New exam blueprint for classes IX and X by CBSE

There has been a new blueprint given by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for classes IX and X. The changes will be made in English communicative, language and literature.

In its first announcement on its website, CBSE declared that there students of class IX and X will be asked only multiple choice questions (MCQs) in their English Communicative and Language, and Literature paper, but later it changed its pattern where no MCQs will be given, rather long questions will be asked.

In a new circular (number 68), CBSE has said the question papers will also comprise long answer type question and the weightage of MCQs has been reduced.

Lalita Nandel, English teacher, said, “This changed examination pattern will help students in using their creativity while attempting the examination, since these long answer type question will give them a chance to express themselves better.”

Heena Mehra, an English teacher in a private school, said, “This will boost the creativewriting skills of students, because it is with subjects such as English that the students can harness and hone their writing skills and expression. Also, going through a detailed answer, makes it easy for an examiner to gauge whether the student has understood the subject well.”

Source-http://mynews.in

Top Mass Communication Institutes in India

Mass communication is defined as the education provided in order to gain knowledge regarding the different means of communication with the help of which a large chunk of the mass (public) obtain any information at a single go aided by various media. This information is relayed either by individuals or entities.

Mass media is a collective term utilized for naming all the modes of the media such as newspapers, cinema, television, magazines, radio etc, which are brought to use to aware the common mass of any sort of information. The opportunities for thestudents of mass media are huge as they get employment in numerous work fields like public relations and research institutes, news media and publishing.

The field of mass media has emerged as a successful career option for individuals in modern India though it did not enjoy the same popularity in near past. It is aresult of the growing awareness that media today creates among the people today. Today’s media is quite different from that existed in the past when it was just a puppet in the hands of the government and businesspersons. Media has become an important aspect of a common person’s daily life as his voice is now heard on a large platform where he can place his demands, ask for justice, explanations etc which was not possible previously.

In order that any academic course flourishes there should be sufficient institutes offering the education. In India, this condition is fulfilled with the help of a number of good institutes, which offer a varied range of courses. Mass communication is here to stay for a long time observing the growth in the number of TV channels, magazines etc The employment is also quite good in this field.

Here is a list of Top Mass Communication institutes in India.

• IIMC, New Delhi
  JNU new campus, Aruna Asif Ali Marg, New Delhi
  Phone No - 91-011-26109268/60940/60
  Email: pbapaiah@yahoo.com
  Courses Offered: Post-graduate Diploma in Journalism (English and Hindi), Radio & Television Journalism and Advertising & Public Relations.
• Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai
  Mumbai, Maharashtra- 400 001
  Phone No - (91-22) 262 1366/1639/2877
  Website: www.xaviercomm.org
  Courses Offered: Journalism & Mass Communication, Public Relations & Corporate Communications, Advertising & Marketing, Digital Animation and Television & Video Production.
• International School of Business and Media (ISB&M)
  Viman Nagar Campus
  Survey No. 32/2, Ashok Plaza
  Next to Weikfield Company
  Nagar Road, Pune - 411014
  Tel: 020-67212444 / 26633444
  Website : www.isbm.edu.in
  Courses offered : Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs in Media management, Advertisement, Public Relations, Event and Corporate Communication, TV & Radio production, Broadcast and Journalism
• Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Pune
  Senapati Bapat Road, Pune 411 004
  Phone No - 020 - 25652303 / 25660972
  Website: www.simc.edu
  Courses Offered: MBA in Communication Management (Advertising, Public Relations. Masters in Mass Communication (Journalism and T.V and Radio Production)
• Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
  Kasturi Centre, 124, Wallajah Road, Chennai - 600002
  Phone No - 91-44-28418254/55, 28526227/49
  Email: asian_media@vsnl.com
  Courses Offered: The Masters Degree course includes Reporting, Writing, and Editing, Modern Issues in Journalism, History of the Media, Law of Media.
• Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad
  Shela, Ahmedabad (380058)
  Phone No - 2717-237946-51
  E-mail: admissions@mica.ac.in
  Courses Offered: Executive Diploma Programme in Media Management.
  Certificate Programme in Managing Integrated Media, Retail Communications, Crafting Creative Comm and Visual Merchandising. Post Graduate Programme in Communications Management and Entrepreneurship (PGP CME)
• Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
  Law College Road, Pune
  Phone No - 91 - 020- 25431817 / 25433016 / 25430017
  Email: tutorial_sec@ftiindia.com
  Courses Offered: Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Art Direction and Production Design, Audiography, Animation and Computer Graphics, Editing, Feature Film Screenplay Writing.
• AJ Kidwai Mass Comm Research Centre, Jamia, New Delhi
  Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi
  Phone No - +91(11)26981717
  Courses Offered: Ph.D and M.A. in Mass Communication. Post Graduate Diploma in Development Communication, Journalism and Broadcast System Maintenance.
• Manorama School of Communication, Kottayam
  PB No: 229, Kottayam, Kerala
  Phone No - +91-481-2300851
  Website: www.manoramajschool.com
  Courses Offered: Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism.
• Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore
  HRBR Layout 3rd Block, Kalyananagar Post Bangalore 560 043
  Pone No - 91-80-28437907 / 7903
  E-mail: admin@iijnm.org
  Courses Offered: The Post-graduate programmes offer courses on Reporting and Writing for Radio and Television, Ethical and Legal Issues in Journalism, Advanced Media Concentration and Business and Financial Reporting.
• Times School of Journalism, New Delhi
  Times Centre for Media Studies, Darya Ganj, New Delhi
  Courses Offered: Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism

Source-http://entrance-exam.net

Health Ministry opposes Combined Entrance Test

The Union Health Ministry on Friday opposed in the Supreme Court the Human Resource Development Ministry's move to introduce an all-India combined entrance examination for admission to engineering and medical courses from 2011-2012.

A Bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik issued notice to the Health Ministry, seeking its submissions in writing within three weeks.

Senior counsel Altaf Ahmed, appearing for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which filed the application, said the combined examination would relieve students from taking multiple examinations. When Justice Raveendran asked whether there would be separate counselling for admissions, the Health Ministry counsel said that even if there was separate counselling for engineering and medical courses, there were certain practical and logistical difficulties in holding such an examination (combining the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental test). He said it would be premature to go ahead with such a combined test.

Justice Raveendran asked counsel, “Are there difficulties or is it a departmental fight between the Ministries. You put everything in writing.”

In its application, the CBSE said the All India Pre-Medical Test was conducted to fill 15 per cent seats in MBBS/BDS courses in the all-India quota and the AIEEE conducted for different category of engineering colleges.

The CBSE said the Centre held a meeting on October 10 with itself, the Delhi University and the Medical Council of India where the decision to hold a combined test was taken.

The CBSE sought the court's nod for this proposal. The Bench directed the matter to be listed after three weeks.

(The Hindu)

Five IIT Roorkee students suspended for the organizing ‘Love Lips and Lipstick’ event

Five IIT Roorkee students were suspended for organising a game show on campus in which boys, holding lipsticks between their teeth, coloured the lips of girls.

The game show, organised as a part of the annual fest, sparked protests after it was shown on several television channels this morning. The institute was flooded with phone calls from parents while sadhus in Hardwar burnt effigies of the institute’s seniors, demanding an immediate halt to the show of “vulgarity” in the tech school.

Dean N.K. Goel said this afternoon that the five students who had organised the show, called Love Lips and Lipstick, were suspended.

“We have set up a committee to probe the charges of obscenity committed by the students on the campus and how this was allowed. The authorities had earlier been told by the students that it was a friendly game show with lipsticks. But we were never told about lip contact and male-female involvement. We are surprised by the way it was performed,” he said.

Twelve pairs of students had participated in the show, on the first day of the two-day annual fest.

