Varsity opposes plea of Alagiri trust college

Madurai: The state-run Anna University of Technology opposed in the Madras High Court bench the plea for temporary affiliation by an engineering college set up by a trust in which Union Minister M K Alagiri is a member.
   
Registrar of Anna University of Technology, Madurai, E B Perumal Pillai in a counter affidavit said the high court could neither arrogate itself the powers to grant affiliation nor issue a positive direction to a university to grant affiliation.
   
Opposing the plea of Dhaya College of Engineering, set up by the M K Alagiri Educational Trust here, the Registrar also said the university had no powers to grant temporary affiliation as sought by the college.
   
He also quoted a Division Bench's judgement relating to the Madras University and said no college could claim affiliation as a matter of right.
   
The college had sought temporary affiliation from the university for the year 2012-13, besides permission to participate in the ongoing counselling for engineering admissions.
   
The college, set up last year, was denied affiliation on the ground that there were some defects in the infrastructure. But the college officials had said they had rectified all the defects pointed out by the AUT team. 

Punjab makes great strides in Education department

Amritsar: Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia lauded the state education department for working hard to improve the state's countrywide ranking in elementary education.
 
In a statement here, Majithia said it was a matter of pride that the state was ranked third, a major leap forward by any state in improving elementary school education.
 
He said this was the result of efforts made by the education department officials and staff and the pro-people policies of the SAD-BJP government in the state.
 
Majithia claimed that in the recent report released by the union Human Resource Development Ministry, Punjab had earned accolades for improving the education scenario.
    
He said the state left behind larger states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala in successfully implementing school education programmes for all.
    
"It is a major leap forward. The state was at the 7th place last year and in just one year we have progressed to the 3rd position", he said.
     
The smaller states of Puducherry and Lakshdeep were the only states ahead of Punjab, because of their smaller size, but amongst the bigger states, Punjab was ahead of all, the minister asserted.
    
He said the report is prepared by keeping all aspects, including the infrastructure available in schools, teachers and staff, results and approach to the schools.
    
The new development followed the recent number one ranking of the state in general infrastructure development, changing economic progress patterns and future prospects of Punjabs economy, he said. 
 
Majithia gave credit to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for their efforts to take the state to the new heights of development and progress.
     
Their government would continue working hard to take the state forward in economic progress, achieve a better human index by launching new society oriented schemes for the poor and downtrodden, he said.
 
Majithia took pride in that Punjab, which was turning backward economically in the past due to political-social and religious disturbances, had today surged ahead of states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala to make progress in education. 

Delhi Government to set up 94 schools

New Delhi: Delhi Government will set up 94 new schools across the city in the current academic session, Delhi Education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said.
 
He said the schools are being set up to meet rising demand for admissions in government-run schools. The government currently runs around 800 schools in the city.
 
Lovely was speaking after inaugurating a newly constructed school building of Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Gandhi Nagar.
 
27 new class rooms and five modern science laboratories have been constructed in the schools at a cost of Rs two crore.
 
He said Government has upgraded school buildings of 186 schools in Trans-Yamuna area in the last two years.
   
Lovely said modern play grounds would be provided in each of the nine districts to promote sports amongst school children. 

Shetye, Srinivasan conferred national science awards

New Delhi: Senior scientists Satish Shetye and J Srinivasan were conferred national awards for their contribution to ocean and atomospheric sciences respectively.

The awards were given away by Minister of State for Earth Sciences Ashwani Kumar at a function to mark the ninth Foundation Day of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Shetye, the Director of the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography, was conferred with the national award in Ocean Science and Technology for his outstanding contributions to the field.

Srinivasan, the principal investigator for the Indo-French satellite Megha-Tropiques, was honoured with the national award in Atmospheric Science and Technology for his outstanding contributions to the field.

Certificate of Merit in Ocean Science & Technology were given to Manish Tiwari, V. Ranga Rao, Basanta Kumar Jena and Venkat Seshu Redden.  

Certificates of Merit in Atmospheric Science and Technology were given to Ashish Kumar Mitra, S D Pawar, Kripan Ghosh and Ashok Kumar Das.

Addressing the gathering, Kumar said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured that there would be no dearth of funds for the ministries of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences.

Kumar said institutional endeavours lined up for implementation during the XII Plan include areas of earthquake research, monitoring of glaciers, role of Himalayan ecosystem, understanding monsoon's variability and improving skills in short-term, medium-range extended-range and seasonal scale prediction of rainfall. 

International workshop to be held at IIM-Kozhikode

Kozhikode: A five-day international workshop on Digital Libraries will be held at Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, (IIM-K) from August 20 to 24. 
   
The objective of the workshop was to conduct rigorous and advanced training programme coupled with state-of-art lectures delivered by doyens in the field on Digital Libraries, a release from IIM-K said.
   
