Mobile Apps - A security threat | Download & Use Carefully

Researchers have found out that a lot of mobile applications pose a potent security threat to our privacy and society. Be careful while downloading and using these apps. Read on to find out more...

SECURITY agencies may have found a way to intercept highly encrypted BlackBerry Messenger ( BBM) services, but other similar applications such as WhatsApp messenger and free service Viber which enable millions of users to call and text appear to be having a free run.

Encrypted services such as WhatsApp and Viber, available to smartphone users and offering free audio, video, chat services and access to information of location, could be a serious threat to India’s security, a top government official said. These countless number of mobile applications are turning out to be a grey area and is another serious technological challenge for the government, he pointed out.

“ These mobile applications are available to users free of cost through various operating systems like Android which cannot be regulated. They cannot be intercepted, if required, since almost all the servers for these applications are located outside India,” said an official.

“ Any sort of anti- national activity could be carried out communicating through these applications by text messages, audio or video. In fact, free applications like WhatsApp, True Caller, Fring, Viber and many others have now replaced SMSs in communication. This makes the security apparatus more vulnerable,” said cyber law expert Pavan Duggal.

Duggal added, “ Any communication through these mobile applications generates a third- party data which lies with the telecom operator. They are bound to ensure that the data is regulated and accessible to security agencies if they require.” However, leading telecom companies said it is difficult to monitor the huge number of mobile applications.
Rajan S. Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India, said that telecom companies are only responsible for access to these applications if the government asks for it.

However, Duggal said, “ How can you provide access to any data without getting it tested?” Source:mailtoday.in

The Changing Face of India, Population Growth Slows in India | Literacy Rate Rises | Sex Ratio Improves

This is one slump in growth rate that the nation can rejoice over.

According to Census 2001- 2011, India’s population has grown at 17.7 per cent as against 21.5 per cent in the previous decade.

The country’s population at present is 1.21 billion, an increase of 181.96 million since 2001. What is even more comforting for the country’s planners is the fact that female growth rate has been better than male growth rate. The male population has gone up by 90.97 million, against a rise of 90.99 in the population of females over the last 10 years.
The rate of growth of the female population is 18.3 per cent, while the male growth rate stands at 17.1 per cent, according to the final census released by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday.

Rural rules
While there has been a 3.8 per cent drop in the overall growth rate, there is still scope for improvement as 14 states and Union Territories have registered over 20 per cent growth in population figures. Among the major states, Bihar has recorded the highest decadal growth in population ( 25.4 per cent), surpassing West Bengal, which occupied the first position in 1991- 2001.
More than two- thirds of the country’s population lives in rural areas. As per census 2011, 833.5 million people live in rural areas, while 377.1 million people live in urban centres. Delhi has the highest proportion of urban population at 97.5 per cent. Top five states in terms of urban population are Goa ( 62.2 per cent), Mizoram ( 52.1 per cent), Tamil Nadu ( 48.4 per cent), Kerala ( 47.7 per cent) and Maharashtra ( 45.2 per cent).

Literacy rate in India has risen to 73 per cent in comparison to 64.8 per cent in 2001. While male literacy rate stands at 80.9 per cent, which is 5.6 per cent higher than the previous census, the female literacy rate has been recorded at 64.6 per cent, an increase of 10.9 per cent since 2001. The gap in literacy rate between urban and rural areas and between males and females has also declined. In Census 2011, the gap stands at 16.3 points.

India’s sex ratio in 2011 stands at 943 ( females against 1000 males), which is 10 per cent more than the last census, when it was 933. Haryana has the worst sex ratio at 879, while Kerala is the best at 1,084.

Source:mailtoday.in

Poor Infrastruture at new IITs creating problems for students

Plagued by poor infrastructure and faculty shortage, the eight new IITs in the country are struggling to meet the deadline for moving into fully operational campuses.

