Ignou introduces course in food safety, quality

NEW DELHI: Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) has introduced a post-graduate (PG) diploma course in food safety andquality management from the 2013 academic session, authorities said.


"The programme has been developed together with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority ( Apeda) to meet the increasing human resource requirements for food safety and quality management professionals in the agriculture and food sectors," a statement from Ignou said. 

The last date for admission to the course is June 30. 

"The PG diploma is intended for graduates in sciences, agriculture, food science or allied disciplines contemplating a career in food safety and quality management. It is also intended for professionals in food processing and quality control for strengthening their proficiency in design," the statement added. 

Ignou is the world's largest open university system with a pan-India and international reach with flexible entry qualifications and a wide range of academic programmes at affordable cost.

BJP wants lower cutoffs for Delhiites

NEW DELHI: The BJP demanded two to four percent relaxation in cutoffs for students of Delhi for admission to Delhi University. Claiming that the Congress government has not added a single college to the 85 under DU in the last 15 years, Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel said his party will ensure that 15 more state government-funded colleges are opened.

The BJP leader also said in order to "help aspirants from other states" get quality education, his party will facilitate opening of branches of top DU colleges in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab so that instead of coming to Delhi, students can get access to higher education in their home states. On the issue of the four-year undergraduate programme, Goel said the new undergraduate structure is a "done deal and the onus is on the vice-chancellor of DU to plug the loopholes in consultation with all stakeholders".

The occasion was the release of the Delhi report on 'state of higher education' which is a part of the BJP's Delhi Declaration 2013. The report sets the agenda for higher education in the city. The report criticized the Delhi government for not doing enough to decrease the demand-supply gap for higher education in the city.

Demanding relaxation in cutoffs for Delhi students, Goel said, "Students from outside Delhi come to the city for education as there are not many quality institutions in their areas. And, like other states, there is no reservation for local students. Therefore, I feel at least a relaxation in cutoffs should be given to the local students."

Spelling out the way forward, the report recommended three DU campuses in east, west and Dwarka in addition to the existing North and South campuses. It also suggested opening up more colleges in National Capital Region through public-private-partnership.

In fact, Goel said that DU should open more hostels in areas like Burari through Private-Public Partnership mode. Apart from promising more private investment in higher education, Delhi BJP also promised a college for theatre, TV and cinema in the city.

On the issue of introduction of Four-Year Undergraduate Programme and its incremental expenses on the students due to the additional year, Goel said, "The university has already done it with approval of the Academic Council and Executive Council. It was there in court as well. But keeping in view the allegations of not enough consultation and the loopholes in the system, it is for the VC to address these issues and consult the stakeholders."

High scorers also eye activities quota

NEW DELHI: With tremendous increase in the number of pre-admission registrations this year, the number of applications for admissions through extra-curricular activities quota has also risen significantly. Delhi University colleges handling the ECA admission process directly report that even candidates with good scores are applying for ECA quota.

Hindu College has received over 1,500 forms this year. "We have not received more than 1,000 applications in many years. This year is a record," says principal Pradyumn Kumar. Hindu will be holding the preliminary trials from 9am to 6pm for four days starting July 1. There will be two rounds.

"Even those with 95% marks are applying for ECA quota because they are worried about the cutoffs," says Shashi Tyagi, principal, Gargi College. This year, DU received over one lakh registrations more than last year. Over 44,000 candidates who wrote the Class XII CBSE exam have their aggregate in five subjects in the 90s. The number of students with more than 90% in their best-of-fours is even higher. "The 92-93 percenters are a worried lot," observes Kanika Khandelwal, spokesperson, Lady Shri Ram College, "We have received a large number of forms from high scorers."

Pass percentage can point to placement opportunities

CHENNAI: Around one-fifth of the engineering colleges in the state have an overall pass percentage of 50% to 60%, and close to half a lower rate. Anna University published the pass percentages of students in each affiliated, constituent and autonomous college in each department semester-wise last week.

The overall pass percentage of colleges may not be good indicators to determine the quality of a college, but it can give a fair idea of the placement record. Many colleges resort to the tactic of advertising 100% placement in their college, saying that all those who are eligible were placed. Unfortunately, sometimes this is because only a few become eligible to sit for the placements.