“It was just a harmless game. We just wanted to have fun without being vulgar,” said Sanjiv Raut, a student. Another student argued that such competitions were meant to reduce the tension that sometimes lead to suicides on campus

Source-telegraphindia.com

IGNOU launches course for central government staff

A new course for government employees in the country was launched Thursday by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the training division of department of personnel and training (DoPT), an official said.

The new programme is called 'Distance and E-Learning Programme for Government Employees' (DELPGE) for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between IGNOU and the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and the DoPT.

"The main objective of DELPGE is to increase the availability and flexibility of options open to employees for enhancing their knowledge and skills in order to improve the functioning of government organisations and the delivery of services to the public," said an official of the IGNOU.

The programme includes a masters programme in distance and e-learning, post-graduate advanced diploma, post-graduate diploma and diploma programmes in the subject, among others.

Open to central government employees working in ministries, departments, attached offices and the faculty members of state apex training institutions, the number of seats for each programme is 50.

IGNOU is one of the world's largest open universities which provides education to 1.5 million students.(IANS)

UID (Unique Identification Numbers) numbers soon for schoolchildren

All schoolchildren will soon have unique identification numbers (UID), which will help in tracking their movement in educational institutions and academic records.

This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) here on Wednesday.

The system will help in tracking students' mobility by creating an electronic registry, right from the primary level through secondary and higher education, as also between the institutions. Imprinting of the UID number on the performance records of students, including mark-sheets, merit certificates and migration certificates, will be helpful to prospective employers and educational institutions.

The UID number will also help in dealing with problems such as fake degrees. It could be utilised while dematting of academic certificates, as also education loans and scholarship schemes.

Iris scanning would be done for children aged between 5 and 15, while finger print marks would be added subsequently. Infants and children below the age of five will get the number, but their biometric identification will be done only after the age of five.

Speaking on the occasion, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said that with the new system, the delivery mechanism would be made more efficient.

Educational uses

The technology would be used for proper implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act and monitoring of the mid-day meal scheme and other school programmes.

The Ministry will cooperate and collaborate with the UIDAI in conducting proof of concept (PoC) studies, pilots to test the working of the technology, process of enrolment into the UID database and identify registrars for implementing the UID project (PoC and pilots).

The Ministry will help ensure that the registrars do all that is necessary to put in place an institutional mechanism to effectively oversee and monitor the implementation of the UID project. They will also provide logistic and liaison support to the staff and representatives of the UIDAI.

The MoU was signed by Amit Khare, Joint Secretary in the HRD Ministry, and Anil Kachi, Deputy Director of UIDAI, signed the MoU in the presence of Mr. Sibal and UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani.

School dropouts

Mr. Nilekani noted that the UID would be particularly helpful in tracking school dropouts and migrant students, thereby making access to education possible.

“We are already running a programme for enrolment of homeless people in Delhi that will automatically include children who are out of school,” he said.

The government set up the UIDAI for issuing UID numbers to all residents of India, based on the demographic and biometric data of individuals.

The UIDAI will develop and prescribe standards for recording data fields, data verification and biometric fields, prescribe a process for enrolment of beneficiaries/students to authenticate the identity of a person with a UID number.(The Hindu)

IIT-Kanpur, IIM-Kozhikode to do partnership with Yale University of US

The Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management- Kozhikhode on Thursday entered into a partnership with the Yale University for academic leadership development programmes. Under the programme, vice- chancellors and deans will be introduced to best practices of institutional management in the United States.

The partnership is part of the knowledge initiative launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama during Mr. Singh's visit to the U.S. in November 2009.

It aimed at advancing the cause of higher education in the country and “addressing the problem of leadership vacuum” in the sector, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after president of Yale University Richard Levin, Director of IIM-Kozhikode Debashis Chatterjee and Director of IIT-Kanpur Sanjay Dhande signed a memorandum of understanding.

The partnership will take effect from January next, with provision for two new centres of excellence in academic leadership at IIM-Kozhikode and IIT-Kanpur. The partnership will begin with a term of five years.

Mr. Sibal said that a six member committee, with equal participation from the three partnering institutes, would determine the norms and qualifications for participation in the leadership programmes. The first programme would take place in 2011 in New Haven, Connecticut.

Dr. Levin, longest serving president of the Yale University with his tenure spanning 19 years, said the programme, in the initial phase, would be launched on a modest scale and would train 30 to 40 vice-chancellors on their campus.

Yale was also closely working with China on a similar partnership programme.

Dr. Levin praised the government's efforts in introducing the Foreign Universities Bill. He, however, noted that Yale had no plans to set up a campus in India. He supported efforts for bringing in reforms in the higher education sector.

Dr. Levin felt allowing foreign institutes to operate in India would ultimately benefit students.

Mr. Sibal expressed his confidence that the country would certainly attract top class universities, if not global brands such as Yale and Harvard.(The Hindu)

How to tackle indiscipline of students

Can punishment bring about positive change in students? A survey on corporal punishment, conducted in Corporation and matriculation schools in the city, has suggested alternatives.

Fifty per cent of the 100 parents felt that punishment does bring about change, while the remaining disagreed.

The same question posed to 200 teachers revealed that 66 per cent were in favour of punishment as a way to mend a child for unacceptable behaviour, while the remaining were against it. The study was done by six first-year students of Madras School of Social Work as part of a project work.

While schools defend disciplinary action, in a majority of the incidents punishment do not go down well either with the child or parent. On Tuesday, parents of Harish Raj, a class VII student of Balalok Matriculation School, gave a written complaint about the school management to Inspector of Matriculation School S. Tamilmani. According to Sangeetha Vijayraj, mother of Harish, their son had been the subject of verbal abuse for quite sometime by most of the teachers. What annoyed us further was when he was asked to sit on the floor in the classroom as we did not attend the parents meeting held last Saturday, she said.

When contacted, the principal of the school said the boy was asked to sit on the floor as he disrespected the teacher. “Corporal punishment is not advocated in the school, but a child cannot show his emotion to a teacher by taking a pencil and throwing it on the floor,” she said.

Though there is a complaint cell set up by the School Education Department (Ph: 28273591) and the Childline helpline (1098), the awareness that one can complain about corporal punishment, among others, is less. Experts say teacher training should incorporate contemporary ways to tackle indiscipline.

“The management has to be made to understand that hardcore deadlines cannot be set for teachers. They should not overload or overwhelm a teacher, and the curriculum has to be set keeping in mind the development of the child,” said Padma Srinath, early childhood teacher, American International School Chennai. “In case of unacceptable behaviour, the child should be addressed on a one-to-one basis. If the behaviour is repeated for three times, a counsellor should be brought in,” Ms. Srinath added.

Student and family counsellor Arundhati Swamy says a child should be made aware of the disciplinary action likely in the event of he or she not following the rules.

“A school that has a counsellor can offer help to the child, but if a school cannot afford one, a neutral person/coordinator with some kind of training should be brought in,” she added.(The Hindu)

China makes World's fastest Supercomputer

A Chinese scientific research centre has built the fastest supercomputer ever made, replacing the US as maker of the swiftest machine, a media report said Thursday.

The Chinese made Tianhe-1A system has 1.4 times the horsepower of the current top computer, which is at a national laboratory in Tennessee, the US, a newspaper reported.

Although the official list of the top 500 fastest machines, which comes out every six months, is not due to be completed next week, Jack Dongarra, a University of Tennessee computer scientist who maintains the official supercomputer rankings, said the Chinese computer "blows away the existing No. 1 machine".

"We don't close the books until November 1, but I would say it is unlikely we will see a system that is faster," he said.

Officials from the Chinese research centre, the National University of Defense Technology, are expected to reveal the computer at a conference in Beijing Thursday.

Tianhe-1A, which is housed in a building at the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin, can perform 2.5 times 10 to the 15th power mathematical operations per second that is 29 million times faster than one of the earliest supercomputers, built in 1976, the newspaper report said.

The race to build the fastest supercomputer has become a source of national pride as these machines are valued for their ability to solve problems critical to national interests in areas like defence, energy, finance and science.

For decades, the US had a clear edge, developing most of the underlying technology that goes into the massive supercomputers. Some of the top US systems simulate the effects of nuclear weapons, while others predict weather and aid in energy research.

In 2002, the US lost its crown as the supercomputing kingpin for the first time in a stunning fashion when Japan unveiled a machine with more horsepower than the top 20 American computers combined.

The US government responded in kind, forming groups to plot a comeback and pouring money into supercomputing projects. The US regained its leadership status in 2004, and has kept it, until now, says the report.

Over the last decade, the Chinese have steadily inched up in the rankings of supercomputers. Tianhe-1A stands as the culmination of billions of dollars in investment and scientific development, as China has gone from a computing afterthought to a world technology superpower.

"What is scary about this is that the US dominance in high-performance computing is at risk," said Wu-chun Feng, a supercomputing expert and professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Modern supercomputers are built by combining thousands of small computer servers and using software to turn them into a single entity. In that sense, any organisation with enough money and expertise can buy what amount to off-the-shelf components and create a fast machine.

The Chinese system follows that model by linking thousands and thousands of chips made by the American companies Intel and Nvidia. But the secret sauce behind the system - and the technological achievement - is the interconnect, or networking technology, developed by Chinese researchers that shuttles data back and forth across the smaller computers at breakneck rates, Dongarra said.

"That technology was built by them," Dongarra said. "They are taking supercomputing very seriously and making a deep commitment."

IANS

"Make India Skill Capital of World" says Sh Navjot Singh Sidhu

"If we want to make India skill capital of world then we need to change our education system. To make India a world leader, we should focus on exploring & polishing skills of the youth of the country. Need based education and development of skills are the main factors that can drive India to progress and excel. India cannot become Super Power if we do not become skill capital of the world in next decade."

This was said by Sh Navjot Singh Sidhu (MP) while giving his inaugural address on Management meet organized by Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) at Hotel Mountview . Dr Gulshan Sharma, President, CMA presided over the function while Dr Anshu Kataria, Chairman Education Committee, CMA welcomed the guests.

Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) honoured five prominent educationists of the Chandigarh region i.e., Mr Gurvinder Singh (Rayat & Bahra Group); Dr Zora Singh (Desh Bhagat Group); Dr J S Bedi (Gian Jyoti- IMT); CA Manmohan Garg (Gurukul Vidyapeeth) and Dr Dharinder Tayal (ANOVUS Institute).

Dr Gulshan Sharma, President, CMA while addressing the audiences said that CMA's vision is to make Chandigarh skill capital of India. CMA aims to join hands with all the institutes and corporate within 40 KMs radius of Chandigarh to put the efforts together. We wish to take 5 students from every institute to make research forum of CMA, he further added. Dr Sharma said that we would be working with Amritsar Management Association to adopt the unemployed youth of Amritsar & would work on their skill development.

source-indiaeducationdiary.in

Educational Loan procedures of State Bank of India

Eligible Courses to get loan from State Bank of India

1. All Graduation courses are considered as the eligible courses to get loan from State bank of India.
2. All the Post graduation courses are eligible to get Education Loan from State bank of India.
3. All the Professional courses are eligible to get Education loan from State bank of India.
4.Other courses approved by UGC/Government/AICTE etc are eligible to get Education loan from State bank of India..

