New Delhi, May 6: The second day of the marathon meeting of the Delhi University's Academic Council tonight saw the clearance of 26 subjects for the new four-year programme, bringing the total number of courses approved to 54.

Council member Sanjay Kumar said “42 courses in Discipline 1, Discipline 2 and Application, 11 foundational courses and another course have been approved. The meeting today was attended by over 100 members".

The meeting, which went on Wednesday night, gave nod to syllabus for courses including computer science, mathematics, economics, operational research, statistics, political science, social work, commerce, management studies, African studies, East Asian studies and music.

Syllabus for history and sociology will be approved in a meeting of the Council. The Council had passed 28 courses in an over 12-hour-long meeting on Wednesday.

The Council also discussed changes in the university ordinances, including changes in the nomenclature of degrees, admissions under reserved categories, internal assessment in the four-year undergraduate programme.

Instead of the baccalaureate degrees proposed to be offered under the four-year course, Council members have come to a consensus that a diploma will be given if a student exits after two years, a bachelor's degree after three years and a bachelor's degree with honours or a B.Tech degree on completion of four years.

The decision comes following the University Grants Commission's directive that the Delhi University could shift to a four-year system, but it would have to retain the conventional nomenclature of degrees.

Another change passed by the Council was regarding the admission under the reserved categories. Till now admissions for candidates from the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and people with disability (PWD) were conducted centrally.

From this year, SC/ST and PWD admissions will be decentralised and colleges will declare a cut-off list for students under these categories. The courses passed by the Council will be discussed tomorrow at an Executive Council meeting.

The four-year programme with multiple degree options will entail a shift from the present 10+2+3 scheme to a four-year graduation with multiple exit points.

The new system, which is being watched closely by other universities, seeks to introduce interdisciplinary pedagogy, enhance the quality of education and impart employable skills.

Agartala, May 7: The Tripura State Literacy Mission (TSLM) has embarked on making the state free from illiteracy by August this year, officials said.

The decision was made at a high level meeting of the TSLM at Khumulwung on Friday.

"We could not make vigorous literacy drive in rural and hilly areas due to insurgency which thrived for about three decades, but with the insurgency on the wane we are chasing our target," officials said.

To reach the goal, it was decided to take the help of village level workers of the agriculture department and Anganwadi teachers besides different NGOs mainly in rural and hilly areas.

According to the census report of 2011, Tripura ranks third in literacy rate in the country.

New Delhi, May 4: Haritha V Kumar has topped the prestigeous All-India Civil Services Examination while Apurva Dubey has secured 19th rank is also pursuing law from Delhi University.

Haritha V Kumar, who topped the All-India Civil Services Examination, initially did not believe it was true as she thought her friends had played a prank.

"Initially, I could not believe it was true. I thought I was being fooled by my friends who called me to congratulate me," Haritha told a Malayalam TV channel from Faridabad.

Haritha, who is already an officer in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and posted at Faridabad, clinched the top rank in the civil services examination in her fourth attempt.

"I thank my teachers, well-wishers and friends for my success," said Haritha, who hails from Kerala's capital of Thiruvananthapuram.

"This victory is the result of her hard work, dedication and determination. We thank God and all those who have helped her," Haritha's parents said.

An engineering graduate, Haritha chose economics and Malayalam as her main subjects for the civil service.

It is after two decades that a candidate from Kerala has emerged topper in the All-India Civil Services Examination.

V Sriram from Kochi secured the second rank and Albi John Verghese from Muvvattupuzha got the fourth rank in the examination held in 2012.

Prasar Bharati Parivar Congratulates Ms Apurva Dubey and her proud father Dr Sanjay Dubey ADG(A), Prasar Bharati Secretariat on her final selection in UPSC's Civil Service exam 2012.

Apurva Dubey did her schooling from Vivekananda Kendriya Vidyalaya, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh and  graduated from Venkateswara College (DU) in English Honours.
 
Her optional subjects were Law & Public Administration.

All family members of Prasar Bharati (AIR & DD) heartily wishes her a very Prosperous and Successful life.

New Delhi, April 28: Delhi University has announced the approval of a slew of courses, including English, Hindi and Modern Indian Languages for the new four year degree programme.

The Faculty of Arts at its meeting on Friday approved multiple courses under 13 departments including Urdu, Arabic, Psychology, Philosophy, and Linguistics among others, a statement issued by the university said.

"With this approval, barring four departments, all courses of studies in respect of all departments of all faculties stand approved for submission to the Academic Council. These (remaining) four courses are expected to be approved in the next few days," DU Registrar Alka Sharma said.

Several courses including Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Economics and Political Science have already been approved by their respective departments for the four-year degree programme which will be implemented from this year.

The programme, with multiple degree options ranging from an associate baccalaureate in two years, will entail a shift from the present 10+2+3 scheme to a four-year graduation with multiple exit points.

New Delhi, April 9: resident Pranab Mukherjee has called for drastic action to reform the way education is being imparted in universities and institutes of higher learning in the country.