Sivagnana Prabhu, head of training, placement and communications at RMK Group of Institutions, said, "Usually companies prefer students who are good in academics. Their performance in exams is the only indicator of academic prowess." Most companies eliminate students with any 'standing arrears' or a 'history of arrears' at the first level of the recruitment process, because they want students who can join them soon after they complete their course.

Going by the pass rate of the engineering colleges, only 70 of more than 500 colleges will have any chance of placing more than 75% of their students. The picture looks bleaker when one considers the fact that companies visit campuses for placements at the beginning of the fourth year. Companies recruit students based on their sixth semester marks or the aggregate over the last six semesters. The semester-wise pass rates of individual colleges show that in many cases the seventh and eighth semesters have the highest pass rates. This means that fewer students than those depicted in the overall pass rates in each college will be eligible for placements.

A recent study of the state of engineering education in TN by Nandini Consultancy Centre tried to analyse the job opportunities and challenges for freshers. The study found that most software companies insist that those attending campus interviews have a steady academic score of more than 70% throughout the course.

The study, conducted based on desk research and primary survey of engineering students and faculty, professional engineers and employers in TN, indicates that companies do not visit more than 40 campuses for recruitment.

Madras University professor made UGC vice-chairman

CHENNAI: H Devaraj, a senior biochemistry professor at the University of Madras, has been selected as vice-chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC). Devaraj, 59, was a student of the university in the early 70s and later joined as a lecturer at the department of biochemistry in 1984. Devaraj will serve the post of UGC vice-chairman for three years.

He has done research in stem cell biology and cancer biology. A former director of the University of Madras' Guindy campus and a senior executive council member of the Madras University Teachers' Association (MUTA), Devaraj was also a former syndicate member and headed a panel that governs the university in absence of VC. 

Devaraj, who hails from Ooty, was given a farewell around 11pm as he takes up his new job on Tuesday. "I received the order at 5pm today. Since I am catching the early morning flight, students insisted me to join them at the campus," he said. 

He was awarded the doctor of science by the university in 2007.

Date extended for online submission of BCom forms in Panjab University

CHANDIGARH: Panjab University has extended the last date for submission of online application forms for BCom centralized admission to colleges in the city up to June 25. As many as 5,733 students have already submitted the forms in hard copy.

However, the last date for submission of hard copy of the form will remain the same, that is, June 26. The forms can be submitted by post or by hand up to 5pm at PU University School of Open Learning.

PU spokesman said the decision to extend the last date has been taken to facilitate students stuck in Uttarakhand.

Some students approached PU saying that they could not submit the forms due to technical reasons and many others rued that they were held up in Uttarakhand.

There are 1,120 seats in coeducational colleges, 770 in women institutes and 140 in men's college in Chandigarh.

Of coeducational colleges, there are 210 BCom seats at DAV College, Sector 10; 70 at PU department of evening studies; 280 at SD college, Sector 32; 140 at Government College of Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 42; 140 at Post-graduate Government College, Sector 46; 280 at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26.

Of women colleges, there are 140 seats at Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45; 210 at MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36; 140 at Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26; 140 at Post-graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 11; 140 at Post-graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42.

Close to 55% new entrants to IIM-Kozhikode are women

NEW DELHI: Continuing with its impressivetrack record on bridging the gender divide, IIM-Kozhikode has inducted 54.29% women students for its postgraduate programme for the 2013-15 batch.

The batch of 361 students include 165 men and 196 women. The batch comprises of 84.21% of students with bachelors degree in engineering and technology, 11% from commerce and economics stream and 4% from medicine, pharmacy, science and agriculture background.

Induction of women in IIM-Kozhikode has been on the rise for the past few years. In 2010, 100 women students were taken in a batch of 371 which rose to 121 women in 2011 of a batch of 341. There has been a steady rise of this number from 31.5% in 2010 to 35.48% in 2011. In 2012, it fell to 27.52% as only 98 out of 356 students were women.

The new batch that has just got the admission consists of students with 0-24 months' work experience. The batch consists of students from all corners of the country - Southern India (27%), Western India (26%), Northern India (19%), Eastern India (12%), Union Territories including Delhi (11%) and Central India (5%). IIM-Kozhikode said it did not alter its admission procedure to accommodate higher number of women students, but factored in the consistent academic performance. IIMK was also among the first to slash its tuition fee by Rs. 30,000 for its post graduate programme making the two year fee Rs 9.7 lakh, lowest of all IIMs.