The software selected for the workshop will be'Greenstone', a top of the line and internationally renowned software system for developing digital libraries, promoted by the New Zealand Digital Library project research group, it said.
    
The aim of the software is to empower users, particularly in universities, libraries, and other public service institutions, to build their own digital libraries. 
   
The Centre for Development of Digital Libraries (CDDL) at IIM Kozhikode has the distinction of coordinating the Greenstone Support for South Asia for the past six years, on behalf of UNESCO.
   
Around 25 participants admitted for the workshop include delegates from the Middle East, as well as from prestigious institutions all over India.
   
Participants will be instructed in how to design digital collections of different publications in a variety of file formats, including multimedia such as audio, video, and images, the release said. 

14 school vehicles found operating without permit in Erode

Erode (TN): In a crackdown on unauthorised vehicles used for transporting school children in the wake of the death of a six-year old girl in Chennai, Regional Transport Officials here slapped a fine of Rs 84,000 on 14 vehciles being operated without necessary permit.
    
The officials conducted inspections of school buses, vans and mini vans across the district yesterday and found 14 vehicles plying without proper permit for transporting school children, officials said.
   
The Transport department has ordered the crackdown after the shocking death of S Sruthi, a class II student of a private school in Chennai, who was crushed to death under the wheels of her school bus when she fell down through a hole on the floor of the bus near Tambaram.
    
Besides slapping a total fine of Rs 84,000, the officials ordered the operators of the vehicle to apply for necessary permit for transporting school children, they said. 

79 BDS Govt. quota seats yet to be filled

Chennai: 79 Govt. quota seats in private dental colleges in Tamil Nadu are vacant at the close of first phase counselling for BDS.

In Tamil Nadu, 18 dental colleges function providing 946 seats under Govt quota. First phase counselling for filling these seats ended on July 27.

At the close of first phase, 52 seats in SC category, 18 seats in SC-A and 9 seats in ST category with the total of 79 seats are without any takers.   

Selection committee secretary R G Sukumar, told " These seats will be filled up in the second phase counselling to be held in the third week of September. 

Seven seats that was vacant for the ST category in private medical college got filled yesterday", he said.     

Punjab issues strict guidelines against ragging

Chandigarh: Punjab government issued strict instructions to all the technical institutions to take written undertaking from the students and their parents to not to take part in any kind of ragging activity.
 
Punjab Technical Education and Industrial Training Minister Anil Joshi asked the government and private polytechnics and ITI's to get anti ragging affidavits from students as well as their parents at the time of admission.
 
Joshi asked the Technical Education Department to issue instructions to all the Technical Educational Institutions to follow the Supreme Court guidelines in this regard.
 
"Strict action would be taken against the institution found violating the norms," Joshi said.
 
All institutions have been ordered to set up a helpline for the ragging victims, and the aggrieved students could lodge their complaint before the college authority. 

Senior level Executive programme at NIIT Imperia

Chennai: NIIT Imperia - Centre for Advanced Learning, offers Executive Learning Programs in association with leading Business schools in India.

NIIT Imperia in collaboration with Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC), invites application for one year - Senior Management Program.

Designed to equip the senior level executives with tools and perspectives to make well considered strategic decisions, the programme would benefit managers, likely to take on the essentials of functional skills of management and aiming for leadership roles; and practicing Senior Managers wishing to stay updated with contemporary management thoughts, can opt for this program.

Key objective of the one year program is to develop on tools and techniques required for managing organizations and transform the senior level executives into strategic leaders within their organizations.

Working professionals/ self employed  Graduate (10+2+3) in any discipline with minimum 50% marks recognised by UGC/ AICTE/ DEC/AIU having minimum 10 years of work experience post completion of graduation as on August 01, 2012

For complete addresses and contact numbers, visit www.niitimperia.com

Stressed persons less goal-oriented: study

Berlin: Stress can make you fall back on old habits rather than behave in a goal-oriented manner, a new study has claimed.

Psychologists from the Ruhr-Universitat and University Hospital Bergmannsheil in Germany have discovered that stressed persons are more likely to lapse back into habits than to behave goal-directed.

A team of Dr Lars Schwabe and Professor Dr Oliver Wolf from the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience mimicked a stress situation in the body using stress hormones.

Data was collected from 69 volunteers divided into groups who received hydrocortisone, the stress hormone or just yohimbine, which ensures that the stress hormone noradrenaline stays active longer.

Some volunteers were administered both substances, and a fourth group were administered a placebo.

The study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that the interaction of the stress hormones shut down the activity of brain regions for goal-directed behaviour.

The brain regions responsible for habitual behaviour remained unaffected.

In the experiment, all participants both male and female were told that they would receive cocoa or orange juice as a reward if they chose certain symbols on the computer.

They were allowed to eat as many oranges or as much chocolate pudding as they liked. "That weakens the value of the reward," Schwabe said.