"Our institutes of higher education continue to be challenged by problems of quality. An international survey indicated that there is not a single Indian university amongst the top 200 universities in the world. This calls for drastic action to reform the way education is imparted in our universities and academic institutes," Mukherjee said while addressing the 10th convocation of National Institute of Technology at Kurukshetra on Tuesday.

He said quality, affordability, and accessibility should become the mainstay of the country's higher education system.

"We must take higher education, including technical education, to the doorstep of our people by innovations in the delivery system," Mukherjee said.

Expressing concerns over the shortage of faculty across all types of institutes of higher education, the President said existing vacancies should be filled up quickly.

He also asked teachers to update themselves with the latest information in their respective academic fields.

"Our universities and institutes must encourage and facilitate their teachers participation in international seminars, refreshers courses and project work," Mukherjee said.

Lamenting that the country was lagging far behind in the field of innovation, Mukherjee said, "India's innovation balance sheet is not very encouraging. In 2011, 42,000 patents were filed in our country, compared to over five lakh applications filed each in China and the US in the same year."

As per a recent Forbes survey, only three Indian companies have been listed amongst the world's most innovative companies, he said, adding the number will increase if the process of innovation is made a permanent feature in our institutions of learning.

"Our universities, engineering colleges and research and development centres should be the hotbed of innovations," Mukherjee said.

"Talent in academic and research positions in our institutions are difficult to retain due to lack of adequate flexibility in our system. Our system must be geared to discourage any loss of intellectual capital and at the same time welcome overseas scholars including NRIs and Persons of Indian origin to return to the country," the President said.

Such an initiative will enable transmission of ideas and new methods of teaching and research from abroad to India.

"Academia-industry linkages must be strengthened to include industry's perspective in research and to drive market benefits from innovations," he added.

New Delhi, March 19: The time has come to "redefine" the way education is imparted in India as it is "simply unacceptable" that no Indian university finds a place amongst top global institutions, President Pranab Mukherjee said today.

Addressing the 90th Convocation of Delhi University, Mukherjee also stressed on the need for enhancing enrolments and improvising modules that can enable better learning and bringing higher education closer to remote corners of the country to remove imbalances.

"The education sector is today confronted by problems relating to both quantity and quality...If we are to redefine the way education is imparted by our educational institutions, the time is now," Mukherjee said.

According to an international ranking of universities, he said, no Indian varsity finds a place amongst the global top 200.

"This you would agree, is simply unacceptable. We must develop our universities into global leaders, and for that, the best practices in other countries should be carefully studied and adopted with necessary changes to suit our conditions," he said.

There is now at least one Central University in every state but the question that one should ask is whether we are satisfied with the progress that we are making in the educational sector.

"An honest answer would reveal that we have miles and miles to go before we can say that we have arrived," he said.

Noting that the education sector is confronted by problems relating to both quantity and quality, he said it is "disheartening" that many places in the country do not have a higher educational institution that are within the practical reach of aspiring students.

On the brain-drain issue, Mukherjee was of the view that our systems were not "conducive to retaining talents", and hence, lose many of them to organisations within and outside the country.

In the convocation, 400 students were awarded doctoral, 6,500 post graduate and 65,000 graduate degrees.

New Delhi, February 27, 2013: Changes in civil services exam patterns have been approved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, paving way for a new format which will give more weightage to general studies.

The decision came in on the recommendation of a Committee constituted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the examination annually.

At present, the civil services (main) examination has general studies Paper I and II of 300 marks each, including Compulsory and Optional subjects.

As per the new changes, both the general studies papers will have more weightage.

The report of the Committee, under the chairmanship of Prof. Arun S. Nigavekar, former chairman, UGC, was examined by the Department of Personnel and Training.

It was then put up before the Prime Minister for final approval. "The new format has been by and large approved (by the PM). A notification will soon be issued," DoPT Secretary P. K. Misra said.

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V. Narayanasamy had, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha, said the UPSC had suggested certain changes in the existing scheme of civil services (main) examination to make it more relevant with the present day, on the basis of the report of the committee.

The notification will have the details of the new format, another senior DoPT official said.

The UPSC conducts the civil service examination to select candidates for three All India Services - Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service - besides scores of Group A services.

It has temporarily withhold issuance of a notification for this year's civil services examinations, which was scheduled to be put out early this month.

"The civil services examination, 2013 was scheduled to be notified on 2nd February, 2013. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, this examination will not be notified on 2nd February, 2013.

"The revised date of notification will be intimated in due course," an order issued by the UPSC stated.

London, February 21, 2013: In a remarkable achievement Stanford University has become the first school to collect more than USD 1 billion for college fundraising in a single year.

For the eighth straight year, Stanford ranked first in the Council for Aid to Education's annual college fundraising survey, which shows that elite institutions continue to grab a disproportionate share of donor dollars, according to a report released on Wednesday.