IIMK director Debashis Chatterjee said, "We at IIM-Kozhikode aspire to create a unique academic space that will challenge convention. This year we have not only led in ensuring gender diversity but have also admitted national talent from the field of sports, music, martial arts and the social sector. Our goal is to churn out not just a competent manager but a well rounded and a compassionate human being. In this endeavour, the current batch of students will be our 

There is no short cut to success: Chetan Bhagat

GAYA: Exhorting the youth to be extremely careful in the selection of career options, celebrated writer Chetan Bhagat said there was no 'rewind button' in real life and as such, one mistake can derail the entire venture. 

Bhagat was delivering a motivational talk to Gaya youth on Sunday. The event was jointly organized by Yuva Prayas, the activist group engaged in road safety awareness creation to save young lives and a Jaipur-based educational group. Explaining the adoption of road safety as its 'theme song', Yuva Prayas leaders told Bhagat that most of the road accident victims are youth and as such road safety was all the more important. 

Giving tips to hundreds of youth, Bhagat asked his audience to be always positive and go ahead in the 'I can do it' spirit. Those with a humble background need not be unnecessarily bogged down by their 'auqat' (capacity) bogey as there are innumerable examples of people with humble background doing extremely well in life. Bhagat told his audience that he scored a moderate 76% marks in the Class X board examinations but did not allow the relatively low marks to haunt his future and made a place for himself by leaving behind the less memorable moments of life. 

Admitting that luck, too, plays a role in career building, the celebrated author said luck played a very limited and incremental role. Using film terminology, Bhagat said everybody was the hero/heroine and scriptwriter of his/her own life. Why not write a script that takes the box office by storm? asked Chetan. 

He told his Hasrat Mohani auditorium audience there was 'no short cut' to success and one has to work very hard consistently to achieve the goal. "Do something that you love and do not go by other people's career perceptions," was Bhagat's advice to the Gaya youth. Giving his own example, Bhagat said people discouraged him from quitting a lucrative job in search for 'something different and satisfying'. He also revealed that his books were initially rejected by several publishers, but he did not give up rather his resolve to make it went up with each rejection.

"Institutions and the family can only give you facilities, the real work has to be done by you," he said. Bhagat asked the young boys and girls to develop book reading habits as books develop imagination. "Well read men need not introduce themselves, their approach to life reveals the depth acquired through reading," he said. 

FYJC seats fill up fast on first day

MUMBAI: The heavy rain on Monday affected even the suburban railway services, but nothing could deter thousands of students and parents from rushing to junior colleges across the city as the first day of confirmation of admission dawned.


The first merit list was released online on Saturday evening and many junior colleges witnessed an uncontrollable rush of students on Monday despite students having two more days to complete the admission confirmation process. 

"The anxiety among students and parents is really high, so we try not to send students away," said Kavita Rege, principal of Sathaye College in Vile Parle. "The crowd was getting bigger with every passing hour and we had to extend the timing to accommodate everybody." 

She said teachers had to work in shifts to finish the admission process. 

Some colleges also called off Class XII lectures to accommodate FYJC aspirants. 

"We confirmed admissions of 1,100 students on Monday," said B Sharma, principal of Vaze Kelkar College, Mulund (W). The college has 1,800 FYJC seats. 

To avoid the rush, many colleges followed a strict schedule, calling only a batch of students. 

"It would be impossible to handle the rush otherwise," said Indu Shahani, principal, HR College, Churchgate. "We comfortably conducted admissions. Nearly 250 students confirmed their admission." 

She, too, said there would be very few seats left for the second merit list. 

The second merit list is to be released online on June 30, Sunday, at 5 pm.

IIT-Kharagpur to start medical course

KOLKATA: The Centre has sanctioned a 400-bed superspeciality hospital on the IIT-Kharagpur campus which will have a medical college attached to it so that the premier institute can start a medical course. Once this happens, IIT-Kgp will be the only one in the chain to impart medical education alongside technology.

