Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Special Lecture by Dr. Gulshan Rai, Chief Information Security Officer, Prime Minister Office, India; Conducted by CSE & IT Dept. at NCU Auditorium

Department of CSE & IT, The NorthCap University through the courtesy of Prof. Amitava Sen Gupta invited Dr Gulshan Rai, the first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Prime Minister Office, India on 17 November 2016 to deliver a special lecture. Prior to this, he was working as Director General, CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) and Group Coordinator of E-Security and Cyber Law Division in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.


Dr Rai addressed the faculty and students about the Digital Revolution and its impact on Internet and Cyber Security. Dr Rai explained the Indian Cyber Space, what it constitutes and importance of Cyber Security in Cyber Space. He also discussed how criminals use malware (customize software in order to perform malicious activities) to hack systems and commit various frauds. Further, hestressed upon the importance of preparing the student’s workforce in the field of Cyber Security to caterto the ever increasing demand of Cyber Security Experts in our country and aboard. 


Dr Rai appreciated the University’s efforts for running an MTech programme with specialization in Cyber Security but suggested that more needs to be done in this direction by collaborating with industries and Government organizations. The faculty and students actively participated in the interactive session with Dr Rai who promised to make a second longer visit sometime in the near future. 

Friday, November 25, 2016

Alumni Speak

Mr Bhrigu Joshi, alumnus Civil Engineering 2016 batch, joined Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign which is a top ranked university in the field of Civil and Structural Engineering. Bhrigu shares his experience at Urbana-Champaign.

“I extend my sincere thanks to The NorthCap University for all the support and guidance that enabled me achieve this success. I am grateful for Vice-Chancellor, Brig Sk Sharma’s help and mentorship which has helped in more than one ways. The curriculum at Urbana-Champaign is tough and work intensive and requires a lot of constant effort to sail through. 

I would also like to thank Dr Amit Srivastava, HoD Civil Engineering at NCU. The use of notations for certain derivations used by him in class is similar that are being taught here and it made the transition between the coursework at NCU and UIUC a bit easier. Also I cannot emphasize enough the importance of computational tools in academic life and the use of MATLAB. We are required to use MATLAB for assignments here and the learnings at NCU are helping me a lot in this. I would recommend more involvement of MATLAB as a computational tool in the curriculum at NCU. “

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Leading the NorthCapians to the World of Creativity, Innovation, Leadership and Entrepreneurship

Dr Sushmita Biswal Waraich
School of Management,
The NorthCap University, Gurugram

We all know that the world around us is moving faster than ever before. The world of business is galloping too and competition is the buzz word today. If it was rightly said by Plato, the great Greek Philosopher, “Necessity is the mother of invention”, I wouldn’t be mistaken saying that competition is the mother of innovation. Innovation hasalways played a very crucial role in contributing to our existence. But today innovation is no more a luxury. It has become a necessity for survival or to surge ahead of competition while fulfilling the unmet needs of the society. Innovation is no more a privilege of the developed countries. Rather, in India, we have creative minds to work on frugal innovation and of late, the trend of “reverse innovation” has been catching on. Here, we, as academicians, play an active role in moulding the young minds to think that each one of them play an important role when it comes to innovation and not to be left to only a few countries or for that matter to a few people. Big business houses no more can be complacent about being innovative, being challenged by companies of the start-ups. Every business/sector, small or big, is desperate about coming up with new ideas. When the heat is felt by businesses, how can employees escape? The millennials who are going to either join businesses or work for their own business need to have an innovative and entrepreneurial bent of mind.

Keeping abreast with the time, the School of Management (SOM) at The NorthCap University, one of the leading management institutions in Delhi NCR, has been floating, of late, anelective course titled “Creativity, Innovation, Leadership and Entrepreneurship” (CILE). The class comprises students from different branches from the School of Engineering and Technology. Right from the beginning, the diversity factor is being taken care of which is an essential contributor to environment of creativity. At a time when India is featuring in top three countries of the world in terms of tech start-up hub, next to US and UK, offering such a course is an USP for School of Management.

