Latest news with #AndhraUniversity
Hans India
3 days ago
- Science
- Hans India
Andhra University bags National Geospatial Award
Visakhapatnam: Andhra University was honoured with the Best University Jury Award at the National Geospatial Awards 2025 (Edition-2). The award was presented by FOSSEE GIS under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ministry of Education. The university was recognised for its outstanding and long-standing contributions to the geospatial domain, for its innovation in GIS education, research, and community outreach in particular. Also, former head of the Department of Geo-Engineering and Centre for Remote Sensing and GIS Prof Vazeer Mahammood received the National Geospatial Faculty Fellow Jury Award. The recognition was in acknowledgement to his consistent and impactful contributions to the geospatial field over the last 35 years. Expressing his gratitude, Prof Mahammood stated that the award inspires him to continue his efforts in the field of geospatial science. The awards were presented by AS Kiran Kumar, member of the Space Commission and former Chairman of ISRO at IIT Bombay on the occasion of the 'Open Source GIS Day.' Thanking organisers for the recognition, Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University Prof G Rajasekhar said that the honour highlights the university's historic and ongoing commitment to geospatial education, as well as its role in national development. "This award comes at a time when Andhra University is celebrating its centenary in 2025, reaffirming our legacy of academic leadership and innovation," he remarked.
Hans India
6 days ago
- Hans India
AI-powered digital literacy platform empowers poor students
Visakhapatnam: Notwithstanding resource constraints and on a shoestring budget, a distinguished professor with an indomitable will managed to reach out to disadvantaged students in five villages of Pendurthi mandal in Visakhapatnam and, with his team, made learning fun for the digital have-nots. Thanks to his indefatigable efforts, some of the students now know pretty well how to access digital lessons, post queries, view video classes, and share best practices. Prof Meka James Stephen, Chair Professor of Dr. BR Ambedkar Chair, Andhra University, embarked upon a short-term research project that focused on 'digital education for social justice: achieving equal opportunities through Sustainable Development Goal-4 in rural India', the path ahead was not that easy as children used to shy away when the team approached them. Besides, there were resource constraints and lack of infrastructure. That, however, did not deter the 15-member-team and over 30 facilitators, led by James Stephen, from reaching out to the marginalised communities residing in five hamlets of Pendurthi – Pinagadi, Rampuram, Karakavanipalem, Gorepalli and Kotnivanipalem and encouraging the wards help browse beyond their favourite YouTube channels, reels and movies to add value to their education via a digital journey. After making repeated field visits, followed by a detailed survey, Prof James Stephen says that a comprehensive framework for a customised AI-driven digital literacy platform was initiated. 'By integrating advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and scalable cloud infrastructure, the platform delivered relevant and personalised digital learning portions to students,' the Chair Professor highlights. Multilingual support, 'gamified 'content, real-time analytics, and hybrid infrastructure that supports both online and offline access formed part of the key features of the digital literacy project. 'To access AI-driven content, mobile phones were used. Children were able to access digital lessons and go through the content whenever they wanted to,' explains Prof. James Stephen, who was recently honoured with the 'Global Research Excellence Award' at the Nexus Synergy Awards 2025, Europe in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research and social innovation. Also, as a keynote speaker at the Springer international conference 'Networking International Conference on Emerging Trends in Expert Applications and Security' held in Poland, he highlighted technological interventions for marginalised communities. The short-term research-based project in Pedurthi empowered over 250 students aged between 10 and 18 years in the five villages with digital literacy. 'Post our literacy intervention, their ability to use digital tools shot up to 97 per cent from a mere 21 per cent before. There is an apparent shift in their subject-wise understanding as most of them crossed 60 per cent in their test scores. And their comfort level in accessing digital content rose to 88 per cent from 18 per cent before,' exults Prof. James Stephen. But in order to scale up the prototype project to a real-time application, the Chair Professor says, infusion of additional funds is required. 'With the support of government funds, IoT-enabled devices and a cloud-based set-up could be designed to cater to a large section of rural students for digital literacy,' James Stephen shares with The Hans India. A multilingual NLP interface with speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion made content accessibility much easier for students.