"Whoever eats chocolate pudding will lose the attraction to cocoa. Whoever is satiated with oranges, has less appetite for orange juice," Schwabe said in a statement.

In this context, goal-directed behaviour meant whoever has previously eaten the chocolate pudding, chooses the symbols leading to cocoa reward less frequently. Whoever is satiated with oranges, selects less frequently the symbols associated with orange juice.

The volunteers who took hydrocortisone and yohimbine did not behave goal-directed but according to habit. In other words, satiation with oranges or chocolate pudding had no effect.

The brain data revealed that the combination of yohimbine and hydrocortisone reduced the activity in the forebrain in the so-called orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortex, associated with goal-directed behaviour.

Persons who had taken a placebo or only one medication, on the other hand, behaved goal-directed and showed a satiating effect. 

Education key to bright future: Sonia

Rae Bareli: Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that society and country would progress only when maximum people get education for which the UPA government continues to take concrete steps.

"The society and the country will progress only when maximum people get educated. Education is the key to a bright future," Sonia said in her address after laying the foundation stone for widening of the Lucknow-Rae Bareli road and other projects here.

She said that the UPA government has taken concrete steps in the field of education.

"Approval has been given for one model school in every block and 75 per cent of the cost is being given by the UPA government. In Uttar Pradesh money has been provided for 148 schools," she said.

The UPA chairperson said that Rae Bareli being the "karmbhoomi" of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, it was her wish that a girls' degree college should be build in her memory.

Sonia said that the Human Resource Development Ministry has taken an initiative to set up a degree college here.

"State government has also shown positive stand in giving land. As soon as land is provided necessary steps would be taken immediately and the college will be named after Indira Gandhi," she said.

The UPA president said that Lucknow-Rae Bareli road would be converted into four lanes at a cost of Rs 600 crore. Sonia said that work on widening Rae Bareli-Allahabad road would be started soon with a cost of Rs 300 crore.

"The UPA government has given approval for national highway projects at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore," she said. 

Indian student jailed for UK visa fraud

London: An Indian student, who submitted bogus university documents in a bid to illegally extend his stay in the UK, has been jailed for six months.
     
Sanket Thaker, 27, admitted to a charge that he attempted to obtain leave to remain in the country by deception when he appeared at the Warwick Crown Court.
     
Thaker had attended a UK Border Agency office in Solihull in the West Midlands on May 9 to try and extend his student visa.
 
The officer he spoke to was suspicious of two certificates, purporting to be from the University of Hertfordshire and the City of London College, which he produced to support his application.
     
Andy Byrne-Smith, from the UK Border Agency, said: "The poor print quality of the documents was a clear indication that they weren't the genuine article and enquiries with the university and the college confirmed the officer's suspicions."  
     
Enquiries revealed that while Thaker had been enrolled at the two educational establishments he had been expelled from the University of Hertfordshire in December 2007 and was suspended from the City of London College in March this year.
 
When he was arrested at his home address on June 28 he admitted he had produced the offending documents on his own computer.
 
Byrne-Smith said: "This was a blatant and deliberate attempt to breach the UK's immigration controls. Thaker's intention was to remain in the UK for as long as possible and take employment opportunities away from those legally entitled to work."
     
His conviction "means he will get a longer stay in the UK, but not in the manner he was hoping." 

Mumbai to rope in Pvt players to improve school functioning

Mumbai: In a bid to impart quality education in the civic-body run schools, BMC has decided to appoint private players from the field of education to manage the school functioning.
 
"We will be appointing private players having expertise in the field of education. To improve and maintain the standard of education, teachers from these schools will also be given special training by private experts," Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) standing committee chairman Rahul Shewale said here.
 
He said the civic-body will retain its old teaching staff. "Only the management would be handed over to the private players who would take charge of the laboratories, library and computer labs to impart better training to the students," Shewale said.
 
He clarified they would only be appointing private organisations for improving the functioning of schools and would not completely hand  over the educational institutions to them.
 
"BMC will be having control over the schools, as it has now," Shewale said. 

Kerala considering revision of syllabus: Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is considering revising syllabus in educational institutions after consultations with universities, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said.
 
Inaugurating the skill development project in schools initiated by the state government, he said the government wanted the educational system to be job-oriented.
 
Though the state had maximum manpower with educational qualifications, there was shortage of workers in several sectors. The skill development programme was designed to meet this requirement, he said.
 
Information and Technology sector had been included in the programme in the first phase and later it would be extended to hospitality, retail, tourism and healthcare, he said.
 
Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb, who presided, said with the scheme, students from higher secondary level would be able to get practical knowledge of jobs they desired. 

Vocational Skills Launched By Pearson and Assam Govt

Pearson andAssam Government together have launched a Vocational Skills Trainingin Schools, Guwahati. They announced their joint initiative to provide vocational skills training for young candidates in schools of Assam.

