Topper News

Prestigious Prof. Y. T. Thathachari Research Award 2013 awarded to Topper’s Chemistry Faculty- Prof. Debabrata Goswami!!!

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Dear Students, Teachers & Parents!!

We are glad to announce that Professor Debabrata Goswami (CHM), who is a renowned Chemistry Professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a very notable Chemistry Faculty on Topper Learning received a very prestigious Professor Y. T. Thathachari Research Award in Science for the year 2012 at a ceremony held in Mysore on March 20^th 2013.

Integrated B.Tech. â€“ LLB programs at UPES

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Integrated B.Tech. â€“ LLB programs at UPES

For the first time in India, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES) offers the opportunity to students to earn both degrees â€“ engineering and a law degree in 6 years flat. There are two options available for getting the integrated program

i) B.Tech. Energy Technology + LLB (Hons.) with specialization in Intellectual Property Rights

ii) B. Tech. Computer Science + LLB (Hons.) with specialization in Cyber Laws.

LLB programs are being offered by University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES), Asiaâ€™s first Energy and Core Sector University.Both these programs are approved by the Bar Council of India under its new rules of integrated programs.

B.Tech. Energy Technology + LLB (Hons.) with specialization in Intellectual Property Rights

Thisprogram equips the students to handle complex techno-legal issues in energy and allied sectors, and fulfill the fast emerging demand for protecting intellectual property rights being created in the Energy Sector, to sustain a long term competitive advantage.

B. Tech. Computer Science + LLB (Hons.) with specialization in Cyber Laws

This program provides a unique amalgam of Computer Science knowledge and Laws pertaining to Cyber world. Its significance arises from the rapid digitalization of almost all Industry sectors, which has also unfortunately led to rapid growth of cyber crime.

These programs are designed to create that special breed of young professionals who can work in Energy and IT companies or law firms specializing in Engineering - IPR practice or in Cyber Law practice. The need for such professionals arises from the fact that India is rapidly turning into a knowledge economy where IPR protection becomes a key competitive consideration. However knowledge economy also spawns lot of content in the cyber space which also leads to the issue of increasingly sophisticated cyber crimes to steal such content. These developments create opportunities for techno-legal professionals across the globe. Such opportunities also carry internationally competitive remuneration packages, especially if you establish a successful practice.

To know more about UPES, visit www.upes.ac.in

Futuristic B Tech Programs in Collaboration between UPES, Dehradun & IBM India

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Futuristic B Tech Programs in Collaboration between UPES, Dehradun & IBM India

UPES offers cutting edge B Tech programs joining hands with IBM, the global IT leader. These B Tech programs are futuristic, industry-aligned designed to fulfill the fast emerging needs for specific IT skill sets in India and abroad. This is a first ever collaboration by IBM with any university in the world and therefore bears testimony to the robust academic infrastructure that UPES has created to develop future-ready professionals.

	B.Tech. Programs on Offer
1.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in Cloud computing & Virtualization Technology
2.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in Mainframe Technology
3.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in Oil & Gas Informatics
4.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in Open Source & Open Standards
5.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in IT Infrastructure Management
6.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in Business Analytics& Optimization
7.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in Retail Automation
8.	B.Tech Computer Science Engineering with specialization in Telecom Informatics

The Innovation Centre for Open Standards (iCos), an online platform, is the underlying framework for the engagement between IBM and UPES for the delivery of the courses. The IBM iCos platform links students' project based learning with IT industry mentors and subject matter experts. The platform works as a support tool and is seamlessly integrated to the UPES faculty to deliver the courses to the students. This effort augments the Finishing School efforts of the IT Industry today, better preparing them for the future employability. The students are benefited from the innovative new course delivery by learning at their own pace, anytime, anywhere, and ensuring the students become future-ready.

`The B.Tech courses aim to ensure that students trained and accredited at the UPES will be ready for the requirements of the IT industry, which in turn will enhance their employability in the industry and deployment in to relevant client projects.

Dr. Parag Diwan, Vice Chancellor of UPES states, â€œIBM and UPES share a common goal - to ensure that the next generation students have access to the right curriculum and delivery model, that will help them be more competitive when they enter the workforce. Our students stand to benefit immensely from this initiative, as it provides them with a platform to help them transition from academia to industry while they are still in our campus. As a globally leading technology corporation, IBM is helping in bringing in the right industry subject matter experts to develop a curriculum that meets the evolving needs of the industry, and also provide an innovative online platform to deliver this much needed program. Students graduating from this program are equipped with the right skills to apply for jobs at leading technology companies in India, including IBM.â€

UPES deliver the course from Dehradun campus, using all the learning models such as face to face, on-line, state of the art lab facility, print based, self learning. The continuous assessment, in this program, will enable skills development, to match with the emerging global demands in the industry.

About UPES

UPES have been a leader in bringing industry based courses to their graduate and post graduate students, by designing and delivering a world-class curriculum. Their professionalism and passion in delivering these well- thought-of courses reflects so well in the pace of their growth in placements and industry recognition. Their management is very professional, and the campus full of inspired exuberance. The hopes and smiles on their studentsâ€™ faces tell a story.

For more information about UPES, visit http://www.upes.ac.in/

About IBM

For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com

UPES Offering Innovative 32 Engineering programs!

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Innovative 32 Engineering programs in step with the changing times

University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES) established at Dehradun through an act by the State Legislature of Uttarakhand in the year 2003, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES) is India's First Energy University and Asia's first and only Energy & Core Sector University.

UPES graduate and postgraduate programs are focused on some fast emerging domains, thus offering career opportunities to youngsters keen on participating in the India growth story for the next 20 to 30 years. Academic courses at UPES have been developed with practical inputs from senior industry professionals in the various core sector domains and leading academicians with a proven track record.

A key consideration at UPES is to create effective professionals for the high growth core sectors, ready to take up executive responsibilities from day one.This consideration also prevails on the design of innovative degree programs that are in sync with the emerging requirements of various core sector domains. Given below is a brief description of some UPES engineering degree programs to illustrate this point.

Oil &Gas (9 programs)

B. Tech. (Applied Petroleum Engineering) with specialization in Upstream

B. Tech. (Applied Petroleum Engineering) with specialization in Gas

B. Tech. (Chemical Engineering with specialization in Refining & Petrochemicals)

B. Tech. (Geo Informatics Engineering)

B. Tech.(Geo Sciences Engineering)

M. Tech. (Health Safety & Environmental Engineering)

M. Tech. (Pipeline Engineering)

M. Tech. (Process Design Engineering)

M. Tech. (Petroleum Exploration)

Power (3 programs)

B. Tech. (Power System Engineering)

B. Tech. (Energy Technology) + LL. B. with specialization in Intellectual Property Rights

M. Tech. (Energy Systems)

Transportation (3 Programs)

B. Tech. (Aerospace Engineering)

B. Tech. (Aerospace Engineering with specialization in Avionics Engineering)

B. Tech. (Automotive Design Engineering)

Infrastructure (3 Programs)

B. Tech. (Civil Engineering) with specialization in Infrastructure Development

B. Tech (Fire & Safety Engineering)

B. Tech (Material Science Engineering with Specialization in Nano Technology)

Computer Science Engineering (9 Programs)

B. Tech. (Computer Science Engineering ) + LL. B.(HONS.) with specialization in Cyber Law

B. Tech in Computer Science Engineering with specialization in :

Cloud Computing &Virtualisation Technologies in association with IBM
Mainframe Technology in association with IBM
Open Source & Open Standard in association with IBM
Oil & Gas Informatics in association with IBM
Telecom Informatics in association with IBM
Retail Automation in association with IBM
Business Analytics and Optimization in association with IBM
IT Infrastructure in association with IBM

Electronics (2 Programs)

B. Tech. (Electronics Engineering)

B. Tech. (Mechatronics Engineering)

Multi Disciplinary (6 Programs)

M. Tech. (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

M. Tech. (Robotics Engineering)

M. Tech (Artificial Intelligence Artificial Neural Networks)

M. Tech (Disaster Management)

M.Des. (Transportation Design)

M.Tech (Nuclear Science and Technology)

UPES â€“ A world-class Institution with a global outlook

University of Petroleum & Energy Studies is an academic institution with a global vision. It endeavours to create well rounded, complete professionals who can take rightful place as future corporate leaders. The UPES campus, located in sylvan valley of Pondha on the outskirts of Dehradun with an outstanding backdrop of lower Himalayas, provides a stimulating environment conducive to academic, personal and professional growth.

The massive 30 acre campus is Wi-Fi enabled with the state-of-the-art infrastructure including smart multimedia enabled classrooms, a new age learning resource centre with an e-enabled student teacher interaction based learning management system, super specialised labs, well-stocked libraries, a highly advanced computer lab, well equipped gym, excellent canteens and hostel facilities.

To know more about UPES & its program, visit www.upes.ac.in

www.facebook.com/universityofpetroleumandenergystudies

All about College of Engineering Studies, UPES, Dehradun

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College of Engineering Studies, UPES, Dehradun

The College of Engineering Studies (CoES), UPES is situated in the sylvan surrounding in the midst of lush green scenic beauty of Ponda Valley at the foothills of Himalaya near Dehradun. The College offers 32 graduate and post graduate programs to over 3437 students on Campus. These programs are domain focused with specialization in core sectors like Automotive, Aerospace, Computational Science, Power , Electronics, Fire and safety, Material Science â€“ Nano Technology and Civil Engineering.

The core faculty of the UPES College hail from some of the best academic institutions in the world and most have also got world-class hands-on experience in private and government organizations.The pedagogy at this Engineering College of UPES lays stress on continuous student-faculty interaction, focused study tours/industry visits, summer internships, industry based dissertations and innovative project work.Besides,203 faculty membersimparting domain education tothe engineering students, regular lectures, are supplemented with guest lectures by visiting faculty and renowned professional from industry.

Additionally, keeping in view the need of in depth basic knowledge of subject and training for research and industrial requirements, UPES College of Engineering Studies has established large number of laboratories relevant to its specific domains like Oil & Gas, Energy, Infrastructure, Aerospace & Aviation and Automotive Design Engineering.Around 65 high tech labs enable students acquire hand on practical learning through continuous exposure and practice that include Advanced Fluid Mechanics, Advanced Microprocessor, Aerospace Propulsion, Robotics, Digital Electronics, Engine Testing & Emission Measurement, Sedimentology and Paleontology and many more.

Extensive exposure and opportunities are provided to studentsduring their program including Industrial Tour, Summer Internship and Placement Assistance. Companies of repute likeAccenture, L&T,Infosys,Mahindra Satyam,Schlumberger,InfotechEnetrprises,TCS,Cairn Energy ,ONGC,GSPC,Wipro,GSPL, HCL Technologies,Maruti Suzuki Ltd.Mahindra & Mahindra,Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India,SML ISUZU Ltd.,TVS Motors,Mindarika,SKF Industries, Volvo Eicher,MothersonSumi Systems Ltd, JBM Ltd., OPG Power,Construction Quality Rating Agency Pvt.Ltd(CQRA), Angelique International Ltd.,L & T Ramboll,Paharpur Cooling Towers,KEC International Ltd,GVR Infra Services and many more visit campus for recruitments. Last year, overall 88.57% students were placed successfully in on packages ranging from average Rs. 3.61 to Rs. 15 Lakhs.

To know more about UPES, visit www.upes.ac.in

www.facebook.com/universityofpetroleumandenergystudies

Honors Hailing On UPES

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UPES, the 1^st Asian and Indian University to be honored at World Oil Awards 2012 as Outstanding Petroleum University

One more prestigious feather is added to the Crown of UPES, with the award of the Prestigious UPES is the first Indian University to receive the honor of Outstanding Petroleum University. With such accolades, we aim to work harder and take our vision to a much higher level. We want our students to grow and become skilled professionals in their respective areas. Our core subjects are in line with the ever growing sectors thus, feel assured that we are catering talented resources to them. With this accolade, we aspire for more success to come up" says Dr. ParagDiwan, Vice Chancellor, UPES sharing his experience on receiving the award recently at the 11th Annual Award function at Texas, on behalf of UPES.

This Annual World award serves the highest innovations and innovators. It supports the leading educational institutions committed to preparing students for a career in Oil & Gas industry. This is the first time that an Indian University has been selected for this honor. Sponsored by the Gulf Publishing Company, this award is very prestigious and has positioned UPES high in the World Oil scenario.

One more prestigious feather is added to the Crown of UPES, with the award of the Prestigious UPES is the

first Indian University to receive the honor of Outstanding Petroleum

University. With such accolades, we aim to work harder and take our vision

to a much higher level. We want our students to grow and become skilled

professionals in their respective areas. Our core subjects are in line with the

ever growing sectors thus, feel assured that we are catering talented

resources to them. With this accolade, we aspire for more success to come

up" says Dr. ParagDiwan, Vice Chancellor, UPES sharing his experience on

receiving the award recently at the 11th Annual Award function at Texas, on

behalf of UPES.

This Annual World award serves the highest innovations and innovators. It

supports the leading educational institutions committed to preparing

students for a career in Oil & Gas industry. This is the first time that an

Indian University has been selected for this honor.

Sponsored by the Gulf Publishing Company, this award is very prestigious

and has positioned UPES high in the World Oil scenario.

NCERT to introduce Art Integrated Learningâ€™ (AIL) in schools from April 2013

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From April 2013, The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will be launching its pilot project named â€˜Art Integrated Learningâ€™ (AIL) in all government schools across states at the primary level. NCERT has introduced this art-based pedagogy in almost 20 MCD schools in Delhi.

This entire process involves learning through integrating various subjects with different modules of art such as drawing, painting, clay modeling, paper-cutting, theatre, dance, etc.

The project got started in order to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act (2009) and the recommendations of National Curriculum Framework (NCF) (2005) under the department of education in arts and aesthetics, NCERT. The main reason was to introduce â€œvalue-based learningâ€ through medium of art and do away with the system of rote-learning at primary level (classes I-V).

This also involved training of teachers to learn this concept and practice that in class with all the existing resources. This â€˜Art Integrated Learningâ€™ process in MCD school is already running in primary schools since May 2011, with in-service training of 40 teachers from the selected schools.

CBSE marking for board exams goes digital!

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In order to make the entire evaluation procedure error-free, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has finally introduced digitalized marking system for marking the class 10^th and 12^th board exam answer sheets.

As per CBSE, the answer sheets will be seal packets from the examination centre itself and they will be handed over to the service or the software provider after fixing bar-coded stickers by the chief secrecy officer of board examinations.

Then those answer sheets will be scanned and put on screen for evaluation by examiners trained in using that particular software.

This digitized procedure will start for evaluating Class 10^th board exams conducted in the year 2013. Digitization for Class 12^th will take place in the year 2014.

Computerized evaluation and online marking of the board exam sheets will also ensure compliance of RTI provision which makes it mandatory that the answer sheets should be made available for scrutiny to the students, if they wish to have a look at it.

ICSE reduces examination fee for Class X and Class XII

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It's good news for students appearing for the Class X and XII examinations conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) in March next.

The council, which runs around 2000 schools across the country, has decided to reduce the examination fee by over 50 per cent in the next examinations

"We have decided to reduce examination fees from Rs 2100 to Rs 1000 this time", said CISCE chairman Jose Aikara.

"The council had increased the examination fees as it required funds for various purposes. The council has decided to cut the amount from next year for the benefit of students", he said on the sideline of a function here.

About 1.60 lakh students in Class X and 80,000 students in Class XII examinations had appeared last time. The number of candidates for both the examinations was expected to increase this time, he said.

Aikara said CISCE had already introduced the common syllabus at the higher secondary level. The students would appear for the examinations in 2014 as per the common syllabus designed as per the suggestions given by experts.

The syllabus in Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Commerce had been changed as per suggestion by experts. The government wanted that the students would appear in the examination in 2014 in uniform syllabus across the country.

He, however, said CISCE would maintain its identity from others adding a few more subjects in some courses

Source: Times of India

IIT-JEE Advance to be held on June 2

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The IIT Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-Advance scheduled to be held in the year 2013 would be conducted on the old pattern. There would be no changes in the pattern of the Physics, Chemistry and Maths paper. The exam would be held in two shifts. Both the papers would be three-hour long each. The questions would be objective in nature. The JEE Advance will be conducted by IITs across the country on June 2. The details of the exam pattern have been provided by IIT-Kanpur administration on its website, www.iitk.ac.in.

On September 23, an important meeting of Joint Admission Board (JAB) has been convened in New Delhi. This meeting would finalise and fix the date of holding JEE Advance exam, declaration of results, conducting counselling.

The authorities of IIT-Kanpur informed that there would be no change in the pattern of the JEE Advance exam. The question papers would be printed in both Hindi and English. The questions would be based on Physics, Chemistry and Maths. The students who qualify the JEE Mains exam will only be eligible for filling the form of the JEE Advance exam. These forms would be filled off-line by the successful students.

Out of scores of aspirants who will sit in the JEE Mains exam, only 1.50 lakh students would be screened for appearing in the JEE Advance exam. These students will be able to fill the form for the JEE Advance exam. The students clearing the JEE Advance exam will be getting a chance to seek admission in premier IITs including Kanpur, Mumbai, Roorkee, Guhawati, Delhi, Chennai, Kharagpur.

On the other hand, the JEE Mains exam would be conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). This exam would be held in the month of April next year. The results of JEE Mains will be out in the month of May. After declaration of results, the forms of JEE Avance will be filled through off-line mode. The forms of JEE Mains will be filled both online and offline.

Courtesy : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CBSE to test students for oral proficiency in English

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has implemented its decision to assess students of Std IX & XI in listening and speaking skills in English from this academic session.

To be formally known as Assessment of Speaking and Listening Skills (ASL), the board has provisioned 10% in the total weightage of SA1 and SA2. The ASL for SA1 is to be conducted in the month of September itself.

The speaking test will last for a maximum duration of 12 minutes and will be conducted for two students at a time. A single teacher will function as the interlocutor and assessor for both students, and s/he must be an expert in the English subject. The test has been divided into three sections with the first being general introduction.

Here, the interlocutor converses with the two candidates with simple questions based on the students' names, place of residence, leisure preferences etc.

The second part will be called 'mini presentation' in which students have the choice to pick up a 'role card' or a 'cue card'. Both cards will have a topic written on it and students will be given a minute to prepare and organize their thoughts on paper (to be provided by the school only). After this, students will be given two minutes each to present their ideas.

The third part of the test will be pair interaction. Both students are given a verbal or visual stimulus and asked to respond to it with each other for three minutes.

In case a student has not been able to speak or has been unable to speak owing to nervousness, the dominance of the second candidate or any other factor, then, the interlocutor may use a minute to give a fresh opportunity to that student.