A 45-acre plot has been earmarked for what promises to be a modern green building with minimal energy consumption at the south-east-end of the premises. Construction is slated to begin before Durga Puja.

The Centre and IIT-Kgp have chosen public sector enterprise HSCC for the project. HSCC provides professional consultancy services in the health care sector to both state-run and private hospitals. "It is in the process of finalising the architect who will prepare the building plan, according to specifications of our own civil constructions cell," said S K Som, director of the institute.

The institute runs a master's degree course in medical technology, which has already received much acclaim across the country. This encouraged it about five years ago to start a proper undergraduate medical course recognised by the MCI. But the plan met with both technical and legal hurdles as never before in the country had a tech school tried try to start medical education. Moreover, while the IITs are run by the ministry of human resources development, medical education is overseen by the Medical Council of India, which is under the health ministry.

However, after much persuasion and deliberation, both ministries have now agreed on the project. "We will have both medical and educational tie-ups with AIIMS," said Som. There will be several international collaborations, too, and the institute has already held talks for possible tie-ups with the John Hopkins University - the leading university in the US for bio-medical research, medicine and genetics.

Of the Rs 230 crore required for the project, Rs 150 crore will be given by the Centre and the institute has to arrange the rest. The Centre has already sent in an initial amount of Rs 75 crore.

SMSs on exam eve stump Haryana Teachers' Eligibility Test aspirants

AMBALA/YAMUNANAGAR: Candidates appearing for Haryana Teachers' Eligibility Test (HTET), to be conducted at various centres in the state on Tuesday and Wednesday, have been receiving text messages (SMSs) from unknown numbers telling them to bring coloured printouts of their roll numbers to take the exam. Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE), which is conducting the test, though, has rubbished all such talk about SMSs as rumours. 

Some HTET aspirants said that they were told to download their roll numbers and take a black and white printout from HBSE website. They also alleged that nobody, apart from the board officials, had the contact details of candidates so they could have probably leaked the database to those who sent the SMSs. 

However, many candidates have received SMSs from unknown numbers, which stated that HBSE has issued fresh instructions for them to bring coloured printouts of roll numbers to test centres, failing which they would not be allowed to take the exam. 

It is learnt that photocopy vendors are charging students between Rs 150 and 250 for the printout of their roll numbers. Some applicants said that shopkeepers in Kurukshetra had suggested to them that they get the printouts laminated. 

Geeta Rani, from Roop Nagar Colony in Jagadhri, said, "I received an SMS that black and white printouts of roll numbers would not be entertained. I was shocked. Why did the board authorities not send the message through mail or e-mail. When I contact the HBSE officials, they denied having issued such instructions." 

Another candidate from Jagadhri, Neetu, added, "On getting the message, I tried to contact the HBSE office, but their phone numbers were busy." 

Rajesh from Ambala city said, "Earlier I was bothered by some coaching centres who kept asking me to join their classes to prepare for HTET and this SMS has disturbed me further. Looks like racketeers are hand-in-glove with some board officials. Otherwise such a thing is not possible." 

We'll verify: HBSE secy 

When contacted, HBSE secretary Anshal Singh told TOI that the board did not issue any such instructions to candidates, for taking coloured printouts of their roll numbers. "I am just shocked to hear this. I will check about this with my subordinates to find out who could be behind this mischievous rumour," she said.

Latest News: Gujarat Technological University Result June 2013

AHMEDABAD: Over 20,000 students of the final semester of the Bachelor of Engineering degree course at the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) are still waiting for their results. The examination ended on May 9. 

Several students who have gotten admission in universities abroad face the threat of cancellation of their admission if there is further delay in declaring the results. Officials said that they are flooded with inquiries regarding the declaration of the result. 

Usually the results are declared within 40 days of the examination, but this year, 50 days have passed and students are still waiting for their results. 

GTU officials said that the assessment of the answer sheets was completed on Monday, so the university hopes to declare the result by next week. 

GTU officials said that the delay in results was only because few professors wanted to check the papers online from home. Earlier, the GTU used to assemble the professors at one place and get the papers checked. In order to give professors the luxury of checking papers from their residence, the GTU decided to give usernames and passwords to the professors, who were however reluctant to use their own internet. 

