| :: | Shri R.K.Bahuguna has taken over the charge as Managing Director of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd w.e.f. 1st Oct, 2011 |
| :: | Shri Milind Deora, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology informed Rajya Sabha today in a written reply that government has approved creation of National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) for providing broadband connectivity of all panchayats. The plan is to extend the existing optical fibre network initially upto panchayats by utilizing the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) and creating an institutional mechanism for management and operation of the NOFN for ensuring non discriminatory access to all service providers. |
| | The Minister further informed the Members that National Informatics Centre ( NIC) has been assigned a project by DOT/USOF for carrying out the Geo Information System (GIS) mapping of the existing OFC network of the various telecom operators such BSNL, Rail Tel, Power Grid, etc and the work is in progress. The mapping of the existing OFC will enable to calculate the incremental length of the cable required for connecting all the 2.5 lakh panchayats with OFC. The cost of initial phase of the NOFN scheme is likely to be in the region of Rs. 20,000 crores, Shri Deora said. |
| :: | Ranchi, Dec. 18: Tomorrow, Indian Institute of Management-Ranchi will become a part of the National Knowledge Network (NKN), translating into instant connectivity with other IIMs as well as IITs to enable sharing of academic inputs |
| | For the ambitious initiative, IIM-Ranchi has been provided a NKN bandwidth of 100Mbps, with RailTel taking on the role of service provider. |
| The network will enable knowledge sharing through virtual classrooms, access to library resources, internet browsing at lightning speed and other academic sharing activities with the IIMs and IITs to begin with, and other universities and institutes around the state in future. |
| | “This will revolutionise learning. Students and teachers from other institutes will be able to log on to our classrooms and vice-versa. Sharing of library resources would be easier. The line has been provided to us free of cost by the government of India,” IIM-Ranchi director M.J. Xavier told The Telegraph. |
| | With the cradle all set to start a neuro-management and other specialised courses, the institutes connected to IIM-Ranchi through NKN also stand to benefit. |
| | The facility will also enable to access to lectures already delivered in prestigious institutions. “If an important lecture is delivered in an IIM, our students can access it through NKN,” added Xavier. |
| | The NKN link would be inaugurated tomorrow by Subas Pani, a retired IAS officer who is now a member of the board of governors of IIM-Ranchi. |
| | NKN is a state-of-the-art pan-India network. It will facilitate development of the country’s information infrastructure, stimulate research and create next generation applications and services. It was approved in March 2010 by the Union cabinet with an outlay of Rs 5,990 crore. |
| | It was established as a high-speed backbone connectivity to enable knowledge and information sharing. When used to its full capacity, it will enable collaborative research, development and innovation. It would also facilitate advance distance education in specialised fields such as engineering, science, medicine etc. More importantly, it would be a support system for e-governance in the near future. |
| | Sources said other institutes like BIT-Mesra and Ranchi University would also be connected through NKN in the near future. |
| :: | Northeast needs more government initiatives: Tripura chief minister |
| :: | Wi-Fi fittings for Howrah Rajdhani |