The public-private partnership will serve as a platform for the introduction of the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF), a more ambitious national program to integrate skills, training and qualifications in schools. This is making Assam progressive leader in reforming education and learning, to improve employment opportunities for young people.

Speaking at the launch in Guwahati, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam, and Sri Tarun Gogoi with the partnership said "I am proud to say that Assam is leading the way in India in preparing today's generation for tomorrow's world". Under this initiative, Pearson, the world's largest Education enterprise will set up vocational skill centers in 10 specially-selected government schools, offering two training streams, in retail and computer hardware and IT.

In order to ensure no disruption to the formal school day, the skills training will be held after the school hours. The skills courses will be held in fully and newly equipped classrooms andlearning labs presided over bytrainers specially prepared for the program. The curriculum encourages the use of audio-visual aids, and includes lectures by industry experts and visits to factories to familiarize students with real working situations.

About Pearson: Pearson is a Global Education, media and publishing group. Its education business is thelargest in the world. In India, the Pearson group includes business across the breadth of education services, in assessments, content, testing, professional development, school management systems, skills  training, English language training, learning technologies, awarding and certification among others.

Pearson's other business divisions are The Financial TimesandPenguin, both market-leading worldwide. Each of these business units has been operating in India for more than20 years and after an aggressive period of growth and acquisition, the group now employs about 2,500 people across the Country.

State Govt Offers ZERO Percentage Interest Education Loan in Goa

TheState Government which launched the Interest-Free Education Loan Scheme in2003, provides financial assistance to students in Goa in order to undertake approved degree and diploma courses at theundergraduate and postgraduate levels inIndia or abroad.

It was implemented by the Goa Education Development Corporation and grants students interest-free loans where the beneficiary pays back the principal amount and the government bears the interest. The  procedure ofApplication for assistance under this scheme has started. For the courses conducted inIndia a maximum ofRs. 10 lakh will be contributed over 5 years. For courses in abroad, a maximum of Rs. 16 lakh will be contributed over 2 years.

What are the eligibility requirements?

• Any applicant should be less than 30 years of age, born and rent in Goa for at-least 15 years.
• He/she should have cleared Class 10 and 12 examinations for admission to diploma or degree level courses in any recognized institutions in Goa.
• As a graduate, he or she must have received a graduation certificate from the institution after clearing the final exams of a Post-graduation course for admission to PhD courses.
• An annual income of an family should not exceed 7Lakhs within India. In case one of the applicant’s siblings is pursuing a course in Higher education, then income can be 8 Lakhs per annum.
• For pursuing higher education in an institution outside India, the annual family income limit is Rs. 12 lakhs. If a sibling studying then its 14 lakhs per annum.
• The entitled fees payable to the institution for undertaking the course should be at least Rs. 10,000 per annum.
• The course for which admission is opted should be recognized by an accreditation authority approved by the government of India or the government of Goa.

What are the Major Documents required

• Application form can be collected from the office of the Goa Education Development Corporation on paying Rs. 150/-
• Affirmed copy of resident certificate, birth certificate, parents I-T returns for the last financial year, markshets of qualifying examination are required.
• In case of admissions in foreign institutes, then affirmed copy of proof of admissions to be given.
• Original fee receipt for the current academic year along with the original, bonafide certificate issued by the institute for the current academic year along with the fee structure of the respective course.
• Affirmed copy of Caste Certificate (optional) and Self Affirmed envelope with Rs.5/- postage stamp.

How to apply

• The above-mentioned documents have to be submitted to the office of Goa Education Development Corporation.
• Once the documents are scrutinized and their authenticity established, the funds are released through the electronic clearing system, which requires the applicant to have an activate account in any national or private sector banks.

Please Note:

1. Under this scheme, a maximum of 5-year course is covered for studies in India and a maximum of 2-year is covered for studies abroad. In the event that the situation faced by a particular candidate requires minor modification in study period, the scheme provides for flexibility to make adjustments.
2. On failure to comply with the repayment schedule will attract liability of payment of interest at a prescribed rate.
3. The last date for submission of application form is October 31, 2012, extended to December 31, 2012, only in case where the courses commences after October 31, 2012.

For more details contact

Goa Education Development Corporation,
DIET Hostel Building, Near Teacher's Training College,
Provo rim, Goa-403521, India
Phone : 2411187 / 2411194
Website : Goa Education Development Corporation

Anna University - A Single Affiliating University

Anna University which was a single affiliating university has earned the opportunity again. It will once again become a Single Affiliating University for engineering colleges all over the state Tamil Nadu from August 1.

The Chief Minister Miss.Jayalalithaa announced the date from which five regional Anna University of Technology (AUT) is functioning in different parts of the State will be merged under Anna University, which was the state's first technical university since 1978.

