Girls outperform boys in SSLC exams in Karnataka

Bangalore: Girls outperformed boys in the SSLC examinations held in April this year in Karnataka with a pass percentage of 84.58 against 80.03.
    
The overall pass percentage was 82.26. As many as 7,31,991 candidates appeared for the examination, of which 6,02,147 passed, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwar Bhat Kageri told reporters.
    
Udupi district stood first with 89.53 pass percentage, followed by Sirsi with 88.31. Hassan was in third spot with 85.92 pass percentage and Bidar last with 63.32 pass percentage, he said.
    
Students in Scheduled Tribe category (75.49 per cent) did better than Scheduled Caste students, who recorded a pass percentage of 72.64 per cent, Kageri said.
  
As much as 77.07 per cent of the candidates from government schools passed, while 85.46 per cent of candidates from unaided private schools passed in the examination, he added.   

In all, 132 candidates were debarred for malpractices, Kageri said adding that SSLC supplementary examinations would be held from June 18, 2012.
  
He also advised failed candidates,who apply for retotalling or photocopies to enroll in the supplementary exam before the last date of submission, without waiting for the result.
    
A total of 47 schools recorded zero percentage and there were no government schools in it, he said.   

Kegeri announced distribution of three computers for three students securing the highest marks in each taluka. 

Manufacturing sector to create 3-4 million jobs: Govt

New Delhi: The Government said that the manufacturing sector will create around 3-4 million jobs during the 12th five year plan between 2012-17.
    
"Generation of employment is a function of economic growth.
    
"Approach paper to the 12th five year plan (2012-17) focuses on faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth for creating adequate livelihood opportunities. The approach paper estimates that the manufacturing sector will create around 3 to 4 million jobs over and above the pace of job creation in the recent past", Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy told Lok Sabha in a written reply.
    
The labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment has been conducting quarterly quick employment survey on changes in employment in selected sectors.     

"As per the report for the 13th quarterly survey conducted during October-December 2011, additional new employment opportunities have been reported in different industries including Information Technology/Business Process Outsourcing sector in India", he said.
    
The report said that IT or BPO sector has shown an increase of 19.80 lakh in employment during October 2008 and December 2011. 

IIT-JEE more competitive or BITSAT

Chennai:  For a question like this, anybodys initial guess would be the former, thats the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). But if you break into the details of the numbers, its totally a different story.

Numbers dont lie, do they?

About 68 students were estimated to compete for a single seat in this year's BITSAT, the online test for admission into degree courses at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. On the other hand, only 54 students contested for an IIT seat.

Going deeper into the number, in the case of BITSAT, the number of applications received was 1.36 lakh for 2,000 seats in the institute's campuses in Pilani, Hyderabad and Goa. But 5.2 lakh students took the IIT-JEE on April 8 to be eligible for 9,600 seats in the 15 IITs.

Centre plans to double number of medical seats, but will it happen

Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare plans to double the number of undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats to meet a target of 80,000 MBBS and 45,000 PG seats in India by 2021.

According to a statement made by the ministry, its intention is to improve the availability of doctors by ensuring a doctor-patient ratio of 1:1000, against the present 1:2000.

While its intention is appreciative, it is not going to be that easy to execute, as even the existing medical institutions are facing a slew of problems like dearth of the faculty, facilities and bodies.

The ministry is targeting additional 38,431 seats in the MBBS and 22,806 seats in the PG streams by 2021, representing a whopping rise of 92.45 per cent and 102.75 per cent respectively over the current availability.

Sports Science Centre to be set up at LNCPE

Thiruvananthapuram: A sports science centre, designed to impart scientific training to sportspersons and trainers, with modern facilities and gadgets, would be set up in Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre at the Lakshmibai National College for Physical Education (LNCPE) near here.

The proposed science centre would be third of its kind in the country. Presently, only National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, and SAI Bangalore centre have such a facility, LNCPE said in a release.
    
Equipment costing more than Rs 1.5 crore would be installed within two weeks at the LNCPE located at Kariavattom.
    
The centre is meant to provide professional training to sportspersons to regularly perform well at the international level.
    
A state-of-the-art sports medicine facility would be the highlight of the centre, the release said. 

Applications for lateral entry to be issued from May 21

Chennai: Application forms for lateral entry system for engineering studies in colleges functioning under Anna University will be issued from May 21, announced TN Govt.

Applications for direct entry into second year BE and B.Tech (LATERAL ENTRY) studies in Govt. Engineering colleges, Govt. aided colleges and self financed colleges in Tamil Nadu for students having completed three-year Diploma / B.Sc will be issued from May 21 to May 25.

Application forms can be obtained from Govt. Polytechnic Colleges, Directorate of Technical Education and Polytechnic and Engineering Colleges of other districts.   