Wait gets longer: 

The wait for the final merit list stretches on, keeping the 68,000 students who have applied for admission to engineering colleges on tenterhooks. The Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) had assured students that the final merit list will be declared by Monday, but Monday has passed and the merit list has still not been declared. The ACPC has now promised to announce the merit list on Tuesday. Merit marks are essential for students as well as college administrators, as these will be used to finalize admissions to engineering colleges.

GTU Result Released JUNE 2013

AHMEDABAD: Over 20,000 students of the final semester of the Bachelor of Engineering degree course at the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) are still waiting for their results. The examination ended on May 9. 

Several students who have gotten admission in universities abroad face the threat of cancellation of their admission if there is further delay in declaring the results. Officials said that they are flooded with inquiries regarding the declaration of the result. 

Usually the results are declared within 40 days of the examination, but this year, 50 days have passed and students are still waiting for their results. 

GTU officials said that the assessment of the answer sheets was completed on Monday, so the university hopes to declare the result by next week. 

GTU officials said that the delay in results was only because few professors wanted to check the papers online from home. Earlier, the GTU used to assemble the professors at one place and get the papers checked. In order to give professors the luxury of checking papers from their residence, the GTU decided to give usernames and passwords to the professors, who were however reluctant to use their own internet. 

Wait gets longer: 

The wait for the final merit list stretches on, keeping the 68,000 students who have applied for admission to engineering colleges on tenterhooks. The Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) had assured students that the final merit list will be declared by Monday, but Monday has passed and the merit list has still not been declared. The ACPC has now promised to announce the merit list on Tuesday. Merit marks are essential for students as well as college administrators, as these will be used to finalize admissions to engineering colleges.

Gujarat Technological University final semester result 2013

AHMEDABAD: Over 20,000 students of the final semester of the Bachelor of Engineering degree course at the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) are still waiting for their results. The examination ended on May 9. 

Several students who have gotten admission in universities abroad face the threat of cancellation of their admission if there is further delay in declaring the results. Officials said that they are flooded with inquiries regarding the declaration of the result. 

Usually the results are declared within 40 days of the examination, but this year, 50 days have passed and students are still waiting for their results. 

GTU officials said that the assessment of the answer sheets was completed on Monday, so the university hopes to declare the result by next week. 

GTU officials said that the delay in results was only because few professors wanted to check the papers online from home. Earlier, the GTU used to assemble the professors at one place and get the papers checked. In order to give professors the luxury of checking papers from their residence, the GTU decided to give usernames and passwords to the professors, who were however reluctant to use their own internet. 

Wait gets longer: 

The wait for the final merit list stretches on, keeping the 68,000 students who have applied for admission to engineering colleges on tenterhooks. The Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) had assured students that the final merit list will be declared by Monday, but Monday has passed and the merit list has still not been declared. The ACPC has now promised to announce the merit list on Tuesday. Merit marks are essential for students as well as college administrators, as these will be used to finalize admissions to engineering colleges.

RBSE declares cut-off for admission into IITs

AJMER: The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) has announced the cut-offmarks to be eligible for an admission to the IITs. The cut-off has been decided at 66.40% or a minimum of 332 marks in the exams.

Following a directive by the HRD ministry, the board announced the cut-off on Friday.

Under the new exam pattern for entrance into IITs and other engineering colleges, the CBSE conducted the JEE-Mains. The selected few appeared in the JEE-Advanced exams on June 6.

For students in the ST (Scheduled Tribe category), the RBSE cut-off is 62.8% while for the SC (Scheduled Caste) it is 61.40%.

"The calculation has been done on the basis of the results of all the three streams-arts, science and commerce. The formula was given by the CBSE to all the boards to release the cut-off marks for admission eligibility in engineering colleges," said Mirju Ram Sharma, secretary, RBSE.

City topper aiming for a seat in IIT-Bombay

JAIPUR: Karan Vaidya, a resident of Bapu Nagar has brought laurels to the city by securing 12th position in the All India Ranking for IIT-JEE (Advanced).

"The result was unexpected. I had an idea that I would make it to the top 100 as I scored well in the IIT-Mains. Now, I am quite confident of getting my desired branch of study and location," he said.

A product of BVB Vidhyashram, Vaidya is eyeing a seat in the computer science branch at IIT-Bombay. He has been preparing for the IIT exams since Class 9.

