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College News Archive [December 2003]

Alumni network keeps the IIM flag flying

Dec 02, 2003: Ahmedabad: As the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) prepare for tougher days ahead, support appears to be pouring in from several quarters, most prominent being the alumni. Apart from mobilising support from its fellow alumni spread across the globe in the wake of the CAT controversy, the IIMA alumni is also looking at creating a network of the alumni from other IIMs as well. The IIM alumni that comprises the who’s who of the corporate world in India and abroad, is also understood to be evolving a strategy to push the stand taken by the IIMs on a host of issues, including the ongoing CAT papers leakage scam. A top IIMA official said the alumni are indirectly the most significant stake-holders in management education in the country. “They are the ones who utilise the management skills and talent by recruiting them and thus their say is very important,” he said. As a result, the alumni are expected to play an active role when the debate on contentious subjects like autonomy eventually picks up steam. Meanwhile, the recently set up alumni council at the IIMA is also “stirred up” following the current crisis.

Aptech Computer Education to offer Oracle9i software courses

Dec 03, 2003: Mumbai: Aptech Computer Education has signed a Workforce Development Programme (WDP) agreement with Oracle India, under which it will offer Oracle9i infrastructure software courses at its select centres. The course would prepare students for Oracle Database Administrator Certification Examinations, including Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) and Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) among others, Aptech Computer Education said. The courses include Oracle9i SQL, Oracle9i Database Administration Fundamentals - I and II and Oracle Database Performance Training, it said. Aptech Computer Education is the flagship brand of Information Technology (IT) training major Aptech Ltd.

Experts' panel to hold CAT, other exams soon

Dec 03, 2003: New Delhi: Looking beyond the leak of IIMs common admission test (CAT) question paper, the HRD ministry has decided to invest in ensuring that such episodes do not recur. HRD minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi told that his ministry is in the process of setting up expert committees for examinations like the AIEEE, IIT-JEE, CBSE pre-medical and all other examinations held under the aegis of the MHRD. The expert committee will ensure that the system of examination is fool proof. In the event some weakness is found in the system, then it will suggest means to ensure that the examination is not compromised. According to sources, a meeting has been planned within the week with the heads of all competitive examinations in the ministry to assess the examination procedures. This would include all examinations that are held either for admission to institutions or for jobs.

The meeting will be attended by representatives of the Union Public Service Commission, NDA, IIT-JEE, CAT and CBSE. Committees to ensure a fool proof system will be set up following the meeting. Sources say that some headway has been made in the setting up of a committee to look into CBSE’s all India medical entrance examination. The CBI had said that there is a good chance that same gang which was caught selling the CAT paper was also involved in selling the CBSE medical exam paper as well. However, a formal announcement of the committee will happen once the ministry has met with the representatives of all competitive examination. Officials say that the minister is keen to see that students do not suffer because of loop holes in the examination system. Therefore all steps are being taken to ensure that the efforts and future of students appearing for the various competitive examinations is not compromised.

Students rope in IIMA alumni for autonomy

Dec 03, 2003: Ahmedabad: One of the most significant stakeholders in the current debate on the autonomy of the Indian Institutes of Management, its students, are now gearing up for an active role in taking the fiery discussion ahead. Apart from trying to build public opinion in their favour, the students at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) are also trying to co-ordinate efforts to bring alumni into the forefront of the campaign. More than 700 alumni from various IIMs have already signed a petition endorsing the stand taken by the IIMs. The signatories include A Nair of Dominos Pizza, Ashok Alexander of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. A. Roy, director, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and Piyush Gupta CEO Citibank Malaysia among other alumni spread across the globe working in an array of sectors.

Most students have been able to muster considerable support of the alumni for the IIMs. A petition seeking the support of the alumni has already been hosted online. This petition addressed to the President of India Dr Abdul Kalam, Prime-minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi, backs academic freedom and autonomy for the IIMs. Moreover, these B-school pupils are not shying away from being upfront about their views on the subject. Jatin Salhotra, a first year PGP student said that if IIMs were to lose autonomy they will not be able to catch up with the best business schools in the world and be relegated to mediocrity.

BE colleges arrive at seat-sharing deal

Dec 04, 2003: Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges Managements Association has agreed for a seat-sharing ratio of 15:85 while admitting students for the next academic year. The association gave an undertaking to the commissioner of technical education and the chairman of the state council for higher education, that they would settle for 15% of the management quota and hand over rest of the seats to the Eamcet admission convener. The Supreme Court has allowed the private colleges to admit 50% students on their own and leave the remaining 50% seats to be filled as per the government norms.

However, failure of dozens of colleges to fill up students this academic year reportedly forced the private managements to approach the government with the new initiative. Even some of the rural engineering college managements have expressed their willingness to leave 90% of the total seats to the convenor quota. The engineering college managements attended the meeting convened by the government to elicit opinions from the managements on the admission and fee pattern for the next academic year. However the representatives of the rural colleges attended wearing black badges to highlight their protest on setting up of new colleges.

Australia to relax student visa norms

Dec 06, 2003: Ahmedabad: In what will come as a relief to Indian students, the Australian government has decided to bring in student visa reforms, acting on the recommendations of a review committee. The new regulations, which came into effect from December 1, have reduced the financial requirements for an Indian undergraduate student in any Australian university by at least 33% and allowed bank finance for vocational studies. The objective behind this move is to improve consistency of information, increase transparency, and increase objectivity. Changes that come into place, following the recommendations, will streamline requirements for overseas students while also tightening some requirements to further enhance the integrity of the programme. There will also be a move towards greater flexibility in the financial requirements for student visa applicants from higher risk countries.

The range of acceptable financial evidence will be extended and be made more consistent across education sectors, increasing the transparency of the visa process for students. Another change removes the savings history requirement for Indian applicants where they have successfully completed at least 75 % of their principal course and seek a further visa to complete that course only. Most India students currently need to provide a savings period of either three or six months when applying for a further visa. On January 1, 2004, a new visa, the student guardian visa, will be introduced that will allow parents or other relatives to escort young students in Australia. The department remains committed to the sustained growth of the overseas student programme. The aim of the changes is to achieve a balanced approach that allows for the continued growth of the international education industry, while also ensuring that the integrity of the student visa program is maintained. Overseas student numbers are now at their highest level ever and will continue to increase due to a number of changes to the student visa programme. Offshore grants increased to 109,610 during 2002-03, an increase of 12% on the previous year's figure. Overall, offshore grants have increased by 27% since July 2001.

Indian students make a beeline for Australia

Dec 06, 2003: Mumbai: Move over US, UK. The land of Oz is attracting Indian students in a big way. This year, India is leading the pack of growing number of international students going to Australia. According to the organisation’s data, there are currently about 15,000 Indian students studying in Australian universities and colleges. The majority of Indian students are enrolled in Australian universities.

In the second semester of ’03, which is the current semester, there are nearly 9,000 Indian students enrolled in Australian universities, a 34% increase from the second semester last year. Over the past 12 months, the number of international students enrolled in Australian universities increased by 12.5%. In the second semester of ’03, there were a total of 1,74,732 international students enrolled in Australian universities, up from 1,55,275 the same time last year. While universities have remained largely unaffected, Australia has seen a significant increase in student enrolment from almost all markets except US.

UGC frames rules for private varsities

Dec 06, 2003: New Delhi: The Chattisgarh state government’s habit of notifying existing private, often unrecognised, institutions as universities under the state Act, Chattisgarh Niji Kshetra Vishwavidyalay (Sthapana Aur Viniyaman) Adhiniyam 2002, resulted in an exponential increase in the number of private universities. The Chattisgarh experiment was replicated with some modification by the Uttaranchal state. Not all it seems was well with the higher education system. The University Grants Commission, the body charged with the regulation of institutes of higher learning in the country, has therefore decided to step in by framing regulations for the establishment and maintenance of standards in private universities. The regulations will have immense implications for the students who are now enrolled in these private universities especially those constituted under the Chattisgarh private universities act. The University Grants Commission Regulations 2003 will apply to every private university established by or incorporated under a state act. In what is a direct reference to the Chattisgarh system of notifying universities, the UGC now requires that each private university be established by a separate state act.

Only in exceptional circumstances the private universities will be permitted to open off campus centres, off shore campuses and study centres after five years of the university’s existence. This will have immense implications on students of the private universities set up under the Chattisgarh Act. In the case of the private universities set up under the Chattisgarh Act, the main campus in the state is yet to be established in many cases. This is because the notified private universities were functioning institutes in other parts of the country. Failure to meet the requirements of the regulation will mean that the degrees and diplomas offered by the private university will be derecognised by the UGC. The defaulting “private university” will be fined as per Section 24 of the UGC Act. The move comes in view of growing concerns of the quality of education offered at these institutes and to safeguard the interests of the student community. The UGC would also like to avoid “commercialisation of higher education.”

Canada prefers immigrants with higher education

Dec 09, 2003: New Delhi: If you have got a masters degree and a spouse with a bachelors, your chances of migrating to Canada have just gone up. Canada is showing a preference towards immigrants with higher education. The logic behind this according to Ravi Jain of Green and Spiegel, a Toronto-based immigration firm, is to avoid giving residency and citizenship to those immigrants who may not be successful at making the shift. Educated people have a better chance of making the move. They also have a better chance at adapting to changing economic and job-climate requirements. To ensure that the economy keeps growing it needs to replenish the work force. This would mean taxes and the continued ability of the government to provide the population, especially the ageing, with social support.

To this end, the Canadian government had introduced changes in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Among the changes introduced, was the move away from a profession-based selection criteria to one that looked at the applicant on the whole – education, professional experience, spouse’s education background, language proficiency. In keeping with the accent on persons with higher education, the new system gives importance to applicants with flexible skills. The system also balances between the qualifications of applicants and their numbers.

Students studying abroad to get NRI tag

Dec 09, 2003: Mumbai: Indian students studying abroad can breathe easy. The RBI has decided to treat such students as non-resident Indians. They will be entitled to all facilities available to NRIs under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema). The measure will provide students the flexibility (available to NRIs) in repatriating funds out of India. The big bonanza is that students will be able to receive up to $1m per annum out of sale proceeds of assets in the country or balances in their account maintained with a bank in India. Students will also benefit in terms of higher clarity on the tax treatment.

The RBI took this decision, based on representations from students studying abroad. The premise of their argument was that though they were students, they are in reality not dependent for a dominant part of their expenses on remittances from households in India. Under present norms, non-resident students will, in any case, be eligible for receiving remittances from India up to $100,000 from close relatives on self-declaration towards maintenance, which could include remittances towards their studies also. Besides, foreign exchange up to $25,000 can be taken for meeting expenses related to the stay abroad. These students need to work to fund their education and stay abroad and need to undertake certain related financial transactions. They will continue to receive remittances for educational and other loans availed by them as resident Indians.

Nursing body to turn schools into colleges

Dec 10, 2003: Kolkata: Indian nursing diaspora has arrived. Catching up with the trend, the Indian Nursing Council (INC) has decided to convert around 700 nursing schools across the country into full-fledged colleges, with effect from 2005. The shift from a three-year nursing diploma course to a four-year college degree course will standardise nursing education across the country. The move will also lead towards up-gradation of the teaching and infrastructure facilities of nursing training as per the norms of INC. The entire exercise is scheduled to be completed by 2010. The final decision by INC comes after more than five years of speculations and discussions over the subject. At the global theatre, the stakes are very attractive and the race is on to grab the largest number of Indian nurses. The US is leading with the highest level of shortage of nearly 1,26,000 which is expected to touch 4,34,000 in a couple of years time. A nurse working in US earns around $ 4,000-5,000 per month while in the UK a nurse’s salary could be $ 2,300-2,500 per month.