Filled applications should reach, The Secretary, Second Year B.E / B.Tech Degree admissions 2012, ACCET, Karaikudi - 630 004, before May 25, 5:00 PM.

Counselling for lateral entry will be held in the second week of July, at Alagappa University, Karaikudi.  

Eligible candidates will receive call letters through post, according to a Govt. press release.  

Eating too much sugar can make you dull: Scientists

Washington: Love to have those sponge cakes and soft drinks in your daily diet? Beware, they may impair your thinking and learning capacity, scientists say.

In experiments on mice, researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles found that eating high-fructose diets such as cakes, cookies, jams, jellies, crackers and carbonated soft drinks for as little as six weeks can make one stupid.

But, a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids can counteract this IQ loss, the researchers suggested.

"Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think," study researcher Fernando Gomez-Pinilla said.  

"Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain's ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimise the damage," Gomez-Pinilla was quoted as saying by LiveScience.

The study, published in Journal of Physiology, was done on rats, but the researchers believe their brain chemistry is similar enough to humans to extend the findings.

For the study, the researchers zeroed in on high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar, that is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food.

Before starting the experiment, the rats were taught to navigate their way through a maze using visual landmarks to remember the way.

Then the rats were divided into two groups, both consumed a fructose solution as their water, but one half of them also received omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to protect against damage to the synapses the chemical connections between brain cells that enable memory and learning.

After six weeks of their new diet, the researchers tested the rats' recall of the maze route. "The second group of rats navigated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids," Gomez-Pinilla said.

"Their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signalling each other, disrupting the rats' ability to think clearly and recall the route they'd learned six weeks earlier."

The rats fed only high fructose corn syrup developed insulin resistance, which the researchers think may be what's hurting the brain cells.

Insulin resistance due to the constant flow of fructose may have changed how cells use and store sugar and use it as the energy required for processing thoughts and emotions. (sugar is the only fuel that brain cells know how to use.) If the brain cells can't use insulin correctly, it could impact how they work.

"Insulin is important for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning," Gomez-Pinilla said.

"Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new."

The study also suggests that omega-3 fatty acids may help protect or heal the brain from this damage, he said, though the researchers aren't sure how either of these effects happen at the molecular level in the brain.

The researchers recommended taking one gram of omega-3 fatty acids per day.

Panjab University has rows of students giving identical answers

CHANDIGARH: The examination branch of Panjab University has found a few instances in which students sitting in an entire row have copied from one another and have identical answers. Close to three-four such instances of entire rows of under-graduate students taking the final year exam this year having identical answer sheets have been detected by the evaluators during checking which have now been forwarded to the unfair means case (UMC) committee of PU. 

"The cases are being looked into by the UMC committee and the members will decide what to do next. The committee will check to what extent has there been imitation in these answer sheets," said A K Bhandari, PU controller of examination (CoE). 

Evaluators, on condition of anonymity stated that eight to nine students in a row of final year arts students have been found to have same answers, copied word by word in the final year exam held this year. 

"Such instances where the entire row of students have similar answer sheets are rare, " said an evaluator from a local government college on condition of anonymity. 

"There was an instance in which an entire row of students of second year commerce had the same answer, sub-heads, points and graphics for a particular answer," adds another evaluator.

Jagpal Singh, a PU senator and member of UMC committee said that the evaluation has just begun for the last semester exams of under-grad classes and such cases are unusual and rare. 

Chandigarh: ICSE board to declare results tomorrow

CHANDIGARH: Putting an end to anxious moments of Chandigarh students waiting for Class X and XII ICSE results, the official website of the ICSE on Wednesday posted that results for ICSE-2012 and ISC-2012 will be declared on Saturday May 19 at 3pm. 

The result can be checked on the internet on www.cisce.indiaresults.com, www.cisce.ndtv.com, www.cisce.examresults.net, www.cisce.myschool.in.com, www.cisce.topperlearning.com, www.cisce.timesofindia.com, www.cisce.navbharattimes.com. 

There are five ICSE schools in the city -- St Kabir School in Sector 26, Strawberry Field World School in Sector 26, St Xavier's School in Sector 44, St Stephen School in Sector 45 and Tender Heart School in Sector 33. St Xavier's School in Mohali and Panchkula, Saupins in Panchkula and Yadvindra Public School in Mohali are other ICSE schools of the Tricity. 

The procedure for checking the result has been kept user friendly. All that students need to do is to log on the website and enter their roll numbers. All principals have also been provided with personalized passwords to view school results.The results will also be available through SMS. For this students need to send SMS to numbers 51818, 56263, 58888, 5676750, 56388 and 54242. 

The news has created a buzz and has increased the anxiety of students. Ayesha Kapoor, who appeared in Class X exams, said, "I have been eagerly awaiting result. However, I was relaxed but as I got to know about the exact date I'm scared." 

