Anti-ragging helpline launched ahead of new academic session

New Delhi, June 22: Students facing ragging in any educational institution can now get immediate assistance by just giving a call on a dedicated helpline which was launched on Thursday ahead of the commencement of the new academic session.

Seeking to check the menace of ragging in campuses through use of technology, the government today made functional the helpline through which students can register complaints and get assistance from authorities and police within minutes.

Not having a school building ‘not a problem’: Orissa minister

Bhubaneswar, June 20: Orissa minister Pratap Jena said on Friday that not having a school building was “not a problem” and was no reason for students “not to turn up to school to study”.

“This is not a problem. This can’t be a reason at all for students not turning up to school to study,” Orissa Minister of State for Mass Education Pratap Jena said.

UGC warns students against off campus centres of private varsities

Bangalore, June 20: Keeping in view the probe carried out by the Karnataka Government, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has warned students against enrolling themselves at the off campus centres of the private universities in Karnataka.

The government is to confirm the legal status of more than 50 such off-campus centres of the country’s private universities.The probe has been carried out to delimit them of ripping off the student.

The Bangalore University has also warned students against getting admission in 11 colleges affiliated to the varsity for inadequate infrastructure.

Tamil University installs e-governance facility

Chennai, June 20: The Tamil University has installed e-governance facility.

M. Rajendran, Vice-Chancellor has announced it. National Informatics Centre has taken up the responsibility of installation of e-governance facilities.

“The e-governance will ensure automation of routine work, reduce drudgery, make file management efficient, easy handling of personal register, prioritisation of work, provision of inter-departmental co-ordination etc,” said G. Chakrapani, technical director, NIC.

–Agencies–

Lizard Found In Mid-Day Meal At A Primary School In Indore

Indore, June 19: The free meal programme, which has been started for the benefit of around 12 crore school kids, has taken the form of a health risk as the cases of dead animals in mid-day meal are increasing day by day.

The new case in the list is from Madhya Pradesh where a lizard found on Wednesday, in the lunch served to pupils at a primary government school at Neelkanth colony in Indore district.

The school help Kamla Bai spot the lizard in the food and at once informed Principal Badrinarayan Rathore, who stopped the food from being distributed to kids and informed the NGO.

Cut-offs dips in Mumbai colleges

Mumbai: The first cut-offs released on Wednesday of several undergraduate courses has witnessed a dip as compare to 2008.

The most popular courses such as Bachelors in Management Science (BMS) and Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) have witnessed a dip in cut-off.

The cut-off for BMS at St Xavier’s College was 80.83% compared to last year’s 86.33%. At Ramnarain Ruia College, the cut-off for BSc. (computer science) was 86% compared to 91.5% last year.

“This year cut-off goes lower for the reason that this year HSC result has dipped by 10pc,” principal, Hinduja College.

Paramedical institute to come up in Haryana

Chandigarh, June 19: To impart professional education and training to the youths of Haryana an Institute of Paramedical Sciences will be soon set up on the premises of the Haryana Saket Council at Chandimandir.

The institute will be set up in phased manner.

Dr. A. R. Kidwai, Governor Haryana, announced this at the Executive and Annual General Body meetings of the Haryana Saket Council at Raj Bhavan.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was also present in the meetings.

No Jobs for Aussies named Ali

Sydney, June 19: In Australia, job seekers with ethnic names find it much harder to get a job than those with Anglo-Saxon names, according to a new academic study into job discrimination.

“Job applicants find it easier to get an interview if they have an Anglo-Saxon name,” concluded the experiment study conducted by the Australian National University.

Researchers sent 4000 fake resumes using Chinese, Middle Eastern, Italian, indigenous and Anglo-Saxon ethnically distinct names, responding to online jobs ads in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Special fellowship for minority students started

New Delhi, June 18: To attract more students from minority communities to pursue research, the government has announced a fellowship programme for them.

The National Fellowship for Students from Minorities Communities has been instituted by Ministry of Minorities Affairs (MOMA) and will be implemented by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Fellowships will be provided in the range of Rs 12,000 to Rs 14,000 per month to students from minority communities to help them pursue M.Phil and Ph.D, the UGC said today.

High court stays NRIs’ admission against reserved seats

Bhopal, June 18: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed the admissions of Non-Residential Indians (NRIs)to private engineering colleges of the state against reserved seats on a ‘first come first serve’ basis, a petitioner said Thursday.