"My interest in engineering developed when I started participating in inter-school science competitions and olympiads. Considering my performance in these competitions, my teachers encouraged me to prepare for IITs," he said.

Vaidya is a NTSE scholar and won the Kishore Vighyanik Purushkar, besides qualifying at the national level for maths and physics olympiads.

"I joined a coaching institute in Class 9. With every passing year, my interest in the subject grew and my performance also improved," said Vaidya, who scored a 10 CGPA in CBSE Class 10 and 95.8% in CBSE Class 12 exams.

The change in the IIT exam pattern did give him a few jitters but he soon overcame them to prepare diligently for the exam.

He chose multimedia as the fifth subject in his Class 12 as it would help him in his engineering studies later.

"The languages and basic codes used in the subject forms a part of the curriculum in the computer science branch in IIT-Bombay," he said and aspires to work with the best brains in the world.

His father is a pharmacist and a mother a homemaker.

Vaidya is a cricket buff and the recent IPL spot fixing scandal has hurt him. His love for the game though remains intact. "My dream is to watch a cricket match with the Indian team in the dressing room," said Vaidya.

CBSE Schools say no to gender sensitisation

LUDHIANA: On account of increasing crimes against women like molestation, the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) has taken an initiative to introduce 'gender sensitisation' as an elective subject for class XI and XII students. However, no school from city, affiliated to CBSE, has considered opting for this course yet, though it is likely to contribute a lot in the upbringing of students. 

This course was proposed a few weeks after the Delhi gang-rape case that generated the demand for rigorous training and sensitisation among men and women, and was designed to teach values and moral education to students especially boys. Meanwhile, city schools are giving preference to other subjects like legal studies, theater studies and fashion designing over this socially relevant topic. 

The principal of GNP School, Sarabha Nagar, Mona Singh, said, "I was very keen to opt 'gender sensitisation' as an elective subject but got late to apply for it. I feel it to be essential and compulsory for every student, including boys as we need to teach them to behave in properly. Initially, we used to put so many restrictions on girls. I feel this is the right age for students to be taught such things."

1st junior college merit list keeps to last year's cut-offs

MUMBAI: Students had reason to celebrate after the first junior college merit list was released online on Saturday evening. Cut-offs for the most part stood at last year's levels or even dropped a percentage point or two in some instances. Only a handful of colleges saw a rise of one or two percentage points.

"The rise or dip in cutoffs is not significant this year, and this is a welcome change," said Kavita Rege, principal of Sathaye College in Vile Parle. "The past two three years, the cut-offs have kept going upwards."

The cut-off in the science stream in Sathaye was 94.6%, a minor rise compared to last year's 94%. At DG Ruparel College, it was 93.63%, the same as last year.

At Birla College in Kalyan , the science cut-off dipped. "Our first list for science shut at 94% last year, whereas this year it is 92.54%," said the vice-principal of the college.

While, most colleges had witnessed a dip in the first merit list cut-offs last year as well, this year the number of students with 90-plus percentages increased.

"The highest score in the merit list is 98% and a total of 533 students with 90-plus scorers have made it through the first list," said Indu Shahani , principal of HR College , Churchgate. "While the cut-offs have gone down, the number of students with 90% scores in our batch will definitely increase."

She said that most students who made it through the first list were from CBSE and ICSE.

As many as 43,549 students made it to the college that was their first preference in the first list.

Madhav Mehta, a former St. Mary's High School student , looked disappointed after he saw the first list at HR.

"I didn't do too well in my ICSE exams, so I didn't expect to get in," he said. "I will wait for the second and third merit lists."

Students on the first list can confirm their admissions till Wednesday.

The second list will be announced on Sunday, June 30.

"I'm worried about the students who scored 80-85 % because it doesn't look like the cut-offs will go down in the next two merit lists," said Manju Nichani, principal of KC College.

(With inputs from Pallavi Surana and Sanchi Ravishanker)

CBSE: Engineering merit list to be declared by Monday

AHMEDABAD: The wait for the final merit list stretches on, keeping the 68,000 students who have applied for admission to engineering colleges on tenterhooks.