The listening comprehension section tests the candidate's ability to listen for basic interpersonal, instructional and academic purposes. Students will hear a set of recordings of the listening input or listen to a reading of the listening input. Each recording will be played twice and students are not allowed to ask questions or interrupt the teacher at any point. CBSE says this is crucial since students "are being tested for listening skills".

After listening to the recording or oral reading, students will be required to answer a set of questions. The test will have four sections and all will be compulsory. A worksheet will be provided to students on which they can write their answers.

courtesy: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CBSE to conduct Math Olympiad in December

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct a Mathematics Olympiad in December for all affiliated schools. Nagpur is the only venue for students studying in CBSE schools of Maharashtra and Goa. Mathematics Olympiads are the competitions conducted by different organizations to identify, encourage, promote and nurture the talent in mathematics at state, regional, national and international levels.

After having been accorded the status of an independent group by National Board of Higher Mathematics (NBHM) in 1997, CBSE has been conducting CBSE group Mathematics Olympiad for students studying in its affiliated schools. The said competition will be conducted on December 2 at different centres located in different parts of the country.

Top 30 students from CBSE group will then participate in Indian National Mathematics Olympiad (INMO) conducted by National Board of Higher Mathematics (NBHM). Selection at national level leads to participation at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

Only students from Std IX-XII are eligible to participate in the competition. However, there will be a common question paper for all participants. A school can sponsor upto five students for the competition, who should have been selected strictly on the basis of a screening test conducted by the school itself.

Courtesy: Abhishek Choudhari, TNN

CBSE launches new project to cultivate reading habit in students

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In an attempt to encourage reading habits among school children to improve their language skills, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recommended a selection of books from various publications for students to read. This is part of the board's new reading project that aims to inculcate good reading habits in children.

The list of recommended books includes 14 books of Katha, a charitable organisation in the Capital. Seven of the Katha titles are in English and seven in Hindi. The selection presents a group of best selling books from fiction as well as the non-fiction category.

According to Vineet Joshi, chairman, CBSE, the board constantly encourages schools to provide multifold learning experiences to young children. "Good reading habits help children in acquiring power of imagination, expression and appreciation of literature. Though all the skills of gaining proficiency in a language are equally important, nevertheless, reading habit helps tremendously in improving comprehension , accuracy, fluency and in increasing vocabulary. Reading provokes questioning, helps in generating ideas and inspires students to think. It supports the curriculum by enhancing language competence."

Strengthening of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) has added further impetus in fostering interest in children to read books. As part of the formative assessment in CCE, schools are being advised to take up 'reading projects.' Schools have also been encouraged to use multiple modes of assessment such as conducting reviews, script, reading, discussion , open houses, interaction with the authors, etc.

Devaraj PR, assistant director, sales and marketing, Katha, says, "The reading habits of students in our country are coming down. Katha books create interest in reading and also help children improve their language and understand the Indian culture."

CBSE affiliated schools can select the books of their choice. Students don't have to pay for any of the books.

Courtesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Talent search exam to be held only for Std X

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PUNE: The Maharashtra State Examination Council has clarified that the national talent search examination (NTSE) will be conducted only for Std X students from this year onwards. The exam, which has also been held for Std VIII students for several years, stands cancelled, it said.

The clarification comes in the wake of the confusion that prevailed among parents and students who were unaware of the change. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducts this exam nationwide annually to identify talented students and nurture them.

"My son started preparing for the talent search examination as soon as he passed Std VII," said Arvind Sharma, a parent. "He even joined a coaching class for which we paid a fee of Rs 2,500. However, now we have learnt that the exam will not be conducted for Std VIII. It is very frustrating. We have lost our money as the terms and conditions of the coaching class mentioned that fees will not be returned if admission is cancelled."

Sharma said that several other parents faced similar problems and that they had learnt about the change from the coaching class teacher.

Kishan Agarwal, another parent said, "These decisions should be taken before the academic year begins. Government officials must see to it that they do not cause inconvenience to the students. If they had cancelled the exam for Std VIII, it should have been announced in February or latest by March. We learned about it in July, which is very unfair."

P G Kulkarni, who coaches for the NTSE exam said, "We do keep an update on the date announcement for the examination. When the dates were announced by the council we read that the exam would be conducted for Std X. However, the announcement did not mention that the exam for Std VIII had been cancelled. There was confusion and we got it clarified from the examination council. It was a major disappointment as not just our efforts, but the efforts of the students have been wasted."

Mahavir Manerane, commissioner of the Maharashtra State Examination Council, said, "The exam is conducted by a Union government body. We received a notification in July, after which we publicised it. That's where the delay occurred. It is known that the NTSE exam is conducted for one standard only, so there is no need to be confused. Nevertheless, students should not be disappointed as the syllabus for the 'National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship' is the same, so their preparation will not be wasted."

Courtesy : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CBSE awards teachers for efforts to promote CCE

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The Central Board of Secondary Education honoured 15 mentors and 32 teachers from across the country on Tuesday for their innovation and contribution in the field of education. Introduced for the first time, the mentor award is being given for efforts to promote Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE).

Meanwhile, three Delhi teachers are on the list of educators who will be honoured by the President on Teachers' Day on Wednesday and receive the 'National Award to Teachers 2011'. The award has been instituted by the ministry for human resource development, which includes a certificate of merit, cash award of Rs 25,000 and a silver medal.

The three teachers who will receive the national award from the President are principal of Bal Bharti School, Ganga Ram Road, LV Sehgal, principal of DPS RK Puram, D R Saini and principal of DAV Public School, Shrestha Vihar, Premlata Garg. "We should all strive to create an environment to improve the teacher-student relationship," said Sehgal.

At CBSE, this was the first batch to receive the newly-constituted award. The 15 mentors were identified by CBSE to help schools implement CCE effectively. "The mentor awards were established to recognize efforts of a few principals selected as mentors to incorporate best practices developed by schools and bring together successes created in CCE adoption," said chairman of CBSE, Vineet Joshi. The awards were given away by MoS for human resource development, D Purandeswari.

Pallavi Sharma, principal of Mamta Modern Senior Secondary School, Vikaspuri, one of the 15 mentors, spoke about challenges of CCE and right to education. "During implementation of CCE, we faced resistance from parents and students. Also. teachers had to be trained on methods that were not in practice so far," said Sharma.

COURTESY : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

World's shortest man, woman meet

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The world's shortest man has met the world's shortest woman for the first time ever.

World's shortest woman for the first time ever.

Jyoti Amge, an 18-year-old from India who stands 78.8cm tall, and Chandra Bahadur Dangi, a 72-year-old Nepalese man who stands 54.6cm-tall, won their titles last December and February respectively.

But they had never met until the photo shoot for the 2013 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records in Italy earlier this week.

Guinness World Records adjudicator Marco Frigatti said the meeting was "an extraordinary moment".

"You could see everybody was smiling and something very special was in the air," he said.

The pair notched up another record at the event, with it being the first time the world's shortest man has met the world's shortest woman in history.

Ms Amge, who wants to be a Bollywood actress and has already starred in several movies, said the world record title had enabled her to see the world.

"I have been able to visit lots of different countries — I love travelling," she said.

Mr Dangi left his village for the first time in his life in order to be measured by Guinness World Record officials in Nepal's capital of Kathmandu.

He said: "I’m very happy that my name will be written in a book. It’s a big thing for my family, my village and my country."

Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/

Space Pioneer Neil Armstrong, Passes Away

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On Saturday August 25^th 2012, 43 years after, a man who created history by being the first human being to step onto the surface of moon passed away!

Yes, he was NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong who passed away due to some complications attributed to heart surgery which he underwent one month back.

FIRST MAN TO LAND ON MOON

On July 16th, 1969 NASA launched Apollo 11 from Earth, to be moved into moon's orbit. The Lunar module - Eagle, carried two passengers namely Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, in it.

Once Eagle got ready to land on the moon Mr. Neil Armstrong realized that their automated computer was leading their module to a landing surface which was fully covered with crater and boulders. The commander in charge immediately took the charge of the controls to deviate the course with just few seconds of fuel left and landed the Eagle safely on 20^th July1969.

Another rarely known fact is that both the astronauts who travelled to Moon were not sure whether they will ever come back to Earth or not. Still they both were prepared for this.

Luckily, this mission was a great success. Neil and Buzz spent more than two hours exploring the surface of moon. They even got successful in collecting 47 pounds of moon soil and rocks, before blasting off and getting reconnecting again with the Command Module that was busy taking revolutions in the moon's orbit.

And then this 38-year old man returned to earth as a hero!

For this great achievement he received all kinds of medals and honors in and outside the USA. Soon after, he left NASA and spent his entire life pursuing personal engineering and aviation interests, dodging any kind of publicity, completely.

May this Space hero R.I.P.

SSC, CBSE exams from Thursday

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Thursday will mark the start of three sets of board examinations - the Secondary School Certificate (SSC), and Class X and XII exams of Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE). Last year, the school-based assessment system introduced for Class X CBSE students found many takers. However, those opting for it have dropped drastically this time.

Last year, of the 16,000-odd Class X students in the state, 5,063 opted for the school-based exams. This year, 21,000 students from Maharashtra will take the Class X CBSE exam, but a mere 3,081 students have opted for the school-based exams. "This includes students who are studying in schools that function only till Class X, so they must have chosen the board exams over the school-based assessment so that they can be accommodated in junior colleges under the state rule," said Rama Sharma, PRO for the CBSE board.

The current batch of SSC students will be the first to appear for the changed Science and Math patterns. "Students have nothing to worry about as schools have informed them well in advance about the changes. Our state board helpline numbers are available for students whenever they need us and our aim is to always make the examination season as stress-free for students as possible," said Ravindra Bhise, divisional state board secretary.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Relieve Stress During Examination

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All of you must have taken several exams so far. You get a typical feeling and a kind of mental stress before the commencement of exam. Your heart beats a bit faster, you tend to breathe faster, and you feel restless and anxious. You get these even when you are completely prepared to crack the examination. This is because, you want to perform and score well in the examination. Though such occurrence of the given symptoms is natural yet might get aggravated and affect your performance at times. You need to keep them under check and not allow them to hinder your achieving of the goal.

There are ways which you can follow to relieve stress during exams. Two most important among them have been briefly described here in this article. Keep reading to learn about them. Practice them whenever you feel the need to.

Take Deep Breaths: Breathe deeply. Inhale slowly to your full capacity. Exhale out to completely vacate your body. Visualize the air going in your lungs and coming out of it through your nasal system. This will make you forget the exams and other related things for a while, making you feel fresh and energized.

Meditate for a While: It is always recommendable to meditate for about 10-15 minutes a day. Being new to the field of meditation, you might get distracted easily and thus might find it difficult to practice. However, there is an alternate way here. Visualize a place of your interest, where you always feel to go and spend time. Imagine you are there in such a place and doing whatever you have always longed for doing. Do it for about 15 minutes. You would feel happier, fresher and more energetic than before.

CBSE to conduct an all-new entrance test for AFMC

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To secure a place at the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), an all-new entrance exam 'National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Undergraduate Courses (NEET-UG)' will be conducted replacing the current all-India entrance test.

The test has been finalised by the Medical Council of India and will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) from the year 2013.

Along with the test, the students have to undergo certain evaluation relating to physical fitness and psychological approach for the desired fields. The candidates clearing NEET are required to pass through the evaluation criteria as well to get admitted in AFMC.

Source: indiancolleges.com

New admission criteria for medical and engineering colleges

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Too many entrance exams may not be the right way to evaluate a student's merit level. Vishakha Sharma reports on the recent changes in the admission criteria for medical and engineering colleges

While there have been recent developments in undergraduate admissions at Delhi University (DU) for a Bachelor of medicine, Bachelor of surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of dental surgery (BDS), a proposal for a change in admission criteria to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other engineering colleges will require class XII students to focus more on the board exams.

From now on, admission to Delhi University's (DU) medical and dental colleges will be on the basis of one's rank in the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT). Thus, only students appearing for AIPMT 2012 will be eligible to apply to DU colleges - Lady Hardinge Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College and University College of Medical Sciences - for medicine, and the Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences for dentistry.

According to Dinesh Singh, vice-chancellor , DU, the decision to scrap the undergraduate entrance examination for MBBS and BDS at DU will act as a relief for students. "We have also written a letter to Vineet Joshi, chairman, CBSE, in this regard," he says.

The AIPMT which will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will have a preliminary round on April 1 followed by the final round on May 13.

Joshi says, "We have no objection if DU wishes to admit students into its MBBS and BDS colleges based on AIPMT scores, but the university will have to take permission from the Supreme Court for the same."

The second development is regarding the IITs and other engineering institutes in the country proposing that 40% weightage be given to class XII board exams for admissions to engineering colleges. It has been recommended by the T Ramasami committee, which is working for an all new Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) where the entry of students into IITs or any other engineering institute will be based on one single test along with a specified 40% weightage on what one scores in class XII.

According to an IIT-Delhi official, these recommendations were originally made so that students do not neglect classroom learning and stop depending on coaching classes. This recommendation is also for those families who cannot afford to send their children to coaching classes. As of now, no formal decision has been taken, but will be implemented after the approval of the MHRD.

Joshi adds, "Giving specific weightage to class XII scores for admission into engineering colleges will make students attend their classes regularly and fare well in the board exams."

However, a class XII student says, "Changing the JEE pattern at the last moment is unfair for all those students who have been preparing for it since the last two years. If a new system is adopted now, students preparing for IITs will suffer. This decision should have been taken much earlier."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CBSE initiates counseling programmes for students

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has a wider role to play in the India’s education system. CBSE is the education regulatory body for affiliated primary & secondary schools; CBSE also holds national level entrance exams for Engineering & Medical college admissions in India through AIEEE & AIPMT respectively.

To make life easier for students & parents, CBSE initiated counseling programmes to benefit students at large. The toll-free number 1800-180-3456 will now go to a friendly helpline from CBSE to respond to student queries related to board exams. Apart from the telephonic counseling; CBSE is also in plans to write question answer columns in newspapers and enable online counseling through CBSE website.

Source: careermitra.com

IITs give in, JEE, AIEEE to merge

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The Ministry of human resource development will soon call a meeting of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Council to stamp a decision to merge the IIT-Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

After much resistance, the IITs have agreed to join the ministry’s bid to have a common entrance examination for all engineering colleges in the country. This only happened after there was an agreement that several elements of IIT-JEE will be part of the new national common examination.

“The new entrance examination will have many elements of IIT-JEE as we want to ensure that the best brains join our institutes,” said an IIT director requesting anonymity, after a meeting of select IIT directors with HRD minister Kapil Sibal.

A formal meeting of the IIT Council to stamp the merger is expected in February.
IIT Kanpur director Sanjay Dande made a presentation on features of the new entrance examination aimed to evaluate skills of a student objectively. A student’s Class 12 marks and entrance exam score will have equal weightage.

The new examination will be conducted by a joint committee of IIT and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which conducts AIEEE, and will cover all central government engineering colleges and those in seven states such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal, which had opted to take students on the basis of the AIEEE score.

There are 15 IITs, four Indian Institutes of Information Technology and 20 National Institutes of Technology in the country.
The HRD ministry believes that more states could join in the future and it will try to bring them on board at a meeting of state education ministers on February 15.

Over 15 lakh students, including 4.85 lakh for IIT-JEE, appear for different engineering entrance tests in the country every year. A student wanting admission in an engineering college has to take three to five entrance exams.

Source: hindustantimes.com

CBSE Board exam dates to be out by January 15

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Some Students studying under CBSE

Where ICSE has already announced board exam dates, students of classes X and XII studying under Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will have to wait for another 11 days to know the board examination dates as the final dates will be out only near January 15. CBSE's regional director R J Khanderao, while talking to TOI, said, "We can expect the exam dates to be out by or on January 15."

However, the news has helped in lowering down student's anxiety which otherwise has been increasing with every passing day. Atul Sharma, a Class XII student of Commerce, said, "Since December I have been regularly checking CBSE's website to know the exam date. But now I can relax as I know it will be out by January 15."

Swati Duggal, another Class XII student with non-medical, said, "I have been preparing for All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) as well. Therefore, I want to be clear about the dates so that I can prioritize and make my study time table accordingly."
Sheekha Narang, a Class XII student with Commerce, said, "I am unable to decide as to which subject I should prepare first. So if the exam date is out and I have the date sheet in front of me then I will be able to set the schedule accordingly."

Abhay Singh, a Class X student, said, "My anxiety took a toll when I got to know that ICSE has declared the examination date. Since then I have been regularly checking the CBSE website." His friend cum classmate Saurav Kant said, "I wonder if like ICSE even CBSE will schedule the exams in February as in that case there will be very less time for preparation."

In schools under Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) board exams for Class X will begin from February 27 where and exams for Class XII will begin from February 13. The dates have been scheduled in February this year to allow time for students to prepare for various entrance tests.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Quizzing for a greener future: TERI Organizes Terraquiz 2011

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The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Hero MotoCorp Ltd. in association with the Ministry of Environment and Forest organised the 12th edition of the TerraQuiz, a one-of-its-kind international inter-school environment quiz competition. The show, hosted by VJ and Actor, Mr. Purab Kohli, will go on-air on the Discovery channel early next year.

In a 13-episode series, students fight it out to become ‘Environment Ambassadors’. The quiz helps to choose some of the most environment-aware children and while appreciating their efforts, it also encourages them to be torch-bearers of the cause.

As ambassadors, they are expected to initiate or lead environmental activities in their respective institutions. This has been conceptualised with the intention of creating environmental leaders who would actively participate in conservation activities and promote environmental citizenship
amongst peers, family and society.

While distributing awards, Dr. R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI, said, “It is the youth of this world and their understanding of environmental protection that can help meet the challenges ahead in protecting mother earth. TerraQuiz is an important step to inform and mobilize the youth of the world in this crucial mission. In their role as ‘Environment Ambassadors’, they can be major agents of change for a sustainable future.”

Applauding the students, Mr. Anil Dua, Sr. Vice President - Sales and Marketing, Hero MotoCorp Ltd said, “Hero MotoCorp Ltd has believed in the potential of this project from its very inception. The organization is a firm believer of issues which helps protect the ecology that we enjoy around us and our alliance with TERI through TerraQuiz showcases a commitment and contribution for a cleaner and greener future, helping spread environmental awareness amongst the next generation.”

Students from across the length and breadth of the country, as well as contestants from across the globe participated in the competition. Students from the Middle East took active participation in the competition.

The 12th season was hosted by VJ and Actor, Mr. Purab Kohli. The actor known for his vivacity and youthfulness believes in the ‘green’ cause and had a roll while hosting the show.

The 64 children who finally appeared on the show have been chosen from over 2, 40,000 participants who sat for the Green Olympiad examination. The Green Olympiad is a one-of-its-kind that adjudges a student’s environmental knowledge. School children from 3200 plus schools from across the country and schools in the Middle East and South East Asia appeared for this test.