Expenses considered by Educational loan from State Bank of India

1. Fees payable to college

2. Fees payable to hostel

3. Examination fees

4. Library fees

5. Laboratory fees

6. Expenses for Books

7. Expenses for Studying Equipment's

8. Expenses for Instruments during the course time

9. Expenses for using uniforms

10. Caution Deposit

11. Travel Expenses like College bus fare of bus pass

12. Purchase of computers considered necessary for completion of course

13. Cost of a Two-wheeler uptown Rds. 50,000/- also been given through State bank of India Educational loans.

14. Expenses for final year project works are given by the State bank of India Educaation loans.

Amount of Loan paid by State Bank of India as Education loan

Indian students can get maximum Rs. 10 lakhs from State bank of India Education loans.

Indians can get maximum 20 lakhs from State bank of India Education loans.

Interest Rates of State Bank of India Educational loans

For loans up to Rs.4 lacs - 12.25% p.a. Floating interest will be charged on the State bank of India Educational loans

For loans above Rs.4 lacs - 13.25% p.a. Floating interest will be charged by the State bank of India Educational loans

Processing Fees for State bank of India Educational loans

No processing fee will be collected for the State Bank of India Educational loans
Also no upfront charges will be collected for the State Bank of India Education loans.
Deposit amount of State bank Educational loans Rs. 5000/- paid for abroad studies will be adjusted in the margin money of the calculation.

Repayment Tenure of State Bank of India Educational loans

Repayment of State Bank of India Educational loans will commence from one year after completion of course or 6 months after securing a job, whichever is earlier

Place of Study - Studies in India
Repayment Period in Years - 5-7
Loan Amount - Rs. 10.0 lacs


Place of Study - Studies Abroad
Repayment Period in Years - 5-7
Loan Amount - Rs. 20.0 lacs

Security to be shown for State bank of India Education loans

- For loans upto Rs. 10.00 lacs for Studies in India and upto Rs. 20.00 lacs for studies abroad

Upto Rs. 4 lacs - No Security

Above Rs. 4 lacs to Rs. 7.50 lacs - Collateral security in the form of suitable third party guarantee should be shown for State bank of India Educational loans.

Above Rs. 7.50 lacs.- Tangible collateral security of suitable value, along with the assignment of future income of the student for payment of instalments shall be considered as the Security for State Bank of India Educational loans.

All loans from State Bank of India should be secured by parent(s)/guardian of the student borrower. In case of married person, co-obligator can be either spouse or the parent(s)/ parents-in-law shall secure for loan from State bank of India.

Margin limits for loans got from State Bank of India

• For loans up to Rs.4.0 lacs : No Margin
• For loans above Rs.4.0 lacs:
o Studies in India: 5%
o Studies Abroad: 15%

Documents Required to get State Bank of India Educational loans

• Completed Education Loan Application Form.
• Mark sheets of last qualifying examination
• Proof of admission scholarship, studentship etc
• Schedule of expenses for the specified course
• 2 passport size photographs
• Borrower's Bank account statement for the last six months
• Income Tax assessment order, of last 2 years
• Brief statement of assets and liabilities, of the Co-borrower
• Proof of Income (i.e. Salary slips/ Form 16 etc)

Source-http://Indiastudychannel.com

Two lakh candidates registered for CAT-2010

Over two lakh candidates have registered for the online Common Admission Test (CAT)-2010 starting Wednesday for admissions in 10 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other business schools, an official said Tuesday.

The responsibility of organising the test is with IIM, Kolkata, and IIM, Lucknow.

'A total of 204,267 candidates have registered for CAT-2010, which will be organised in two slots from Oct 27 to Nov 24. As no test will be conducted on festivals and other occasions, CAT-2010 will be a 20-day affair,' convener CAT-2010 and IIM, Lucknow, professor Himanshu Rai told IANS.

CAT-2010 will be conducted in 33 cities of the country.

'With around 30,000 registrations, Maharashtra has the highest number of candidates, followed by Uttar Pradesh with around 26,000 candidates,' said Rai.

Uttar Pradesh is followed by Delhi (19,000 candidates).

Forty different sets of question papers have been prepared. The results of CAT-2010 will be declared Jan 12.(IANS)

IIT-Kharagpur professor Ghosh suspended for fraud

Prof A K Ghosh, former head of department of aerospace engineering in IIT-Kharagpur has been suspended, for allegedly running a fake institute on campus using the IIT brand name and even doling out degrees.

Highly placed sources in IIT-Kharagpur confirmed his suspension. There are also allegations Prof A K Ghosh, former head of department of aerospace engineering in IIT-Kharagpur that he as the Chief Vigilance Officer and chairman JEE, Kharagpur, took order for shredding off JEE papers of 2006. He did this when there were various complaints of irregularities against him. There was also an RTI application seeking details of cutoff and individual marks of students.

RTI's reply before the shredding took place in December 2006 had shown gross discrepancies in the way students were admitted.

The allegation of discrepancy in JEE is already being heard by the Supreme Court.

The HRD ministry had sought the report from Damodar Acharya, director of IIT-Kharagpur, last Friday. Acharya, however, told the ministry officials that the irregularities -- be it JEE or fake institute -- were committed before he took charge.(TOI)

New Immigration law in New Zealand

New Zealand will put in place a new law from next month to curb unauthorised entry of foreigners.

According to the new law which comes into effect from Nov 29, education providers enrolling those students who are not entitled to study here would face increased penalties, said Immigration New Zealand.

Education providers that have on line application systems will need to update their norms and it is also important that overseas students always need to hold a visa that allows them to undertake their proposed course of study, it said.

Under the new law, children who are unlawfully in New Zealand - such as of overstayers - will be able to attend schools.

The single term "visa" will be used to authorise a foreigner to travel and stay in New Zealand. Terms such as "permit" and "exemption" will no longer be used.

Richard Howard, an immigration adviser, said: "New Zealanders wanting to sponsor a visitor will face increased risk and responsibility under changes made to the immigration law

"Sponsors of temporary migrants will from next month be responsible not only for their visitor's accommodation and food, but for all other costs, including medical, deportation and any government costs incurred".(IANS)

For Facebook mischief, Students to do community service

A school in Chandigarh has directed 16 students to do community service on the campus after they were accused of posting abusive comments about a female teacher on networking site Facebook.

The Vivek High School here in Sector 38 had Oct 7 suspended these Class 12 students for three months. It changed its decision Friday in the wake of desperate requests from the parents.

"We have reduced the suspension period to five weeks and they (students) have to do community service on the school campus. We have changed our stance, keeping in mind the approaching board exams," school chairman H.S. Mamik told IANS.

"The guilty students have to devote six hours before Dec 20 with differently-abled students. They also have to look after the school notice and display boards. They have to write an essay and prepare a power-point presentation on the merits and de-merits of internet and have to present it in the morning assembly," he said.

Earlier this month, a student who got low marks in the mathematics paper posted his answer sheet on Facebook with rude and abusive comments against the female teacher. Fifteen classmates chipped in with their comments.

The teacher, who was linked to one of the students on Facebook, saw the comments and reported the matter to the school management

The punishment has evoked a mixed response among the parents and the teacher fraternity.

"Community service and giving students some responsible task is the best way to mend their habits. All Chandigarh schools adopt a similar model," said Harold Carver, the principal of St. Stephen's School here.

Ashish Sharma, a biology lecturer in a government school here, said: "Community service is the best way through which students can get a chance to introspect and realise the gravity of their offence."

Parents of the guilty students are not happy.

"They have their pre-board exams in December. If they do community service and take care of school notice boards, how can they concentrate on studies?" the father of one of the suspended students said.(HT)

States gives their views on sought of Common Medical Entrance test

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of all the states, union territories and associations of private medical colleges on a petition by the Medical Council of India (MCI) seeking to enforce Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to MBBS and post-graduate medical courses across the country.

A bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice H.L. Gokhale issued the notices, returnable in four weeks, on an application by the MCI that said that CET for MBBS and post-graduate medical courses would provide a single eligibility-cum-entrance examination.

