India has unveiled plans to produce a laptop computer costing just US$10 in a bid to improve the skills of millions of students.
The laptops will be produced as part of a government-sponsored education scheme launched yesterday in the southern city of Tirupati.
In an attempt to bridge the “digital divide” between rich and poor, the laptop — known as Sakshat, which translates as “before your eyes” — will be the centerpiece of an ambitious e-learning program to link 18,000 colleges and 400 universities across the country.
Details about the computer remained scarce, but Higher Education Secretary R.P. Agrawal said last week that it would be available within six months.
“Once the testing is over, the computers will be made available on commercial basis,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency.
India has a reputation for creating ultra-cheap technologies, a trend begun last year by the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car at 100,000 rupees (US$2,000).
The laptop will reportedly have a 2 gigabyte memory and wireless Internet capability, but officials have not publicly demonstrated a prototype — or explained how it can be made at such a low cost.
Rajesh Jain, managing director of Netcore Solutions and a pioneer of low-cost computing in India, said: “You cannot even [make] a computer screen for US$20. And India does not build much computer hardware. So where will the savings come from?”
Some bloggers saw the laptop as nothing more than a “souped up calculator.”
The skeptism was best summed up by Atanu Dey: “If the government could pull off a near-impossible technological miracle, does it not imply that the entire global computer industry is either totally incompetent, or else it is a huge scam which produces stuff at very little cost and sells them at exorbitant prices.”
The government has earmarked more than 46 billion rupees to develop the low-power gadget to work in rural areas with unreliable power supply and poor Internet connectivity.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS