IIT AND KOTA

Global semesters are expected to be conducted by The  Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-Kharagpur) during term breaks, as per recent plans by the premier institute. These semesters are likely to adopt the modus operandi of the summer and winter semesters held by premier universities abroad. As per IIT officials, the planned program is expected to be held during summer as well as winter breaks, to prevent it from coinciding with the academic calendar of IIT-Kharagpur. These programs, to be held in association with foreign institutes, will enable students pursuing Bachelors of Technology (B Tech) and Masters of Technology (M Tech) programs to earn credit points, which will be included in the final scores of the candidates at the time of passing out from the institute. As per IIT officials, IIT-Kharagpur has signed many Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with universities in countries such as Columbia, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, Russia and Germany. This is expected to au

A joint venture of  The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H)  with the government of Japan has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently, which is expected to augment IIT-H’s potential in research and other fields in the coming years. The joint venture will promote exchanges between faculty and students of IIT-H with industry experts as well as academics in Japan, thereby creating a lot of developmental opportunities. This venture originated when the Indian Prime Minister (PM) Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Japan in early 2013.   As per sources, the collaboration is expected to further improve infrastructural and other facilities of IIT-H in the future. It will also boost collaboration between the two countries in the diverse fields of technology and science as well as human resource development (HRD). The estimated expenditure for the project is Rs 1,776.50 crore, to be partially sponsored by the Official Development Assistance (ODA) offe

Women candidates made it to top ranks during  Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar’s (IIT-Gn)  second convocation ceremony, held on Sunday, August 11, 2013. Degrees were conferred to a total of 114 students, out of which 10 degrees were for Masters of Technology (M Tech) students and 104 were for Bachelor of Technology (B Tech) students. Women students came out on top in 2013 by winning the President’s Gold Medal in B Tech as well as M Tech programs. As per officials present at the convocation ceremony, technology is the key to the ever-changing world of today which opens up opportunities as well as challenges. The Indian government needs be aware of these changes and formulate policies to tackle the various challenges that India faces in the immensely competitive world of today. By doing this, India will be able to keep pace with the changing times in this interconnected world and attain all-round development. As per officials of IIT-Gn, the premier institute has succe

The Central Government has approved a block “grant scheme” proposal for financing the non-planned expenditure incurred by the  Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)  and  Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore (IISc-Bangalore) , during the fiscal years of 2012-13 to 2016-17, as per an announcement made on Thursday, August 8, 2013. This measure is expected to boost the financial condition of these institutes. As per the newly cleared government policy, the amount for non-planned grants for the IITs will be calculated on the basis of total number of students. Going forward, expenses incurred on Scholarships or fellowships will be categorized under “planned activity” which will be financed through various plan funds. The Block Grant Scheme will be responsible for providing equivalent grants from the government to correspond with the savings that institutes make from the revenue expenditure. The block grant for the IITs and IISc-Bangalore for the years 2012-13 has been assessed t

Shashi Tharoor, the Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD), has a word of praise for the new admission system of  The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) which considers the examination marks of different school Boards. This system will promote just comparison of marks between various school Boards, the minister added in a statement made on Wednesday, August 7, 2013. As per the minister, the unbiased system of percentile is a good policy for comparative analysis of marks obtained in various Boards. The system focuses in the diversities of examinations held by different Boards. The “cut-off percentile score” for the topmost 20 percentile differs in various Boards, as per the examination data of 2013. Different methods to assess scores are adopted by different boards. Hence, the percentile method will bring about an accurate comparison of students under various Boards, Mr. Tharoor added. Shashi Tharoor provided some clarification on the new system. Only

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister M M Pallam Raju has termed the new entrance tests for admission into the  Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)  and the  National Institutes of Technology (NITs)  as impartial. The new system has led to a noticeable increase in women students as well as students hailing from rural areas compared to preceding years, he added. These comments featured in the official communication between the HRD Minister and the Andhra Pradesh (AP) government. Minister Raju addressed concerns of students from AP arising out of the implementation of the new policy, as well. As per the minister, students from the southern state of AP constitute the single largest faction hailing from any state qualifying in the  Joint Entrance Examination-Main (JEE-Main).  In fact the past 2 years’ trends reveal that one student out of every 5, who are ranked within 1000 up to 15,000, is from AP, the minister added. As per the minister, the new admission pattern is "

The IIT-JEE reforms sought to be introduced by the human resources development ministry have sparked a national debate in India. While the HRD ministry states the new exam pattern is an attempt to curb students' over-dependence on coaching classes and to bring some respectability to the board exams, coaching classes and a section of students question the need for introducing the reforms in the middle of the academic year without prior warning. This year, about 198,000 students appeared for 4,935 seats at the seven Institutes of Technology; the Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University; and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. In the wake of these reforms, Professor V G Idichandy of IIT-Madras discusses with Yogesh K Upadhyaya, the reasons for a change in the IIT-Joint Entrance  Examination  pattern and the  eligibility criteria . Prof V G Idichandy, convener of STF was the chairman of JEE, IIT-Madras in 1999. He is currently a professor in the department of Ocean Engin

It is useful to recall the circumstances in which it was born, and subsequently nurtured. Although the Nalini Ranjan Sarkar Committee had submitted its report in 1946, it was after independence that action was taken on the report. Therefore, it was free India's first professional institution, conceived of and built by Indians for the unique developmental needs of a free India. The N R Sarkar Committee used global benchmarking to define standards without knowing the term by stating, "the proposed institutes should attain a standard not less than Manchester and Massachusetts". There was value seen in the use of international faculty as evidenced by the presence of Professor R A Kraus and Professor H Tischner in the original academic team. The word brand was not used those days, but Brand IIT evolved through the consistent and credible actions of the early leaders. The vision was articulated in very rich words by N R Sarkar at the time of the inauguration in August

School is starting soon and with it comes back-to-school night, notes from teachers, conferences with parents, and perhaps the dreaded phone call from the principal’s office. So, as your kid goes out the door for that first day of school, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the right tools to build a good relationship with your child’s teacher. Better communication between teachers and parents ultimately helps students perform better, pulls the parent into the classroom and gives the teacher more information for solid instruction. Teachers and parents in School District 2 spoke recently about what works best for them to strengthen the relationship between home and classroom, and how best to work hand-in-hand for the good of the student. 1. Open communication:  ”I send home a weekly newsletter and I’ve got a blog for my classroom,” said Wendy Martin, a first-grade teacher at Bitterroot Elementary. “I like to keep the communication open with my parents.” She recommends that p

The validity of the appointment of the  IIT-Madras  director,  Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy , has been challenged in the Madras high court , where a former IITian has filed a quo warranto petition. If allowed by the court, the director could lose the post. Justice D  Hariparanthaman , before whom the petition filed by Dr E  Muralidharan  of Chennai came up for hearing on Friday, ordered notices to the director and the  centre , returnable in three weeks.   In his petition, Muralidharan, who argued the case himself on Friday, said the director had been appointed without the mandatory approval of the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister. Noting that the President was the Visitor of all the 15 IITs in the country, he said each IIT is managed by a 32-member council. The director is appointed by the council with prior approval of the Visitor, the petition said. In this regard, he said that Clause 15 (3) of the statutes says: "The council may appoint an eminent

Loving couples: In a world where 40 percent of marriages end in divorce, you can't help but notice them. There they are, finishing each other's sentences or laughing in some dusky corner of a Chinese restaurant. They seem so wonderfully in sync, and they make the work of being a couple seem effortless. Of course, no intimate relationship ever is, especially once you factor in life's built-in pressures, like work deadlines, laundry and your daughter's orthodontist appointments.  But, says Jane Greer, Ph.D., Redbook Online's resident sex-and-relationships expert, there are certain core values that make some marriages more intimate and resilient than others. You could probably predict the list: trust, mutual respect, commitment and a strong sense of "we" in the relationship. What is surprising, experts point out, is that when you ask loving husbands and wives about the key to their devotion, over and over you'll hear the same things, specific habits th

Too often, teenage relationship advice focuses on how to tell if you are really in love with someone, while giving a checklist of the things you should be experiencing to see if you really are. Not a lot shed light on what to do once you've made that first step toward being committed to someone. It's where things need to be threshed out if a long-term union is desired, and it merits some guidelines so you can have a caring, happy, and strong relationship. Here are some five tips to help you and your partner achieve precisely this. 1. Make friendship the foundation of your relationship. As cliché as it may seem, teen relationships based on friendship tend to last longer than ones that aren't. This kind of reasoning is based on the simple expedient that friends are more comfortable with each others' quirks, habits, and ways of thinking, and those who graduate to a love relationship from a friendship are less likely to be turned off by previously unnoticed behavior

A few months ago two Ohio teens were on trial for allegedly raping a girl who was too drunk to know what was happening to her.  When the girl figured out through social media what had occurred, she decided to press charges.  Both of these boys were star athletes on the football team.  Many adults in the town were in an uproar over what would happen to their beloved football team if these boys were found guilty.  The girl reported that one of the boys called her and begged her not to press charges because it would ruin his football career. If this was your daughter, how would you feel?  If these were your sons would you want them to face the consequences or get off? “This is an interesting situation,” said Dr. Bill Doherty, professor of marriage and family at the University of Minnesota and author of  Take Back Your Kids .  “The idolatry of sports and athletes getting a free pass for bad behavior has moved from professional sports all the way down to the high school level sending the m

In each day that passes by, we stand by and witness how our lives are being lived without the full happiness and satisfaction we crave and need. Most people spend their time stressed out, worried and on a constant panic about what needs to be done for their futures, raising their children, wired up over work, school, along with everything else. Does this sound familiar? Well if it does, it is because so many people live with this style and pattern. When you can start living that fully happy and satisfied life? The only way you can live a happy and satisfied life, is when you start doing things that make you happy and satisfied. Sure, it sounds easy, and can be easy if you just remember to make yourself one of your top priorities. Too many people neglect themselves, feeling that it would be selfish if they took any time out to focus on their own being. While it is good to take care of others and other important things going on in your life, it is mandatory that you never forget abo