WHEN the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur admitted its first batch of students in August 1951, classes were held in a World War era detention camp and the administrative office was located in the Bomber Command used by the US Air Force during the war days. Half a century later, the fate of eight new IITs set up in 2008 across the country is no better. All of them are operating out of rented buildings, makeshift camps and campuses of other polytechnics or engineering colleges.

None of them are likely to meet the deadline of June 2013 set for moving into fully operational campuses. The first batch of students, set to pass out from new IITs this year, would have no real experience of life in an IIT campus.

“ We dont have enough classrooms in the building and different batches have to be accommodated in the same class,” said Hima Varsha, a first year B Tech ( Computer Engineering) student at IIT Hyderabad.

However, she said, laboratories are comfortable with all modern equipments. Since August 2008, IIT- H has been functioning from a temporary campus located at Yeddumailaram village in Medak district. “ We cannot say it is a very spacious campus or we have excellent infrastructure. It is just enough for us to manage classes. Sometimes we are compelled to run classes on evenings and also on Saturdays to accommodate all the lectures,” admits Dr F A Khan, academic dean of the institute.
In other cities, students and faculty members have to shuttle between two locations. The IIT in Bhubanewsar is operating from two temporary campuses in the city — IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre in Samantpuri and Toshali Bhavan. THE Ministry of Human Resources Development has recently been pulled by the parliamentary committee on higher education for delays in construction of permanent campuses. The ministry says land allotted for eight IITs has been handed over to them. The master plan is ready and architects have been finalised for building permanent campus by IITs at Hyderabad, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Mandi and Indore, while construction is in progress at Ropar and Jodhpur. “ All the IITs have been advised to put in place a mechanism for rigorous monitoring of the project”, the ministry has said.

" We are planning to start construction of the permanent campus very soon. By June 2014, some part of the campus will be ready and we would be able to start shifting from the temporary campus as well," said Ashwini Kumar, Professor In- Charge for Planning and Resources at IIT Gandhinagar, which is currently operating from the building of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College ( VGEC) in Ahmedabad.
While funding has not been a major hurdle for new IITs, part of the delay is due to political reasons.

IIT Jodhpur is a case in point. Ever since an IIT for Rajasthan— and not for Jodhpur – was sanctioned by the central government in July 2007, the issue of the city where it should be established became a political- shuttlecock among politicians. Meanwhile, the first academic session of the new IIT was started in 2008 at the IIT Kanpur campus with 109 undergraduate students in three streams including computer science, mechanical and electrical engineering. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot finally took a decision in favour of Jodhpur — his home town — on the basis of recommendations of a committee set up by him. In late 2009, the centre granted final approval for Jodhpur and the IIT shifted from Kanpur to a transit campus at MBM College in Jodhpur. FACULTY shortage is another issue that new IITs are grappling with. 

Each of the new IITs was sanctioned 30 faculty posts every year for the first three years. By this criterion, all the IITs should have at least 90 faculty members. But even in the fifth year of their operation, none of them have reached this level except Hyderabad which claims to have 100 faculty members.

The numbers in other IITs are — Patna ( 63), Jodhpur ( 55), Patna ( 55), Gandhi Nagar ( 75), Bhubaneshwar ( 79), Mandi ( 35) and Indore ( 38). Considering the fact that these IITs are not only offering B Tech in various streams but also M Tech and Ph D, faculty position is definitely precarious. However, the situation is different in some centres where the number of students is low. “ 

Though faculty shortage is an obvious handicap generally, we have a teacher- student ratio of 1: 10 since there are 570 students in the institute” pointed out Dr Vivek Vijay, spokesperson of IIT Jodhpur.

Even the older IITs are also facing faculty shortages. “ The faculty position needs to be improved if we want to attain academic excellence globally.

Currently the total number of faculty is about 575- 600 and the number of total students is about 10,000. The current faculty- student ratio is 1: 18 which we want to bring down to 1: 10 in next two years,” said B. K Mathur, dean ( administration and coordination) at IIT Kharagpur.

Source: mailtoday.in