Indian nursing schools currently offer a three-year diploma in General Nurse Midwifery (GNM) and a two- year certificate course in Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM). Once the schools are converted into colleges, the latter will offer a four-year B.Sc. in nursing with a handful of them offering M.Sc. and M.Phil degrees. Interestingly, nearly 98% of the nurses either hold GNM or ANM qualifications. While the GNM nurses usually get jobs for medical technique support, BSc nurses are qualified for supervisory medical care and teaching. INC has also decided that post-2005, there would be no new venture for opening up of more nursing schools. Industry sources attributed the idea behind phasing out of nursing schools by colleges as a consequence of the high demand for degree programmes in nursing education. Though degree as well as diploma holders has equal opportunity for foreign placements, but expectedly the degree holders get an upper-hand in terms of better salary and job profile.

Course in Hospital Administration

Dec 11, 2003: Hyderabad: The Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) has restricted admission to the MD Hospital Administration course only to the in-service candidates with a minimum five years of experience to generate qualified hospital administrators in the State, according to the Director and Vice-Chancellor of NIMS, Kakarla Subba Rao. The director said that the institute started the three-year Hospital Administration in 1989 for better management of hospitals with an intake of three candidates per year and it was initially offered to all those with MBBS qualification. The admission to the course recognised by the Medical Council of India was through as entrance test. But since last year, the policy was changed offering it only to in-service candidates. So far 23 candidates completed the course and were employed in Government and Corporate institutions, the release added.

Madurai Kamaraj University exams

Dec 11, 2003: Hyderabad: The study centre of Madurai Kamaraj University, Hyderabad, has said that MCA and MBA examinations will commence on February 10, 2004 and the last date for submission of examination forms is December 20. Further details can be had from the centre or on the phone numbers: 23204637 or 23205208.

Private varsities face derecognition threat

Dec 11, 2003: Hyderabad: Private universities recognised by Chattisgarh and other States and offering courses in the State now face a threat of their courses being derecognised if they do not comply with new guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The state has seen a spurt in several private universities setting up their off-shore campuses here and offering degree and masters programmes in all streams. The ones that have come up recently include ICFAI University, Rai University, Vishwa Bharathi University, Punjabi State University and Bundelkhand University, among others. Some of them are offering courses in the distance mode while some other have campuses here offering full-fledged courses. The new guidelines clearly state that each private university must be established by a separate state act rather than a single act as being done by the Chattisgarh State. As per the new guidelines, the defaulting “private university” will be fined as per Section 24 of the UGC Act. The move comes in view of growing concerns of the quality of education offered at these institutes and to safeguard the interests of the student community.

Chennai IT graduates top UK counterparts

Dec 12, 2003: London: Graduates coming out of universities in Chennai are more suitable for software manufacturing work than those coming out of British universities, a leading software group says. iSoft, a group that is involved in a 1.1 billion pound contract to build a patients’ record database in the northeast of England , will carry out most of its work under the contract in Chennai. The group says there is unlikely to be any return on the investment in creating a knowledge economy in Britain from the contract because British universities are turning out the wrong sort of graduates. The Manchester-based firm is part of a consortium that will deliver the 1.1 billion pound contract. iSoft is also in the running for three further contracts to be awarded by the government next week. But despite having placed its offices close to Manchester's three main higher education institutions, iSoft's chief executive Patrick Cryne admitted that much of the software manufacturing work will be done at its new facility in Chennai.

Emergence of team roles

Dec 12, 2003: It is one of the most influential theories on team roles propagated by Dr. M. Belbin. During a period of over nine years, Belbin and his team based at Henley Management College, England, studied the behaviour of managers from all over the world. Managers taking part in the study were given a battery of psychometric tests and put into teams of varying composition, while they were engaged in a complex management exercise. Their different core personality traits, intellectual styles and behaviours were assessed during the exercise. As time progressed different clusters of behaviour were identified as underlying the success of the teams. These successful clusters of behaviour were then given names. Hence the emergence of team roles. Researchshowed that there are a finite number of behaviours or team roles, which comprise certain patterns of behaviour that can be adopted naturally by the various personality types found among people.

Belbin defines a team role as “Our tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.” Belbin team roles describe a pattern of behaviour that characterises one person’s behaviour in relationship to another in facilitating the progress of a team. The Belbin test, based on his team-role theory, intends to classify in a differentiated way peoples’ capabilities, strengths and weaknesses in relation to teamwork. The test is administered as a self-assessment test, and enables an individual or team to benefit from self-knowledge and adjust according to the demands being made. Each team member can score on several of the dimensions and as such is able to perform several roles. It is normal that one person has one dominant dimension. The theory behind the Belbin roles is, of course, that one needs a mix of different psychological profiles in a successful team. The mix is not a stable given, but it will fluctuate with the objectives of the team.

Health Minister denies move to privatise medical colleges

Dec 13, 2003: Hyderabad: About 12,000 medical students from government medical colleges across the state boycotted classes, marking the beginning of their indefinite strike against privatisation of medical education. The movement is being spearheaded by the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association and supported by 14 student organisations. After a ceremonial lighting of a torch at the Osmania Medical College, 800 students formed a human chain in the college and then proceeded to Gandhi Medical College, which they claim is on the road to privatisation.The Joint Action Committee which has been formed to spearhead the agitation demanded a halt to permissions for more private medical colleges, closure of those without proper infrastructure, a change in the fee structure of private colleges, and an end to capitation fees. In Vijayawada, patients visiting the Government General Hospital were inconvenienced with the post-graduate students and junior doctors on strike. Senior doctors put off some surgeries and took up only emergency operations.