It was split by the DMK regime to create regional universities in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi and Thirunelveli from 2007 for various reasons such as decentralizing administration of technical education and creating geographical proximity with affiliated Engineering Colleges. Anna University, the parent institution was converted into a non-affiliating University with some of the constituent colleges under it.

However, the present AIADMK government took a policy decision in order to merge the five regional universities and passes a bill to that effect in September 2011. Thereafter, it appointed a monitoring committee under senior civil servant Sheels Balahrishnan to study all aspects of the proposed merger, including the status of students, teachers, non-teaching staff, moveable and immovable assets and presented a detailed report.

An official said that, based on the detailed report, the CM ordered the merger of the five AUT's with Anna University, Chennai and it will come into force from 1st August, 2012.

As a result of this move, 535 Engineering colleges will be affiliated to Anna University, and 12 constituent colleges under Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Chennai and Madurai AUT's will become constituent colleges under the Anna University. 

The merger would not affect the academic schedule, as already the semester examinations held in the month of January and May 2012 were conducted directly by Anna University.

Govt launches anti-ragging website

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday launched an anti-ragging website helping students of universities, colleges and professional institutes lodge online complaints against ragging or harassment and seek faster response.

The portal (www.antiragging.in) launched by HRD minister Kapil Sibal is also expected to maintain a database of students and will be connected to most universities by year-end. Sibal said, "Lot of young students have lost their lives, many lose their confidence because of this practice....Through this facility we want to ensure that culprits get strict punishment.''

The UGC-managed portal has been developed in active collaboration with Rajendra Kachroo, father of Aman who lost his life to ragging at a medical college in Himachal in 2009. According to Kachroo, medical colleges continue to have a disproportionately large number of complaints emanating from them. Students can also register their complaint by dialing 18001805522 as part of the facility, which will be followed up in a structured software system. "The complaints would be examined. If they are of serious magnitude, they would be transferred quickly to the police, the magistrate and head of the institution," said UGC acting chairman Ved Prakash.  

23 BCom colleges with vacant seats listed by Gujarat University

AHMEDABAD: A day after Gujarat University (GU) announced the completion of admissions in commerce colleges in the city, GU officials declared a list of 23 colleges which have vacant seats. Students who have failed to get admissions have been asked to go to these colleges and take admission on the basis of merit.

Ironically, the list of 23 colleges does not include any top college despite report which the monitoring committee has submitted to the GU stating that most top colleges have vacant seats. Academicians said this means that the entire effort put in by the monitoring committee was just an exercise in futile.

Acting vice-chancellor Mukul Shah said that there is no seat vacant in top colleges. However, he said he would seek more information to know if there are any vacant seats.

Meanwhile, academicians have claimed that the top colleges have deliberately kept the seats reserved to oblige political leaders, student leaders and other influential people. These seats have not been declared vacant in order to facilitate back door entry for the students favored by the college managements. "At the beginning of admissions, the GU made a lot of noise, asking college managements not to enroll students outside the merit list. However, it was all eyewash. The GU doesn't have any say on the way admissions are conducted," said an academician.

Punjab to introduce job oriented courses

BATHINDA: The Punjab government has announced an ambitious plan to implement skill development courses to make the educated youth employable in upcoming industry to create a concept of education to employability. 

State education minister and MLA from Rampura Phul (Bathinda), Sikandar Singh Maluka said on Thursday that the state government recognizes skill development as an important strategy for empowering state's youth. "The SAD-BJP government was committed to impart vocational training to the unemployed youth to enable them to be gainfully employed not only in the country but overseas also," he added. 

He informed that the higher education department has initiated projects with the active help of Punjab Infotech, aimed at aligning the teaching and course curriculum at graduate schools to the industry requirements so the students have an edge as far as employability was concerned. 

"The project focuses on creating awareness and educating the teaching fraternity on global skill sets that includes communication skill enhancement training and analytical skill enhancement training to the students as well as college teachers and principals," he said. 

He further said that the economic development and progress of any nation depends on its higher education system. "The progress, prosperity and accelerated growth in economy require support from the higher education system in providing an uninterrupted supply of a skilled and efficient workforce. 

Bangalore University under-performer at training teachers

BANGALORE: Bangalore University and Karnataka University are under-performers in training their teachers and lecturers, according to a review by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

The Academic Staff Colleges (ASC) were established to provide university teachers an opportunity to update their subject knowledge as well as technology and acquire new methods of teaching through refresher courses and orientation programmes. They're autonomous units within universities funded by the  University Grants Commission.

According to the review, 13 ASCs have been identified as performers, including the University of Mysore. The best is Guru Jambheswar University of Science and Technology, Haryana followed by University of Rajasthan and North Eastern Hill University, Meghalaya. Bangalore University is 17th in the list, but tagged an under-performer.

