Italy, Israel and Ireland took centre stage at the festival.

Source | http://netindian.in/