IIIT-H placement registers over 85% success

Dec 15, 2003: Hyderabad: It is placement season and the Class of 2004 could not have asked for a better response with visits and offers beating all previous expectations as has been the experience of prospective techies at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad. Even as the current session of programme is under way, the class of 2004, comprising 176 students, had an outstanding placement season in both undergraduate and post-graduate programmes, achieving 85.29% of placements across different streams. However, the placements at the undergraduate level crossed 93.5% till December first week. The session closes in April and placements continue till the last candidate is placed through campus recruitment or off campus. This year, the job offers ranged between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5.2 lakh, with Adobe offering the highest salary along with stock options. Comparatively, the highest salary for 2003 batch was at Rs 4 lakh offered by Oracle.

The major companies that participated in the placement process are, Adobe, Blue Star Infotech, Convergys, Computer Associates, GAIL, IBM, Infosys Technologies, Oracle, Quark, Satyam Computer Services, SEEC, Tata Consultancy Services, Verizon, Virtusa, Wipro Technologies and Zensar Technologies. The batch of 176 students includes 146 students of B.Tech computer sciences, 13 students of M.Tech computer sciences, 7 MS computer sciences and 10 students of M.Tech building sciences. More than 17 students have chosen to pursue higher studies in technology and management at reputed institutes in India and abroad. IIIT is a deemed university set up jointly by AP government, Nasscom and corporates including IBM, Oracle, Satyam, Motorola, and Keane. The Institute has a research exchange programme, which enables students to register for Ph.D and spend time at IIIT campus and with a partner research group abroad. The option of obtaining the doctorate from partner research group is also given to students. The IIIT has partnerships with leading research groups at Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that enables undergraduate students to take up internships at some of the leading research centres like INRIA in France and Microsoft Research at Seattle.

Orissa students to rate lecturers

Dec 15, 2003: Bhubaneswar: It’s a wake-up call for teachers of universities in Orissa. They can no more take classes lightly and their continuous dismal performance in classrooms could hamper their advancement in service. If the decision taken in the two-day Vice-Chancellor’s conference is implemented in the near future, students in the state are now all set to evaluate their teachers. The Vice-Chancellor of nine universities got together at Governor’s House during last two to discuss the state of affairs of education in the State. All the Vice-Chancellors expressed concern over the declining interests of students from classrooms. To mitigate this problem, the conference has decided to introduce the much-debated system of teachers’ evaluation by students. In yet another attempt to establish greater teacher-student interaction, the conference emphasised the implementation of Personal Advisor System in the universities. Though, the system has been made compulsory by the UGC, most of the universities have failed to comply with the direction. The conference has recommended reforms in the teachers’ transfer policy for improvement of education.

OU to organise graduation ceremony for foreigners

Dec 15, 2003: Hyderabad: Osmania University will henceforth hold a special graduation ceremony every year for foreign students. OU Vice-Chancellor Prof J. Anantha Swamy announced this while hosting the annual ‘At Home’ party for the newly joined foreign students. The international students are ambassadors of the university who can play a big role in promoting universal brotherhood. About 570 students from 40 countries, who are studying in 35 colleges under the OU jurisdiction, attended the party. It is an annual event of the varsity to mark the ‘International Students Day’.

Self financing medical seats will be reduced by 15%

Dec 15, 2003: Hyderabad: Director of Medical Education told the agitating junior doctors that Government was willing to reduce PG medical seats under self-financing category from 25% to 15%. However, the members of the joint committee of AP Junior Doctors Association, who discussed various topics arising from the controversial GO MS 90, wanted the Government to do away with these seats altogether. The students opposed the decision to handover the government hospitals to societies chaired by IAS officers with local MLAs and MPs as members. They also said that if patients were charged nominal fee that might differ from hospital to hospital, the poor patients would not be able to afford it. Dr. Suresh Kumar, convenor of the association alleged that the director of medical education refused to give a clear answer to these issues. The issuance of essential certificates to open new colleges was also discussed. The junior doctors have decided to take out a rally from Osmania Medical College in support of their demands. They organised a parents’ meet at college and sought their support to their agitation.

B.Ed students not allowed to write exams

Dec 16, 2003: Hyderabad: About 160 students of the Anwarul-Uloom College of Education could not appear for the B. Ed Examination, which commenced on Monday, as they did not have the hall-ticket. The students were asked by the college management to directly come to the examination centre at Masab Tank where it promised to provide them hall-tickets. But when they turned up at the venue at 2.00 PM, there was none from the college, it is said. In the absence of hall-tickets, the students were not allowed to write the examination. The irate students later went to the college situated at Malakpet and staged a protest demonstration. “The college management did not even open the gates. Instead, it summoned the police to disperse us,” students said. The Anwarul-Uloom College, it is understood, did not have the requisite permission from Osmania University, as it had admitted students on the basis of its own entrance test, instead of the EdCET conducted by the Government.

Keep away from politics, students told

Dec 16, 2003: Hyderabad: The Health Minister Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, advised medical students to keep away from politics and focus on ways and means to utilise the high standard infrastructure being created by the government for them. The Minister agreed to pursue with the Dental Council of India the proposal for increasing the number of under graduate dental seats in the Government sector from 40 to 100 and the post graduate seats from 14 to 21. While the dental college authorities wanted the number to be increased to 60, it was insisted that it would be appropriate if the number were pegged at 100 keeping in the availability of adequate infrastructure and staff strength. The Ministers also gave a nod to a proposal to rename the Government Dental College and Hospital, there were 14 dental colleges in the state of which only two were Government run colleges including the one in the City – as Osmania Institute of Dental Sciences. Saying a whopping Rs 1,550 crores was being spent every year on strengthening medical infrastructure in the State.