There are 45 others in that list including Karnataka University at 51. Interestingly, Jawaharlal Nehru University is also an under-performer at 16 and University of Jamia Millia Islamia at 20.

While the University of Mumbai is at 7, Aligarh Muslim University is at 21. Seven were declared non-performers with Pt Ravishankar Shukla University, Chhattisgarh at the bottom of the list.

Colleges were analysed on parameters including innovative practices, infrastructure, development of orientation programmes, refresher courses, short-term programmes, delivery and programme organization.

There are 66 ASCs across 26 states. Andhra Pradesh has the most (6), followed by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (5). Tripura and Nagaland are the only states without such institutes.

Official speak 
Funding is one of our biggest problems. UGC has granted us Rs 50 lakh per year. However, we haven't got any money last year and yet to get it this year. When one agency does evaluation and the other funding, the problem is overlooked. Now, UGC has asked us to get money from the university. I've already spoken to the vice-chancellor about it. NAAC has observed we have great scope to grow. We have a good location,  opportunity to interact with great talent and access to fine institutes like IISc and IIM. But in terms of infrastructure, we have no building, no guest house and not-so-good labs. We need financial support for this - Puttaraju K | director, ASC, Bangalore University

Sports facilities for hearing-impaired students

Mumbai: Shri Bajirao Jadhav ( IAS), commissioner  for persons with disabilities, Government of Maharashtra, inaugurated sports facilities that will be part of curriculum for hearing-impaired children of three special schools in Mumbai suburb.

Eminent ENT surgeon Dr Jayant Gandhi and internationally-trained audiologist and speech therapist and Humanitarian Award 2012 USA award winner Devangi Dalal also supported the cause.

In his address, Mr Jadhav, while appreciating innovative and ambitious steps taken by the Josh Foundation - An NGO working for Social cause- in providing opportunities for growth and wellbeing to the hearing-impaired children, said: “A lot of support is required from the society for these kids. On behalf of the government, I urge patrons to see this as an opportunity to make a difference and change the lives of these underprivileged section of our society by supporting this ambitious sports project. Together, we can make a difference! Lets join hands for eradication of handicap from our society.”

Dr Gandhi, while talking to mediapersons, said: “Physical activity if done for an hour every day supplies more oxygen to brain, lungs and formats the entire breathing system. Physical activity also makes the immune system stronger, hence prevents diseases. As a result it will make the hearing-impaired kid physically and mentally strong, so that they are able to face any situation in life. Sports training will also teach them essential life skills like how to be focused and confident to perform individually and in team. Man as a social animal and as an individual entity weaves through groups of people all through his life and important lessons can be learned in sports so that these kids could grow, built, maintain and co-exist harmoniously within others. It pushes the limits of their dreams and make all their goals achievable.”

Audiologist and speech therapist Devangi Dalal said: “There are approximately 450 hearing impaired schools in India, however, sports education is not a part of their regular curriculum. Joshs project of sports education will add a lot of value in the lives of these children. Deaf kids have difficulty in hearing but their other senses are sharp and acute. They have access to use other senses to the best of their ability with sports training, probably even more keenly than compared to normal kids.” She further added that the vision of this project is to perpetuate the process so that it may be possible for these children to see sports as a possible future to their career options and livelihood.

The entire programme is funded and organised by the Josh Foundation. As a pilot project, the foundation will support three schools, namely

Disha Karnabadhir School, Mook Dhwani School, Shivaji Park Lions School For Hearing Impaired to provide sports training. Training will be provided all through this academic year in various sports such as gymnastics, athletics, basketball and martial arts for all age groups. This is integrated in their school working hours so that each one of them is left with ample amount of training to amplify their physical quotient.

In his concluding speech, Commissioner Bajirao said that the vision of the state government is to help these children to move from the space of disabled to differently-abled.

IIT Bombay gives nod to new format of common entrance

New Delhi: IIT Bombay gave its nod to the common entrance for admission to the undergraduate programme from 2013 under a format which will admit students having top 20 percentile of their respective boards.

The senate approved the IIT council's resolution regarding admission to the IITs based only on rank achieved in advance test subject to condition that selected candidates are in the top 20 percentile of successful list of their boards.

IIT council, at its crucial meeting here on June 27, had adopted a resolution in this regard as part of a compromise formula, bringing an end to a deadlock between the government and the IITs which had been opposing giving weightages to board results.

"IIT Bombay senate has accepted the resolution," said president of All India IIT Faculty Federation K Narasimhan.

However, he said that instead of allowing 1.50 lakh candidates to sit in the advance test, they have sought to restrict the figure to about 50,000 students.

As National Institute of Technology (NITs) have decided to adopt the original formula under the common test albeit with some minor tweaking, IIT Bombay senate felt there was no need to keep the figure at 1.50 lakh, he said.

