Google expands Chromebook school programme in India

Hyderabad: Google is expanding to India an initiative to popularise the use of its Chromebook laptops in schools, starting with a pilot in four schools in Andhra Pradesh.

The internet search company that makes the world's most popular software for smartphones and tablets will initially make available 25 Chromebooks to each school and train the teachers and instructors in the use of the required software applications.

"The school instructors will teach core subjects using applications and software. We believe with interactive learning, the student will understand better and will take interest in the subjects," Ponnala Lakshmaiah, the state's minister for information technology, said.

Chromebooks require an internet connection to use, and most of the data, such as files that users work on, are stored on Google's storage network connected to the internet. Earlier this month, Samsung released a Chromebook model specifically for the Indian market. Schools are among the most popular market segments for the Chromebooks.

Google is running this programme in some 3,000 schools in the US, Singapore and Malaysia, a Google executive with direct knowledge of the plan to expand it to India told ET. The executive requested not to be named as Google was yet to announce the plan.

"Google aims to increase access to information and knowledge for all students, and encourages tools that support effective teaching and learning in the classroom, but we have nothing to announce at this time," a company spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

The pilot project, in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh department of information technology, will start next month, a senior government official said. It will be launched in three government schools and one private school in Jangaon in Warangal district.

After the pilot, which benefits students of grades nine and 10, discussions are on to expand the programme statewide, the government official said.

The state's IT department will provide the schools with Wi-Fi internet connectivity with 1 Mbps speed and power backups for unhindered use. Each school will be assigned dedicated mentors who would train the teachers and instructors, the official said.

Training will include using the Google Apps Training Center, an online learning environment that offers six modules including Google Apps Education Edition, Apps Mail, Calendar, Docs, Sites, and other tools

2G scam: No Dayanidhi Maran role in Aircel deal, CBI tells Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that there was no evidence to suggest that former communications minister Dayanidhi Maran used coercive methods to force C. Sivasankaran to sell his stakes in telecom company Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis group.

Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the probe agency, told the apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly that the CBI "may examine" the then finance minister Jaswant Singh over alleged wrongdoings in the communications ministry in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government.

He told the court that Jaswant Singh headed the empowered group of ministers (EGOM) when Arun Shourie was the communications minister between 2003-04. The CBI told the court that it would complete its investigation into suspicious transactions linked to the 2G allocation by Sep 31.

Talking about allegations against Maran, Venugopal said there was no evidence of coercion used by DMK leader Maran in the sale of Aircel by Sivasankaran to Maxis. Maxis was in touch with Maran before Sivasankaran off-loaded his stakes in the telecom company.

DMK spokesperson Elangovan told IANS in Chennai: "The whole 2G case is without any evidence. The cases against Raja and Kanimozhi will also fail."

The CBI told the apex court that there was deliberate and undue delay on the part of the DoT (department of telecommunication) and the (then) minister in the issuance of letter of intent to Aircel under its previous owner and "undue favour was shown" the moment the company was taken over by the Maxis group.

It was alleged that Maran created a situation that forced Sivasankaran to sell his stake in Aircel to Maxis group, believed to be close to the minister's family.

Venugopal also gave to court the CBI's status report on its investigations into the 2G scam in a sealed cover. One report each was submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax department.

The CBI said the investigation into the alleged wrongdoings in the communications ministry was broadly in four parts dealing with the tenures of communications ministers Pramod Mahajan (2002-03), Arun shourie (2003-04), Dayanidhi Maran (2004-07) and A. Raja (2007-10).

Venugopal said that the CBI found little evidence of lapses during Arun Shourie's tenure, but there were variations in the policy and its implementation in Pramod Mahajan's tenure and it was being further investigated.