Medicos fear for their career prospects

Dec 17, 2003: Hyderabad: Junior doctors and house surgeons who are on strike for the past five days are worried lot over the move of the government to permit more private colleges, as it would “adversely affect their career prospectus”. Dr Sridhar Reddy of the AP Junior Doctors Association, Gandhi Medical College, said that the students were agitated over GOs 90 and 486-489, which allows the handing over of medical colleges and teaching hospitals to a Development Society. The contention of the association is that the state already has many medical colleges and any further addition without corresponding increase in post-graduate seats would lead to large-scale unemployment in the field. However, health minister Kodela Sivaprasada Rao begs to differ with the contends that there was good demand for “basic doctors and specialists in the state.

Mixed response to online exam proposal

Dec 17, 2003: Hyderabad: The proposed online examinations for conducting internals across 200 engineering colleges in the state by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, has evoked mixed response from students. While some of them rejoiced that their fate is nor longer in the hands of some ‘partial’ lecturers, others doubted if their college computer labs are equipped to support the technology. Though JNTU rector V Rama Rao is confident of having done the necessary to ensure that there will no implementation hurdles for the new system, students are not too enthusiastic. Under the new system students will have 20 minutes to answer 20 objective type multiple choice questions that can be downloaded from the JNTU site or from an encrypted CD. On completion of the stipulated time, students’ marks are displayed on the screen and a record of the same is stored in the JNTU database.

Experts to study OU's potential for IIT status

Dec 18, 2003: Hyderabad: An expert committee from the Union ministry of human resources development will visit Hyderabad shortly to assess the facilities available at the Osmania University College of Engineering following a request by the state government to upgrade it into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). The government has for long been pitching for an IIT in the temple town of Basar in Adilabad district and has presented its case to Prime Minister and his colleagues. It has already acquired land for the purpose. But the Centre has instead upgraded the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, as a National Institute of Technology (NIT). Since the centre has decided to create five new IITs in the country by upgrading some premier institutions, the state government has been pushing the case of the Osmania University College of Engineering. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said students from the state have been registering spectacular success in the entrance exam for the IITs, securing 12% of the seats every year on an average. He added that the state capital has many research and development institutions and is a leading centre in the field of information technology and biotechnology.

Open varsity results announced

Dec 18, 2003: Hyderabad: The results of the first year post-graduate courses and MBA of Dr. BR Ambedkar Open University have been announced and the results can be accessed on the university website www.braou.ac.in. The memorandum of marks will be despatched to residential addresses of the students. The second spell examinations of first year post-graduate and MBA are likely to be held in April/May, according to the university.

OU to allow Anwar College B.Ed students to write exams

Dec 18, 2003: Hyderabad: Osmania University has decided to allow B.Ed students of the Anwar-Ul-Uloom College to write their annual examinations along with delayed batch of B.Ed students, who are likely to write their examinations in February or March 2004. The university will also serve a notice on the college as it has failed to submit the list of its students to the university leading to non-issuance of hall tickets for the final examinations that started this week. The admission to the B.Ed course in Anwar-Ul-Uloom College were mired in controversies from the beginning since the college ignored the Ed.Cet conducted by the Government for admission into B.Ed courses. The college held separate test stating that the Supreme Court had given them the right. Later the college challenged the GO No. 831 of the School Education Department that held Ed.Cet as the sole recognised test for B.Ed courses. The college however got a favourable decision from the court.

Rural colleges' plea

Dec 18, 2003: Hyderabad: The Self-Financing Rural Engineering College Managements’ Association appealed to the Commissioner of Technical Education to consider admitting students into private engineering colleges without Eamcet rank. The association urged the commissioner to permit filling of seats in private engineering colleges without Eamcet rank by issuing the necessary instructions. It cited the Supreme Court order allowing the engineering colleges to fill seats even if students have not passed the Eamcet examination, but fulfilled other conditions of admissions.

It's sweet sorrow for local medical students in US

Dec 19, 2003: New Delhi: There is good and bad news for Indian medical students in the United States. The US Department of Health and Human Services has reopened its J-1 waiver programme for physicians working in underserved areas. So foreign students graduating from medical colleges in the US can now stay on in the US by serving in underserved areas instead of having to leave the US on completing their studies. The bad news however, is that the US department of Health and Human Services has introduced several additional criteria which will limit the number of waivers. This move has baffled the US medical and academic community as the US is currently facing a physician shortage.

Among the regulation changes is that only facilities in health professional shortage areas with a score of 14 will qualify to take in physicians under the J-1 waiver programme. Earlier, all facilities in health professional shortage areas and medically underserved areas were eligible. This will significantly reduce the number of foreign medical graduates who can apply for a waiver. This narrowing down of the programme’s scope for waivers comes at a time when the American Medical Association has acknowledged that the US is indeed facing a shortage of doctors. An article published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association says class sizes in medical schools are shrinking, which, in turn, means fewer doctors. For the study, medical school deans from Puerto Rico and the US were surveyed. The article also draws attention to the fact that there seems to be a great deal of uncertainty in the kind of remedies that exist. Those surveyed said that little was being done to alleviate shortages through measures to increase class sizes.

States told to include environment in syllabi

Dec 19, 2003: New Delhi: Directing all states to include environment as a subject in school and college syllabi from next academic year, the Supreme Court asked the National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) to frame a model syllabus in this regard for implementation in India. These directions were given by a SC bench on a petition filed by environmentalist advocate MC Mehta complaining that though the apex court had directed in 1991 to include environment as a subject in the syllabi, none of the state have implemented the 12-year-old order so far. The bench asked NCERT to frame a model syllabus and submit the same before the court on or before April 14 next year for scrutiny and, if found suitable, for uniform application through out the country. In a far-reaching order delivered on November 22, 1991, the SC had directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to prescribe a course on environment in the graduation and post-graduation level and consider feasibility of making this a compulsory subject at every level in college education.

Polytechnic entrance test

Dec 20, 2003: Hyderabad: The Common Entrance Examination for admission into Polytechnics (CEEP-2004) for 2004-05 will be conducted on April 18 (Sunday) from 11.00 AM to 1:00 PM. Candidates who passed SSC or its equivalent or are going to appear for the examination in March/April 2004 are eligible to apply.