The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, though - officials of the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) have assured students that the final merit list will be declared by Monday. Merit marks are essential for students as well as college administrators, as these will be used to finalize admissions.

"There are certain changes that are being made in the merit list. The calculations that are being carried out to arrive at the final merit list will be uploaded on our official website," said an ACPC official.

Member secretary of the ACPC, MN Patel, said, "Every day, 100 students approach us wanting to know the same thing - their merit marks. We cannot answer them yet because the marks are still being calculated. Some students have also filed RTI applications to know their merit marks. Though we understand the apprehension of students and their parents, the whole process has generated a lot of stress for us. It is a rather complex process since we have to keep in mind each student's original percentile while undertaking the normalization process, which includes combining CBSE and Gujarat Board students. We then have to include the 2669 students who had not been considered in the merit list earlier because they had made errors while filing the online application forms for admission to engineering colleges. For these students, we have made special arrangements to ensure their inclusion in the final merit list. Thankfully, we are now almost through with the process and the merit list will soon be uploaded."

However, these assurances have failed to assuage the fears that plague students. Hardik Shah, a student of Ahmedabad, echoes the complaints of his fellow students: "This unprecedented delay in declaring the final merit list has kept us on edge for close to 10 days now. The problem is that even in the merit numbers that have been released, there is a lot of confusion. For instance, I have been marked below a student with a lower percentile. I am unable to understand how this came about."

In a first, girls among IIT entrance test toppers

NEW DELHI: If Sibbala Leena Madhuri is aware of having made history, she's not showing it. The 16 year-old, originally from Thirupathi and now based in Hyderbad, is one of the first two girls ever to feature in the top 10 ranks of the entrance exam to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Her rank is eighth; the other girl, Aditi Laddha from Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh (Delhi zone),is sixth.

"I thought I would get below rank 20, wasn't expecting my score to be in the top 10," says Leena. With a score of 97.9% -- Andhra Pradesh board - she assumes she's in the top 20 percentile. "I think I'll go to Mumbai or Delhi IIT and will opt for either electronics or computer science." When she's not studying, she plays chess and listens to music. Only about 11% of the total number qualifying are women.

Pallerla Sai Sandeep Reddy, 17, Harry Potter-fan and JEE Advanced topper, wants computer science at Mumbai IIT too. But that's for a start. "Finally I'll take up robotics," he says on his way to "college" (high school in Hyderabad) to celebrate. "I didn't think I'd top before the exam but after, yes," he says laughing. His exam went that well. Son of a government school teacher of social studies, Sandeep has spent many years away from home in a village near Podili town, Prakasham district, AP. He was staying in hostel in Hyderabad and had completed the entire high-school syllabus by the middle of Class 11. "That way I could devote the next year to preparation. I studied 12 hours," he says.

The IITs surprised everyone by declaring the results two days before the scheduled June 23. "The reason we are doing this early is because there are many applicants from very remote parts of the country who don't have internet access and, therefore, don't get to know their results in time for counseling," says IIT-Delhi director, R.K. Shevgaonkar. The IITs will be sending hardcopies of results to the candidates so that those without internet access are not left out. Counseling will start from June 24 and continue till June 30. The physical verification of certificates for the first round of counseling will be done between July 4 and 8.

Of the 1,52,351 candidates who cleared JEE Mains and were eligible for JEE Advanced, 1,26,704 registered and even less actually appeared. "One of the reasons for this," says IIT Delhi's organizing chairman, H C Gupta, "Is that several states, for instance Gujarat, didn't conduct state exams and admitted on the basis of JEE Main (held in April) result. Many students who didn't register or write exam would've got into state engineering colleges. Next year, many states have opted for JEE Main including West Bengal, Maharashtra and Haryana." He further adds that many of the applicants who didn't write the exam even after registering would be girls - registration for them was free, they registered then didn't show.

The IITs are calling for counseling 276 SC/ST candidates who will be placed in the one-year "preparatory" course - reintroduced this year - and placed in first year from the next session. This is the first time the entrance exam into the IITs has been conducted in two parts. "For the first time we have to do the pre-preparation for the number of centres for the tests all on the basis of assumptions," says Gupta. The number of seats has increased at the IITs from 9,647 to 9,885 but the maximum increase has happened at the newer IITs where new courses have been launched.