"I have my fingers crossed. I was very confused during exams and I really hope it doesn't reflect in my marks," said Riya Sharma, who appeared in Class XII non medical stream exams recently. 

Goa board Class XII results likely on May 21

PANAJI: The Goa board of secondary and higher secondary education is likely to announce the Class XII public exam results on May 21.

The results' announcement will end the wait for 14,516 students who have answered the exams held from March 3 to March 27.

"The results are nearly ready; they only have to be printed now. They will most likely be announced on Monday," a Goa board source informed. Of the 14,516 students who have answered the exams in the arts,  commerce, science and vocational streams, 7,411 are girls and 7,105 boys. Another 797 reappeared for the test this year.

After the Class XII results are announced, the admissions to first year degree courses will open the following day for the arts, science and commerce streams.

The graph of the Goa board Class X and XII results has been volatile for the last five years. On an average, a pass percentage of 76% was recorded at Class XII by the board until 2008, when the pass percentage went up to 79.32%. The upward swing continued in 2009 when for the first time in the board's history, the pass percentage crossed 80 and touched 82.55%. The pass percentage saw a minor drop in 2010 to 82.52% and slid down to its 2008 record of 80% again in 2011.

This is the second year when students of Class X and XII will get marked in both marks and grades. The grading system was introduced for the public exams during the last academic year, with which an internal assessment system is also in place to reduce the pressure on students to perform once a year at the board exam. The system of marks was continued along with grades when the new grading system was introduced last year to enable students to understand the allotment of grades better.

However, the board decided that students will be evaluated as per grades and marks for the 2012 exams as well.

Colleges in Madhya Pradesh directed to start online admission from May 20

BHOPAL: The state higher education department has on Wednesday directed the government and private colleges in the state to introduce under-graduate level online registration for admissions.

The online registration for the next academic session will be organised from May 20 to June 10. Students will have four days from June 18 to 21 to take admission in colleges.

According to the higher education department guidelines, students can download application form from the official website of the department. The department has also uploaded a format which will guide the students to fill the application form.

The verification of the documents will be done from May 21 to June 11, a department spokesman said. Students can verify their documents from any government college. After the verification of documents, students have to deposit the fee at the allotted college which they have to do from June 18 to 21. Admission of students who fail to deposit the fee will be cancelled, the spokesman said.

Students who fail to get the online admission in their desired courses or colleges can take admission against the available vacant seats. The higher education department has made it clear that the allotment on the vacant seats on reapplying may be accepted or rejected.

Students can also appear for the college level counseling after they fail to take on-line admission in their choice of colleges.

ISCE results 2012 to be declared online on May 19

CHANDIGARH: Putting an end to the anxiety of Chandigarh students waiting for class X and XII ICSE results, the official website of the ICSE on Wednesday notified that results for ICSE-2012 and ISC-2012 will be declared on Saturday, May 19 at 3.00pm.

The result can be checked on the internet on

www.cisce.indiaresults.com

www.cisce.ndtv.com

www.cisce.examresults.net

www.cisce.myschool.in.com

www.cisce.topperlearning.com

www.cisce.timesofindia.com

www.cisce.navbharattimes.com

There are five ICSE schools in the city namely St Kabir school in sector 26, Strawberry Field World School in sector 26, St Xaviers School in sector 44, St Stephen School in sector 45 and Tender Heart School in sector 33. St Xavier's School in Mohali and Panchkula, Saupin's from Panchkula and Yadvindra Public School from Mohali are the other ICSE schools.

The procedure for checking results has been kept easy. Students just need to log on to the websites and enter their roll numbers. The principals of the schools have also been provided with personalized passwords to view their school's results.

The results can also be sought through SMS. For this, students need to write a text message and send it to the numbers -- 51818, 56263, 58888, 5676750, 56388 and 54242.

The news has created a buzz among students who are awaiting their results.

Ayesha Kapoor, a class X student said, "I have been eagerly waiting for the results. However, I am relieved now as I read that it would be declared only at the end of the month."

"My fingers are crossed. I was very confused during exams and I really hope it doesn't reflect in my marks," said Riya Sharma, a class XII student.

"Waiting for the result creates more anxiety than the examination itself. Lets see what the results bring," said Abhay Singh, a class X student.

Kerala Higher Secondary Examination results announced

Thiruvananthapuram: Girls excelled in the Kerala Higher Secondary Examinations for which the results were announced today.

The total pass percentage stood at 82.25. Of the 2,93,112 students who appeared for the examination in 1,897 centres, 2,58,179 candidates qualified for higher studies, State Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Out of the 3,334 students who got 'A' grade in all subjects, 2,234 were girls.

Pass percentage was more in Kozhikode district (90.96 per cent) and lowest in Pathanamthitta district (81.2 per cent).