When the course commences, the initial classes are dedicated to making the students understand creativity. Here the students are exposed to a number of exercises in order to identify their own uniqueness in thinking. Even if there would be a handful of students who are able to come out with unique solutions the rest are at least stimulated/motivated to think on those lines. Many come to know, at that moment about their unique talent, never realized before. Then they get to learn about the world of innovation through different projects.

They realise that coming up with innovative idea(s) is not enough.Just an innovative idea is not enough to sustain.Business is all about implementation.This is where they are exposed to the process of entrepreneurship. Knowledge of business, management, operations, etc.are equally important! Moving on to the world of entrepreneurship they get to learn about the challenges faced, business models etc. Here they get insight into the entrepreneurial process. At the same time they are made to realize that everything said and done, the leader plays a key role in fostering innovation as well as taking the business ahead.

In order to impart the course, the different teaching methods include lectures, case studies, assignments, live projects, classroom exercises, group discussions and seminars. The course equips the students with a conceptual base to understand importance of creativity and innovation and application of the same in business/enterprise and to be taken forward by a dynamic leader – be it as an employer or as an employee. Throughout the course, students are evaluated on their ability to understand concepts, keeping abreast of the happenings across the world and applying the concepts and techniques learnt in the class to real world problems.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Legal Aid to Citizens of Gurugram

Dr. Praveen Kumar Lohchab
Asst. Professor (Sel. Grade)
School of Law
The NorthCap University, Gurugram

Legal aid may be taken to mean free legal assistance to the poor persons in any judicial proceedings before the Court, Tribunals or any authority. It intends to provide free legal assistance to the poor persons who are not able to enforce the rights given to them by law. Justice P.N. Bhagwati has clearly stated that legal aid means providing an arrangement in the society which makes the machinery of administration of Justice easily accessible and in reach of those who have to resort to it for enforcement of rights given to them by law. He has rightly said that the poor and the illiterate should be able to approach the courts and their ignorance and poverty should not be an impediment in the way of obtaining justice from the Courts. The constitution of India gives much importance to rule of law. In India, it is regarded as a part of the basic structure of the Constitution and also of natural justice. Free legal aid to the poor and weak persons has been held to be necessary adjunct of the rule of law.

Legal aid in India

The preamble of the Indian constitution aims to secure to the people of India justice – socio economic and political. Article 38 and 39A of the Indian constitution are notable. Article 38(1) states- the State shall promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting the social order including justice and Article 39-A of the constitution states that the state shall in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen.

Obstacles to Legal Assistance

At present the legal aid movement in India is unorganized, diffused and sporadic. There is lack of co-ordination in it. The ideal of equal access and availability of legal justice has reached almost breakdown point. There is a wide gap between the goals set and met. One law firm recently commented in a survey, “We no longer do pro bono work; we are too busy trying to survive”. Lawyers don’t engage themselves in pro bono activities because of various reasons. There is lack of financial resources. 

Illiteracy is also a major obstacle to legal aid. Now it is common knowledge that about 70% of the people living in rural areas are illiterate and even more then that are not aware of the rights conferred upon them by law. It is the absence of legal awareness which leads to exploitation and deprivation of rights and benefits of the poor. 

In order to provide legal assistance to the citizens of Gurugram, School of Law at The NorthCap University, Gurugram is running Legal Aid Clinic since 2010. NCU Law School is amongst Top Law School in Haryana and was established in 2010. NCU Law School is a premier institution; offers 5 years integrated BBA LLB (Hons.) degree, LL.M degree and Ph.D in Law.  Hundreds of poor litigants visit NCU Legal Aid Clinic for legal assistance regarding their family disputes, land disputes, tenancy right and other litigations every year. Moreover, NCU Legal Aid Clinic organizes at least two Legal Aid Camps in surrounding regions every year. NCU Legal Aid Clinic wishes to provide legal assistance to the needy and poor people outside Gurugram also in coming future.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Workshop on ‘Cyber Security Essentials’