Apart from being linked to the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), CBSE; the Olympiad has also been endorsed by UNESCO and DESD (Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2004-2015). Youth icons Irfan Pathan and Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore have helped in furthering the cause, and spreading the message.

The questions asked in the competition are drawn from topics of daily concern, both logical and global. Being an extremely effective medium to convey crisp messages in a short period of time, it contains an inherent element of knowledge and competition. Its unique structure questions and educates viewers and participants simultaneously.

Organised by TERI’s Educating Youth for Sustainable Development division, it is one of TERI’s unique initiatives to sensitise the young to create an ecologically sustainable society. Through the year TERI is constantly interacting with educators, students and organisations across the country, from both rural and urban areas, to create a bridge between these young agents of change and environmentalists. Terraquiz aims at entertaining children, as well as sensitising them towards environmental causes.

Source: businesswireindia.com

National Medical Entrance Test from 2013-14

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Common medical entrace test from 2013

The Medical Council of India on Monday told the Bombay High Court that it will not implement the National Eligibility cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for the academic year 2012-13 but from the following year. NEET is a single admission process to MBBS and post-graduate medical courses throughout the country. A division bench of Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud and Justice Amjad Sayed was hearing petitions filed by the state government, association of medical colleges ( AMC) and students, challenging MCIs notifications on December 21, 2010 and November 11, 2011, prescribing and finalising the syllabus for NEET.s advocate informed the court that on December 8, 2011, the Aurangabad bench has stayed the exams.

She said three other high courts (Madras, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) in the country have also stayed NEET. The Aurangabad bench is of the opinion that the syllabus is based on CBSE, she said. The MCI advocate submitted that NEET will not be implemented for the academic year 2012-13 but for 2013-14. The judges said in view of MCIs statement, students will not get stressed and all uncertainties will go. They will get enough time to prepare themselves, said Justice Chandrachud.

Advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for some students, said, If they are not implementing it, the whole issue gets resolved. He urged the court to permit the directorate of medical education and research (DMER) to proceed with preparations for holding common entrance test. The judges directed MCI to put their statement in an affidavit and posted the hearing on December 21.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

No common Test for MBBS this Year

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No Common Entrance for MBBS Entrance This Time

The national common entrance test (CET) slated by the Medical Council of India (MCI) on May 13, 2012, for admissions to the MBBS courses across all government and private medical colleges across the country is off, at least for this year, because of the Supreme Court deferring a hearing against it to January.

Once again, students aspiring to study medicine will have to run from one city to another to appear in the multiple entrance tests. Though the MCI officials said it may not be so in 2013, it is still hope against hope as a score of state governments and private medical colleges do not want to give up their control over admissions.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which was entrusted with holding the CET, on Tuesday announced that it will hold its own All-India Pre-Medical Test (PMT) on that date, while the states will be holding their own PMTs. The CBSE's preliminary exam will be on April 1. The eligibility conditions and syllabus will remain the same as in 2011.

CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said, "There will be no national CET in 2012. The CBSE will hold its own AIPMT and the states will hold their own entrance tests in 2012."

"The Supreme Court is yet to give the final decision on deferring the test. It will hear the matter in January first week," MCI secretary Sangeeta Sharma explained.

The CBSE announcement came within a week of the health ministry filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court seeking permission to hold the common exam from 2013, instead of 2012 as earlier allowed by the court. A number of state governments and private medical colleges are opposing a single national entrance test.

The MCI had announced the national test on November 17, only after the health ministry asked it to draw up the syllabus for the common test that the CBSE was to hold in English and Hindi. Gujarat, Maharashtra [ Images ], Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal [ Images ] were among states that wanted the test also in the regional languages.

At present, the CBSE conducts its pre-medical test to admit students to the 15 per cent seats under the all-India quota at government medical colleges in the states. For the remaining 85 per cent seats, the state-level tests are held.

Source: http://www.rediff.com

History Partners with CBSC for Heritage Education

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History Channel and CBSE

Reworking on History in schools, the channel unveils unique outreach initiative promote education and conservation of monumentsHistory has announced its range of outreach programmes to promote education and conservation of Indian monuments. The channel will partner CBSE schools in its educational campaign to preserve and protect heritage monuments in the country.

As part of this initiative, CBSE, along with History, will shortly present the Heritage Quiz 2011, which involves approximately 1000 schools affiliated to the board. The quiz follows an exhaustive selection process which involves a written exam followed by three grueling rounds of quizzing finally culminating in the grand finale to be held on 9th December 2011 at New Delhi.

UNESCO will also play an active part in this initiative by putting together some questions, which will be integrated into the Heritage Quiz.
The quiz is part of a comprehensive partnership between the two organizations which also includes other interesting conservation efforts like Heritage walks; Adopt a Monument, Poster making & Short Film Competitions. The monumental effort is reach out to lakhs of students across the thousands of schools to spread awareness on the importance of conservation and other pertinent issues affecting society.

Speaking on this occasion, Vineet Joshi Chairman, CBSE, said “We hope that this association between CBSE & History will provide a wider platform to the CBSE to reach out to more and more schools and boost its drive to promote educational innovations, in general, and Preserve and Protect heritage monuments in the country in particular.”

Commenting on History’s partnership with CBSE, Ajay Chacko, President, A+E Networks | TV 18 added, “Our association with CBSE is two-fold viz. promoting education and conservation of historical monuments. The objective is to promote these two broader concepts through various activities involving students as an integral part of the entire process. The Heritage Quiz is one of the biggest initiatives by CBSE and we are very happy to be a part of this.”

Source: bestmediainfo.com

IIPM - The Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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Level - Graduate Degree
Opening Date - 12 Dec 2011
Duration - 3 years

The Bachelor's program at IIPM is ranked amongst the best programs for undergraduates in India. This is a three year full time residential program that leads to the award of the BBA degree from the International Management Institute, Belgium, one of the Europe's leading business schools. As mentioned previously, the Bachelor's program is currently offered at IIPM's Asian campuses in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad & Hyderabad.

In this IIPM program, in the first year, the IIPM students have to study the foundation courses related to areas like Marketing, HR, Finance, Foreign Languages, Culture, Executive Communication, Quantitative Techniques, General Awareness, History & Literature, Introduction to Management, Introduction to IT systems.

In the 2nd year, students have to undertake core subjects related to various areas like National Economic Planning, Marketing, Personnel & Industrial Relations, Finance & Accounting, Production, Quantitative Techniques, IT Systems and various other term papers. In the third year, students have to undertake compulsory specializations related to Marketing & IT.

Apart from these two compulsory specializations, students have a choice of taking up an additional specialization, namely Finance or Human Resources. Students in the third year also study advanced core papers like Business Policy & Strategic Planning, Mergers & Acquisitions, International Marketing etc. Students have to submit a thesis dissertation at the end of the program. The IIPM integrated program is unique in the aspect that students in the final two years undergo as rigorous a course schedule as in the Full time program.

Most importantly, these IIPM under graduate students, after working for two years in the industry, are automatically awarded the MBA degree from IMI. This allows the Integrated students to achieve an industry standing that is comparable to MBA graduates, at the same time allowing a time saving of two years. Visit the link on Faculty to appreciate the top notch faculty teaching at the under graduate programme and the subjects being covered. Another important aspect of this program is that students have the option of transferring their credits to IMI Belgium and continuing their studies at IMI. Students join the best companies in the world after passing out from this course.

Source: admissionchannel.com

Saturday's Lunar Eclipse Will Include 'Impossible' Sight

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A lunar eclipse with some speciality

This year's second total lunar eclipse on Saturday (Dec. 10) will offer a rare chance to see a strange celestial sight traditionally thought impossible.
Ringside seats for the lunar eclipse can be found in Alaska, Hawaii, northwestern Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and central and eastern Asia. Over the contiguous United States and Canada, the eastern zones will see either only the initial penumbral stages before moonset, or nothing at all.

Over the central regions of the United States, the moon will set as it becomes progressively immersed in the Earth's umbral shadow. The Rocky Mountain states and the prairie provinces will see the moon set in total eclipse, while out west the moon will start to emerge from the shadow as it sets.
The moon passes through the southern part of the Earth's shadow, with totality beginning at 6:06 a.m. PST and lasting 51 minutes.

For most places in the United States and Canada, there will be a chance to observe an unusual effect, one that celestial geometry seems to dictate can't happen. The little-used name for this effect is a "selenelion" (or "selenehelion") and occurs when both the sun and the eclipsed moon can be seen at the same time.

Seeing the Impossible
But wait! How is this possible? When we have a lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth and moon are in a geometrically straight line in space, with the Earth in the middle. So if the sun is above the horizon, the moon must be below the horizon and completely out of sight (or vice versa).
And indeed, during a lunar eclipse, the sun and moon are exactly 180 degrees apart in the sky; so in a perfect alignment like this (a "syzygy") such an observation would seem impossible.

But it is atmospheric refraction that makes a selenelion possible.
Atmospheric refraction causes astronomical objects to appear higher in the sky than they are in reality.
For example: when you see the sun sitting on the horizon, it is not there really. It's actually below the edge of the horizon, but our atmosphere acts like a lens and bends the sun's image just above the horizon, allowing us to see it.

This effect actually lengthens the amount of daylight for several minutes or more each day; we end up seeing the sun for a few minutes in the morning before it has actually risen and for a few extra minutes in the evening after it actually already has set.
The same holds true with the moon, as well.

As a consequence of this atmospheric trick, for many localities there will be an unusual chance to observe a senelion firsthand with Saturday morning's shadowy event. There will be a short window of roughly 1-to-6 minutes (depending on your location) when you may be able to simultaneously spot the sun rising in the east-southeast and the eclipsed full moon setting in the west-northwest.

Source: National Geographic

Kepler 22b Can Bear Life on it!

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Kepler 22b - a planet with Earth-like potential for carrying life

NASA finds new planet Kepler 22b outside solar system with temperature right for life
NASA announced finding an Earth-like planet outside outside the solar system that could have have the right temperature to support life. As Brian Vastag reported :
The search for Earth-like planets circling other stars is heating up, but the latest discovery is not too hot at all. It’s not too cold, either. Instead, the temperature on the newly announced planet Kepler-22b could be just right for life — about 72 degrees, a perfect spring day on Earth.

Spied by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, Kepler-22b marks the best candidate yet for a life-bearing world beyond our solar system, project scientists said Monday.
If it has a surface, it ought to have a nice temperature,” said Kepler’s lead scientist, Bill Borucki, during a teleconference Monday.
“It’s right in the middle of the habitable zone,” said Natalie Batahla, a Kepler scientist, referring to the narrow, balmy band of space around any star where water can be liquid. “The other exciting thing is that it orbits a star very, very similar to our own sun.”

The actual temperature on Kepler-22b hinges on whether the planet has an atmosphere, which, like a blanket, would warm the surface. Even without an atmosphere, Borucki said, the planet would likely be warm enough to host liquid water on its surface.
If it has a surface.

Kepler 22b is in what scientists call the Goldilocks zone, which is the band of distance away from a star which could allow for liquid water. As AP explained:
The new planet — named Kepler-22b — has key aspects it shares with Earth. It circles a star that could be the twin of our sun and at just about the same distance. The planet’s year of 290 days is even close to ours. It likely has water and rock.

The only trouble is the planet’s a bit big for life to exist on the surface. The planet is about 2.4 times the size of Earth. It could be more like the gas-and-liquid Neptune with only a rocky core and mostly ocean.

Source: washingtonpost.com

Why does the Moon Shine?

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The Shining Moon!!!

On a clear night, the moon can provide a lot of light! Where does it all come from??

Believe it or not, the secret behind all the light of Mr. Moon is the sun! The moon itself does not actually give off any light. The light we see coming from the moon is light being shined onto the moon by the sun, which bounces off the moon and then shines down on Earth! (It’s almost like the moon is a mirror for sunlight!)

Because the moon moves in circles around the Earth, we’re sometimes able to see more of its lit-up side, and we’re sometimes able to see less, depending on where the moon is in its orbit and how much of that lit-up side is facing us! This is why you sometimes just see a little sliver of the moon, and sometimes you see the whole big thing!

Have you ever made a diorama?

A diorama is a 3D model of something bigger, and they’re often made to represent the solar system!

You can make a diorama of the solar system using an old box and some balls of different sizes, like a marble, a golf ball, and a tennis ball!

Create a diorama of the sun, Earth, and moon to show their orbits. Use a flashlight to shine light from your diorama’s sun onto its moon. Do you see the way the moon is lit up on only one side? How does the view of the moon’s reflected light change as the moon orbits around the Earth?

Source: whyzz.com

Varsha Gupta Wins Doodle4Google

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A representation of what India gave to the world!

Google’s India homepage Monday celebrated the birthday of the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with a special doodle designed by Varsha Gupta, Class III student from Ryan International School, Greater Noida.

Varsha designed the special Doodle illustrating traditional Indian musical instruments, which has been featured online on Google’s India homepage on ‘Children’s Day’ for 24-hours.

The seven-year-old school student had won the national-level third ‘Doodle4Google’ contest organised in Noida a few days back.

Interacting with media after the event, an elated Gupta explained the design from her t-shirt that showcased her creative Doodle.

“I have designed this band including two ‘tablas’ (a pair of hand drums), a ‘veena’ (plucked string instrument) and then I made a ‘shehnai’ (a wooden aerophonic instrument) and then I made a ‘ghungroo’ (anklet made from small metallic bells). (Q. What are your feelings on winning this contest?) I am very happy,” she said.

“I have never felt this happier prior to this in my life. It is the best moment of my life,” added Varsha’s proud father Motilal Gupta.

Managing Director and VP Sales and Operations for Google India Rajan Anandan and Jennifer Hom, the creative brainchild behind Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary doodle along with global Google’s Doodle team attended the event.

Apart from a winning certificate, Google India, handed Varsha with a laptop, a year's internet connection and Rs200,000 technology grant for her school.

Varsha’s creation was selected on the basis of artistic merit, creativity, and expression of the doodle theme ‘India’s gift to the world’.

The recreated Google logo popularly known as Doodle was chosen form over a million entries from across India.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com

Common MBBS Entrance Test on May 13 Next Year

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A Medica at Work

The Medical Council of India (MCI) today finalized syllabus for the all-India common entrance test for admission to MBBS courses and fixed May 13 for holding the exam next year. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) for admission of students to undergraduate courses in 335 medical colleges of the country is scheduled to be held on May 13 next year, the MCI today said even as the nod of the Ministry of Health in this connection is awaited.

The Council also uploaded core syllabus on which NEET-UG will be based and students can upload the same from its website. Meanwhile, an element of uncertainty continued on the exam with the Ministry of Health’s notification in respect of NEET still awaited. The MCI today said time was crucial in holding the test.
"We are ready and so is the CBSE. We are waiting for the Ministry to notify the same. We hope it would be done soon," MCI officials said.

The Council also said in a statement that it was scheduling the test and finalizing the syllabus in pursuance of its commitment made to the Supreme Court in this matter. In a statement signed by Secretary Sangeeta Sharma, the MCI said "in pursuance with the Supreme Court orders in writ petition 380 of 2009 titled Simran Jain versus Union of India and undertaking of the Medical Council of India therein, the common entrance test for admission to medical courses in various institutions across the country shall be conducted from the academic year 2012-2013 onwards".

The statement the NEET for undergraduates for admission to MBBS is scheduled to be held on May 13, 2012. In this connection, the final core syllabus and other relevant documents are available on the NEET-UG tan on the MCI website: www.Mci.Org." Core syllabus on the MCI website contains a detailed list of topics which the NEET-UG will cover in respect of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The MCI has finalized the syllabus after a review of various state syllabi as well as those prepared by the CBSE, NCERT and COBSE (Council of Boards of School Education in India).

"This core syllabus is to establish uniformity across the country keeping in view the relevance of different areas in medical education," preface to the core syllabus document of NEET-UG says. It lists all the topics which the test will cover so far as Physics, Chemistry and Biology syllabus of classes XI and XII are concerned.
Each topic is discussed in detail and is available on the MCI website.

Source: greaterkashmir.com

Plus II Exam Pattern Set to Change

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Get ready for the new pattern of exam

The state government has decided to change the Plus II examination pattern from 2013 with more focus on objective type questions. Seventy per cent questions will be objective types requiring short answers such as yes or no, multiple choices or single word answers. Only 30 per cent questions will be subjective requiring long answers.

"The move would increase percentage scores of students from Orissa. The general perception is that they are scoring low because of our subjective questions and are at a disadvantageous position at an all India level," said Jasobanta Behera, controller of examinations, Council of Higher Secondary Education, (CHSE), Orissa.
At present, 40 per cent questions in Plus II are subjective type. The change will not be applicable to students appearing the examination next year. "We wanted to convey about the change to students from the time they are taking admission in Plus II. Students who took admission this year will appear the examination in 2013," Behera said. Behera said other minute details of the changed pattern such as model questions and duration of examinations would be worked out and notified soon.

The proposed change is in a series of reforms at Plus II level. In a related development, the government has decided to make the syllabus more like that of Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE). At least 80 per cent of the syllabus will be CBSE-type from next year.
Since the Union government has been planning to hold common entrance for medical and engineering entrances in future, CBSE-type syllabus will create a level-playing field for students from Orissa while competing at the all-India level, Behera said.

Behera said it is a matter of concern that number of students taking admission in Plus II and those passing the Plus II examination are not increasing the way it should. While over five lakh students appear for Class X examination, it becomes half by the time students reach Plus II. Various initiatives are aimed at increasing number of students passing Plus II, he said. Students welcomed the government decision to change the exam pattern. "All entrance examinations are objective type. Making Plus II exam on a similar pattern would ease the burden," said Asmit Sahoo, a Plus II first year science student.

Source: http://timesofindia

MCI to Change National Med Admission Test Syllabus

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The Medical Council of India (MCI) has decided to make changes in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), a common test for admission in medical colleges all over India. Officials said that the new syllabus will be declared by the second week of November. In April this year, a meeting of the core committee of NEET including MCI, CBSE and central health ministry was held where it was decided to invite recommendations from all the states.

Nearly 1,970 people wrote e-mails to the core committee making useful suggestions to render the proposed test more adaptable to students of all the states. Of these 450 letters were written by students, parents and academicians from Gujarat. Following these suggestions and recommendations, the MCI has decided to effect changes in the syllabus of the test. The first NEET exam is scheduled to be held in May 2012.

Most of the states including Gujarat had suggested that NEET be also conducted in local languages so as to ensure that students who study in regional medium schools get a level playing field along with English medium students. Gujarat too had recommended that NEET should be conducted in Gujarati language. Other major block in Gujarat joining the test was that the NEET syllabus is modeled on the CBSE syllabus and there was a huge gap in the state board syllabus and that of NEET.