According to petitioner Nitin Saxena, central and private organisations had invited admissions to 700 seats for this year’s B.E. course through counselling and the NRIs took admissions against reserved seats, which was against the rules.

Azad Gives Nod To 150 Medical Colleges

New Delhi, June 18: Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi AzadUnion Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has given his nod to 150 educational institutions, which includes medical, dental, ayurveda and yunani colleges.

Azad cleared the permissions, which had been pending from last several years, within a week’s time after taking over the charge of the ministry.

Eight students jailed for impersonating in exams

New Delhi, June 17: A city court Tuesday remanded eight students to 14-day judicial custody for allegedly appearing in an examination of the Jamia Milia Islamia University on behalf of others.

Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Singh remanded them in jail till June 30.

The eight youth from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were arrested Monday from various examination halls following a written complaint by the vice-chancellor of the university.

The complaint said that the accused, who are bright students, were appearing for other students aspiring to get enrolled in a polytechnic course.

Delhi University helplines flooded with calls

New Delhi, June 17: A day after the deadline for submission of admission forms for Delhi University, its helpline numbers were ringing off the hook Tuesday, with anxious aspirants and parents calling to ask about cut-off lists.

Most callers wanted to know if there was any way to still submit forms or make corrections in forms they submitted, said counsellors and varsity administrators.

Delhi students bag top 2 positions in law entrance

New Delhi, June 17: Two Delhi students Nidhi Modani and Rajat Gangwar have secured the first and second position, respectively, in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2009, the results of which were declared on Monday.

Conducted by the Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad, the exam saw 12,282 candidates competing for 1,150 seats across 11 universities in the country. Siddhartha Basu of Lucknow has secured the third position.

School scholarship exam to include all subjects

Pune, June 17: The Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) has revamped the middle school (std IV) and high school (std VII) scholarship
examination pattern. While this is the first time that changes have been made in the high school exam pattern since 1954, the middle school exam pattern has been revamped after a gap of six years.

We can’t keep monitoring college admissions: Supreme Court tells govt.

New Delhi, June 19: The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that it cannot be expected to monitor admissions in each and every college as it was an executive function.

A vacation bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam said courts can lay down a policy framwork in certain situations but the task of monitoring the implementation and process should be better left to the government.

“We should not be interfering in such admission matters because it not part of judicial functions. We have great reservations about such matters.

BA (Hons) geography rises in popularity

New Delhi, June 16: Geography is the study of the relationship between man and nature. And now with this relationship becoming an issue of concern all
over the world, there is a great demand for geographers, who can guide through various developmental projects, use and create the best technology to track natural resources and prepare the world against natural disasters and calamities.

Engineering topper dreams of space, medical No 1 of heart care

Mumbai, June 15: Upneet Pansare speaks to the Common Entrance Test toppers and a candidate who appeared a second time and ranked 3rd

Udit Chitalia
1st, engineering
The Patkar College student’s 200 out of 200 makes him the overall topper. An aspiring astrophysicist, he says, “I see myself working at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after studying computer science at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Matunga, and then doing a PhD.”

50% in Inter, Eamcet needed for admission into medical colleges

Vijayawada, June 14: Notwithstanding the weightage given to the Intermediate marks while awarding the ranks in Eamcet, the medical council of India (MCI) has set 50 per cent marks in both the examinations as minimum qualifying marks for admission into the medical colleges. As per the latest directive from MCI, the student should have secured marks not below than 50 per cent in Intermediate and also in Eamcet to get an admission into the medical stream through any route.

Though the rule was implemented last year too, ambiguity arose among the students

India issues guidelines for Indian students in Australia

New Delhi, June 13: India has appreciated the steps Australia has taken for the safety of Indian students, some of whom have faced allegedly racist attacks, even as it released a list of do’s and don’ts for Indians studying in that country. “We hope that the Australian government will succeed to stop the attacks. It is a terrible thing that the attacks are continuing,” Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters here on Friday.

He signaled appreciation for the efforts of the Australian government and said that New Delhi and Canberra were in touch during the crisis.

Delhi’s plan to modernize Madrasas

New Delhi, June 13: The National Capital Territory of Delhi is all set to modernise Madarsas to promote education among the Muslims. The Directorate of Education (welfare branch) under the local Government today invited proposals from the Islamic seminaries for their modernisation.

The scheme known as ‘programme for the modernisation of Madarsas’ is full financial backing of the union Human Resources Development ministry. According to the sources in the HRD ministry the scheme is a pilot project in Delhi and after response from here it would be implemented across the country.