New Indian Express
11-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Delayed census hit tribal welfare in Andhra: Expert
VISAKHAPATNAM: As the country awaits the next population census, originally due in 2021, the absence of updated data has become a hindrance for tribal development in Andhra Pradesh. 'With newly formed districts such as Alluri Sitarama Raju and Parvathipuram Manyam housing a large tribal population, the delay in the census is making it increasingly difficult to plan and implement welfare schemes effectively,' opined Chetti Praveen Kumar from Agro-Economic Research Centre, Andhra University. According to the 2011 Census, Scheduled Tribes (STs) accounted for around 5.3% of the erstwhile united AP's population. Since then, several administrative changes, including the bifurcation of the State, have altered demographic patterns, particularly in tribal-dominated areas. 'The lack of updated census data means that local planning still relies on decade-old statistics, limiting the accuracy and reach of welfare programmes,' Praveen explained. The allocation of funds under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) is largely dependent on ST population. This strategy, guided by the proportion of STs in the population, determines financial planning for schemes related to education, healthcare, housing, and forest rights. 'Without recent population figures, fund allocation is based on estimates, affecting the quality, and targeting of services on the ground,' he noted. Praveen stated that tribal communities in AP, including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), rely on accurate population mapping for various entitlements. 'In areas such as Visakhapatnam Agency, many hamlets still lack official recognition due to the absence of updated habitation data.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Andhra University to offer AI training for faculty, students
Visakhapatnam: Andhra University vice-chancellor Prof GP Rajasekhar stated that the university, as the nodal agency, plans to conduct skill training sessions in AI and deep tech for 100 faculty members and 10,000 students. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now AU recently held a meeting with correspondents and principals of its affiliate colleges. Speaking on the occasion, the vice-chancellor said that examinations must be conducted strictly and systematically. "I have observed certain shortcomings in recent days, and measures are being taken to address all of them. Any examination centre found to be negligent or lax in conducting exams will not only be disqualified, but the concerned college may also risk losing its affiliation. The performance of and law colleges should be improved. As part of the centenary celebrations, faculty development programmes will soon be launched involving affiliated colleges. Rural outreach initiatives will also be introduced in collaboration with AU-affiliated colleges located in rural areas, and the relevant guidelines will be announced shortly. A faculty mentorship system is also being introduced to provide necessary career guidance to faculty working in affiliated colleges," said Prof. Rajasekhar. He stressed that affiliated colleges are an integral part of the institute and that it is essential to ensure students studying in these colleges do not face any inconvenience. The university is prepared to provide the necessary support and guidance to affiliated colleges, he added.
The Hindu
06-07-2025
- The Hindu
Vizag doctor arrested in cocaine seizure case
The III Town Police on Sunday arrested a doctor in connection with the seizure of 25 grams of cocaine on July 5 at a vacant place on the Andhra University North Campus here. With this latest arrest, the total number of individuals apprehended in the case has risen to three, including a South African national. The arrested has been identified as K. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Varma, 34, a resident of Kurmannapalem. Assistant Commissioner of Police (East Sub-Division) K. Lakshmana Murthy stated that as part of the ongoing investigation, several suspects were questioned, including Dr. Varma. During the inquiry, it was revealed that he had also contributed funds along with the prime accused, Ch. Akshay, to purchase cocaine and also was in the habit of consuming the drug. The city police in a joint operation with EAGLE, the anti-drug unit of the State, arrested Akshay alias Munna (34) of Seethammadhara, and Thomas Djimon (30), from Pretoria, South Africa, currently residing in Delhi, for possession of 25 grams of cocaine worth ₹15 lakh here on Saturday. Akshay, who works as an insurance agent, reportedly confessed that he and his friends intended to consume the substance, for which they had agreed to pay ₹3.60 lakh. According to the police, the kingpins of the racket were Prince alias Omenefe and Butchi, both based in Delhi. Akshay contacted Prince for the drug, who then arranged Thomas to deliver it. Akshay had shared the delivery location with Thomas via WhatsApp, picked him up near the AU Maddilapalem Arch, and drove him to an isolated spot where the drugs were handed over inside a diary. It was at this point that the police conducted the raid and took them into custody. Further investigation is on.