Among the 61 candidates who appeared for various arts examination at the Kalamadlam Arts School, 51 students qualified for higher studies and pass percentage in the Arts School was 83.6 per cent.

The examination result of the Kerala State Vocational Higher Secondary was also released today for which the pass percentage was 84.73 per cent.

Sibal opposes cartoons on political class in textbooks

New Delhi: Under attack over the cartoon row, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal acknowledged that cartoons on the political class should not find a place in textbooks as they influence the impressionable minds of students.

Holding that the issue is not about the content of the cartoons but about their inclusion in textbooks, he said the impression should not go to the world that the political class is corrupt and bereft of any principles.

"We believe textbooks are not the place where these issues should be influencing impressionable minds. That's our position," the Minister told reporters outside Parliament.

Noting that freedom of expression is contextual, Sibal, who has come under sharp attack from the opposition as well as from within his party over the cartoon of B R Ambedkar in an NCERT political science textbook, said a cartoon acceptable in newspapers may not be fit for a textbook as the recent controversy has highlighted.

"The same cartoon in a newspaper may well be acceptable but the same cartoon or a series of such cartoons attacking the political class or a community in a textbook which has a tendency to influence impressionable minds may well not be acceptable", he said.

Sibal said he disagreed with the views of NCERT advisors Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar that the cartoon on Ambedkar should not be interpreted in a manner in which the MPs had interpreted it and therefore decided to remove them.

Yadav and Palshikar, who as advisors of the textbook had approved the cartoon, had stepped down after the row. The Minister said the removal of the content will not affect the students in anyway as they will get the books on time.

"Students will get their books. All these will be done within one month. Printing will be done once again after remove the cartoon and than distributed," he said.

RTE will be implemented from this year in Maharashtra: Chavan

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that Right to Education Act would be implemented in the state from this academic year.

Talking to reporters here, Chavan said the process of formulating rules for adopting the law by the state is on. He said discussions were on to finalise the income cap for weaker sections. "In the first year, the Act will be implemented for Class I," he said.

Chavan said creamy layer provisions would not be applicable for SC/ST/VJNT students. The Act will be implemented in all schools, excluding the unaided institutions for minorities. There is also a proposal to set up a tribunal for monitoring the implementation of the Act.

AMU to collaborate with Ohio and Bristol Universities

Aligarh: The Aligarh Muslim University has entered into a tri-lateral collaboration project with the Ohio State University, USA and the University of Bristol, UK, that will include exchange and training programmes in the field of stem cell research and higher education in Physics.

The decision in this regard was taken, at a meeting in which representatives of the three universities participated. The collaborative project would focus on cancer research, X-ray nano-technology and wireless technologies.

It would include an exchange programme in which six scientists from Bristol and Ohio would conduct especially designed courses and research in the above fields at AMU besides a training programme for post-graduate and post-doctoral fellows at AMU.

Chairman, Department of Physics, Prof Wasi Haider said that the programme would continue beyond its two years tenure with institutional support and research grants to individual scientists.

The Ohio Super Computer Centre will provide state-of-art facilities at no additional cost, he said, adding that entire funding of the project will be done by different funding agencies in USA, UK and the Department of Science and Technology, India.

Kerala to start virtual classrooms in ITIs

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Industrial Department has decided to introduce virtual classrooms in 34 industrial training institutes in the state.

It envisages imparting changing technology in industrial sector to industrial trainees with the help of E-learning. In the first phase, virtual classrooms would be set up in 34 ITIs, state labour minister Shibu Baby John said here.

The programme will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Kozhikode on May 17 which will also coincide with the first anniversary of the United Democratic Front government.

Along with virtual classrooms, job and placement portals would become operational, he said.

Common MBBS, MD entrance tests from 2013

New Delhi: The proposed common exams for admission to MBBS and MD courses all over the country will be held from the next academic session, Health Ministry officials said.

The officials told MPs at the Consultative Committee Meeting on Health that the proposed common tests, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET-UG) and Postgraduate (NEET-PG) medical courses, have been notified for commencement from 2013-14.

"The common entrance tests for admission to MBBS and MD courses have been notified on February 25, this year for commencement from academic year 2013-14," they said.

The NEET for admission to UG courses would be conducted by the CBSE and the NEET for PG courses would be carried out by the National Board of Examinations, they said. "The common entrance tests are aimed at mitigating the need of students to appear in multiple tests and promote merit in admission process," the officials said at the meeting presided over by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The tests, earlier notified by the Medical Council of India (MCI), were to be first conducted from the current session but have been postponed due to lack of preparedness on its part, they said.

The officials said that the Bachelor of Rural Healthcare Course, proposed by the government to tide over the shortage of medical professionals in rural areas, would prepare rural healthcare cadre to treat 'common ailments' and not all ailments requiring expertise.