Private college staff seek wages

Dec 20, 2003: Hyderabad: Teaching and non-teaching staff belonging to affiliated private degree and junior colleges in the State staged a dharna in front of the Commissionerate of College Education demanding regular payment of salaries. Members of the joint council of action expressed concern over the callous approach being adopted by the State Government towards them. Their other demands include: Exemption of national eligibility test and State level eligibility test to private aided college staff, payment of all pending arrears, sanction of special scale for principal post and reckoning of un-aided service for all benefits.

AIMA to offer course to managers

Dec 22, 2003: New Delhi: Here’s one area where India beats China hollow – the annual output of management graduates. The score is, India 1,00,000, China 10,000. However, there’s an unusual skew to India’s 900 odd B-schools. Having work experience is almost a disqualification for entry into a top B-school in India with students fresh out of college having an edge in the academic disciplines that count in the admission test over professionals doing line duty. This is in sharp contrast to the practice in the West where those with workex constitute the preponderant majority of any top B-school class.

The All-India Management Institute proposes to start a new programme with Europe’s top B-school INSEAD to give practising managers formal training. AIMA’s new president, Tata Sons director R Gopalakrishnan wants to give a new thrust to the Association’s 30 year-old practice of giving training to managers with work experience. AIMA is All-India Council for Technical Education approved management training institute and runs a programme called Advanced Management Programme, which has already produced 20,000 alumni. Now, with the help of INSEAD faculty, AIMA will launch a Global Senior Management Programme, from 2004 onwards. Incidentally, INSEAD has taken the lead over other western B-schools in tapping the huge market for management training in China. China’s demand for trained managers, said Mr Gopalakrishnan, is 1,40,000 a year whereas the supply is just 10,000, met through 150 business schools. The cost of training these managers in China would be much lower than the cost of getting them trained, say, in the US.

B.Ed Counselling in January end

Dec 22, 2003: Hyderabad: Counselling for filling up over 31,796, B.Ed. seats in 283 colleges will be conducted in the last week of January. The delay was due to the non-availability of the approved list of colleges from National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) secretary V Jayarami Reddy said. The NCTE has already begun processing of all the applications from B.Ed. colleges for renewal. Once the examinations in the new B.Ed. colleges were completed by January 10, the NCTE would send the list of renewed college list to the government in the second week of January.

Six institutes of medical sciences soon, says Advani

Dec 22, 2003: Mysore: Deputy Prime minister L K Advani disclosed that the union government has decided to establish six institutes of medical sciences matching the standards of All India Institute of Health and Medical Sciences New Delhi and soon work will begin on this dream project. Our government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee has sincerely tried to overcome and rectify the shortfalls witnessed in the field of education and health” he claimed declaring that his government is determined to provide drinking water, road, shelter, school and hospital to all six lakh villages in the country. “In next couple of years we want to see that no village remains without these basic amenities of life” he added. Narrating the incidents of how Indian brains have succeeded in West, Advani said this was one point, which makes one to remain optimistic about India’s emerging as a super power in the next 20 years.

India's first PG centre in tropical medicine in city

Dec 23, 2003: Hyderabad: The Sir Ronald Ross Institute for Tropical Medicine is all set to become the first hospital in the country to offer postgraduate courses in the field of tropical medicine. A special team of inspectors from Medical Council of India inspected the facilities in the hospital and reportedly evinced keen interest in giving a nod to the hospital to start the courses. In all probability, the courses will start from the present academic year. It may be recalled that the State Government has recently given a notification for exams for the postgraduate courses in various parts of the State. The team of inspectors were also accompanied by top officials from the Director of Medical Education and Gandhi Medical College. The Government Medical College of Kolkata is already offering similar courses on tropical medicine, except for the fact that these courses are only at the diploma level and not postgraduate level. The Ronald Ross Institute for Tropical Medicine, popularly known as Fever Hospital, is set to become a research centre if the permission to start the courses is given by the Medical Council of India.

Private varsities leave students in the lurch

Dec 23, 2003: Hyderabad: Thousands of students from the state who have enrolled for courses being offered by private universities especially those constituted under the Chhattisgarh private University Act – face an uncertain future. For the University Grants Commission (UGC) is coming out with new regulations that may result in the derecognising of certificates given by these universities. For private universities to be allowed to function in several states, there must be a separate Act permitting in each state. A single Act passed in one state does not allow them to operate in another.

The previous Chhatisgarh government headed by Ajit Jogi had notified the existing private universities under the State Act – the Chhattisgarh Niji Kshetra Vishwavidyalay Adhiniyam 2002, which resulted in the mushrooming of over 100 private universities, many of them with off-site campuses in Andhra Pradesh. As per the fresh Act planned by the UGC, all private universities should operate within the boundaries of the state in which they are registered. But several of the universities in question have been functioning away from their state of registration, for their main campuses are yet to be built. An amendment to the UGC Act, 1950, and the AICTE Act, 1987, would be introduced in the winter session of Parliament providing these two bodies with penal powers to derecognise any institution, take them to court, and even demand their closure if the norms are not met.

Urdu university yet to start regular courses

Dec 23, 2003: Hyderabad: Thousands of students from the state who have enrolled for courses being offered by private universities especially those constituted under the Chhattisgarh private University Act – face an uncertain future. For the University Grants Commission (UGC) is coming out with new regulations that may result in the derecognising of certificates given by these universities. For private universities to be allowed to function in several states, there must be a separate Act permitting in each state. A single Act passed in one state does not allow them to operate in another.