"There was an estimated 40 per cent difference between NEET and Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) syllabus. The decision of MCI to change the syllabus is a positive step as it will offer the state students a little more level playing field", said an education department official.
Officials said that Gujarat is expected to join NEET from 2013 when students who will pass through the first ever semester system will pass out and will give national level entrance exams.

Source: timesofindia

AIEEE 2012 Dates Announced

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The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) is an all-India common entrance examination for admission to engineering and architecture or planning programmes at the undergraduate level.

The exam is conducted each year by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) . Candidates who qualify AIEEE can seek admission into universities and institutions all over India for BE, BTech, BArch or BPlanning courses.

AIEEE 2012 offline examination will be held on April 29, 2012 and AIEEE 2012 online examination will be conducted from May 7-25, 2012.

Source; Indiatoday.intoday.in

CBSE to Promote Cultural Heritage

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to reinforce promotion of Indian cultural heritage in schools affiliated to it.
A recent circular issued by the Board has said schools would have to hold music and dance programmes.

It has advised them to organise events that would give schools the “opportunity of bringing great artists to the portals of their institutions”, in collaboration with the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY).

The Society has been taking Indian Classical Music and Dance to thousands of schools and colleges across the country for over three decades.

In recent years, with addition to music and dance, theatre, yoga and folk arts and folk arts are also being highlighted.

Heritage clubs

In its suggestions, the CBSE has asked schools to set up heritage clubs preferably with one teacher and five students.
At least three SPIC MACAY events will have to be held, in addition to weekly meetings that include a presentation by students about aspects of Indian heritage.

“Select students could be sent to participate in SPIC MACAY's National School Intensive, Rural School Intensive, zonal or state conventions which would inspire them to take this movement forward in their zones,” chairman of the CBSE Vineet Joshi said in a recent note to school principals.

Source: The Hindu

Grabbing Opportunities is the Key to Success

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Grabbing the opportunity and using it to the hilt is the key for success as opportunities don't come knocking that easily. Students waiting for opportunities should be fully prepared, equipping themselves with core and soft skills rather than just ‘enjoying' their college life. These mantras for success were driven into the minds of engineering students of Royal Institute of Technology and Science (RITS) near Chevella by Ramakrishna Prasad, a motivational expert during an interactive session organized by The Hindu Education Plus. This interesting session, loaded with video footage of successful people and achievements, showcased to students how tough the real world is and how success can be achieved by fighting against the odds.

The session opened a new window of thought among students.
Mr. Prasad touched on various aspects of the corporate world from getting into a job to surviving it, and making a bright career. He said that personality was an important factor that companies look for and that it is tested on various parameters like attitude, behaviour, approach to life, respect given to colleagues and even dress sense. He described commitment, attitude, patience, self-belief and determination as factors that reflect the personality of a candidate.

Stating that getting into a job is a serious issue, he said organizations look for people who want to improve. Companies don't look for brilliance alone, but people who understand their strengths and put it to maximum use. At the same time, they also realize that candidates come with weaknesses but look for those who make the effort to overcome them. He cautioned that all good companies are sensitive to employees and those insulting women and differently-abled are not spared, however brilliant they may be at work.

Acquiring the skills necessary for a job is not a difficult task, he felt, provided students were committed. Giving a few tips, he asked students to learn five new words of English every day, carry a pocket thesaurus instead of a comb, read a newspaper everyday for sometime and write down on a piece of paper about the day's important news. Speak in front of a mirror for a minute on any topic and record it on a mobile to observe faults. All these are important, he said, as communication is not only about speaking but also reading and writing.

Mr. Prasad also dwelt at length on preparation of a resume. It should be short and reflect your achievements apart from personal data. “The interview is based on your resume than the test of core skills. An effective resume will send a positive feeling and can lead to an interview that the candidate prefers,” he opined. Director and Vice-Chairman of RITS, Mohd. Arif Rizwan; Principal Prof. Azeez Mohammed Khan and Placement Officer Syed Mahmood Ali were among present.

Source: The Hindu

SRM Students Design Eco-friendly Aircraft

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An aircraft

The student team from the Department of Aerospace, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, SRM University, participated in a contest organized by NASA in May 2011 and won the third place under foreign university team's category.

The team's members were Akshay Garg (graduated in June 2011), Surya Kiran Peravalli (IV year), Abdul Sayeed Khan (III year) and Pate Sweety Prakash (III year). It was ably guided by G. Mahendra Perumal, Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, SRM University.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of U.S. had invited students to propose ideas and designs for future aircraft that used less fuel, produced less harmful emission and made less noise.

The young designers

NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project documents the feasibility, benefits, and technical risks associated with vehicle concepts and enabling technologies that will help mitigate the impact of aviation on the earth's environment.

In order to engage and inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists, NASA poses technical challenges every year to both high school and college-level students in the area of environmentally responsible aviation.

Towards this, students are invited to submit their ideas and designs for vehicle or propulsion concepts and technologies that will assist in meeting the next decade goals. The contest is open to both U.S. citizens and foreign students.

The SRM student team developed a conceptual aircraft, ‘SERA (SRM Environmentally Responsible) Airliner', which is incorporated with many innovative design features.

The team designed an airplane for 200 passengers incorporating efficient technologies in many aspects such as fuel efficiency, aerodynamic performance with small take-off and landing distances, use of modern composites with better strength and latest advanced technologies to manufacture these composites, lesser emission than the present aircraft in terms of both pollution and noise, and better airport performance considering passenger convenience.

NASA's Langley Aerodynamic Research Centre located at Hampton in Virginia will conduct a student forum on November 15 and 16.

The SRM team has been invited for a presentation.

Source: The Hindu

Art Clokey: Creator Extraordinaire

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The Formative Years

A True Pioneer

For more than 50 years, Art Clokey worked with clay to produce works of art that form a catalog of “firsts” in the medium of film. He made the first music video, Gumbasia, in which colored clay shapes moved and transformed to the jazz rhythms.

A Message of Love The Clay Peacock The Power of Gumbasia

He was the first to introduce the use of clay models of objects, animals and people in television commercials. He was the first to develop clay animation techniques and the first to use them in full-length feature films. He invented trimentional animation based on kinesthetic principles, and it became the signature of his career.

Art Clokey, born October 12, 1921, was a dynamic creator who inspired children and adults for the past six decades. Gumby, his most famous character, is a pop-culture icon. He and his first wife, Ruth, also created the famed Davey and Goliath series.

Source: gumbyworld.com

Goan Student Wins 2nd Place at Natl Seminar

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A student preparing for seminar

Ishaan Shetye, a student of A J de Almeida high school, Ponda, has secured second place at the all India science seminar held at National Science centre, New Delhi. The seminar saw participation from several states and union territories. The first place was bagged by the state of Tamil Nadu. Shetye has been awarded a scholarship of one year and has been selected to visit Warsaw in Poland under a UNESCO programme. Shetyeas science teacher Roma Fernandes accompanied him for the event.

Source; The Times of India

CTET 2012 Will Be Held Online Also

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Students Attempting the Exam

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) intends to keep the Central Teacher’s Eligibility Test (CTET) in online mode across 22 Cities in India. The traditional paper pencil mode of exam will also be in practice; last year nearly 790,000 students have registered for CTET. CTET 2011 was conducted by CBSE on 26 June 2011 (Sunday) at 1178 Centers in 86 Cities across the Country & 2 Centers are in abroad.

CTET 2012 is likely to be held during January to June 2012; the test could go online across all major cities in India including Bangalore. CTET will have two papers, Paper I will be for teacher posts to classes I to V, while Paper II will be for teacher posts for classes VI to VIII. You can learn more about CTET, by visiting here.

Last year only 14% managed to qualify in the written test; as many as 617,131 candidates couldn’t clear the test.

Source: blog.careermitra.com

Percentiles to Determine Common Mdical Entrance Test Merit

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Medical Aspirants

The proposed National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS courses from next year will have objective type questions and a percentile score to determine the merit of all applicants.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Medical Council of India's Board of Governors held this week, MCI sources said.

This is the first time that a merit list will be prepared on the basis of percentile scores of candidates in medical entrance test, unlike in the past when percentage scores were taken into account to prepare the merit list.

The Medical Council of India (MCI), which will hold the all-India medical entrance test next year in collaboration with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), has also decided to keep a cut-off of percentile scores of all applicants to determine the eligible candidates for admission to medical colleges in the country.

Source: Indian Express

Mandatory 2-yr Rural Stint for Medicos Mooted

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A doctor taking off protective gears after surgery

With the single entrance system for medical education coming to stay across India, the Orissa Government has proposed that all students coming from outside must submit the two-year service bond.

At the last meeting in New Delhi with CBSE, Medical Council of India (MCI), where all states were represented, Orissa has sought a few changes in its favour, including a condition that all students taking admission in government colleges will have to serve two years in rural areas. This will mean the 15 percent students who come from the central list will also have to submit the bond, once the matter is ratified.

In the past, the 15 percent of the students who took admission through the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) route were exempted from the service bond clause. With the State facing shortage of doctors in rural pockets, the Orissa Government wants more doctors in the rural areas through its proposal.

“Earlier, the entrance tests (AIPMT and JEE) were different and hence the norms guiding them. Now that all the states will have to come through by the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the conditions governing them should also be the same,” Joint Director, Medical Education and Training, Orissa Sitaram Mohapatra said. Mohapatra represented the State.

As per the NEET guidelines, two merit lists will be drawn up - a central list and a state list. For 15 percent seats in all institutions, Director General of Health Service will conduct the counselling while the rest 85 percent will be handed over to the State Government.

Mohapatra said, the State Government has also proposed that all the? students for the 85 percent seats will have to be domicile of the State. In view of the eligibility norms, a percentile system must be put in place.

The NEET will come into force from 2012 academic session which means the calendar will start from December 12 when application for the test will go online. Candidates can submit their applications till January 16 while admit cards will be dispatched on April 14 onwards. The NEET will be held on May 13.

Source: ibnlive.in.com

Meanwhile, third round counseling for MBBS and BDS seats concluded on Tuesday. All the 15 NRI seats of Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital were filled up though 84 BDS seats remained vacant. All 450 MBBS and 50 BDS seats in the three government medical colleges have already been taken.

Source: IBn live.com

NEET UG Likely to be Held in May 2012

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NEET to be held in May Next Year

NEET for under-graduate medical admissions is likely to be held in the month of May 2012. MCI officials and state representatives of concerned authorities had a meeting last week on Friday 23, September 2011 and believed to have taken the decision to hold the common medical entrance test from 2012.

The decision is yet to be announced officially by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education). As per a report “NEET will have 180 questions, comprising 45 each from physics, chemistry, botany and zoology. The test will be of 180 minutes duration with centers in all district headquarters”.

Applications will be issued in the month of December and NEET is likely to be held on May 13, 2011. Syllabus will be normalized in order to satisfy all the State Board students and MCI will also ensure that reservation are not waived off. 85% seats for home state based students, 15% seats for rest of India.

The last thing a student should hope is the finalized syllabus and examination schedule. MCI is confident of holding NEET in the year 2012 despite protests from state governments. States which don’t wish to have a common entrance test are Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka and Goa. It is interesting to watch and see how the ministers of these states react to the MCI’s final decision. Decision will be out in few more days, hope there will not be disappointed students, MCI should make a convincing announcement soon.

Source: blog.careermitra.com/

Go Online for AIEEE Applications

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Get online to take AIEEE

Students aspiring to take up All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) this year will be in for a surprise as they cannot write the pen-paper model of the examination. Instead, they need to sit for a compute based test.
In order to have wider availability of application forms this year CBSE has decided to accept application forms only through its website.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which conducts the examination, has withdrawn the pen-paper based test in several cities, including Chennai replacing it with computer-based test (CBT).
Mr Pitam Singh, director (special exams), CBSE said last year the Board conducted CBT in select cities on a trial basis which proved to be a great success.

With this success and to provide flexible schedule of examination, the Board has decided to conduct CBT in Chennai from May 7 to 25, next year. However students from Coimbatore and Madurai would take up the examination on April 29, next year.
In order to have wider availability of application forms CBSE has decided to accept application forms only through its website and no physical form will be sold this year.

This according to CBSE will ensure availability of forms through its website at all places and without any time constraint.
Students can pay the fees using credit/debit cards or demand drafts. To facilitate students filling online application form, CBSE will open a facilitation centre in each and every city from where physical forms were sold in the past.

Source: deccanchronicle.com

Albert Imre Szent-Gyorgyi 's 118th Boday

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Gyorgi - the Great Biochemist

Albert Imre Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986), a Hungarian-born biochemist, was the first to isolate vitamin C, and his research on biological oxidation provided the basis for Krebs' citric acid cycle. His discoveries about the biochemical nature of muscular contraction revolutionized the field of muscle research. His later career was devoted to research in "submolecular" biology, applying quantum physics to biological processes.

He was especially interested in cancer, and was one of the first to explore the connections between free radicals and cancer. Szent-Gyorgyi won the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in biological oxidation and vitamin C, and the Lasker Award in Basic Medical Research in 1954, for contributions to understanding cardiovascular disease through basic muscle research.

The Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Library is the repository for the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Papers, which range from 1894 to 1995. The collection contains photographs, oral history interviews, published articles, video recordings, and lectures.

As part of its Profiles in Science project, the National Library of Medicine has collaborated with the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Library to digitize and make available over the World Wide Web a selection of the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Papers for use by educators and researchers. This site provides access to the portions of the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Papers of the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Library that have been selected for digitization. Individuals interested in conducting research in the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Papers are invited to contact the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory Library.

This online Exhibit is designed to introduce you to the various phases of Szent-Gyorgyi's scientific career and professional life. It is divided into sections that focus on Szent-Gyorgyi's life and major scientific contributions. We suggest that new visitors begin with this exhibit, which includes a small selection of documents and visuals, organized within these sections. Each section begins with a "Background Narrative," which leads to "Documents" and "Visuals."

Source: profiles.nlm.nih.gov/WG/

MES School Principal Feted for Top Award

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The Award Ceremony

The management, staff and students of MES Indian School came together at a special assembly yesterday to fete principal A P Sasidharan, recipient of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s Teacher Award 2010.

Sasidharan had received the award at a ceremony in New Delhi on September 4 from India’s Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal in the presence of Minister of State E Ahmed and CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi.

School governing body general secretary A Shamsuddeen recalled with pride that of Sasidharan’s 38 years of teaching experience, 25 years were with MES itself.

“This is a great honour for the school and Sasidharan himself,” he said adding the award represents the dynamic academic leadership and landmark achievements by Sasidharan.

The exceptional results of the CBSE and Kerala Board Examination of 2011, the introduction of the CBSE-i curriculum which has expanded the school’s global outreach and the evolution of MES Indian School as the world’s largest Wi-Fi enabled e-learning campus, as per the records of the CBSE, have set the seal on the institution’s success as a premier education provider.

“The CBSE Teacher Award 2011, is the culmination of all the whole hearted support, hard work and co-operation extended to me by the MES staff, faculty and students, through the years of my tenure. I look forward to MES reaching even greater heights of curricular and co-curricular achievements,” Sasidharan said.

Teacher Sikkander Pasha welcomed the gathering. Vice principal and Girls Section head Hameeda Kadar presented a bouquet to the principal.

Vice principal and Boys Section head Aleyamma Mathew read out the citation. Shamsuddeen presented Sasidharan with a shawl. He also presented a memento on behalf of the staff secretaries.

Arabic department head Siraj Ahmed and head boy Soheb Salim offered felicitations. Head girl Aishwarya Shetty proposed a vote of thanks.

Source: gulf-times.com

Online Engineering Entrance Exam from Next Year

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Online Examination

An online entrance exam for engineering aspirants will be held by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 22 cities next year, an official statement said Tuesday.

After the success of pilot project for online exam of the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE), the online exam will be held in 22 cities May 7-25, 2012. The regular pen and paper exams will be held at the remaining centres, the human resource development ministry statement said.

A concession of Rs.150 to Rs.300 in examination fees will also be given to the students who chose online examination. A mock test software will also be uploaded on CBSE website in December for the purpose of practice by the examinees.

The cities where the online tests will be held are Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Noida, Vijaywada, Bhopal, Kolkata, Vishakhapatnam, Mumbai, Allahabad, Chandigarh/ Mohali/ Pachkula, Jalandhar, Bhubaneshwar, Delhi/NCR except Faridabad, Jaipur, Kota, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Nagpur, Bangalore, Dehradun, Eranakulam and Lucknow.

Source: www.inewsone.com

Oz Universities Reach out to Indian Students

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Students Looking at Course Options for Admissions

After a steep decline in the number of Indian students going to Australia to pursue higher education last year, universities in Australia are hoping to recover this academic year.

“Though we will not regain the market completely this year, the enquiries and applications received indicate a positive scenario. We hope that there will be a 30 to 50 per cent increase in the number of students this year,” said Chris Lawrance, regional manager, International Marketing and Student Recruitment, University of Melbourne at IDP's Australian Education Fair organised here on Sunday.

Most of the questions that came from students were to do with scholarships, assistantship and internship opportunities available in the universities. “Most universities are offering 10 to 30 per cent scholarships particularly for research,” said Raja Sood, Head, marketing south Asia, IDP Education.

There seems to be a shift of interest in the fields of study chosen by students. There have been more enquiries about courses in filmmaking, physiotherapy and pharmacy, a shift from the conventional engineering and management courses, say university representatives.

Students such as R. Sangamithra continue to be apprehensive about the safety and security aspects in Australia. “I want to know if it is safe to study in Australia now since I do not have any relatives or friends there. Also how the universities will help me out in this respect,” says Sangamithra who is looking at M.S in Biotechnology.

In response to such concerns, the University of Melbourne is issuing cards that contain information about the security measures offered by the university.

“The university offers Security Escort Service on campus. We also issued an Emergency Contact Card for students to carry for assistance any time. A Family Contact Card is also given for students' families to reach them when they are concerned,” said Nidhi Kamdar, Country Officer, The University of Melbourne.

There have been many enquiries about postgraduate research courses too. Facebook and other social networking sites are also increasingly used by students to contact alumni and secure information about prospective universities, said Mr. Lawrence.

Source: The Hindu

Higher Edu Council Plans New Course

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Higher Education

The Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) will introduce a new course curriculum for Plus-II from the coming academic session. The new curriculum will be framed in the line of the national level curriculum of CBSE and NCERT. This was announced at the 29th foundation day of the council here on Wednesday.

Vice chairman of the council, G S Acharya said, "Since Plus-II result plays a very crucial role in the career of a child and it is also the minimum eligibility criteria for appearing in most of the all-India entrance tests, the curriculum of the council must be at par with other boards. The syllabi will be revised keeping in view the performance of students in the national level entrance tests like IIT, NIT, AIPMT and AIEEE. Though our text books are up-to-date, we would upgrade the curriculum in consultation with experts." Besides, a series of examination reforms are also in the pipeline to streamline the examination, official sources said.

