Latest news with #Ramakrishnan
Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Key step in democratising AI: IIT-B releases 16 datasets on AIKOSH
In an important milestone for India's Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has released 16 diverse and culturally significant datasets on AIKOSH, India's official AI repository, making it among the biggest contributors to AIKOSH. This marks a crucial step in democratising AI by making high-quality, India-centric data openly accessible to researchers, startups and developers across the country. IIT Bombay made the announcement on X, saying that these datasets are designed to support innovation and research in AI and Machine Learning (ML), particularly in the Indian context. *IIT Bombay Releases 16 AI Datasets on AIKOSH: Enabling the Future of Responsible AI in India 🇮🇳* IIT Bombay is thrilled to announce the release of 16 diverse and culturally significant datasets on AIKOSH, the Government of India's official AI repository. These datasets are… — IIT Bombay (@iitbombay) May 30, 2025 AIKOSH, which was launched in March by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is a national platform aimed at providing support for inclusive AI development across the country. The 16 datasets by IIT Bombay are part of a larger pool of 21 AI models now available on AIKOSH, which were created by BharatGen, a Section 8 company funded by the Department of Science and Technology for indigenous AI development in India. The company is a consortium of seven partners. Led by IIT Bombay, the consortium includes IIT Kanpur, IIT Mandi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras, IIM Indore and IIIT Hyderabad. Prof Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Department of Computer Science Engineering, IIT Bombay, said, 'Our goal is not just to build AI models but to provide resources that startups and system integrators can leverage, creating a favourable and sovereign AI ecosystem for India.' The datasets released on AIKOSH include handwritten and printed Indian scripts, multilingual audio data and resources designed to interpret visual and spoken inputs from Indian environments. Among the notable contributions are a large-scale Sanskrit Optical Character Recognition (OCR) dataset consisting of over 218,000 sentences from historical texts to support the digitisation of ancient Indian knowledge. There is also a speech recognition dataset with more than 78 hours of Sanskrit audio. Additional resources include capabilities for detecting tables across documents in 14 Indian languages and a comprehensive Wiki on Indian Knowledge Systems, among others. Prof Ramakrishnan said, 'Equal emphasis on India data and its provenance allows these models to uniquely balance Indian data alongside English data, ensuring true relevance and understanding for our diverse nation, while also catering to its security. These models are built with Indian linguistic and cultural nuances at their core. By making these datasets available to all thorough AIKOSH, we are democratising AI in order to foster innovations across the country, eventually to build a self-reliant and inclusive AI ecosystem for India.'
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
LDF accuses UDF of cobbling together a rainbow coalition of communal forces in Nilambur bypoll
Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener T.P. Ramakrishnan said the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition was scrambling to cobble together a 'rainbow coalition' of communal forces in the vain hope that it could trounce the ruling front in the Nilambur Assembly byelection. Mr. Ramakrishnan claimed the UDF lacked a credible development and social welfare agenda to offer Nilambur's electorate. He noted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remained undecided about fielding a candidate in Nilambur. He alleged the UDF's commitment to the principles of secularism was suspiciously ambiguous, and the coalition was desperately scouting for allies of all communal hues. 'The UDF is desperate to win Nilambur. It is a six-party coalition of convenience that will disintegrate if the people shun the alliance for a third consecutive time in the 2026 Assembly elections,' he said. Mr. Ramakrishnan said the LDF's emphasis on social welfare and development had provided tangible results for Kerala, including Nilambur's electorate. 'They have enthusiastically rallied behind Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] candidate M. Swaraj,' he said. Mr. Ramakrishnan said former Left Democratic Front Independent legislator from Nilambur P.V. Anvar had rendered himself a political non-entity by switching sides and aligning himself with the UDF. The Congress and the media had lionised Mr. Anvar as a muckraking anti-corruption LDF insider. However, Mr. Anvar's sensationalist value seemed shortlived. Mr. Ramakrishnan said the Congress had taken a page from the aged political playbook it had used and failed against the LDF in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections. Congress' potshots at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan based on Mr. Anvar's false accusations had ricocheted off the wall of popular opinion. 'Mr. Anvar's entry into the UDF is in limbo. The for-and-against Anvar infighting is the new battlefront in the Cold War between entrenched Congress factions in Kerala. Mr. Anvar's prospecting for a berth in the UDF has clawed open old fissures in the Congress. The facade of unity in the Congress is unravelling rapidly. The schisms will work to Mr. Swaraj's advantage in the bypoll,' he said. Mr. Ramakrishnan said the LDF would complete the formation of booth committees by June 5. On June 1, Mr. Vijayan would chair the election committee in Nilambur and address a mammoth LDF rally with other alliance leaders.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
IGNOU, IIT Bombay launch AI initiative for regional language learning
Distance learning platform leader Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on Project Udaan, an AI-driven translation platform to promote inclusive and equitable education. Udaan integrates optical character recognition (OCR), layout preservation, domain-specific glossaries, and human-in-the-loop editing to deliver high-fidelity translation of academic and technical content into Indian languages. Through this collaboration, IGNOU aims to make its extensive educational resources available in multiple regional languages, thereby expanding access for learners across the country, a statement read. The collaboration supports the goals outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, particularly the emphasis on multilingual education, digital access, and academic equity, the statement added. The signing ceremony, held on Friday at the IGNOU Headquarters, was chaired by the Vice Chancellor of IGNOU. The event was also attended by senior academic leadership. Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan, the chair professor in Digital Entrepreneurship at the Bank of Baroda and principal investigator of Udaan, represented IIT Bombay at the event. 'This partnership with IIT Bombay is a powerful alignment with our vision to democratize higher education. Through Project Udaan, we aim to bridge the language divide and empower learners in every corner of India,' the V-C of IGNOU said. Prof. Ramakrishnan said, 'Udaan is designed to serve the linguistic and educational diversity of India. This MoU marks a critical step in translating that vision into impact at scale, with IGNOU's vast learner base.' Prof. Nayantara Padhi, a professor at the School of Management Studies and MoU coordinator from IGNOU, said, 'This collaboration reflects IGNOU's commitment to educational equity and innovation.' 'By integrating AI-enabled translation tools with our academic delivery, we are opening new doors for learners in regional and rural contexts who will now have access to high-quality content in their own languages,' she added. 'It also contributes to national missions like Digital India and Bharat Bhasha, strengthening India's position in culturally grounded and inclusive AI research,' the notification read.