As part of our Academic Outreach activities, the Cyber Security team of Department of CSE & IT conducted a workshop on ‘Cyber Security Essentials’ at Delhi Technical Campus, Bahadurgarh, Haryana on 8 November 2016. A team of three members, namely Dr Prachi Ahlawat, Dr Shilpa Mahajan and Ms Mehak Khurana interacted with the students of the institution and demonstrated the theoretical as well as practical applications of Cyber Security. The workshop was attended by about 50 final and pre-final year students who got a hands-on experience on the fundamentals of cyber security. The students appreciated the workshop and asked for more such sessions in the future. 


As part of our Academic Outreach efforts, the Cyber Security team of NCU has been conducting such workshops at various institutions in Delhi/ NCR.


Friday, November 11, 2016

Demonetization of Indian Currency

Tanish Khandelwal student of BBA LLB
Tanish Khandelwal
Student, BBA-LLB(Hons.)
The NorthCap University, Gurugram

Summary of PM Shri Narendra Modi’s Statement:

Enough is Enough! Need to take a strong step! Need to stop black money and corruption!

Earlier Steps’ Outcome:

In the past two and a half years, over Rs1.25 lakh crores of black money had been recovered from outside India.

New Law:

From 12:00 am of 9th November 2016, currency notes of Rs500 and Rs1000 become void. It will not be in circulation.

Procedure for conversion/ deposit of old currency notes:
  1. From 10th November 2016 to 30th December 2016, a person can deposit in Banks or in Post offices. (An appropriate 50 days of time span is allowed)
  2. From 10th November to 30th December 2016, a person can withdraw from Banks, Post offices and Sub Post offices by producing any valid nationality card like Aadhar Card, Voter Card, Ration Card, Pan Card, Passport etc. as evidence and exchange his/ her money.
  3. A person needs to deposit the old currency notes in his/ her bank account. 
  4. For now, the limit for withdrawal from bank accounts is maximum of Rs 10,000 per day uptoRs 20,000per week. (It may increase as per time).
  5. For them who are unable to exchange upto 30th December 2016, for any reason, they will get a chance to deposit till 31st March2017 in any RBI branch with a valid declaration letter.
ATM Procedure:

Initially the limit on withdrawal from ATMs will be Rs2,000 per day per card, which will later be increased to a limit of Rs 4,000 per day.

Exemptions:

Some exemptions are allowed on humanitarian ground and situations of emergency.
A time period of 72 hours is allowed i.e. from 9th November to 11th November 2016 midnight.

Transaction of old currency notes of higher denomination is acceptable:
  • In Government Hospitals and Pharmacies.
  • In purchasing of tickets of Railways, Airlines, Buses (only for purchasing of tickets).
  • at permitted Ration Shops by Central Government and State Governments, subject to the condition that these shops have to keep the records in proper register on daily basis.
  • In payment for CNG, Petrol etc. of Public Sector Undertakings (record on daily basis).
  • For International Airports the limit is of 5k, same with of foreign currency.
Important Notes:
  1. It will not affect the e-transactions or non-cash transactions i.e. payments by checks, demand drafts, debit credit cards.
  2. RBI has taken a decision for all Banks to be closed on 9th November 2016 and open on 12th and 13th November 2016.
  3. Notes of Rs100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 will have no effect.
Reasons for the Change:
  1. The Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) has put India at rank 76 out of 168 countries in its latest Corruption Perception Index.
  2. Counterfeit currencies are being used for financing terrorism.
Prime Minister’s Appeal:
  • Need for corporation.
  • No need to hurry.
  • Your money will be yours only.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Innovation Leads to Growth - Why We Need to Redefine Our Education Sector?