The course, which is opposed by doctors, is under the consideration of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and has faced opposition from the Indian Medical Association, which says the course would lead to different standards of public health delivery for urban and rural populations.

Medical bonanza: Govt to double availability of seats

New Delhi: Medical students are in for a bonanza with the government planning to double availability of undergraduate and postgraduate seats to meet a target of 80,000 MBBS and 45,000 PG seats in India by 2021.

The objective is also to improve the availability of doctors by ensuring a doctor-patient ratio of 1:1000 as against the current 1:2000 ratio, Health Ministry officials said.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is targeting additional 38,431 seats in the MBBS and 22,806 seats in the PG streams by 2021, representing a whopping rise of 92.45 per cent and 102.75 per cent respectively over the current availability.

The target is 80,000 MBBS seats and 45,000 PG seats by 2021, the officials said at the meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Health chaired by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. The meeting was called to discuss the scenario of medical infrastructure in the country.

At present, there are 41,569 MBBS seats in the 335 medical colleges across India and 22,194 PG seats. However, most of these seats and medical colleges are concentrated in the southern and western states with the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh barely getting any share in medical infrastructure.

Ministry's latest data shows that 66 per cent of the 335 medical colleges and 69 per cent of the current MBBS seats are located at present in the Southern and Western states, including Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa.

Central India has only 5 per cent share each in medical colleges and undergraduate medical seats while eastern India, comprising Bihar and West Bengal, which feature among the five most populous states, have 10 per cent of India's medical colleges and just 9 per cent MBBS seats.

North India with the most populated state Uttar Pradesh is no better with only 17 per cent medical colleges and 16 per cent of MBBS seats available. The northeast has 3 per ent share each in medical colleges and MBBS seats, reflecting the skewed availability of resources.

Additional medical seats are being targeted to correct this imbalance to some extent and improve the availability of doctors for patients. At present, India has one doctor for every 2000 patients and the aim is to double the availability of medics by 2021.

"The target is to improve the doctor-patient ratio to 1: 1000 by 2021," Ministry officials told MPs. They said the availability of nurses is even lesser with the nurse-physician ratio in India being 1.5: 1 as against 3: 1 mandated by international norms.

Surprisingly, the number of practising doctors and nurses are much lesser than those registered, show Ministry statistics. "There are 7.5 lakh registered doctors but only 5.5 lakh practicing doctors. Whereas registered nurse strength is 10.7 lakh, practicing nurse strength is just 4 lakh," Ministry data shared at the meeting shows, revealing the gaps.

Another issue was of increasing privatization of medical education. Of the 335 medical colleges, 181 are private and only 154 are government colleges. Ministry data shows the country has added 35 colleges between 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 including 24 private and 11 government colleges. Of these, the maximum number of 21 colleges were added last year as against 14 in 2010 and 11 in 2009.

This year 46 new colleges have been set up, Azad said, referring to relaxation in Medical Council of India norms. Data shared at the consultative committee meet shows that MBBS seats have gradually increased from 35,202 in 2009-10 to 41,569 in 2011-12. PG seats have increased from 13,043 in 2008-09 to 22,194 in the current academic session, an increase of 9,151 seats.

Those who attended the meeting include Minister of State for Health Sudip Bandyopadhyay and MPs Deepa Dashmunsi, Shailendra Kumar, P Venugopal, Sanjay Singh Chauhan, R C Dome, Mirza Mehboob Beg, M Jagannath, Prasanta Kumar Majumdar and Virendra Kumar, Rajya Sabha members Motilal Vohra, CP Thakur, K V P Ramachandra Rao, Oscar Fernandes and Baishnab Parida.

KISS - type school in Delhi

New Delhi: Delhi government would set up a residential school mainly for students from SC, ST, OBC and minorities at Ishapur area of West Delhi.

The school will be modelled on Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneshwar which is considered as the biggest residential institute in South Asia imparting education to students from Kindergarten to post graduate level involving around 10,000 tribal students.

A decision to set up the school was taken at a meeting of the cabinet presided by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Officials said an agreement between Delhi government and KISS would be signed soon. The school would be run by KISS.

Dikshit had visited KISS last year and felt a similar school should be opened in Delhi. An existing school premises at Ishapur would be renovated by PWD as per specification provided by KISS.

177 Indians to participate in Fullbright programme

Hyderabad: As many as 177 Indians would participate in Fulbright programme of the US-India Educational  Foundation (USIEF) this year, which is aimed at promoting mutual understanding between people of the two countries, the foundation said here.

The scholars, hailing from various cities across India, will pursue Fulbright projects in the US during the 2012-13 academic year in a variety of disciplines, including agriculture, economics, education, energy, environment, international relations, management and leadership development, media and communications, public administration, public health and science and technology, it said.