Higher education minister Badri Narayan Patra said, "The government is planning to introduce assessment of junior colleges in the line of NAAC, which will reveal the status and standard of junior colleges. There are large-scale mismanagement in junior colleges in enrollment of students, recruitment of teachers and examination and evaluation process."

He said, "The e-admission process of this year showed how colleges had been misguiding the government by showing false records. Earlier we could not know the exact numbers of vacancies but this year over 50,000 seats are lying vacant in different colleges."
Secretary of higher education department Chandrasekhar Kumar said, "Council should track the career of best students so that it could help in maintaining a record of brilliant students." He also gave emphasis on use of internet for providing references to students and help them in their studies.

Source: timesofindia.com

An Accessible Disciplinarian

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Best School Principal Award being given to Ms Gouri Nair

It was on a Saturday evening last month that Ms Gouri Nair was told that she was the recipient of the CBSE award for the Best School Principal. An international recognition of sorts as CBSE schools are not only there in India but spread all over the Middle East and countries like Singapore and Malaysia. But the moment she cherishes the most came the next working day.

“When I came to the School on Monday, all my students were out on the portico holding large banners which said ‘we love you’, ‘we are proud of you’, ‘we respect you’ and what not. I just couldn’t hide my tears,” Gouri Nair said. At Saraswathy Vidyalya, Vattiyoorkavu, Gouri Nair is known as a students’ principal. “She is a stern disciplinarian. Yet she is approachable and students know she will always stand by them,” said Mr Sanjeev, the maths teacher at Saraswathy Vidyalaya.

Gouri Nair’s biggest achievement, many point out, is the social awareness she inculcates in children. During her nine years as Principal, Gouri Nair had launched a series of social service activities for students. The ‘pidiari’ or the ‘handful of rice’ project, which was started five years ago, is an example. Students, right from kindergarten to plus-two, have been asked to bring a handful of raw grains every week and deposit it in a large receptacle kept in the school. “The school has over 4,000 students and we are able to gather four to five sacks of rice every week which we distribute to old age homes,” Gouri Nair said. Last year, she asked her students to contribute the pocket money they receive on their birthdays towards a special fund for the assistance of cancer-afflicted children.

“The response was heart-warming. This year we are going to contribute `1 lakh,” she said. Ms Gouri Nair had also started a school for special children, ‘Pratheeksha’ within the school campus. “Our objective is to gradually integrate these special children into the mainstream system of education,” she said.

Her leadership was put to test when the CBSE radically altered its curriculum. Teachers were unprepared for the change and parents apprehensive. Not only did she send her teachers to Mumbai and other centres for training and to attend seminars, she also took the initiative to bring the All-India CBSE Principals’

Conference to the School.

“These efforts helped us adapt fast to the changes,” Mr Sanjeev said. When it comes to matters of administration she could be brutally decisive. Sanjeev remembers a rainy morning four years ago when a PTA meeting called to discuss a change in uniform threatened to go out of control. “Parents were against the change and were literally shouting. She got up amid the chaos and made a five-minute speech. That settled everything. Even the rains stopped,” Sanjeev said.

Source: deccanchronicle.com

Mahatma International School opens in Riyadh

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Students in a school in Riyadh

Despite many Indian schools in Riyadh, Mahatma school is opening a new school in Azziya, Riyadh. The school will officially start functioning from 22nd September 2011.

Chairman of Mahatma school organized a Press Meet at School premises accompanied by Ahmed Al-Thuwaim, vice president.

The Mahatma International School will distribute application forms from 5th September 2011 for classes I to VI under India's Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum. The official opening
of the brand new primary school is scheduled for the 22nd of September 2011.

Abdul Jabbar, the chairman of the new school said they planned to keep class sizes small. The school is hiring teachers, with applicants from the Saudi Arabia. He added that 300 applications have already been received for the post of teachers and 80 have been selected.

Abdul Jabbar said: "We are investing more than 2 million Riyals to give quality education with high tech facilities." Every classroom will be equipped with a monitor and projector for the students, the school auditorium will have a capacity to accommodate 2000 people and a grand library is underway.

The school will conduct three classes weekly for the Arab students to learn English.

The tuition fee is said to be 200 Riyals per month and an additional 100 Riyals will be charged as admission fe. The school plans to provide bus facility as well.

Nasar Basheer said Indian parents place a lot of importance on sending their children to schools that teach Indian curriculum. More than 2 million Indians are living in Saudi Arabia. This is the first school in the Kingdom named Mahatma.

Source: timesofindia.com

IIT-K plans to launch nano satellite ‘Jugnu’ in September

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A Satellite

IIT-Kanpur’s indigenously built nano satellite ‘Jugnu’ is likely to be launched by the end of September from Sriharikota, an official of the institute said on Monday.

ISRO scientists have given the green signal to the engineering model, while the flight model is being assembled in Banglore, IIT-K Registrar Sanjeev Kashalkar said. Over 62 students and faculty members of the institute worked hard to built ‘Jugnu’ weighing 3 kg, he said.

On being asked about the delay in the project, he said it took some time for the faculty members and students as it was an indigenously built satellite. “Jugnu is likely to be launched by the end of next month if everything goes according to our plans,” he said.

Even though Rs. 2 crore was sanctioned for developing the satellite, the cost was brought down to a lesser amount as the institute came up with indigenous technique, he said. The ISRO and IIT-K had signed a MoU to develop the micro satellite in 2008.

The satellite which will be in the space for about a year will be launched with the help of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), he said. The data received from ‘Jugnu’ will be studied with the help of a tracking system installed at IIT-K and the received pictures and information from it will be used for research purpose.

The satellite will help in gathering information regarding flood, drought and disaster management, he said, adding its control room and ground station both will be at IIT-K.

Source: The Hindu

School Notes from New Delhi

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School Girls from Shemrock School, Mohali Showing their

Dansing Talent on Stage

Keeping the spirit of patriotism in mind the students of Somerville School Noida's Junior wing had its Inter House Indian Music Competition titled “Aanam Shaheedo Ke Naam” recently, About 200 students from the four houses (St. Mark, St Peter, St. Luke and St. John) participated. Mrs D.A. Tressler (Director-Somerville Schools) and parents attended. St. Luke House bagged the first prize. The Principal Mrs M N Arulraj congratulated the students for their superlative performances. In a ceremony conducted recently at the Lotus Valley International School, the new prefect body was sworn in.

Major General Inderpal Singh,ADG, Army Head Quarters graced the occasion with his presence. The Principal, Mrs. Madhu Chandra welcomed the Chief Guest. The Principal congratulated the new Prefectural Board. The Principal administered the oath and inducted the new appointees. Major General Inderpal Singh presented the badges to the members of the Council body. The Head Boy and Head Girl addressed the audience and thanked the school Management.

The Eco Club members of G.D. Salwan Public School, Old Rajinder Nagar, organised a tree plantation drive recently at Rajputana Rifles in Dhaula Kuan. A group of around 25 Students and teachers along with the Principal were accompanied by the representatives of a Delhi based NGO to plant the saplings at the site. A variety of trees like neem, peepal and kaner were planted .

The language department boasted of a French and German extravaganza where children depicted the monuments, cuisines and holiday destinations of France and Germany. The English Department presented the life and works of the Romantic Poets. The Hindi department depicted an amalgam of music and literature. The Art and Craft Department displayed the creative work of children. Birla Vidya Niketan celebrated Independence Day with patriotic fervour. Officiating Principal Mr. Desmond D' Monte unfurled the Tricolour. The programme began with an inter-house patriotic song competition. Following this was a choreographed dance drama by more than 200 students from classes VI to IX.

Continuing the celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary year, Gyan bharati School's Abhimanyu and Bharat house paid a tribute to the Nobel laureate, in their house function themed “Gurudev- Jitne Puratan , Utne Nutan” recently. The house function was inaugurated by the Director of the school— Mr. R. C. Shekhar, Mr Sanjay Bhardwaj and Ms. Neelam Sharma.

The function commenced with an invocation. Choreographed by Sonali Pradhan of Std XII ,. The authenticity of the theme was maintained by all the participants including the compèrer donning traditional Bengali attire. The function concluded with inspiring words by the Director. Amity-Vasundhara, Sector-6 organised Mathamity 2011, a unique Math Symposium and Exhibition for classes VI to XII. The innovative concept was guided by the Chairperson, Dr. (Mrs.) Amita Chauhan.

Approximately 75 projects under three categories were showcased in the form of charts, 3D models, Power Point Presentations and discussions. Credit was given to the concepts which were application based and pertaining to daily life and out of the box ideas. The Principal, Mrs. Sunila Athley, complimented the efforts of the Math faculty and the participating students.

Source: The Hindu

Plea against CBSE Grading System for Students Dismissed

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CBSE Sticks to Grading System for Classes IX and X

A plea by some senior secondary schools, challenging the CBSE decision to introduce grading system to evaluate Class IX and X students from academic year 2009-2010 was dismissed today by the Delhi High Court.

Turning down the plea by Independent Schools Federation of India, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the court would not like to interfere with the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) decision which is a policy matter.

The high court's division bench upheld the single judge's verdict which had endorsed CBSE's decision saying the education regulatory body had consulted the experts from the field of education before introducing the new methodology.

"This court is not an expert to judge the decision of CBSE that has been arrived at after undertaking detailed exercise. It is a policy decision relating to education," the bench said.

Dismissing the schools' counsel's arguments that the CBSE decision was arbitrary and unconstitutional, the court said "we are unable to persuade ourselves to accept the submission of the petitioner counsel that the circular introducing the new methodology of CBSE invites the frown of Article 14 of the Constitution of India being unreasonable and arbitrary."
The court accepted the regulatory body's reasoning for introduction of grading system saying CBSE had intended to make the system more effective.

Source: zeenews.india.com

AIEEE Answersheets Can be Viewed Online

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Students Attempting AIEEE Exam!

From 2012 onwards an AIEEE aspirant will be able to view his / her answersheet online after few days of the test. An announcement was made by union human resource ministry directing CBSE to make the answersheets available on aieee.nic.in. HRD has made the decision to increase transparency and also to provide an opportunity for the test taker to know his / her mistakes.

Next AIEEE will be held on 29 April 2012, this time the test will be alone last year only a few nearly 100,000 students were allowed to take part in the first ever online AIEEE. Every year close to 1200,000 students apply for AIEEE, which is a mandatory national level entrance test for admission into NITs, IIITs, few deemed universities and few state funded universities.

India is moving forward with the right to information act being stressed by the apex court transparency is increasing steadily, earlier we had notified about ‘Carrying home a copy of OMR sheet for IITJEE 2012?. Here after test takers are ensured they have the correct score, as one has got the right to view his or her response sheet and easily tally with the key of the corresponding examination.

So what is your opinion, do share your thoughts!

Source: blog.careermitra.com

More Students Should Opt for Online AIEEE

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Last year, when the largest Indian entrance exam for aspiring engineers opened up to technology, there were precisely 4,900 candidates who opted for it. The remaining 11.13 lakh took the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) in the old paper-pencil mode.

But the tepid response has done little to force the exam organizer to rethink its plans. The Central Board for Secondary Education, which conducts the AIEEE, has now put out a note stating that the 11th edition of the entrance test—to be held in April 2012— will be held in the "online mode on a mass scale".

The notification states, "Students are advised to acquaint themselves (with new technology)."
CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi clarified that like last year, the exam would be offered in the paper-pencil format, too, but there were certain changes that the board was working on. A committee is drawing up plans on how to make the computer-based format of the test more popular among candidates when the next edition of the exam rolls out. "To offer the exam on computers in certain large cities, where the student population is comfortable with technology, is one suggestion," said Joshi.

Last year, when the CBSE had put in place infrastructure for 1 lakh students to take the computer-based test, less than 0.5% signed up for the online entrance test. While the board felt the computer-based test was the way forward to handle the ballooning aspirants, the number of those who have opted for the new computer-based format was a wake-up call for the board. "We realized it was going to take longer than we thought before we can offer the exam just on computers. Hence, we are reworking our strategy," said a senior CBSE official.

But officials clarified that with the AIEEE having a large contingent of candidates from rural India, it would take the CBSE at least a decade before the entrance exam could be held completely on computers. The CBSE, which conducts the AIEEE, has put out a note stating that the next edition of the test will be held in the 'online mode on a mass scale'.

Source: articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Smart Education

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Present is the age of computers, Internet and social networking. Some smart people thought of utilizing the present rage in the field of education. They came up with learning through Internet, better known as e-learning. This can provide innumerable benefits. It makes learning more effective. This is so because, we learn and retain more through graphics and visuals. Some of the important benefits are listed below.

Benefits of e-learning

Better understanding of the concept through graphics, visuals and examples one can relate himself to.

Quick clearance of doubt from experts and peers as e-learning portals often provide social networking features among a given group.

Learning up to one’s own comfort as you can go through a chapter when you feel like doing so.

Quick sharing of information among a group.

Development of qualities like sharing and working in a team.

Enhancement of computer and Internet proficiency, which is the demand of present times.

Educationists from across the globe have started realizing the importance of e-learning. Some have even started implementing its one or the other form in their institution. If you talk about such advancements in India, there are many examples of schools and institutions which believe in educating their students in the most advanced way. One of the examples is Gregorian Public School, Cochin. It has adopted Smart School Connect. This is a product from Greycells18 Media Pvt Ltd. It has been designed to establish real time communication among three communities of an institution. They are the school, teachers and students. Is your school taking any step for the betterment of you and your peers? You can help them by sharing this piece of information.

CBSE Schools to Follow Common Time Table for SA-I Exam

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has directed all affiliated schools to conduct their Summative Assessment-I (SA-I) in the second half of September. Circular number 58/2011 has provided an option to schools to set their own date-sheet for the exam to be conducted for Std IX and X.

In Nagpur, all schools have however decided to have a common date-sheet for conducting the SA-I. The Nagpur Sahodaya School Complex (NSSC), a group of about 50 CBSE schools in Nagpur region, have announced that they will start their SA-I from September 20.

The decision to have the same date-sheet was taken with the view to counter the possibility of students from different schools exchanging their question papers. Though schools can have separate question papers for each subject, the chances of students getting an unfair advantage still exist. Sources said that since the date-sheet for all NSSC members will be the same, a single question paper will be chosen.

"There is no point in having separate question papers for each school when we are conducting the exam on the same day at the same time," said a local school principal who did not wish to be named.

A similar pattern will be followed by the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) cluster in Nagpur. George Thadathil, principal, KV Vayusenanagar, said, "We will certainly be going with a common date-sheet for the entire region. The question papers will come from our Bhopal office and that will ensure uniformity of testing. Our SA-I exam will also start as per the timeline given by the CBSE."

AIEEE scheduled for April 29, 2012

The All India Engineering/Architecture Entrance Examination (AIEEE) is scheduled for April 29, 2012 for admissions to colleges in the next academic session. The AIEEE is the gateway to the prestigious IITs, various NITS, deemed universities and for a few state colleges as well. Students can choose to take admissions in BE/B.Tech and B.Arch./B. Planning.

According to a circular by the exam conducting body, CBSE, the AIEEE 2012 will be conducted in the online mode on a "mass scale". The CBSE is expected to share further details on this soon. The AIEEE conducted in 2011 was delayed by three hours due to a paper leak in Lucknow on May 1. The fresh exam was conducted on May 11 for all those students who were unable to appear earlier.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Why ECE is All the Rage

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An engineering student getting trained by an expert

What propels the mad rush for ECE? Is it passion for this engineering stream or merely its job potential?

Once upon an engineering admission season, I met a frail young boy in the gilded evening lawns of Anna University, Guindy. “I want to do Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE),” he said, even as he furtively looked at his father who was standing next to him. “My father has chosen two or three colleges. I'll pick from them,” he added.
Why do so many students prefer ECE? The stream is so popular that in this year's engineering admissions, ECE accounts for one-fifth of the seats chosen by students.

The boy's answer was: “Because I do not like computer science.” Little did he know that there are quite a few computer science modules in the ECE syllabus, including a paper on computer architecture. Besides, every stream of engineering requires some degree of programming knowledge. Thus, students with no aptitude or interest for engineering end up studying it for four long years of their life.

The story repeats every year. So many students take important career decisions based on little more than media reports and the choices made by toppers. ECE is also seen as a mishmash of various streams with its syllabus including basic requirements for software programming such as data structures and algorithms, electrical engineering topics such as power systems and core electronics subjects ranging from mobile telephony to Internet protocols. The supposed advice given to students is: You can always become a software engineer after studying ECE, or a network specialist, or even the area manager of a telecom company. We are witnessing education beginning to mimic a free market, judged solely on the basis of job potential.

An engineering degree is nothing more than a line on the resume which will result in a job. While it was Computer Science before the dot-com bubble burst, now it is ECE. Tomorrow, it will be something else.
The admission process is being driven purely by a “herd mentality,” says V. Kamakoti, chairman of this year's IIT-JEE, Madras Zone. Having also served the role of a student counselor at IIT, he says parental pressure has a big impact and students are mostly not allowed to be the architects of their own future.
“Students do come up to me and tell they made a wrong choice and that they want to pursue either basic science or arts. The fact that except the IITs, not many universities have the option of allowing a student to do electives in another department is a major drawback.

Though India produces over six lakh engineers every year, less than 25,000 of them go on to do a master's degree. The country produces less than 1,000 Ph.Ds a year. The discipline of electronics engineering, which is all the rage today, produces just a few hundred patents every year, many of them filed by foreign research laboratories that have a base in India.

What many students aspiring to study ECE also do not seem to realize is that about 30 per cent of the graduates do not get a job even a year after completing the course. If students are making irrational choices, universities are even more to blame. Efforts such as the one by the University of Madras to compulsorily award a job-oriented diploma associated with every degree reinforce popular notions regarding the purpose of education.

Western universities have taken a profoundly different approach to the issue of job placements, since it is legitimate to expect only a few to pursue a career in research. While Indian universities are gearing themselves up to orient students to be “industry-ready,” the vision of elite universities abroad is to educate students for a job that does not exist today.
By the time this year's freshman students graduate, microprocessors that are at the heart of every electronic device, from phones to laptops, would have become at least four times more powerful. Almost every Indian would have access to a mobile phone. Myriad technological revolutions would have taken place. Nobody can fully prepare them for that world. However, universities can equip today's students to participate in this process of change. Are they doing it amidst this mad dash for job-offering courses, is the big question.

Source: The Hindu

What is the Jan Lokpal Bill, Why it's Important

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Anna Hazare speaking at a conference

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year.

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission.

Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other known people like Swami Agnivesh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai are also part of the movement, called India Against Corruption. Its website describes the movement as "an expression of collective anger of people of India against corruption. We have all come together to force/request/persuade/pressurize the Government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill. We feel that if this Bill were enacted it would create an effective deterrence against corruption."

Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusader, began a fast-unto-death today, demanding that this bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted. The website of the India Against Corruption movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an "eyewash" and has on it a critique of that government Bill. It also lists the difference between the Bills drafted by the government and civil society.

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.

Source: www.ndtv.com

Uniform Course Gets a Nod

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Besides many plans that the government is considering to bring reformation in education in India, one might be to bring in uniformity in curriculum across the country. The government is trying to bring in a single system and curriculum to teach students at the secondary and higher-secondary levels, being planned under the ambit of Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA). It aims to bridge the gap between high and low quality education. While the idea seems fine on the surface, how would it affect the overall education system and would it be of any help?

Educationists feel besides other issues, creating a balance between students from different backgrounds in one class will be a difficult task. “It’s not only the difference in academic backgrounds, teachers come across students from varied backgrounds — some not from affluent families, some with orthodox beliefs, etc. Just making the syllabus uniform would not help, but yes, it will help reduce the gap,” says Viraj Kafle, teacher in charge, English, Dyal Singh College.

Other educationists don’t oppose, but think that other things should be considered to bring in uniformity. Dr P.C. Jain, principal, SRCC, concurs, “Even if we look at students from a particular board, like CBSE, they are not equal despite studying from the same curriculum. Unifying the curriculum may lessen the gap but to bring uniformity across the country, more plans need to be introduced.”
He says that the government will have to evaluate all schools across the country and then take steps to improve what they lack in. “In many areas of the country, schools are underdeveloped due to local politics and irresponsible administration. The government will have to address and rectify these problems too,” he adds.

The environment of every other school is different and thus there’s a need to bring in a system where schools follow same rules and regulations. “Simply having the same curriculum in all schools won’t help much. Kids in all schools should also be exposed to similar extra-curricular activities and other things. That will make the impact better,” says Pragati Chandan, a higher secondary school teacher, who has taught in schools following different boards in over 18 years of her teaching career. However, Dr Sadhna Parashar, head, Innovation and Research, CBSE, says that under the RMSA, they are trying to tackle most of these issues. “RMSA is an effort to bring uniformity overall. It would reduce the existent disparity from region to region too,” she concludes.

Source: asianage.com

CBSE wants students' feedback on CCE

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The Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system introduced by the CBSE has received strong reactions from all people concerned, both for and against. There are multiple web-based groups on popular social networking sites which criticize the CCE for increasing their workload on a daily basis.

Similarly teachers complain that the almost daily assessment in either academic or co-scholastic areas has added to their paper work. However, the government and many educationists feel that CCE is a fair method of assessment.

The CBSE has now decided to get a feedback straight from the students and compile the data which will help them for future policy making. This feedback is sought as part of various other activities being undertaken by CBSE to mark the National Education Day on November 11.

That day happens to be the birth anniversary of India's first education minister Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, and the central government declared it as National Education day a couple of years ago.

Students can access the form at the CBSE's official web site till September 1. The CBSE says that the feedback form can be filled only by students of Std IX, X and XI and the only mode of submitting is online.

There are a total of five questions, out of which four have to be answered in simple 'yes' or 'no' format and the last one is more elaborate. CBSE added that the feedback will be for 'internal use' only, hence it seems unlikely that the feedback will ever be made public.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Institutions Eager to Embrace New Areas Cf Education

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There have been serious questions about whether the present education system is adequate for responding to today's business and technical changes. But with the emergence of certain engineering disciplines like environment, nuclear, aerospace and computers, it can be seen that the demand is being met, K. Karunakaran, Vice-Chancellor of Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore, said here on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the Rathinam Institute of Technology, he said that the institutions had not shown resistance in welcoming the changes and were in fact eager to accommodate the new growth areas.

The Vice-Chancellor added that this could be witnessed from the fact that many engineering colleges had applied for increase in intake in terms of number of students and also in number of courses. Out of the 193 colleges affiliated to Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore, 126 had applied for new courses.

“Educational institutions, being suppliers of technocrats, need to constantly align themselves to the needs of the industry. Industry too is modifying its demands or collaborating with the schools in an effort to improve the quality of the supply of young engineers,” the Vice-Chancellor said. The growing disparity in energy consumption in the country was increasing the divide between the rich and the poor, socially, economically and environmentally. Poverty was a major threat to social sustainability.

Technology was considered to be a key player in reducing poverty. Also, areas such as science and technology, human resources, literacy drive, health care, infrastructure and energy security were important areas of focus for national development, Mr. Karunakaran said. This became significant from the fact that 72.2 per cent of the country's population lived in 6.36 lakh villages and the rest lived in town and urban settlements.

R. Prabakar, Secretary of Coimbatore Institute of Technology, and M. Padmanabhan, Director, Anna IAS Civil Service Coaching Centre of Bharathiar University, offered felicitations.
Madan A. Sendhil, Chairman of Rathinam Group, said the 60-acre campus comprised an arts and science college, institute of management, IT Park, an engineering college, and a Special Economic Zone that would go on steam in two to three months.

“A significant number of students from the arts and science colleges are working part-time within the campus in the IT Park. The same concept will be extended to the students of the engineering college too,” he said.

Source: The Hindu

Not all Colleges accept Global School Diploma

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CHENNAI: On paper, the International Baccalaureate (IB) school diploma with its global recognition seems to score, but in reality not all Indian colleges accept it for admission.
Several colleges and universities don't accept the diploma, despite the fact that it was recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) in 1983 as equivalent to other class 12 exams in the country.

The IB website lists the institutions that accept the diploma, but parents are not happy with the fact that only a limited number of colleges accept it. "If it has AIU recognition, doesn't that mean all colleges have to accept the diploma?" asks a city parent whose child had trouble getting into college. Recently, there were reports of Delhi University turning away students with the diploma.

The other problem that IB students face relates to the subjects they study. "One student had a hard time obtaining admission in an arts college in Bangalore as the college heads could not comprehend the subjects the child had studied," says education consultant K R Maalathi, who helped set up a couple of IB schools. "The subject 'Theory of Knowledge', for instance, had the admissions head stumped. The student had to explain that the course covered a range of subjects from history and maths to language and philosophy," she says.

The IB office is doing its best to address the lack of awareness. Nine months ago, it appointed a University liaison officer, who has been visiting colleges across the country. "We have had instances of colleges informing parents that they do not understand the syllabus," says Priyamvada Taneja, IB university liaison officer, who is based in New Delhi. "We have set up university recognition forums. In November, we will be launching college counselling workshops," she says.

Taneja says the only problem with the IB diploma is timing. "The IB results come out much later than CBSE and ICSE results, and it is well after colleges call for applications. So students usually apply with a provisional certificate and a letter from the school, and the IB office submits the marks later," she said. Only 30% of IB students remain in India for undergraduate study.

Despite the admission glitches and fees that average around Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh a year, IB schools seem to gaining in popularity across India. The first Indian IB school was authorised in 1976. There are now 77 schools across the country, and Chennai has about two.
Sheila Alexander, vice-principal - academics, Good Shepherd International School, Ooty, says, "It is popular because of the depth of knowledge and choice of subjects. If students get proper guidance from the school for college admissions, they should not have a problem."

The diploma is not accepted by some colleges despite the fact that it is recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) as equivalent to class 12 exams in the country.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

PMT-2012 will be based on NCERT

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Jaipur: The syllabus of common entrance test for admission to various medical colleges in year 2012 across the country will now be based on NCERT. Since Rajasthan schools with CBSE and RBSE systems follow NCERT syllabus, the change by the Medical Council of India will not affect students' preparation adversely.

The physics and chemistry syllabus will be based entirely on NCERT and the section on human physiology has been removed from biology-I. Every state will have separate counseling and students will get admission based on ranks.

85% seats in the colleges of the state will be allotted to students of that state, while 15% seats will be open for students from other states. Students will have to appear in different counseling sessions for their favorite colleges and places of study.

Out of total marks of 1,000, 75 questions from physics and chemistry each will be asked while biology will have 100 and there will be negative marking of 0.25.

MCI has called in for objections on the new syllabus, which is uploaded on its website.
Experts are of the view that this test will improve the education system in medical colleges. "The new syllabus will ensure that students become quality doctors in future," experts said. Students will not have to give different tests for different universities and colleges which will save both time and money, they added.

Source: daily.bhaskar.com

IGNOU to Come Up with Sign Language Institute

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The reputed IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) will up soon come with IGNOU Sign Language Institute, which will teach sign language. According to IGNOU Vice Chancellor Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre has been established at IGNOU here as an autonomous centre by the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry and is slated to start functioning by this September.

IGNOU's Staff Training and Research Institute in Distance Education along with the University of Central Lancashire have developed new approaches to distance education in the sign language medium to make up for the lack of qualified Indian teachers in this field. The estimated cost of building IGNOU Sign Language Institute and procuring equipment is estimated to be around 20 and 5 crores. The funds will be provided by Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry. Thirty five academic posts have already been created.

Two committees have been constituted for the Centre. The members in the committee from IGNOU includes three representatives from national-level organizations of the deaf, two representatives from nation national-level organizations of the deaf, two representatives from national level organizations of sign language interpreters and three linguistics working on Indian sign language from three different universities/academic institutions.

For the last three years IGNOU has been, through sponsorship from the UK-India Education Research Initiative offering a B.A in Applied Sign Language which includes a dual award from UK and India. Presently three batches with students from India, Africa, China, Nepal and Malaysia are running. The proposed institute will be the first for deaf students in India, to access university education via sign language.
The centre will shortly start working with training programme making use of existing facilities and availing of national and international experts in the field from September 1

Sourc: Shiksha.com

Attempt NDA Entrance After Class XI Now

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Students aiming to join the National Defence Academy need not wait for their Plus-Two exams to be over, to appear for the entrance exam.
The Officers' Academy, Secunderabad, announced that they can attempt the entrance test soon after Class XI or Intermediate First Year, and save a year in the bargain.

Further, through a press release, the Academy sought to inform about its six-month short course that aims to prepare the Class X students (SSC as well as CBSE) for the entrance test.

The course will be run in the evening after the school hours, and designed for a strong concept based foundation subject-wise, simultaneously preparing students for Class X exams too, said the press note.

Additionally, this course also ensures strong foundation for various engineering exams such as IIT-JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT, and VIT, and medical entrance exams such as JIPMER, AFMC, ACMS, CMC, AIPMT, AIIMS, and EAMCET, Captain R.Sarkar from the Academy said.
The Academy will induct only 35 students into this preparatory course on first-come first-served basis.

Free brochure, course details and counselling will be given at the academy reception between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on all working days.
The Academy is located opposite Wesley Girls Junior College at Secunderabad.

For more details, one may call 040-27834739, 040-27820339 or log on to the website www. officers-academy.com.

Source: The Hindu

The Twain Shall Meet

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The need for improvisations in software applications to cope with the rising demand for technological intervention in teaching and learning environments, disability studies, e-governance, forensic and defence sciences cannot be over emphasised. But what is necessary is the implementation of these changes in an integrated environment, and their modelling in the real world.

The way forward is the successful infusing of achievements in the academic field with technical expertise in real time systems — this was the point of focus at the IEEE international conference on Technology for Education (T4E) at IIT-Madras. The conference held recently had experts in technology sharing some of the state-of-the art technologies and insights into the latest research in the area of technology in education.

The speakers also discussed online examination frameworks possible in the country. Applications such as OnlineTT that provides content in various languages to facilitate online learning and evaluation were discussed.

It might be an accepted fact that accessibility to quality education will no longer be a far-fetched dream once the digital divide is broken, but how would laboratories and other working platforms be made online? Various dimensions to this concern were also brought to the fore in the event. The penetration and availability of technologies such as mobile phones, television and computers among the masses, coupled with some of the ingenious technologies presented in the conference, will improve accessibility to a great extent.

Pointing to the pedagogic lacuna, speakers said engineering students were rarely engaged in active learning and interdisciplinary studies. The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) is one such venture where the lectures from some of the top institutes in the country are available in the public domain. Speaking about it, M. S. Ananth, dean, IIT-M, said the programme was aimed at providing detailed and supplementary curricula to students enrolled in science and engineering institutions across the country.

Source: The Hindu

MCI to hold entrance exams in May 2012

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The Medical Council of India (MCI) will conduct the common entrance test for admission to undergraduate medical courses for the academic year 2012-13 in various institutions across the country in May next year.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for undergraduates (NEET-UG) for admission to MBBS, Post Graduate and super speciality courses will be conducted in pursuance of the Supreme Court directive. There are 42,000 seats for under graduate medical courses and 20,600 seats for PG medical courses in the country, including those from private medical colleges.

Common core syllabus

In this connection, the MCI has issued a common core syllabus for MBBS entrance exam, which has been put up in the public domain for feedback till August 11, following which the syllabus for physics, chemistry and biology would be finalised, a statement issued by the MCI said here on Friday. The syllabus has been prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The modalities for NEET-Post Graduation, common entrance test, for medical post-graduate (MD/MS) admissions, are being worked out, Sangeeta Sharma, MCI secretary, said in the statement.

Exam schedules

The examination is scheduled for January-February 2012. The pattern of the examination, distribution of questions across different MBBS subjects and model questions will be made available on the website in August.

Source: The Hindu

Common entrance test cause for concern

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The Center’s decision to conduct a common entrance test (CET) for admission to MBBS courses at all government and private medical colleges across the country has left the medical education authorities in state worried

The Union health ministry and the Medical Council of India (MCI) reached a consensus on Monday that the CET would replace all other entrance tests for admission into the 271-odd medical colleges, including over 130 private institutes, in the country. The proposed test will be held by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), ensuring uniformity in medical education across the country. The MCI will prepare the course structure for the test, sources said.

As per MCI guidelines, students have to secure at least 50% marks in Plus II as well as in the entrance test. Though the 50% qualifying mark in Plus II is not being seen as a problem, the authorities fear an adequate number of students from the state may not get 50% marks in the all-India entrance test.

The ministers of Orissa want that the state government has conveyed its apprehension to the Union health ministry and the Medical Council of India. "We have suggested to them that in such a situation, the state should be allowed to have the alternative option to take its own students to fill the vacant seats." he said.

Orissa has five medical colleges in all, three government and two private. There are a total of 450 seats in the three government colleges, of which the state's quota is 384. There are another 100 seats in private colleges. The seats are likely to go up by 150 in the next academic session, bringing the total number of seats to 700. If enough students from Orissa don't qualify in the test to fill all the reserved seats, some of the seats in the state may go to outside students, the medical education authorities fear.

"Since the medical CET will be a national-level examination, it won't be according to our syllabus and, so, sufficient students from the state may not qualify in it," said Sita Ram Mahapatra, vice-chairman of Orissa Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE).

"We are facing a gross shortage of doctors. If students from outside the state are allowed to take admission in the seats reserved for students from Orissa, they would go back after completion of their courses. This will worsen the problem of shortage of doctors in the state," Mahapatra added.

The CET decision has evoked mixed reaction from students. "I will now have to appear for just one test and fill up one application form," said Srikant Kumar, an aspirant. However, another student, Sanjeeb Sahu, fears his months of preparations would go waste. "I am preparing only for the Orissa JEE. In an all-India test, both the syllabus and the question pattern will be different. I will have to start all over again," said Sahu, who has been taking coaching for medical entrance tests in the city.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Gregor Mendel’ s 189th Birthday

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Today is 189th birthday of Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics. The theories of heredity attributed to Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), based on his work with pea plants, are well known to students of biology. But his work was so brilliant and unprecedented at the time it appeared that it took thirty-four years for the rest of the scientific community to catch up to it. The short monograph, Experiments with Plant Hybrids, in which Mendel described how traits were inherited, has become one of the most enduring and influential publications in the history of science.

Mendel, the first person to trace the characteristics of successive generations of a living thing, was not a world-renowned scientist of his day. Rather, he was an Augustinian monk who taught natural science to high school students. He was the second child of Anton and Rosine Mendel, farmers in Brunn, Moravia. Mendel's brilliant performance at school as a youngster encouraged his family to support his pursuit of a higher education, but their resources were limited, so Mendel entered an Augustinian monastery, continuing his education and starting his teaching career.

Mendel's attraction to research was based on his love of nature. He was not only interested in plants, but also in meteorology and theories of evolution. Mendel often wondered how plants obtained atypical characteristics. On one of his frequent walks around the monastery, he found an atypical variety of an ornamental plant. He took it and planted it next to the typical variety. He grew their progeny side by side to see if there would be any approximation of the traits passed on to the next generation. This experiment was "designed to support or to illustrate Lamarck's views concerning the influence of environment upon plants." He found that the plants' respective offspring retained the essential traits of the parents, and therefore were not influenced by the environment. This simple test gave birth to the idea of heredity.

Mendel's research reflected his personality. Once he crossed peas and mice of different varieties "for the fun of the thing," and the phenomena of dominance and segregation "forced themselves upon notice." He saw that the traits were inherited in certain numerical ratios. He then came up with the idea of dominance and segregation of genes and set out to test it in peas. It took seven years to cross and score the plants to the thousand to prove the laws of inheritance! From his studies, Mendel derived certain basic laws of heredity: hereditary factors do not combine, but are passed intact; each member of the parental generation transmits only half of its hereditary factors to each offspring (with certain factors "dominant" over others); and different offspring of the same parents receive different sets of hereditary factors. Mendel's work became the foundation for modern genetics.

The impact of genetic theory is no longer questioned in anyone's mind. Many diseases are known to be inherited, and pedigrees are typically traced to determine the probability of passing along an hereditary disease. Plants are now designed in laboratories to exhibit desired characteristics. The practical result of Mendel's research is that it not only changed the way we perceive the world, but also the way we live in it.

Source: accessexcellence.org

13 Students Win Laurels at Science

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All the 13 Indian students who participated in three International Science Olympiads recently won laurels for the country. While five won gold medals, four have won silver and the rest bronze medals. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), a training institute for the science Olympiads, will felicitate these students on Tuesday.

The 42nd International Physics Olympiad was conducted in Thailand’s Bangkok from July 10 to July 18. Total 400 students from 84 countries participated in the Olympiad. Of the five students who participated from India in the event, three won gold medals while the remaining two got silver.
Prof Vijay Singh, national coordinator for science Olympiads, TIFR, said: “In terms of medals tally, India stood at the fifth position among 84 participating nations.”

Bhatinda girl Sumedha Garg, who won a gold medal, has topped the girl’s category in the International Physics Olympiads and stood 11th among 393 students. The team was led by two leaders—Prof Charudatt Kadolkar, College of Engineering, Pune and Dr MK Raghavendra, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

The 43rd International Chemistry Olympiad was held in Ankara, Turkey, from July 10 to July 18. About 270 students from 70 countries participated,of the four students from India, two bagged gold medals while one each won silver and bronze medals.
While students participating in the science Olympiads are Class 12 pass outs, one of the gold medalists from the Chemistry team, Diptarka Hait, was just Class 11 pass.

