Ultranet computer system labelled a disaster

A crash of the Australian education department's much-vaunted ultranet computer system has been labelled a disaster, the Standard reports.

South-west school students were given a day off school and teachers were scheduled for training, but a system overload meant most could not log on to the $77 million network.

Opposition education spokesman Martin Dixon labelled the training day as a "debacle".

The Canadian federal government has dedicated more than $250 000 to improve video conferencing and connectivity in Western Canada, says Star Phoenix.

The upgraded system will reach 200 communities in Western Canada through the Western Canada Business Service Network, made up of several organisations that provide services for entrepreneurs.

The system will support the community futures partners of Saskatchewan, which helps to provide video conferencing and professional development services, increasing access to programmes and training for rural entrepreneurs via e-learning.

With the proposed networking of its colleges and post-graduate departments, Patna University (PU) is all set to go hi-tech, notes Times of India.

Thanks to a recent initiative of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology, PU and its four constituent colleges Patna Science College, BN College, Patna Women's College and Magadh Mahila College would be linked with the National Knowledge Network (NKN) to provide e-learning support to students and faculty members.

The project's nodal officer and BN College principal Raj Kishore Prasad said each NKN-connected centre would be provided 400 computers with 24X7 Internet facility.