The USIEF is hosting a pre-departure orientation for the Fulbright scholars in Hyderabad from May 13-15. “Fulbright programme is one of the most prestigious educational and cultural exchange programmes around the world. Since its inception in 1950, USIEF has administered over 8,900 Fulbright fellowships to Indians and Americans. Thanks to the generous support of the Indian and the US governments, this year 177 Indians will participate in the Fulbright program.

“We are happy to be hosting this year's pre-departure orientation for Fulbright scholars in Hyderabad,” USIEF Executive Director Adam J Grotsky told reporters.

TN university develops robotic-based soan papdi making machine

Coimbatore: The Avinashilingam University for Women here has designed and developed a partial robotic-based 'soan papdi' flaking machine.

The first machine would be delivered next month to Ghanta Foods Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad, manufacturers of Bambino brand products including soan papdi, a popular flaky Indian sweet, Dr S Maragatham, Dean, Faculty of Engineering of the University, said.

Manufacturing of soan papdi being labour intensive and time consuming process, the university took up the project as a challenge, she said. The Rs eight lakh three-armed robotic machine would help reduce labour and wastage, she claimed adding the university had patented the product.

British Council to launch new courses

 British Council, a division of the British High Commission in India, is launching two new courses in teaching – TKT and IELTS - Train the Trainer course.

Addressing the media Paul Sellers, Director, South India, said “The TKT course can be used as preparation for the Cambridge TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) exams or as a standalone teacher training course. It will help those who teach, or would like to teach.”

The first course in Term 1 will cover Module 1 (language and background to language learning and teaching), for 28 hours over seven weeks. The second course in Term 2 covers Modules 2 and 3 (lesson planning and use of resources for language teaching and selection and use of resources and materials), for 28 hours over seven weeks. These modules will be repeated every alternative term.

The course is a package offer along with the Cambridge TKT exam, also administered by the British Council, and TKT trainees are given a discounted exam fee. There will be a special launch offer discount on  course fee for trainees registering in Term 1. The courses start from May 30 and the timing is 5.15 p.m. to 7.15 p.m.

British Council’s 18-hour Train the Trainer course for IELTS trainers, delivered over three days, will help trainers to prepare their candidates for success in the IELTS exam. The course is delivered by experienced IELTS trainers and explores the latest methodology and classroom techniques to make training courses interactive and effective. The Term 1 of the course will be conducted from June 11 to 13 from10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Both courses require the trainees to have a strong B1 (Intermediate) level or higher to join the course. The BC Chennai Teaching Centre is also launching Regular Young Achievers courses for eight to 12-year-old. 

Class X results on June 4

The results of this year's class X board exam will be announced on June 4 at 1.30 p. m., said N.R. Sivapathi, Minister for School Education. Around 12 lakh students appeared for the exam this year.

Free laptops distributed

The scene at Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School in Chetpet, recently, resembled a pageant, but of somewhat miniature proportions. Students accompanied by their elders, walked down, carrying two brown cartons that contained a laptop and a bag to carry it.

Some were impatient to see what a laptop looked like and opened the cartons as they walked out of classrooms. For a majority, it was a present that landed a few weeks ahead of their class XII results.

Over 300 class XII students of the school were presented with laptops as part of an initiative by the State government to provide class XII students and final-year engineering students with free laptops. Some parents were more thrilled than the students, as they were seeing a laptop for the first time.

P.J. Christmas, who was on a holiday in Thoothukudi, did not mind returning early to accompany his son Wesley Simon, who is hearing-impaired. “My son was asking me to buy him a laptop once the results were declared, so this has come as double bonanza,” said Mr. Christmas.

Nearly 28,000 class XII students of 152 schools in the city will receive free laptops in the first phase of distribution, which began on September 15.

General counselling for engineering from July 9

The Hindu SWEATING IT OUT: Students and parents queuing up to buy application forms for admission to engineering colleges at Anna University on Friday. Photo: S.S. Kumar

 General counselling for admission to engineering colleges in the State through the single window system will begin on July 9.

Nearly 86,000 applications were sold on day one of the sale of forms for admissions to 1.6 lakh seats in about 525 colleges in the State, revealing the continuing popularity of engineering education.

Giving away applications to students on Friday, Anna University Vice-Chancellor P. Mannar Jawahar said that the general counselling for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA 2012) would begin on July 9 and last till August 12. Random numbers would be assigned on June 20 and rank list published on June 24.

Admissions under the sports quota would be on July 1. Phase1 of vocational counselling would be between July 3 and 7. For the differently abled, the counselling would be on July 8.

As many as 85,986 students bought the applications on day one, said Prof. Rhymend Uthariaraj, Secretary, TNEA 2012. Nearly 20,000 applications, including 16,300 at Anna University, were sold in the city.

The counselling is for admission to Anna university departments, university colleges, government and aided engineering colleges and for government quota seats in self-financing engineering colleges under the unified single window system of admission.