As the MCI moved the court, Justice Raveendran asked if the proposed move was for government medical colleges. MCI's counsel Amarinder Saran told that court it would also include private medicalcolleges.

He told the court that the object of the new draft regulations for admission to undergraduate and post graduate medical courses was to free the medical students from the hassles of appearing in 14 to 15 different entrance examinations being held by different agencies including the Association of Private Medical Colleges.

The CET would obviate the difficulties being faced by the students of taking so many tests, Saran said.

At this, the court asked Saran if the proposed move by the MCI would not interfere with the rights of private medical colleges to have their own CET.

The court said that it would also bring in the question of the powers of the states and it would also involve the issue of domicile.

Saran said that the object of the proposed move was to prevent malpractices and irregularities that are taking place in admission to medical courses. This would also prevent the private medical colleges from manipulating the admissions.

Justice Raveendran said, "Your (MCI) intentions may be noble but the private medical colleges will have to be heard". IANS

Sibal meets directors of new eight IITs to discuss the Problem they were Facing

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday met the directors of the eight new Indian Institutes of Technology to discuss the teething problems they were facing.

The eight new IITs have been started in Ropar (2008), Bhubaneswar (2008), Gandhinagar (2008), Hyderabad (2008), Patna (2008), Jodhpur (2008), Mandi (2009) and Indore (2009). IT BHU (Banaras Hindu University) is also to be upgraded as an Indian Institute of Technology.

As many of these institutes are presently functioning from temporary campuses, the directors told the minister of the constraints they face regarding infrastructure and faculty.

"A number of IITs are facing problems of clearances with central/state government departments for acquisition of the land allotted to them. In this regard, the minister has asked for a meeting to be taken next month with the concerned state government officials, central government officials and IIT directors to facilitate the process of land acquisition," an HRD ministry official said.

On the lines of the recent concession to IIMs on topping up the faculty salary, the new IITs have also been allowed to top up the faculty salary from their own funds, but only after the HRD minister's approval.

"At present, in the IITs, the scale Rs.67,000-Rs.79,000 is applicable for 40 percent of the professors in position. The new IITs expressed they have been unable to implement this grade since they have been able to recruit only few faculty so far," the official said. "The minister said the ministry would seek approval from the finance ministry/cabinet to be able to implement this salary grade for the new IITs."

The new IITs also felt that a revision in fund allocation would be required in view of the escalation of construction costs. "The minister (Sibal) has directed the officials to examine the matter and come up with a proposal in this regard," he added.

Major reforms are underway in the premier engineering institutions, with permission to take in foreign faculty and students, and for conducting medical courses (under the Medical Council of India's guidance) being some of them. IANS

Supreme court issued notice to States on Common Medical Entrance Tests

The Supreme Court on Friday asked all states and associations of private medical colleges for their views on the Medical Council of India's petition for common entrance tests for admissions to MBBS and post-graduate courses across the country.

The Medical Council of India told the court that it sought common entrance tests to remove difficulties that students face in appearing for 14-15 different entrances examinations. The court issued notices to states and medical colleges' associations on Friday. IANS

Vocational courses for school students planned - Sibal

Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said the central government was planning to set up a national vocational education framework to help school students who fall short of receiving higher education.

We need a national vocational education framework to empower and harness the talent of those school students who do not take up or are unable to afford the conventional higher education. We are working on this," said Sibal, while addressing a conference on Higher Education Conclave 2010 organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The proposed vocational training will begin at the school level only and it will be of 10 levels.

Students from Class 8 onwards will be able to take up various vocational courses, like carpentry and para-medical, along with their regular courses till Class 12.

They will be provided certificates based on their work over four levels till Class 12 and six levels after Class 12, said the minister

The vocational training courses will depend on various sectors of employment. This programme will also help meet the huge shortage of skilled personnel, the minister said. IANS