The 22nd International Biology Olympiad was held in Taipei from July 10 to July 17. About 220 students from 59 countries participated in the event. All the four Indian students won silver medals. The team was accompanied by Prof MM Chaturvedi from Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi and Dr Ujwala Bapat from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai.

“It must be noted that all these students were selected via three-tier process. The first-tier consisted of a nation-wide examination in the specific subjects. The remaining two-tiers consisted of a series of tests— theoretical and practical. After the tests the teams were given extensive training at the TIFR,” Singh said.

Source: dnaindia.com

Ahmedabad Girl Get $70K Scholarship Without Coaching Classes

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An 18-year-old has set an example for other aspiring Amdavadi students. Nidhi Shah, who has cleared IIT-JEE, SAT, Toefl and IELTS without any coaching, is all set to fly to Canada to pursue her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Shah has got seven different scholarships worth 70,000 Canadian dollars.

She studied on her own and didn't go to any coaching centre. Shah said, "Materials, information and books provided by the coaching classes are available in libraries as well as at the American Centre. The teachers at coaching classes make students realize their goal and ensure that they study hard with all their focus on studies and nothing else. Students can study with the same seriousness at home too, if given a choice."

Shah completed her Xth grade from Asia English School and later did her eleventh from St Kabir. "I changed my board after I visited America through a student exchange programme, American Field Service, and spent a year there with a host family. I had to repeat my eleventh grade once I returned as the syllabus here was too slow for me and I had done most of it in USA.

I have just passed my XIIth grade from CBSE through open school, Om Shanti English Medium School". Giving details about her results, Shah said she got 95% in XII grade, 5614 rank in IIT-JEE; 2380 rank in SAT-2 exams, 111 score in Toefl and 8 score in IELTS.

She received calls from BITS Pilani, Nirma University, IIT-Mumbai and others but chose to study in University of Alberta, Canada, as she got seven scholarships worth 70,000 Canadian dollars from it. It includes the Indian Centenary scholarship which is provided to the three best scholars of India under the aegis of an MoU signed between the two countries.

Explaining her reasons for choosing University of Alberta over IIT, she said, "University of Alberta is ranked 46th in the world whereas IIT-Mumbai is ranked 167. In addition to this, I have found out that there are many petrochemical reserves around the University area which I think will be of great help to me, as after my engineering I will able to gain some practical experience from these."

Since Shah has opted for a co-op programme at the University, she will be able to complete her bachelor's degree in five years' time. Shah will fly to Canada in August.

Source: dnaindia.com

UGC public notice to curb ragging

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As the new academic session is about to begin in higher education institutions, the University Grants Commission has issued a public notice to contain the menace of ragging.

The notice uploaded on UGC website and published in the local media here on Wednesday says, "It is brought to the notice of the public that ragging is a criminal offence and that UGC has framed regulations on curbing the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions, 2009, in order to prohibit, prevent and eliminate the scourge of ragging in Indian universities/colleges/institutions. The regulations are mandatory and all intuitions should take necessary steps for its implementation under intimation to the UGC."

Under the regulations, all the educational institutions have been directed to form anti-ragging committees and squads and ensure that no such incidents take place. The regulations have empowered the educational institutions to punish the perpetrators depending upon the severity of the crime. Students indulging in such activity can be suspended, barred from attending class or library or even rusticated from institutions. To top them all, the ragging can be separately dealt under the Indian penal code.

Being aware of the fact that educational institutions may or may not publicize instances of ragging to prevent damage to their reputation, the UGC has also started a toll free helpline 1800-180-5522 to lodge complaint.

Rajendra Institute of Medical Science has formed an anti-ragging squad last year comprising teachers to ensure that no such activity takes place on the campus. If the institution authorities are to be believed, not a single case of ragging or intimidation was reported since last year. "Who is going to indulge in such activity after the UGC and the Supreme Court of India issued such strict guidelines," said director Tulsi Mahto. However, a junior doctor said some of the (ragging) cases were resolved at the level of students and teachers because everyone was aware of the consequences of reporting the matter to higher level.

According to the UGC guidelines, every institution is supposed to put up a notice prohibiting ragging and should also display contact numbers of anti-ragging committee members. Complaints received by the institutions are to be displayed on the website of the institution. However, most of the institutions in Jharkhand have not posted any complaint on the website.

Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, has uploaded the UGC guidelines on its home page but no complaint can be seen. Pawan Kumar, a former student, said, "Ragging is no longer an open affair. It happens in closed corners like hostel and playground and if the matter worsens, senior batches intervene."

Additional registrar at RVS College of Engineering in Jamshedpur Shivaji Bose said every year anti-ragging committee was formed but it had not received any complaint since 2004.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

TOEFL awards for nine Indian students

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Giving away the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)-2011 awards to nine students here on Thursday, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S.-based Educational Testing Services (ETS) Walt MacDonald said the awards were initiated in 2010 to give more opportunities to students from India to help them realise their academic potential and enable them to become leaders and catalysts of change in their local communities as well as the global community.

ETS honoured nine high-performing students from India, awarding $60,000 in scholarship funding for undergraduate or graduate study in 2011. While three students received $10,000 each, six were awarded $5,000 each for their study in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia or any other European country.

The recipients were: (In the $10,000 category) Gayathry Ravikumar (Chennai), Omkar Deshmukh (Mumbai) and Sruthi Chandrasekaran (Chennai); (In the $5,000 category) Apurva Bamezai (Delhi), Debajyothi Chatterjee (Kolkata), Dinakar Ayalasomayajula (Hyderabad), Karanveer Mohan (Delhi), Naveed Kanjiyam (Mumbai) and Pradhayini Ramamurthy (Coimbatore).

Executive Director of the Government and External Relations of ETS Chuck Melley said 655 students were initially selected from the hundreds of applications received. “Of them, we shortlisted 36 for the semi-final stage and 18 were again shortlisted as finalists. Finally, we identified nine.”

The scholarships were given on their application and a 600-word essay accompanying the application, university score transcripts, overall academic background and an interview over Skype. The scholarship funds will be disbursed by ETS to the students' respective institutions and will be applied to their 2011-12 tuition fees on their arrival on the campus, Mr. Melley said.

Interacting with The Hindu after the award ceremony, the jubilant young winners voiced a similar note: “It is an achievement for us and the scholarship has played a major role in our selection by the universities and colleges. It would also reduce our financial load.”

All of them have been selected by top institutions. Gayathry will be joining University of California - Berkeley for an MS degree in chemical engineering, Omkar has been selected by McGill University-Montreal for a PG programme in computer science, and Sruthi will be joining Lady Margaret College-Oxford for a Master's programme in social policy.

Apurva has been selected by Cambridge University for an M.Phil programme in development studies, Debajyothi will be joining Technical University of Munich for an MS degree in computer science, Dinakar has been selected by ENSTA-Prague for a PG programme, Karanveer Mohan has been selected by Stanford University for an undergraduate programme in computer science, Naveed Kanjiyam will be joining the University of Toronto for a Bachelor's degree and Pradhayini will be joining Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, for a Master's degree in embedded systems.

Source: The Hindu

Scholarships on offer for Indian students

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NEW DELHI: Huawei Telecommunications on Friday announced ‘Maitree Scholarship Programme' for Indian under-graduate and post-graduate students who have secured admission to institutions of higher education in China.

As part of the Chinese telecom solutions provider's education initiative, the scholarships aim to build a platform for exchange of ideas between the two nations, and foster a closer understanding of each other's culture and society, a company statement said.

The programme will help promote scientific and academic aptitude and expand the career opportunities available to Indian students. Every year ten scholarships of up to $10,000 each will be awarded to selected students for pursuing academic courses in China. Each scholarship will cover the student's full tuition and living expenses for the duration of his or her study in China, it said.

Students interested in the programme can get detailed information by visiting its website, www.huaweischolarships.org.

Huawei's collaboration with the India China Economic and Cultural Council to offer the scholarships is the latest of the company's educational initiatives.

Source: The Hindu

AICTE decision: students with 45 pc in PCM can apply for Engg

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Engineering colleges in Maharashtra which were finding it difficult to get candidates for degree courses have some reason to cheer now with the eligibility criteria for applicants being relaxed.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), an advisory body in all matters relating to technical education, has relaxed the basic eligibility criteria for admissions to the first year engineering course.

The minimum criteria has been brought down to 45 per cent (40 per cent for reserved category) aggregate in physics, chemistry and mathematics (PCM) group in standard XII exam, from 50 per cent in force till last year.

This follows the apex engineering body's decision to lower the bar for polytechnic admissions to 35 per cent from 50 per cent in standard X exam from any board.

"The AICTE had taken this decision a couple of days back. But it's yet to reach us formally," sources close to Director of Technical Education ( Mumbai) Subhash Mahajan said.

They said that DTE will make changes only after getting official communication in this regard.

Sources said that the last date of submission of forms is also likely to be extended if the new criterion is implemented.

They pointed out that AICTE was forced to lower the bar as demand for engineers was globally high but the field evoked a poor response from candidates. Not only were high fees a factor, but many students were also not able to fulfill even the basic criteria of getting 50 per cent in PCM group in class XII exams.

Source: timesofindia

Where the toppers queue up

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Four-year integrated BS course of Bangalore University is a big draw

When Bangalore University (BU) started a four-year integrated Bachelor of Science (BS) course last year, no one knew that the course would attract a tremendous response. Those who had written off pure sciences courses are in for more surprise, as the recently held counselling for the second batch of students for this course saw an even better turnout.

Toppers who had shunned medical and engineering courses had opted for the unique course, and all the seats on offer were lapped up on day one of the counselling itself. Sample this: A student with 95 per cent aggregate in her 12th Standard is at the top end of the list of students the batch of 2011-12 has. The cut-off is as high as 81 per cent.

The University is offering 20 seats each in four affiliated colleges: National College, Basavanagudi; Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College, Malleswaram; KLE Society's Nijalingappa College, Rajajinagar; and Kristu Jayanti College, K. Narayanapura Road. This, apart from the 20 seats at the University's Jnanabharathi campus.

Among the 20 students at Jnanabharathi, four have scored over 90 per cent in the 12th Standard. Even the students selected under reservation categories are those with over 70 per cent marks. Further, only in its second year, the course has attracted students from outside the State too, such as Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Assam, perhaps because BU is the only university in the country (other than the Indian Institute of Science) to offer such a course.

The USP of this course appears to be the criss-cross of various disciplines. The syllabus has Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology as the major subjects. It also includes languages such as Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, French and English, apart from Communication Skills, Indian Constitution, Environmental Studies and Computer Fundamentals.

In addition, students can pick and choose the subjects they like and dislike, and have the option of making a subject they are uncomfortable with as a minor subject from the fifth to the seventh semester. The allied subjects include Material Science, Basic Electronics, Atmospheric Science, Electronics Instrumentation, Spectroscopic Techniques and Applications, Biophysics, Environmental Chemistry or Industrial Chemistry, Medicinal Organic Chemistry or Natural Product Chemistry, Applied Electrochemistry or Chemistry of Materials, Bioinformatics, Biophysics, Biology in health, agriculture and industry, Bioinstrumentation and Biotechnology.

Special Benefits

Other bonuses include special guest lectures by imminent scientists and personalities every alternative Saturday at each centre/college.

Post the BS, students need only one year's Master's, as opposed to the traditional two, while Ph.D. is for two years, as opposed to three. Thus, the student ends up saving a year's time, and of course a lot of money, considering the course starts at Rs. 5,000 for the first year.
These students also get various scholarships — the BU Vice-Chancellor's scholarship and the INSPIRE scholarship.

For those wishing to go abroad for higher studies, there could not be a better course as it fits the bill. Western countries look for a four-year graduation. These students, taught by a mixed faculty drawn from existing postgraduate science departments in the University as well as scientists, among others, have the option of becoming anything from a researcher to a scientist.

It is said that there will soon be at least 200 vacancies in the country's premiere science organisations. The news could not have come at a better time for the students.
Basking in the success of what started as an experiment, the Bangalore University is now contemplating introducing similar four-year integrated courses in Arts, Commerce and Economics (this in the proposed Bangalore School of Economics). Who knows, as the BS course partially revived traditional science, the proposed courses may do the same for the other disciplines whose popularity is plummeting rapidly.

Source: The Hindu

Education dept meet on admission to CBSE school-test students today

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MUMBAI: State education minister Rajendra Darda will meet senior officials from the education department and Maharashtra State Board of Education on Monday to check the legalities involved in giving the go-ahead for admissions to CBSE students who took the school-based exam. On Saturday, the department decided to let CBSE students who took the school-based test apply to junior colleges in the state. A final notification to this effect will be coming out on Monday.

V Radha, the in-charge secretary of the school education department, said, "We have decided to give admissions to CBSE students who have taken the school-based test offline after the online admission process is over. Though we have decided to give them admissions on the basis of the marks they will receive from the board, we want to check if there is any legality involved."

A decision on whether admissions given to these students should be final or provisional will be taken on Monday and a notification would be released. If admissions given to these students are provisional, the state will also take a decision on how and when the students should be given a final admission. However, the state plans not to complicate things for students.

Since admissions for students with school-based test scores would be offline, a section of parents are worried about not being able to get in to the best city colleges. These students will not be eligible for merit-based online admissions and will have to apply offline after August 10.

Source: Timesofindia

DU Third Cut Off List

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DU third cut off list was announced on 25th June, Saturday and could not assure any good news as was expected by students seeking admission to popular commerce and science. Although colleges have got the green signal to announce two more cut-off lists after this (the fifth and the last being on July 8), the third list declared by the university indicates, that a majority of students are planning to wrap up the admission process for 2011- 12.

For BCom ( Honours), most colleges have closed the admission. In this case, only 13 colleges are still open for admission to the course, unlike 43 colleges which had further lowered their cutoff marks for the same course in the second list that was announced on June 21. Of these, Hansraj College and Kirori Mal College are the only North Campus institutes which will continue to admit students to the course, albeit at a very marginally lower cut- off percentage.

Seats reserved under the OBC quota are still waiting admission and various colleges have granted a complete 10 per cent relaxation in their cut- off marks, as against the general category cut- off, to attract as many candidates as possible.

For Economics (Honours), another popular choice with Delhi University aspirants, hope is much less with only five colleges now available for admission. This year, in spite of sky-high cut-off marks announced in the first list, colleges have over admitted students in almost all science courses.

While admission to Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany are almost over, hope remains in B.Sc Life sciences in most colleges. But even as commerce and science candidates are disappointed in the third list, English (Honours), is still open at many colleges, especially those which take in students through the CATE

Source: Shiksha.com

DU Second Cutoff List

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DU Second Cutoff List is now available and admission for Economics (H) is open in 19 colleges, which includes Hans Raj, KMC and LSR. While Kirorimal College has decreased its cutoff by 2.25%, Lady Shri Ram has decreased the cutoff by 1%. Hans Raj College too has decreased the percent marginally to keep it at 95.5% to 96.5%. For Vocational Studies, admissions are closed in Hindu, Ramjas, IP, SGTB, Khalsa, Daulat Ram.

Popular courses like Physics (H) and Chemistry (H) are available in the DU (Delhi University) Second cutoff list at colleges such as Hindu, Hans Raj, Gargi, SGTB Khalsa, Motilal Nehru. On the other hand, Chemistry cutoff in Daulat Ram has dropped by as much as 3%. Daulat Ram will now admit students to chemistry (H) with 87% and above.

English (H) is open in a majority of colleges, which includes 21 CATE colleges. Of the 46 colleges which are offering course in English Honors, admissions are still on 37 colleges. The biggest decline in the cutoff among the non-CATE colleges was recorded in SGND Khalsa with a cutoff coming down to 82% from 87% from the first list, followed by Ramanujan which dropped it by 3%. History (H) is still open in 29 of the 39 colleges, including Hans Raj, IP, Janki Devi Memorial, Kamala Nehru, KMC and Venkateswara.

At Vivekanand College, History (H) witnessed the biggest fall. The cutoff has been slashed from 70% to 60%. The second cutoff admissions will start from June 22 and would continue till June 25.

The third cutoff will be declared on Sunday 26th June 2011. Admissions under sports and ECA categories will begin along with intake for second cutoff.

Source: Shiksha.com

Admission trends defy hype around colleges

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NEW DELHI: Going by the number of courses which closed for admissions in the first cutoff list itself, Miranda House, Gargi, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Dyal Singh and College of Vocational Studies have emerged as the most popular colleges.

Miranda House which has seen over-admission in courses like economics, mathematics, political science and geography, in fact, exhausted most of its seats on the second day of admission itself. The college offers 19-odd courses in humanities and science streams. In the second list declared on Tuesday, the college has closed admissions in 13 courses for general candidates.

"We have seen unusually high admissions this year. Last year too, we witnessed over-admissions in science courses, but it was nothing like this year. And it is not that our cutoffs were significantly low as our economics (H) cutoff in the first list was from 94%-96%, while history was 86%-93%," said Pratibha Jolly, principal, Miranda House.

Among the off-campus colleges, Shaheed Bhagat Singh has closed six of the 10 courses it offers, after the first cutoff admissions while Gargi has closed nine of its 17 courses. Dyal Singh has closed eight of the 17 courses. In fact, most of the popular courses like BCom (H), English, chemistry and mathematics are closed in Dyal Singh.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Top colleges packed beyond capacity

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NEW DELHI: On the second day of admissions on Friday, Delhi University colleges continued admitting students beyond the number of seats available with them. The unusual second-day rush saw colleges such as Hindu, Miranda, and Sri Venkateswara admitting even more students than on Thursday. Aspirants were also seen flocking to off-campus colleges to secure seats instead of banking on later cut-off lists. Meanwhile, most colleges remained non-committal on the probability of notifying second cut-off lists, stating that two days remained for admissions on the basis of the first cut-off.

The trend of over-admitting was notable in popular courses such as BCom (H), Economics (H) and the sciences. Shri Ram College of Commerce has admitted 378 candidates for BCom (H) in the general category, well exceeding its 252-seat capacity. Miranda House, too, over-admitted in its honours courses, such as economics, mathematics, political science, geography and physics. "There are two more days left, so let us wait and the figures will speak for themselves," said Miranda House principal Pratibha Jolly.

At Hindu College the rush increased on the second day with 290 candidates taking admission. The college has admitted 115 students in BCom (H) as against its 65-seat capacity. It has also over-admitted in economics (H).

"It is a bit early to speculate on the second list, but many popular courses will be definitely closed with the first list itself. Even after withdrawals, I don't think there will be any vacant seats in courses such as BA-programme and honours courses in physics, chemistry or mathematics," said Kirori Mal College (KMC) principal Bhim Sen Singh. In the general category KMC has admitted 77 students in BA-programme against 44 seats, 73 in physics (H) against 58 seats and 89 in mathematics (H) against 40 seats.