“Many colleges have applied for new courses and more seats in the existing courses. Their applications are with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Besides, several trusts have applied to AICTE for approval to start new colleges,” Mr. Jawahar said expecting more seats to be added this year.

Last year, over 45,000 seats fell vacant in engineering colleges. 

No pay disparity between teachers of govt and private schools: Delhi HC

New Delhi: The teachers of unaided private schools are entitled to same pay and emoluments as those of government schools, the Delhi High Court has held.

Rejecting an appeal by a private school, a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw upheld the single judge's order directing Rukmini Devi Jaipuria School, Rajpura Road, to pay arrears of salary to its teachers with effect from January one, 1996.

Directing the school to pay the arrears in four weeks, the bench also imposed a cost of Rs 30,000 on it.

The court dismissed the school's argument that the pay commission recommendations are only applicable to the government-aided schools and not to private schools. The court accepted the contention of Ashok Agarwal, the counsel for the teachers, that it's a travesty of justice that the teachers are denied their lawful salary without any justification.

The court also held that the employees of all unaided recognised private schools are entitled to benefits of pay and emoluments from January 1, 1996, the date the fifth pay commission recommendations became applicable and the schools cannot deny or delay the same on the ground that it could not recover fee from the students.

According to the teachers, they were paid the arrears by the school with effect from April 1997 instead of January 1996.

Their lawyer argued before the court that many private schools are violating the recommendations of the Pay Commissions even though they have collected surplus funds from the students.

"Their audit records show that the private schools have crores of rupees lying as surplus which they collected from the students on the pretext of implementing the Fifth and Sixth Pay Commission," Agarwal contended.

He submitted that Section 10 of Delhi School Education Act mandates that the employees of all the unaided private recognised schools are entitled to benefit of pay and allowances etc as per the government school teachers.

No medical admission beyond July 15, or face contempt: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has framed a series of guidelines for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in the country, saying after July 15 each year, neither the government nor the medical or dental councils shall issue any recognition or approval for that academic year.

"The commencement of new courses or increase in seats of existing courses of MBBS/BDS are to be approved/recognised by the government of India by 15th July of each calendar year for the relevant academic sessions of that year.

"After 15th July of each year, neither the Union of India nor the Medical or Dental Council of India shall issue any recognition or approval for the current academic year. If any such approval is granted after 15th July of any year, it shall only be operative for the next academic year and not in the current academic year," the bench of justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar said.

The judges said violation of the orders would invite both contempt proceedings and initiation of departmental action against the violating its directions.

The bench initiated contempt proceedings against six officials in connection with the admission granted to two girls - Akansha Adile and Priya Gupta - in the MBBS course for the academic year 2006-07 in the Government NMDC Medical College, Jagdalpur in Chandigarh, on September 30, after overlooking the claims of several other meritorious students and the time schedule.

Contempt proceedings were initiated against the director general, Directorate of Health Services; S L Adile, director of Medical Education; the dean of Jagdalpur College; and M S Banjan, P D Agarwal and Padmakar Sasane, members of the selection committee. Akansha is the daughter of S L Adile.

However, considering the fact that the two girls are in their final year of MBBS study, the bench though holding their admissions illegal, imposed a cost of Rs five lakh on each of them which it said shall be used for development of Jagdalpur college.

The court said any college which grants admission for the current academic year, where its recognition/approval is granted subsequent to 15th July of the current academic year, "shall be liable for withdrawal of recognition/approval on this ground, in addition to being liable to indemnify such students who are denied admission or who are wrongfully given admission in the college.

"Any medical or dental college, or seats thereof, to which the recognition/approval is issued subsequent to 15th July of the respective year shall not be included in the counselling to be conducted by the concerned authority and that college would have no right to make admissions in the current academic year against such seats," the bench said.

According to the apex court, admission to the medical or dental colleges shall be granted only through the respective entrance tests conducted by the competitive authority in the state or the body of the private colleges.

"If any seats remain vacant or are surrendered from All India quota, they should positively be allotted and admission granted strictly as per the merit by 15th September of the relevant year and not by holding an extended counselling.

"The remaining time will be limited to the filling up of the vacant seats resulting from exceptional circumstances or surrender of seats. All candidates should join the academic courses by 30th September of the academic year," the bench said.

Referring to the two girls' illegal admission, the bench said, "The prescribed procedure for grant of admission was given a go by and the rule of admission on merit stood frustrated as a consequence of such admission process, "Where the time schedules have not been complied with, and rule of merit has been defeated, there nepotism and manipulation have prevailed. The stands of various authorities are at variance with each other and none admits to fault," the bench said.

IIT council meets to discuss proposal for single entrance test

New Delhi: The IIT council met against the backdrop of sustained opposition to the proposed single entrance test for admission to engineering programmes and is understood to have insisted on holding the  test from 2014 instead of next year.

