UOI 2012-Bridging industry and academia

Chennai: In an effort to bring the industry and academia on a single platform to work together in the nation building process, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Mindlogicx Infratec Limited and Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has been organising an annual knowledge conclave known as "Universities of India".

This fourth edition of UOI was held at Radisson Temple Bay Resort, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu from Feb2 to Feb 4 and theme for UOI 2012 was "Technology for higher education".

The objective of "Universities of India 2012" is to bring the Industry-Academia under one roof and enable them to focus on various aspects of mutual collaboration.

The current edition of Universities of India 2012 (UOI) is the culmination of concerted efforts by the stakeholders to discuss issues of national importance like automation in higher education, examination reforms, employability of students, globalisation of higher education and various other issues in the higher education space by Vice Chancellors, senior academicians, industry leaders and other stakeholders.

Speaking at the conclave, Suresh Elangovan, MD & CEO, Mindlogicx Infratec Ltd, said, "Technology will always have a great role to play, it improves productivity.  The fuel for knowledge and research in the 21st comes from technology, by adopting technology in the field of education."

Dr SS Mantha, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, stressed the need to improve the Gross Enrolment Ratio in India. 

Indian - American student triggers Harvard probe

Washington: A complaint from an Indian-American student who was near the top of his high school class but was rejected by both Harvard and Princeton universities has triggered an investigation by the US Education Department. The unnamed Indian-American student in California complained that the two universities discriminate against Asian-Americans in undergraduate admissions. According to the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights the complaint was received Aug 22 and the allegations "accepted for investigation" Jan 11. The complaint alleges "discrimination against Asian-Americans on the basis of race/national origin with respect to the university's admissions process." A Harvard spokesman was cited as saying the institution does not discriminate. Asian-Americans make up 16 percent of Harvard undergraduates. But Bloomberg said there's plenty of research to suggest that Asian-American applicants must bring higher test scores and GPAs than whites, Hispanics or Blacks to gain entry. The report cites a 2011 study of admissions at Duke: Asian-American enrolls scored 1457 on the reading and math sections of the SAT, compared to 1416 for whites, 1347 for Hispanics and 1275 for Blacks. Princeton in New Jersey also asserted that it doesn't discriminate on the basis of race or national origin and and will provide the government with the requested information. The proportion of Asian-Americans among Princeton undergraduates increased to 17.7 percent this year from 14.1 percent in 2007- 2008, a spokesman was quoted as saying. The rise reflects the tendency of incoming classes to "fluctuate based on the assessment of individual applications" rather than the impact of the federal review, he said. There are 14.7 million Americans of Asian descent only, plus 2.6 million who are multiracial including Asian, according to the 2010 US census. IANS

Fill-in AFMC MBBS Exam 2012 applications from Feb 6

Pune: The Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) Pune has announced that the prospectus and application form for AFMC MBBS Entrance Examination 2012 will be available only online from February 6, 2012. The AFMC MBBS course, commencing from August 1, 2012, has a total of 130 seats, including a maximum of 25 girls and ten seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe candidates. An advisory issued from the institute today said that, "There will be no sale of Prospectus and application forms this year at Post Offices. Candidates are advised NOT to send any Demand drafts /Bank drafts/Postal orders to AFMC. Candidates who submit their forms online are NOT required to send anything to AFMC Pune at all. Those candidates, who are unable to upload photo and scanned signature, will have to send the filled and downloaded form to AFMC Pune after affixing photograph, signature.". CLICK HERE FOR AFMC APPLICATION FORMS AFMC conducts a national level entrance exam for students who want to get admission to Armed Forces Medical College Pune. AFMC is the first medical institute set up by the Armed Forces of any country in Asia. After completion of MBBS course from AFMC, students can work at least for 7 years in armed forces. CLICK HERE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT AFMC MBBS ENTRANCE EXAM 2012

UPSC to conduct CDS Examination 2012 on February 12

New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will conduct the Combined Defence Services Examination (I) 2012 on February 12, 2012 (Sunday) at 41 Centers all over India.

For the convenience of candidates, the Commission has this year introduced the facility of generating e-Admit Card (Admission Certificate), which can be downloaded from the UPSC website. Candidates are advised to take the printout of the Admission Certificate and produce the same for appearing at the allotted venue for this examination. Rejection Letters citing the ground(s) for rejection have been dispatched and also put on the Commission's website.

In case the photograph is not printed/available on the e-Admit Card (Admission Certificate), candidates are advised to carry three (3) photographs (one identical photograph for each session) along with proof of identity such as Identity Card or Voter Identity Card or Passport or Driving License and printout of e-Admit Card (Admission Certificate) at the venue of the Examination.

In case of any difficulty faced by the candidates for downloading e-Admit Card (Admission Certificate) or the rejection letter, he/she may contact the UPSC Facilitation Counter on the following telephone nos. 011-23385271, 011-23381125 and 011-23098543, on any working day during working hours.

The candidates can also send FAX message on FAX No. 011-23387310. The candidates may also get "Venue Information" through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) of the Commission by dialing 011-23074458.

IB Diploma Exam dates announced

Times News Network

The examination dates for International Baccalaureate Diploma Exam for class XII have been announced.

The IB Diploma Exams are scheduled to begin from May 1 and continue till the third week of May. The first paper for the board exam will be language followed by philosophy, psychology and maths.

The duration of the examination will be one and a half hours for some papers and two hours for the rest.

For more details on examinations, log on to www.ibo.org