But, there is still hope for aspirants of BCom (H) as colleges such as Lady Shri Ram, Venkateswara, KMC and Gargi, among others, will announce a second list. "In all probability, options will be open in all courses in our college, even if we fill up most of our seats. We expect some movement. But the dip may be as little as 0.25 per cent or 0.50 per cent for courses such as English, political science and history honours," said LSR's admission coordinator Ujjaini Ray.

Source: The Hindu

Getting ready for AIEEE '11 online admission

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Tracking the trends in preference in 2010 will help students make up their mind about their choice of courses.

Approximately, 26,816 seats for BE/B.Tech. and 936 seats for B.Tech/B.Planning were filled through the AIEEE 2010 in National Institutes of Technology, other government-funded institutions, and deemed universities.

The Central Counselling Board (CCB) website www.ccb.nic.in provides an idea about the trends in preference with last year's data. The information on opening and closing all-India rank in the various institutions prepares candidates to take part with a clear idea in the process that commences with online registration on June 11.

Choice filling and locking takes place till June 23 as per the tentative schedule. A candidate can submit as many choices in the order of preference from the list of available choices.
This time, the CCB has made the counselling and admission process candidate-friendly by reducing procedural difficulties, and modifying the online counselling method started a couple of years ago.

A spot round from August 11 to 13 at the end of the

five rounds of seat allotment, and addition in the number of reporting and help centres are among the highlights in this year's counselling process.

Mock allotment

Through the CCB's mock allotment featuring indicative seat availability based on the choices made by registered candidates, one can have an idea of what he or she will get in the current year.

The feature is meant to enable candidates select the most appropriate stream, institution and branch based on rank and category, and finalise choices for locking.
The opportunity to modify the choices will be available after the third and fourth round of allotments.

Source: The Hindu

Supreme Court refuses to direct CBSE for re-examination of AIEEE

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The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to direct the CBSE to conduct a fresh All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), which was mired in controversy after its question papers were leaked.

A vacation bench of justices G.S. Singhvi and C.K. Prasad dismissed the petition filed by some students who approached the apex court after they couldn’t appear for the test which was rescheduled after leakage of questions.

Refusing to interfere in the examination process, the court observed that around 10 lakh students have appeared for the examination and they would suffer because of fresh examination.

The students approached the apex court challenging a Delhi High Court order which on May 18 had refused to stay the declaration of AIEEE results. The CBSE had submitted before the high court that, “decision taken by an examination conducting body on basis of material and information available to it is beyond the scope of judicial review as the said body is the best judge of the situation and the manner of dealing with the same.”

“If the board had decided to cancel the examination for all 97 per cent candidates (who appeared for exam on May 1), this would have caused inconvenience and harships to vast majority of sudents,” CBSE had said.

A group of AIEEE candidates, who had appeared for the exam after a delay of three hours due to question paper leak on May 1, had sought cancellation of both the examinations (1st and 2nd phase) on the ground that the students were compelled to give the exam under adverse conditions and circumstances, which is violative of fundamental rights.

On May 1, the examination, conducted by CBSE, was delayed by three hours following a paper leak. The exam was scheduled at 9.30 AM but was rescheduled to begin at 12 noon on the same day.

The next day the government came with a notification that the AIEEE exam will be re—conducted on May 11, only for candidates who could not appear for the exam on May 1.
The question paper was reportedly being sold in the open market in Lucknow and a man was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force.

Source: The Hindu

President for zero tolerance against ragging

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New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil Thursday called for zero tolerance against ragging in the country.

Speaking at a seminar attended by the vice-chancellors of several central varsities, directors of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and others, Patil called for completely eliminating the menace of ragging.

"There is a need to create zero tolerance to the reprehensible and hideous practice of ragging. The menace of ragging, which has been vitiating the educational atmosphere, needs to be completely eliminated," she said.

Patil said that she was sure heads of premier educational institutions will work towards it with all sincerity.

Source: Unmid.com

DU Admission Forms 2011

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With no application forms, the admission process in Delhi University (DU) this year will begin June 15 with the announcement of the first cut-off list, an official of the Dean Student Welfare (DSW) office said.

"This year there will be no application forms which students earlier used to submit to colleges of their choice, nor any common du admission form. The colleges will straightaway declare the first cut off list and the aspirants can take admission thereafter," the official said.

"The admission committee decided last evening that the date for the first cut-off list will be June 15. Although the vice chancellor is yet to give his nod, it's almost certain that this is final," he added.

After the announcement of the first cut off list, students will get four days to take admission, between June 16-20. The second cut off list will be declared June 21 and admissions will be open from June 22-25.

The third list will be out June 27 and admissions from June 28-July. The fourth list will be out July 2 and admissions will be from July 4-7 and the fifth list will be out on July 8 and admissions will be from July 9-13.

"The admission policy - of no application forms and five cut-off lists was approved by the vice chancellor," the official added. Delhi University, founded in 1922, has 14 faculties, 86 academic departments and 79 colleges. Its student population is about 220,000.

Source: news.icbse.com

ICSE: Southern Region Tops

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The Southern region has secured the highest pass percentage of 98.28 in the Indian School Certificate Examination, the results of which were declared on Tuesday. Overall, girls have outperformed boys by securing a pass percentage of 98.40 as against 96.30 by the boys.The overall pass percentage is 97.24 per cent, up by 0.13 percentage points from last year. Region-wise, the South is trailed by the West, East and the North in terms of the pass percentage.

A maximum number of students took the examination from the Northern region comprising Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi and the National Capital Region. The pass percentage of girl students from Delhi and the NCR is 98.56 compared with 98.26 of boys. The overall pass percentage is 98.41, up by 1.53 percentage point compared with last year. The pass percentage in English and Mathematics is 99.77 per cent and 92.29 per cent respectively.

Of the 1, 390 Scheduled Caste candidates who took the examination 95.68 per cent have passed, while 1,832 Scheduled Tribe candidates took the examination achieving a pass percentage of 92.90. A total of 3,840 Other Backward Classes candidates took the examination achieving a pass percentage of 97.11.Two of the 34 dyslexic candidates and one of the four visually challenged students achieved over 90 per cent.

Source: The Hindu

Registration for CBSE Heritage Quiz begins

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Bhopal: The online registration for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Heritage Quiz has begun.The entire registration process will be completed by June 15.

The first round of the Heritage India Quiz would take place in different cities in the month of August. The teams are going to be selected on the basis of their performance.

During the first round, a written preliminary test would be held in which three students from each school would participate. The team would consist of class XI and XII students.

The written test would consist of multiple choice questions for this the students would be provided with OMR sheets.

The winning team would enter the zonal round which would take place in September. The pre-final round and national round would be held after this.

The interested teams need to send a demand draft of Rs 600 on the name of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

For more information, the interested candidates can call at 011-23220155.

Source: Daily.bhaskar.com

40,000 to take rescheduled AIEEE exam

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New Delhi: Nearly 40,000 candidates will appear for the rescheduled All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) across the country on Wednesday.

The CBSE, which conducts the test, has already notified 39 cities where the examination will be held for the students who could not appear in it on May 1 due to confusion arising out of leakage of the question paper.

The reconduct of the examination was announced after leakage of the AIEEE question paper in Lucknow and the delayed start to the test on May 1. A section of students who had to skip the test for the Armed Forces Medical College examination would be allowed to sit for the rescheduled examination.

"As many as 40,000 students would be sitting for the rescheduled examination," said a CBSE official. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused to stay the government's decision to hold the reconduct of AIEEE.

Former professor of NIT Jamshedpur A P Sinha had sought a stay on government notification to reconduct the AIEEE on the ground that one was held in adverse and disadvantageous condition, while only 3 per cent candidates are allowed to appear on May 11 in an "undue advantageous position".

Source: ibnlive.in.com

Civil engineers have bright avenues: education consultant

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Decide a course, not based on the past performance of a particular sector, but on the future prospects of that sector. Because what did well in the past need not do well in the future, Jayaprakash Gandhi, educational consultant, said here on Sunday.

Speaking at The Hindu Education Plus Career Fair 2011, he said it was not enough to choose a subject merely based on interest, but on the opportunities it would offer in terms of employment and growth prospects.

"The next 10 years is the decade of power / energy. World is moving towards renewable energy in the form of biomass, solar energy and wind energy. A study shows that almost 72 per cent of the courses that have been introduced or redesigned this year are all related to the disciplines of energy and civil engineering," Mr. Gandhi said.

Infrastructure was growing by leaps and bounds. There were huge opportunities for civil engineers. According to a survey, the other verticals that held great promise were IT, ITes, energy, infrastructure and pharmaceuticals.

He said communication was no longer in a leading position for the best course, as it had reached the saturation point and did not have future prospects in terms of innovation and growth. Mr. Gandhi also said that though the automobile sector was in need of manpower in the mechanical discipline, it was not looking for engineers, but only diploma holders.

He advised students who were keen to take up mechanical engineering, to specialize in renewable energy. Pointing out that engineering was heading towards a point of saturation, Mr, Gandhi said some other courses that could be preferred in terms of innovative jobs, were geoinformatics, material sciences, law, economics, and company secretaryship.

Some new courses like that of the B.Tech. in Poultry Technology of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, and the B.Sc. Sericulture course of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, were highly recommended by him. In medicine, after the conventional MBBS and BDS, he said the six-year Doctor of Pharmacy was a popular one.

Source: The Hindu

The intricacies of shuffling batches

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One of the first things that upset Riddhi Dugar on getting the progress report card was that her best friend would not be in the same section in the new class as her. A month later, the class III student of Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram is happy in the new environment. "I have made new friends. I play with my old friends during break or talk to them on the telephone or meet them at birthday parties," says Riddhi. It is for the second time since she joined the school in L.K.G. that her section was changed.

Whether children hate it or love it, in a good number of schools it is a common practice to shuffle students when they move from one grade to another. The frequency of the shuffling differs among schools. Some schools shuffle a batch of students annually, while others do it when children move from primary to middle school and again in high school.

Schools explain the process of shuffling children from one section to another as a way for them to make new friends, adjust to a new environment and face new challenges in a classroom where children of different learning abilities come together. However, it is challenging for the teachers and for a child who cannot accept the change. Adolescent children react more strongly, especially if separated from their long-time friends.
"I have come across students who would get upset and plead that we have broken their friends circle by interchanging sections. In such cases, we counsel them and explain how it would help him or her perform better," says N.K.Padma, teacher, Kendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI.
Teachers say shuffling of a batch of students helps in instilling better discipline. "Children who are not motivated or those who hang out as a circle settle with one peer group, therefore it is essential to shuffle," says Ms. Padma. "Change of classroom, seating arrangement and splitting a group creates a healthier environment," she adds.

She says that from classes I to V, shuffling is not required as a teacher needs to know every child. Quite a number of schools do not welcome any academic shuffling, where slow learners or students scoring high marks are put together in one section.

According to Arundathi Swamy, student counsellor, "Shuffling is a good practice and most children take it well. Some are not happy and occasionally there are a few instances where a child cannot adjust. These are signs for the parents and teachers that the child needs extra help."

She says teachers need to be more sensitive and accommodative to the needs of such children who are not able to adjust. "If a child is extremely distressed and does not show signs of mixing in the group, the decision could be reconsidered," she adds.

Source: The Hindu

Delhi HC rejects petition against CBSE's grading system

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The Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea seeking its intervention and quashing of Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) introduction of Grading System for classes IX and X and abolition of the examination in class X.

"I have gone through the grounds urged in the petition. The petitioner is seeking intervention of this court on matters which are prohibited. There is no merit in the petition. The same is dismissed," said Justice Rajiv Sahai End law and declined to quash CBSE's two notifications for introduction of grading system from academic year 2010-2011.

Challenging CBSE's circulars of September 20 and 29, 2009 for introduction of grading system, Indepedent Schools' Federation of India said these circulars were not issued in accordance with the National Curriculum Framework and they needed to be set aside.

The court rejected the petitioner's argument that the circulars were not in accordance with the National Curriculum Framework of 2005 and have been issued in haste. It also rejected the contention that the CBSE has failed to consider its suggestions before introducing the system.

According to the Association, the circulars were not reformative as intended in the National Curriculum Framework and rather places multifold burden on the students, increase the workload of the teachers and will produce a domineering attitude amongst teachers, which would be detrimental to the interest of the students.

Source: Deccanherald

AFMC MBBS exams won’t clash with AIEEE

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Providing relief to thousands of candidates appearing for the AIEEE and AFMC MBBS exams, the CBSE board and the Armed Forces Medical Services, which conduct these exams, have decided to hold the tests at different timings. Previously, students would have had to miss one exam, since both were scheduled for same date and time, on May 1.

According to a CBSE statement, the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) will be conducted on May 1 from 9.30am to 12.30pm as per the schedule. While the Armed Forces Medical College entrance examination (AFMC MBBS) exam will be held from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. If a candidate is allotted an examination centre for the AIEEE and the AFMC in different cities, the CBSE will consider changing the centre. However, this would be at the CBSE’s discretion, according to the statement.

However, with two major exams being held on the same day, the candidates are a worried lot. Parag Nalavade, a student, said, "Both the exams are equally important. I am having trouble concentrating. There is not enough time for revision. Every year, the AIEEE was conducted during the last week of April. The sudden change is giving students, who wish to appear in both the examinations, a tough time."

Even the parents are equally worried. "It's a question of our children's future. I request the higher authorities to look into the matter" said Ajay Singh, whose son will also be appearing for these exams.

The experts say that the students are disturbed. Ashish Shukla, who runs a medical coaching institute, said: "A similar problem had occurred earlier , but it would be very helpful if both the exams are held on separate dates so that students get sufficient time for studying."

Source: DNAindia

Minimum 50% must for engg, pharmacy

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AHMEDABAD: The state education department has finalized the rules for the admission in degree engineering and pharmacy courses for year 2011. The rules that have been framed following the recommendations of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) will be officially announced soon.

The department officials said that Gujarat will implement the minimum 50% eligibility criteria for admission in these professional colleges. This means that students who will score 50% and above marks in physics, chemistry and mathematics in HSC (science) exams this year will be eligible for applying for admission in degree engineering and pharmacy colleges. Earlier, the eligibility criteria was only 35% marks.

Secondly, three merit lists will be declared for admission in these professional colleges. The first list will be of the students of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) while separate list will be prepared for students of the CBSE and ICSE and other boards.

Earlier, maximum 25 marks were carried forward into the class 12 merit of the students who opted for technical subjects in class X. This procedure has been done away with from this year, the officials said.

The management quota has been fixed at 25% seats. Here, 15% seats will be reserved as the NRI quota and 10% seats as the management quota. Of the management quota, admission on maximum five% seats can be given to students from outside the state who have not appeared for the Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GujCET).

Significantly, the AICTE had recommended that fee waiver should be given to students belonging to the economically backward sections on 10% seats. Here, while this is compulsorily followed in government colleges, the self-financed institutes do not necessarily follow suit. From this year, all SFIs would also have to give fee waiver to poor students on 5% seats.

"We have agreed to most recommendations of the AICTE especially raising the eligibility criteria to 50% as we want to improve the quality of professionals coming out of the colleges," said an education department official.

Chairman of the SFI Management Association, C L Patel said that there is a possibility that a number of seats may remain vacant due to higher eligibility.

Source: Times of India

DU 'open days' to get delayed

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NEW DELHI: Now that aspirants need not apply for admissions in Delhi University, they can just sit back and relax till late June. The centralised OMR forms, introduced in 2007, are on their way out and even the colleges will not give out any pre-admission forms from this year. So the actual admission process will begin once the cut-offs are out which is likely only in the third week of June. DU officials are still working out the modalities and schedule for the truncated admission season which is likely to make things simple at least for the applicants. However, those willing to know more about the courses and colleges should wait for the university to upload its information bulletin on the DU website.

Individual colleges will also release their prospectus prior to the release of cut-offs. "Since there will be no running around like previous years, students must visit the websites of different colleges to know more about the courses and facilities they offer and also about their faculty. However, outstation students must attend the 'open days' which are likely to be conducted in June," said Gurpreet Singh Tuteja, deputy dean, students' welfare. Even the hostel forms may be available once the admissions start.

Open days are interactive sessions held at different venues in the city where DU faculty and students provide information about the admission procedure and also counsel aspirants. They used to be held in the third week of May till last year but are likely to get delayed. The existing students, who conduct these sessions, will be busy taking their annual exams till mid-June. "However, the vice-chancellor has asked us to increase the number of open days this year for better dissemination of information. We will also upload a 20-minute open day presentation on the DU website by May 15," Tuteja said.

An important segment in the open day presentation was the centralised OMR forms. They were introduced in 2007 after doing away with the ICR (intelligent character reader) forms. The idea was to enable aspirants to apply to as many colleges and courses as they wanted on a single form. Earlier, the candidates could apply to only 10 colleges and eight courses on the ICR forms. But with no forms now, aspirants can directly take admission in any course and college if they meet the cut-off.

Even as the colleges work out their cut-offs without any applications in hand, they are also planning to hold separate counselling session for aspirants and their parents. Vinay Kumar Srivastava, principal, Hindu College, said, "We plan to set up help desks in the colleges so that the aspirants can be explained about the new system. They may even need counselling for the choice of courses. Even their parents may have some queries which we will be happy to answer." Colleges are also working at uploading all the necessary details online. Meera Ramachanadran, principal, Gargi College, said, "We will be holding a meeting in the college soon as the university has requested us to advance the information on any riders or eligibility requirements for different courses. This information will be uploaded on the website soon."

Source: Times of India

Jamia to Hold Common Entrance Test for UG Courses

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NEW DELHI: For the first time, Jamia Millia Islamia will hold a common entrance test this year for admission to its various undergraduate programmes offered in the faculty of humanities and languages, social sciences and natural sciences. The application process for admission to these courses started on April 1.

While the faculty of humanities and languages will conduct a single entrance test on June 3 for admission to BA in Arabic, Hindi, Persian, English, Urdu, Islamic studies and mass media, the other two faculties are going to conduct the common entrance test for two different set of subjects. The faculty of social science will conduct a common test for admission to BBS, BCom, BACA and BA (honours) economics and another common test for BA, BA (honours) sociology, political science, psychology, geography, social work, history, and hotel management and travel and tourism. Both tests will be held on June 2.

Faculty of natural science will also hold two common entrance tests - one for admission to BSc, BSc Instrumentation, BSc (honours) physics, chemistry, mathematics and BA (honours) mathematics scheduled for June 3 and a second test for BSc biosciences and biotechnology to be held on June 2.

Application forms can either be downloaded from the varsity's website or bought from the sale counters on the campus. Last date to apply for all courses in the faculties of humanities and languages and natural sciences is May 4 and for applying to faculty of social sciences May 5.

Source: Times of India