IIT Kanpur is also expected to meet later this week to examine the IIT council resolution amid indications that it is in favour of adopting the council resolution.

The resolution is to be vetted by other IITs too before the Joint Admission Board gives its final seal of approval to the format. 

Delhi University results goof up

Delhi: A group of final year students of Delhi University, who were eagerly awaiting their results, got quite a shocker when results posted online showed an 'absent' mark against one of their English papers.

The English (hons) students of Vivekananda college had written all their exams and were shocked to find an 'Essential Repeat' instruction against their names when the results were posted online on Sunday night.

Flabbergasted, they rushed to their college to find what went wrong, but college records showed they were very much present and had written the paper.

This followed three days of running from pillar to post before their problem was finally addressed after a personal intervention by the Dean of Examinations.

"Twenty of us in a series of roll numbers were marked 'Not Appeared' in the paper. We were shocked and troubled, all the more, because many of us had to report for admissions on Thursday," said a student, who requested not to be named.

After securing a letter of verification from their principal, who also faxed the examination attendance sheet to the concerned department, the students rushed to the Office of the Dean of Examinations this morning.

"The officers at the examination office asked us to submit an application but refused to give any receipt or acknowledgement we could produce at the time of our admission," said another student.

After hours of camping at the Examination Office in despair, the students were lucky to catch the attention of the Dean, Prof H P Singh, who then inquired about their issue and intervened to expedite a solution.

It turned out that due to an error, the answer sheets of this group of students had been mistakenly sent to a wrong department. These were retrieved after Singh gave instructions, and then assured the students their post graduate admissions would not suffer.

"The issue has been resolved and the correct marks are being uploaded immediately," Singh said.  

The students were a relieved lot when their correct marks were posted online tonight, giving them a correct marksheet ahead of admissions.

Delhi University results goof up

Delhi: A group of final year students of Delhi University, who were eagerly awaiting their results, got quite a shocker when results posted online showed an 'absent' mark against one of their English papers.

The English (hons) students of Vivekananda college had written all their exams and were shocked to find an 'Essential Repeat' instruction against their names when the results were posted online on Sunday night.

Flabbergasted, they rushed to their college to find what went wrong, but college records showed they were very much present and had written the paper.

This followed three days of running from pillar to post before their problem was finally addressed after a personal intervention by the Dean of Examinations.

"Twenty of us in a series of roll numbers were marked 'Not Appeared' in the paper. We were shocked and troubled, all the more, because many of us had to report for admissions on Thursday," said a student, who requested not to be named.

After securing a letter of verification from their principal, who also faxed the examination attendance sheet to the concerned department, the students rushed to the Office of the Dean of Examinations this morning.

"The officers at the examination office asked us to submit an application but refused to give any receipt or acknowledgement we could produce at the time of our admission," said another student.

After hours of camping at the Examination Office in despair, the students were lucky to catch the attention of the Dean, Prof H P Singh, who then inquired about their issue and intervened to expedite a solution.

It turned out that due to an error, the answer sheets of this group of students had been mistakenly sent to a wrong department. These were retrieved after Singh gave instructions, and then assured the students their post graduate admissions would not suffer.

"The issue has been resolved and the correct marks are being uploaded immediately," Singh said.  

The students were a relieved lot when their correct marks were posted online tonight, giving them a correct marksheet ahead of admissions.

More absentees for Tamil nadu Engineering Admission

As we know that the general counselling for Tamil nadu Engineering admission started on 13.7.2012. Around 1,69,000 students were called to fill around 1,71,000 seats in 535 enginering colleges in Tamil nadu.

This year, it is very unfortunate to see that more absentees are counted for every day. On very first day the absentees count was, ever high, 271 students accounting for 42% compared to the last year on the same was on 29%.

On 10 th day, the daily absentee rate was 20% And average rate was 21% compared to 17 % on the same day in the last year.

At an average of 700 students was not taking in a part of Tamil nadu govt. Engineering counselling process compared to the last year average count of 500. More than 4% students are not present for counselling process.

At the end of last year counselling, the absentees rate was 25.64%. If suppose the same absentees would continue till the end of counselling, more than 50,000 seats would go unfilled.

Odisha to fill up vacant posts in govt medical colleges

Cuttack: Odisha government assured the Orissa High Court that steps would be taken within seven days to begin the recruitment process to fill up the posts of associate professors lying vacant in all the three government run medical colleges.

Chief Secretary Bijay Patnaik, who appeared personally before the Division Bench of Justice B P Das and Justice Indrajit Mahanti on the day along with the Health secretary P K Mohapatra and Director of Medical Education and Training (DMMET) P K Dash, guaranteed that the posts of around 109 associate professors in the government teaching hospitals would be filled up within one month.
       