The previous Chhatisgarh government headed by Ajit Jogi had notified the existing private universities under the State Act – the Chhattisgarh Niji Kshetra Vishwavidyalay Adhiniyam 2002, which resulted in the mushrooming of over 100 private universities, many of them with off-site campuses in Andhra Pradesh. As per the fresh Act planned by the UGC, all private universities should operate within the boundaries of the state in which they are registered. But several of the universities in question have been functioning away from their state of registration, for their main campuses are yet to be built. An amendment to the UGC Act, 1950, and the AICTE Act, 1987, would be introduced in the winter session of Parliament providing these two bodies with penal powers to derecognise any institution, take them to court, and even demand their closure if the norms are not met.

Ambedkar open university's second year results out

Dec 24, 2003: Hyderabad: Dr BR Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) announced the second year examination results of M.A. Economics, History, Political Science and M.Sc. Mathematics held in September 2003. The results have been uploaded at the university website, www.braou.ac.in, a varsity release said. The memorandum of marks will be despatched to the residential address of the students shortly. The subject-wise results will be available at the study centres. The second spell examination of second year post graduate courses are likely to be held in May, 2004, according to a press release.

Colleges continue to function on Holidays

Dec 24, 2003: Hyderabad: Despite Board of Intermediate instructions that junior colleges in the twin cities should be closed for four days, from December 24 to 28 for Christmas holidays, numerous colleges in the twin cities have gone ahead and announced colleges would be working on those days. A large number of students complained about colleges working even on Christmas. Narayana and Sri Chaitanya Junior College in Narayanguda, Prathiba in Nallakunta are some of the colleges that have gone against the Board of Intermediate’s directions. It may be recalled that the Board of Intermediate had announced that all junior colleges would remain closed from December 24 to 28 for Christmas. No college should function or conduct any coaching classes it had instructed all colleges. When contacted, Board of Intermediate Education said that action would be taken on these colleges. It directed the colleges not to run colleges during vacations.

Hectic lobbying on for ICAI, ICSI council seats

Dec 24, 2003: New Delhi: With elections for central council members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) over, all eyes are now on the contest for nominee seats on these councils. Lobbying by prospective candidates has risen to a new high and those watching the developments say that the contest this time is a lot more keener than ever before and more cut-throat than for the elected seats, particularly so for the ICAI central council. Political connections and affiliations play a crucial role in who finally gains a seat in the powerful central council, which among other things has the powers to take disciplinary action against errant members, though on paper the nominations are finalised by the department of company affairs (DCA).

Many in the chartered accountants community say that all the three nominees in the outgoing council were well connected with the ruling party and are known to be very close to a certain minister. Similarly, past nominees of the government too are said to have been close to the ruling party of the day. Past presidents of the ICAI too acknowledge that political affiliations is the primary deciding factor in the appointments. Three seats each in the ICAI and ICSI central councils are filled by the government nominees with persons from the profession or others considered suitable. While ICAI sources admit that the ruling party has a big say in the selection of the nominees, ICSI sources say the nominees on their central council are selected on the basis of merit. ICSI sources claim that political connections have little role to play in the selection. If figures going around are to be believed, around 300-400 chartered accountant across the country are curry favour from the ruling party.

AMU opposes UGC order on admission test

Dec 26, 2003: New Delhi: Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has opposed the controversial UGC order asking it to go in for a Common Entrance Test for professional courses saying that the move was nothing but an "interference" in the functioning of an "Institution of National Importance". The Academic Council of the University has turned down the UGC circular for a Common Entrance Test. The Academic Council has sent University's Rules and Regulations to the HRD ministry and UGC explaining the reason behind its decision. The Council strongly felt that the judgement of an 11-member Bench of the Supreme Court in the case of TMA Pai clearly states that common entrance test can be conducted by the Government or the University. The University was considering approaching Parliamentary Standing Committee of Human Resource Development against "interference" as also the "misleading" statement in Parliament by Minister of State for HRD. Expressing serious concern over the move, a delegation of the University under his leadership met leaders of various political parties including Sonia Gandhi, Somnath Chaterjee, Arun Jaitely, Ajit Singh, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Ramvilas Paswan, Arjun Singh and many others to apprise them about the development.

UGC mops feedback to spruce up education

Dec 26, 2003: Hyderabad: The Universities Grants Commission (UGC) has dashed off questionnaires to higher education councils, universities and education departments across the country, asking them if there should be changes in the functioning universities. This is art of a ‘concept paper’ prepared by a committee set up by the UGC, which has proposed a Model Act for “21st century universities in India”. The UGC plans to get feedback from top educationists and administrators on various issues relating to the management of universities. Based on this, the committee will finalise the Model Act under which new guidelines would be issued for universities in the changing scenario of higher education.

According to the concept paper, the universities can enhance their status and play a leadership role by encouraging public-private partnership, introducing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools more vigorously and applying the same for resource generation and having some structural reform in the university system. The questionnaire invites feedback on all these issues, apart from sponsored research mechanism, transferring credits among the universities, periodical review of various developments and on the autonomy of the universities.When asked, AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE), said most of the questions were ‘open ended’ to facilitate more innovative proposals from various quarters of higher education.

Inquiry into CAT paper leak to begin on Monday

Dec 27, 2003: New Delhi: The four-member committee, headed by former comptroller and auditor general of India VK Shunglu, formed to inquire into the leak of the common admission test (CAT) papers, will be beginning on Monday. The team will begin visiting the IIMs, beginning from Ahmedabad. Last month following the revelation of the leak of CAT test papers, the HRD minister Mr Joshi had cancelled the examination. On November 24, the HRD minister announced the setting up of a committee to inquire into the matter. Initially, the committee had a month’s time to conduct the probe and submit a report. According to sources, the Shunglu Committee on CAT will be able to present its report in about sixty days, that is two months. Sources say that the probe being smaller in scope could take less time if the concerned authorities cooperate with committee members. The committee will examine circumstances, which led to the leakage of the question paper and determine whether there was any systematic failure. It has been charged with fixing responsibility of those persons or agencies for the leakage. Finally, the committee will also examine the methodology of conducting the CAT and suggest measures to avoid recurrence of such instances in the future.