The council, which met under the chairmanship of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, is also understood to have discussed the possibility of preparing the merit list without taking into account the candidates' performance in board examinations.

A final decision will be taken at the joint meeting of Councils of IITs and NITs on May 28, sources said. They said only IIT-Guwahati has fully supported the proposal of a single entrance test with weightage to marks in the school boards.

The aim is to hold the test in a new format from 2013 onwards under which a ranking list will be prepared based on Class XII results with 40 per cent weightage to be given after normalisation of marks, 30 per cent to the main test and 30 per cent to the advanced test.

The test will replace the existing IIT-JEE and the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). Several IIT senates, especially those of the seven old IITs, had objected to this format. The faculty federation had also expressed stiff opposition to the proposal and insisted that the senates should have the final say on this issue.

Sources said the issue of factoring the plus-two boards results were yet to be sorted out. While the boards across the country are expected to declare their results almost simultaneously under the new format, a section feels this would be highly unlikely.

During the meeting, the IITs are understood to have opted to retain the existing format of JEE for the year 2013. They have also stressed on giving thrust on the advance test for preparing the results.

Govt decides to begin teacher recruitment for Darjeeling

Kolkata: A Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader claimed that the West Bengal government has decided to set up a regional school service commission to break the 25-year teacher recruitment deadlock in Darjeeling district.
 
GJM spokesperson Harka bahadur Chhetri said that the commission would be set up to to fill up 600 vacancies in 770 schools in the district.
 
He said this was decided at a meeting of the school public service commission chairman, home secretary and the GJM.  

Private members bill to curb ragging

New Delhi: A private members bill to prohibit and eradicate ragging in educational institutions was introduced in Rajya Sabha.
   
The Prohibition and Eradication of Ragging Bill, 2011, piloted by Janardhan Waghmare (NCP), seeks to debar the convicted student from continuing studies in any schools or colleges for three years.
   
Waghmare said apart from humanitarian and social aspects, ragging has serious economic implications and bearing on the standards of education.
   
"It is a recognised form of human right violation. There is a national outcry to prohibit ragging and all sections of the society demanded that the government must take proactive steps to eradicate this menace," he said.
   
Noting that ragging came in India with English medium education, he said the menace is a product of the West.    

"We did not find it in any ancient educational institution in India," he said, demanding major steps to eradicate this menace from schools and colleges.
   
Narendra Budania (Cong) sought a permanent end to the menace.
   
"Ragging was earlier confined to medical and engineering colleges. But, it has now even spread into the schools. It should be stooped," he said. 

New Vice-Chancellor for AMU

Aligarh: Lt Gen (Retd) Zameeruddin Shah was appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
 
Shah, who is currently a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, has been appointed for a period of five years or till he attains the age of 70, whichever is earlier, the Human Resource Development Ministry said in a statement.
 
"Lt Gen Shah will put in his papers to the Armed Forces Tribunal and is expected to assume duties as Vice-Chancellor shortly," an AMU spokesman said. 
 
Shah, the elder brother of actor Naseeruddin Shah, made it to the top post, beating two other short-listed candidates Noor Mohammad, who retired as the Secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority, and Syed Khalid Rizvi, a retired additional DGP of Uttar Pradesh. 

Odisha to convert local employment exchanges to career centres

Bhubaneswar: To meet the target of training one million youths in various employable skills during the 12th five year plan, Odisha government has decided to convert the district employment exchanges as career guidance centers.
     
"All the district level employment exchanges will be converted as the offices of the employment mission and will operate as career guidance centres for unemployed youths," said Chief Secreatry B K Patnaik after attending a conference on Skill Odisha Summit.
     
On the basis of screening and assessments done at these centers, eligible youths would be given skill training in different sectors, the chief secretary said adding that the state government targets at least one million persons to be given skill training as against the union governments target of 2.78 million.
    
The potential sectors on which the state government has identified for imparting training are construction, apparel, driving, manufacturing, hospitality and the service industry. 
    
According to the strategy paper 'Market Linked Skilled Development Training Programme for Unemployed Youth' released the state government has set tentative targets to train ten lakh youths in different sectors.
    
While construction and textile sectors target to train 2 lakh each youths, 1.5 lakh of unemployed persons would be trained in driving and manufacturing sectors. 
    
Similarly, the projected figure for manufacturing, health, security guards, hospitality, IT/ITes (Information technology/IT enabled services) and retail is fifty thousand each.
    
For telecom, banking and other miscellaneous sectors about 50,000 youths would be trained in the 12th five-year plan, the paper said.
    
Dillip Chenoy of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) said over the next 15 years, the total work force demand for skilled jobs in Odisha was expected to grow from 76 lakhs in 2011 to 135 lakhs in 2026.