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

Malaysia and India bi-lateral trade at an all time high

The growth in the merchandise trade between Malaysia and India has reached an all-time high, with over US$10 billion worth of trade transacted for the year 2011. Total trade between Malaysia and India for 2011 was US$12.54 billion, an increase of 40% compared to US$8.98 billion in 2010. This impressive growth has been predominantly attributed to the burgeoning economies of both nations and the strengthening of bilateral trade between the two countries.

Beginning with an exponential rise in the tourism, the relationship between the two countries has been further enhanced, opening new avenues for Malaysia and India to benefit mutually from each other's economies. Over the past 10 years, trade between Malaysia and India has seen a healthy average growth rate of over 15.6% p.a.

In spite of a slowdown in the global trading scenario, Malaysia has shown signs of rapid growth, recording a total trade value of US$415 billion in 2011 - the highest ever achieved. For the 14 thconsecutive year, Malaysia has recorded a trade surplusfigure of US$39 billion - a growth rate of 9.4% for the year 2011. The merchandising trade has registered an impressive growth of 8.7% p.a. with exports from Malaysia growing to US$226.98 billion, while imports recorded a figure of US$187.66 billion - an 8.6% rise. This notable feat is at par with other developed countries in the region, like Singapore and ROK, which have registered similar records.

According to the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2011 Report by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), Malaysia has been ranked among the Top 5 countries in terms of international trade, after Singapore and Hong Kong. Malaysia has now surpassed most of the developed countries such as the USA, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, in terms of international trade