UGC sticks to common test for Aligarh University

Dec 27, 2003: New Delhi: Unfazed by the Opposition's attack, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is sticking to its stand of extending the decision to hold common entrance exams for professional courses to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), keeping in mind the Supreme Court’s order. The Commission was neither encroaching on autonomy of the institute nor its quota but only trying to implement the Supreme Court’s order to do away with multiplicity of tests for professional courses. A 100% centrally-funded minority institution, would continue to have the freedom to fill 50% of the seats in professional courses from within while the rest would be admitted on an all-India basis through a common test. The AMU Academic Council’s decision to go ahead with the entrance test despite the UGC circular asking all universities not to do so, has been referred to the ministry of human resource development, which proposes to organise a joint entrance test for admitting students to professional courses offered by central and state universities.

The Supreme Court in its orders two months ago, directed the Centre to find ways of doing away with multiplicity of tests while admitting students to professional courses offered by universities following which a government office memo said it has been decided that admission to all technical, professional educational institutions, minority or non-minority, should be held on basis of merit determined through a common entrance test. The UGC then issued a circular to all such universities and institutions asking them to put on hold entrance tests for the academic year ’04-05 till fresh guidelines were prepared.

B.Ed admissions likely in January-end

Dec 29, 2003: Hyderabad: The admissions into B.Ed colleges, in all likelihood, will be held in the last week of January. The government was waiting for clearance from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). The NCTE has already cleared 11 colleges and waiting for the clearance of the rest of the colleges before taking up admissions. The Government was well prepared and the admissions procedure would begin in two weeks after the NCTE clearance. Regarding the inter-district transfers, he said the Government was looking into the large number of requests for transfers. There have been nearly 8,000 applications for inter-district transfers. The academic atmosphere in schools would be affected if the transfers were effected now. The Government was supposed to finish the process by January 9. The transfers might be effected only after the annual examinations and the last date for applying might also be extended.

Medicos seek inspection of private colleges

Dec 29, 2003: Hyderabad: On the 17th day of the strike, the Joint Action Committee of Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors’ Association asked the government for its alleged failure to take action against the managements of private medical colleges and to maintain standards in existing colleges. S. Suresh Kumar, convenor, questioned the need for the medical and dental colleges sanctioned during the past two years, saying that those who came out of the private medical colleges were ‘not doctors’ and that they were ‘dangerous to society’. He called for a people’s movement against ‘degradation’ of the medical profession. The committee, he stated, favoured inspections of all private medical colleges and hospitals by the MCH in view of the lack of teaching staff. K. Chandramohan, President, in a statement said the JAC of students would organise a dharna at the AP Vydhya Vidhana Parishad’s office.

Parents angry as medical colleges charge more

Dec 29, 2003: Hyderabad: Parents of medical students cry foul over private medical colleges collecting additional fee from students in violation of government orders. Though the private colleges have been collecting the additional fee from the academic year 2002-2003 itself, parents, who recently came to know about a GO prescribing the fee structure and time frame, have been making rounds to Secretariat with an appeal to stop private colleges from collecting the additional fee.

Private medical colleges set a deadline of December 31 to pay the additional fee. The state government issued GO Ms No 225 on June 16, 2001 prescribing a tuition fee of Rs 15,000 for students who took admission in private college under the free seat category. This fee is applicable for students of two academic years 2001-02 and 2002-03. It also said till further instructions from the government, no other fee should be collected from students. The Private Medical Colleges Association, however, argued that it was a legitimate right of the private colleges to collect some amount other than tuition fee which was approved by both Medical Council of India as well as Centre.

Explanation sought from medical college

Dec 30, 2003: Hyderabad: The committee comprising Prof Kakarla Subba Rao, Prof V S Reddy and director of medical education R Shashi Prabha, which inspected Bhaskar Medical College, sought an explanation from the institution as to why its essentiality certificate should not be cancelled. The panel made a surprise visit to the college after the media exposure on how the college hired ‘fake patients, medical students and nursing students to tide over an inspection by the Medical Council of India’. It found several lacunae in the fulfilment of requirements and asked the college for an explanation, acting chairman of the committee Kakarla Subba Rao said. The college management said the essentiality certificate was given and an application to the MCI was made only for a letter of intent and not for permission for the medical college.

JNTU's new exam system results in pass percentage drop

Dec 30, 2003: Hyderabad: The introduction of Electronic Distribution (ED) of papers in the semester examinations by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) has resulted in drastic reduction in the pass %age in nearly 50% of engineering colleges in the state. The pass %age has dropped to single digits in some colleges from a very high figure noticed in the previous examination. According to sources, the affected colleges included some prominent ones and acknowledged a ‘good’ colleges apart from those located in remote areas. The ED system was introduced from November 2002 after some colleges leaked the semester examination question papers resulting in cancellation of the examinations in all colleges. Instead of sending printed question papers to colleges, JNTU decided to put them online and reveal the passport to the colleges an hour before the commencement of the examinations for accessing them so as to take out prints and distribute the same. Four different sets of question papers were prepared to avoid copying.

No Eamcet for architecture aspirants

Dec 31, 2003: Hyderabad: Students planning to pursue architecture, planning and other related courses no longer need to write the Eamcet examinations for admissions to bachelor degree courses. From the next academic year onwards, separate entrance tests will be conducted for admissions to B Arch, B Planning and B Arch (PTDC) courses. The new examination will deal essentially with skills students need for these disciplines. The basic thrust of the new exercise would be to test the student’s aptitude and identifying candidates truly interested in these streams. Besides, it would also reduce the burden of taking two tests for getting a single seat. As things stand now, a candidate must first appear for the Eamcet examination and then sit for a separate aptitude test for streams such as B Arch and B Planning. The eligibility norms such as age and other requirements for admissions for these courses would stand unchanged. Hence, the demand for professionally trained architects who can not only cope with the changing times but also design and deliver quality, environment friendly constructions.

 
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