Indian Institute Of Technology Kanpur
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History
IIT Kanpur was established by an Act of Parliament in 1959. The institute was started in December 1959 in a room in the Canteen Building of the Harcourt Butler Technological Institute at Agricultural Gardens in Kanpur. In 1963, the Institute moved to its present location, on the historic Grand Trunk Road near the village of Kalyanpur in Kanpur district. During the first ten years of its existence, IIT Kanpur benefited from the Kanpur Indo-American Programme, where a consortium of 9 US universities namely M.I.T, University of California, Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Carnegie Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Case Institute Of Technology and Purdue University helped set up the research laboratories and academic programmes. The first Director of the Institute was Dr. P. K. Kelkar (after whom the Central Library was renamed in 2002).Under the guidance of eminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith, IIT Kanpur was the first institute in India to start Computer Science education. The earliest computer courses were started at IIT Kanpur in August 1963 on an IBM 1620 system, a novelty then even in many North American and European universities. In 1971, the institute initiated an independent academic program, leading to M.Tech. and Ph.D. degrees
Students
Students at IIT Kanpur reside in the hostels, or 'halls of residence', there are eight hostels (Hall 1-5, 7-9) for boys and two for girls, called GH-1 (Girls Hostel 1) and GH-2 (formerly Hall 6).
The annual cultural festival is called Antaragni. The annual science and technology festival, Techkriti, is held at the end of February each year. The annual sports festival, Udghosh/IIT Kanpur Sportsmeet, is held around the end of September each year and Umang, the annual Film Festival, is held in early January. All four are amongst the most popular college events in North India[citation needed].The annual business festival Megabucks is also one of the landmark events in the IITK calendar. In addition to this,each hall has its own cultural festival.
The Students also bring out a monthly campus newspaper - Vox Populi ,and a magazine Meander.
The Students Gymkhana, which is democratically elected body is the centre of all inter hostel and intercollege activities that the students of IITK engage in. The Student Gymkhana has the following councils :
The Presidential Council, The Games Council, The Cultural Council, The Science and Technology Council, The Films and Media Council.
The President, heads the student body, followed by general secretaries for the subdivisions. A number of secretaries head the various smaller departments.The Student's Senate is a decision making body which comes under the Presidential Council.It has elected members who hold six-month terms in office.Typically,one student per every hundred is elected into the senate.