Patnaik also expressed regret when the Bench drew the attention of the government that certain officers of the health department are not cooperating with the High Court appointed Advocates Committee, which is visiting several
health institutions to evaluate the problems of the hospitals and suggesting ways to improve the health care facilities.
       
This reference was made to a specific complaint made by the members of the Committee against a certain administrative officer of the SCB medical college and hospital who had allegedly shown disrespect to the members of the Committee during their recent visit to the Hospital.
      
The Chief Secretary assured the High Court that disciplinary action against the erring official would be initiated and further said that such things would not recur. 

IIM-Kozhikode welcomes new president

New Delhi: IIM-Kozhikode welcomed elevation of Pranab Mukherjee to the highest office and hoped he would reach out to every section of the society, the poor and the destitute to end their sufferings.
   
"India desperately needs a President who will start a national conversation on energy, environment and education ...on the relevance of all the three. We want a President who will close the credibility gap between rhetoric and reality about the state of the Indian economy," IIM-Kozhikode Director Debashis Chatterjee said in an open letter to the President.    

Noting that India cannot afford to let a President fade away from "such a luminous" life in politics, Chatterjee said he should stand by farmers in distress, help improve school infrastructure where girls can study without worry and put an end to corruption.
   
"I trust you will reflect on how a land of opportunity for all does not degenerate into the big bazaar for a few opportunists," he said and added, "You will inspire politics of conviction that has been usurped by the politics of convenience." 

STUDENT PROJECTS SCHEME (SPS) for experimenting mind

Tamilnadu State Council for Science and Technology has been implementing Student Projects Scheme (SPS) in order to harness the talent and potential available with students for the benefit of our State. Under this scheme final year UG students (Engineering) / PG Science Students / PG Students of Agriculture, Medicine and Veterinary Sciences who have dissertation work in their curriculum may apply. Financial support up to a maximum of Rs.10, 000/- will be provided to each project. Those who want to apply under this scheme are requested to read the instructions carefully and apply only in the prescribed format. The format and instructions in which the proposals are to be submitted is available in the Councils website. (www.tanscst.nic.in).

Two copies of proposals complete in all aspects are to be submitted through proper channel to The Member Secretary, TNSCST, DOTE Campus,

Chennai - 600 025 on or before 31 August 2012.

Instructions

1. The scheme is instituted for the purpose of providing assistance in the form of grants to FINAL YEAR students of UG (Engineering), PG (Professional Courses) and PG (Pure Sciences) for scientific research work, with particular relevance to the State of Tamilnadu, for economic and industrial development.

2. Student projects will be eligible for a minimum grant of Rs.5, 000/- and a maximum of Rs.10, 000/-.

3. The project team (batch) can have up to a maximum of FOUR students. The project team should send ONLY ONE proposal.

4. It may be noted that the project proposed should be of original, innovative and novel. They should have utility and applicability for implementation. Kindly note that the evaluation of the project is also based on these factors.

6. The Project Guides / HODs needs to evaluate the project proposals and shortlist them before sending the project proposals to TNSCST.

7.  Project proposals received will be reviewed and evaluated by a team of experts and those selected will be announced in TNSCST website www.tanscst.nic.in.The project sanction letter and the money will be sent to the Principal/Registrar of the institution with a copy to the Project guide

For promoting students projects with innovative ideas, state council is giving away the money value of maximum up to 10,000/ to each batch.  Some of the core companies are recruiting the students based on the projects done on their final year studies. less awareness and project buying habits are the two major drawbacks leading to students poor performance in the campus placements.

Specialised course on Diabetes Management

Chennai: Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Education Academy (DMDEA) announced the launch and expansion of CCEBDM (Certificate Course in Evidence Based Diabetes Management) to develop core skills and competencies in primary care physicians for the practice of evidence based diabetes management, focused on the management of Type 2 Diabetes.

An educational grant for this capacity building initiative has been provided by MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. (MSD India), a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA.

Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM), has become a serious health threat with exploding population and changing lifestyle. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes has achieved an endemic proportion and is currently a global public health threat. The prevalence of T2DM among adults is expected to rise from 285 million in 2010 to 438 million by the year 20301. The numbers would probably be even far more disturbing if we count the number of associated lifestyle disorders like obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and impaired glucose tolerance.

Diabetes is a considerable cause of premature mortality, a situation that is likely to worsen, particularly in low and middle income countries as diabetes prevalence increases. Surveys suggest that in the urban areas of the country almost 11 per cent of the population suffer from diabetes2. The ICMR-INDIAB study3 published last year projected that in 2011, 62.4 million and 77.2 million people in India were living with diabetes and pre-diabetes respectively.

The aim of the program, CCEBDM, is to impart on-job training to the primary care physicians on the latest advances in the field of Diabetes Management. The course curriculum is divided into twelve modules spread over 12 months under which physicians are trained by regional faculty identified by the program organizers.