New Indian Express
26-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Madras High Court slams ex-Geology chief for illegal revival of mining licence
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has severely criticised an IAS officer, who had served as Commissioner of Geology and Mining, for issuing a 'completely fraudulent, aberrational and unconscionably illegal' order to revoke the temporary suspension of quarrying licence of a lease holder in Tiruppur district, who was slapped with a meagre penalty of Rs 10.40 crore for illegal mining, without following due legal procedures. The officer, J Jayakanthan, is currently serving as secretary of water resources department. He had, in his capacity as Commissioner of Geology and Mining in 2022, revoked the suspension of licence and permitted lease holder R Ramakrishnan to resume mining operations by paying an initial fine of Rs 30 lakh and the remaining amount in instalments. Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, in a recent judgment, remarked, 'In any event, the order of the second respondent is completely fraudulent, aberrational and unconscionably illegal and it is an affront to the environment as well as to the entire set of judgments of the Supreme Court of India on the matter. This course of action is taken to defraud the government of a significant sum of money, certainly more than Rs 78 crore.' The orders were passed on a petition filed by Ramakrishnan praying for quashing the December 6, 2024 GO issued by the secretary of natural resources department to set aside the GO issued by Jayakanthan dated September 26, 2022. Ramakrishnan was found to have illegally mined 39,405 cubic metres of topsoil and weathered rock, 25 times more than the permitted level of 1,575 cbms. The illegal mining of rough stones accounts for 3, 21, 811 cbms. He was also found to have committed similar offences in another quarry for which the licence had already expired. The respondents, including P Vijayakumar, an affected farmer and R Sathish Kumar, of Tamilaga Vivasayigal Pathukappu Sangam, submitted that the total fine for the illegal minerals would work out to a minimum of Rs 84 crore and maximum of Rs 180 crore. However, the then commissioner had let the lease holder off by slapping a meagre Rs 10.40 crore by flouting the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Minor Minerals Concession Rules and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, they submitted. Refusing to quash the order of the secretary of the natural resources department, the judge directed the jurisdictional sub-collector to file a private complaint initiating prosecution (criminal action) against the accused persons for committing the violations. He directed the secretary of natural resources department to issue notice to the lease holder over premature termination of the existing lease agreement and for recovery of the value of the minerals with appropriate penalty for seigniorage fee.
New Indian Express
25-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Two arrested by Avadi police in land fraud case
CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Avadi police on Saturday said they have arrested two persons in a land fraud case involving sale of a Rs 1.17-crore property using forged documents which include an expired power of attorney. The investigation was started based on a complaint filed by S Reganpal of Kodungaiyur who told the police that a 3.86-acre land in Ambattur, bought by his late mother Ingrid Leena, was usurped by the accused. Reganpal said the land was bought in 2005 and they had all the documents. In 2006, a group consisting of A Murari, Kamala E Sharma and K Sadasivam tried to usurp the land and gave power of attorney to R Ramakannan. A case was filed in a civil court which is still pending. Meanwhile, the complainant found that in April 2023, multiple individuals executed a sale deed using a power of attorney which had expired as Murari had died by then. A 'life certificate' was forged using which the sale of the land was registered at the Red Hills sub registrar office. The property worth over Rs 1 crore was sold for a few lakhs to Ramakrishnan, Gnanamoorthy, V Kanchana and Kumaravel. Based on a complaint, the Avadi CCB registered a case and arrested Ramakrishnan and Gnanamoorthy from their homes in Tiruvallur district. Investigation is under way to arrest the other accused.