Ashwini Sharma
Assistant Professor 
The NorthCap University, Gurugram 

Innovation 

Innovation is one of the most common yet most important word in today’s global scenario with any organization to sustain in the market and move on to the ladder of success. It is a fact that the organizations which do not focus on innovation will sooner or later perish. One of the finest examples of innovation is TATA NANO. This car being the lowest priced car in the world with innovations at every stage from design to manufacturing. Another example is the solar panels on the roof top of buildings. These solar panels initially occupied space on ground resulting in underutilizing the land. Going further, Gujarat mounted the solar panels on the canals to cater for generating electricity from sun and simultaneously preventing the evaporation of the precious water flowing in the canal. We can find thousands of the innovative products and services and ideas. Not sure about it? Consider the following from different cross section of industries; iPhone, Cloud computing, D2H service, home security system, space saving furniture, folding bicycle, LED displays, blind man walking stick, coconut tree climber, bicycle washing machine. Innovation!!!!

The word ‘innovate’ is a Latin word meaning to change or renew. Innovation is a thinking of doing the things in an unconventional way and happens when the unquestionable is questioned. It has different meanings for different industries such as for manufacturing industry; innovation can happen when the need is to improve upon the product, processes, systems, working environment, material handling or to reduce the cost of production.For a service industry it can be the improvement in quality of service such as computerized railway booking system, banking system which has made people comfortable doing the reservation and banking operation without being physically present and standing in long queues. The mobile phones initially did not have camera. It was innovation when an idea to incorporate camera with the mobile phone came. Today it can be seen that virtually every mobile is with a camera at a starting price of as low as Rs. 2500. But after a while these innovations when liked by the customer become the need and become a regular feature and people associatethese with the standard product. So what next? Answer is obviously further innovation such as maps with GPS etc. From the above discussion one thing can be concluded that innovation is a never ending process and it can be done anywhere and anytime and to anything, the only requirement is getting the idea to improve. 

Indian Education System

Indian education system needs to be redefined for nurturing the talent such that the students thinking should not be merely to get the mark sheets, rather it should be driven by creativity and inner desire to become what they dream of. The author who is an engineering faculty in one of the top private university in north India would like to share that most of the students opting for engineering do not even know what exactly it is and they are studying engineering because somebody in the family told them to do so. Interestingly when the country is looking for the bright engineers who will be responsible for taking the nation forward, are struggling to find out why they are doing it. It is the need of the hour that talent and creativity should be nurtured right from the beginning i.e. from the school level. 

One solution to do this is to take initiatives on ‘Project based education’. A project when assigned to a group of students results in very good understanding of the particular area which may lead the student to go further in the same direction. If the projects are of choice of the students a great outcome can be expected. The projects compel the students to think deeply and find out a win-win solution which caters to the need of society. One such initiative has been taken by the author at The NorthCap University, Gurugram one of the leading universities in North India to put its students through real life situations to meet the challenges. The projects decided by the students with the help of faculty right from the first year of engineering resulted in to a very satisfying outcomes of original thinking right from low cost sanitary napkin making machine, dual flush toilet, multiutility load trotter, low cost PUG welding machine, low cost coconut opener etc. The students have gone through the various challenges from design to manufacturing and finally testing. These students are now ready to take up any challenge which is the prime requirement of any organization i.e. to take initiative and challenges. The author noted that the students who were assigned projects or chosen projects by themselves and worked upon them are more successful and confident than those who did not. Now the author has taken this concept right down to first year of engineering. If this can be started for the students right from school days it will surely result into innovative thinkers in their chosen field of interest.

Last but not the least, it is the responsibility of teachers of today to understand the talent and nurture it further beyond school years in such a way that the talent becomes world-class. If it is not done now we can imagine the toll on a nation which does not designits defence products and simply buys it from outside.We are not able to produce the truly world-class medical equipment and lot of the them are being imported, we are not able to take competitive manufacturing advantage compared to China and consequently the global marketsare virtually captured by Chinese products. The answer or key to all the problems is innovation as India has the world’s largest young innovative talent pool available!