In the 2012 fiscal year, roughly 3,500 US colleges and universities raised USD 31 billion, 2.3 per cent more than the previous year. The record was set in 2008 when schools took in USD 31.6 billion before fundraising dropped during the height of the financial crisis.

"We're climbing out of the doldrums," said survey director Ann Kaplan. "We haven't returned to the high point of 2008, but we're approaching it. I think you can say that about a lot of industries."

Topping the list was Stanford at USD 1.035 billion, followed by Harvard University at USD 650 million, Yale University at USD 544 million, the University of Southern California at USD 492 million and Columbia University at USD 490 million.

The top 10 fundraising colleges collected USD 5.3 billion, or 17 percent, of the USD 31 billion, even though they represent only 0.3 per cent of the 3,500 accredited, nonprofit schools included in the survey. Stanford benefited from a surge in donations at the end of its multi-year Stanford Challenge fundraising campaign, which netted USD 6.2 billion.

The 10-campus University of California system raised USD 1.56 billion, which doesn't include money collected by its individual campuses. UC Berkeley was the leading fundraiser among all public universities, taking in USD 405 million.

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford's alumni list includes the founders of major tech companies like Yahoo Inc. who have given to the school in recent years. Stanford raised 46 per cent more in its 2012 fiscal year than the USD 709 million it collected in 2011 and surpassed its previous record of USD 911 million set in 2006.

Stanford received donations from nearly 79,000 donors, including USD 100 million of a USD 150 million gift from Silicon Valley investor Robert King and his wife Dorothy to establish the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies.

"We are in awe and remain humbled by this kind of response. It was a remarkable showing of generosity," said Martin Shell, Stanford's vice president for development.

New Delhi, Nov 12: President Pranab Mukherjee has stressed upon the need to promote technology enabled learning.

Speaking after inaugurating the National Education Day 2012 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, the President said that education system of a country should be measured on the basis of number of intellectual citizens it provides to the country.

Human resource development minister MM Pallam Raju, UNESCO Chief Irina Bakova besides other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

Pranab Mukherjee also threw light on the educational vision of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education Minister of independent India.

He also said that access to elementary education should be the main focus in the 12th five year plan.

On the occasion, the President launched a new version of Aakash tablet- the Aakash-2.

This new and improved version will come with a higher processor speed and better battery life.

The tablet will also feature a better quality display resolution and many applications which will be helpful for the children.

On the occasion, Human resource development minister MM Pallam Raju said that there is need to give special emphasis on research and innovation in higher education to fulfil the needs of developing nations.

He also said that several steps are being take ensure better use of technology for education related works and training of teachers.

New Delhi, Nov 7: Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has assured the Centre's full support to Arunachal Pradesh for all round development of its education sector.

Tharoor gave this assurance when state Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, along with Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering and Education Minister Bosiram Siram called on him in New Delhi yesterday and apprised him of the various problems faced by the education department.

During the meeting Siram cited various problems and obstacles faced by the department sector like communication bottleneck, socio-cultural norms and practices, gender parity, poor attendance by teachers and students due to lack of infrastructure facility and shortage of funds in making schools of the state RTE compliance, the sources said.

Siram urged for consideration of liberal funding and extension of time for one more year after March 2013 to make the schools RTE compliant.

The state minister also requested for increasing funds for construction of polytechnics in the state from Rs 800 lakh to at least Rs 1500 lakh, besides continuation of state joint entrance examination and allotment of engineering and medical seat from special pool.

He also sought strengthening the National Institute of Technology in the state and protection, promotion and development of endangered languages of Arunachal Pradesh, the sources said.

Siram also requested Indira Gandhi National Open University authority for relaxation for teachers for obtaining professional degree as obtaining it before 2015 by those appointed after 2010 has become mandatory.

About 40 per cent of teachers appointed after 2010 have less than 45 per cent marks, the lowest required by IGNOU, he said.

Auckland, Nov 5: The Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) in New Zealand has announced additional scholarships for students of India, Sri Lanka and Nepal enabling them to pursue advanced studies while engaging in sporting events.

The scholarship, named after famed cricketer John Wright, who is the the brand ambassador of SIT is targetted at students with outstanding sporting and academic records.

It ranges from Rs 60,000 to Rs 7.5 lakh.

"The scholarships give successful candidates an opportunity to pursue their sporting and academic dreams.

They can pursue their academic goals while gaining valuable sporting experience at the same time.

They also can choose to study a wide range of advanced qualifications and subject areas," Wright, who was also the coach of the Indian cricket team, told reporters in New Delhi.

The institute aims to enhance student flow to the institute from South Asian countries with the scholarship programme.

At present, of the 12,000-odd students in its campus, over 300 are from India.

SIT is a New Zealand government-owned institute, offering 160 programmes from short courses to degrees to post graduate studies.

The John Wright scholarships are available for programmes like post graduate diploma in business enterprises in about nine graduate diplomas, 12 bachelor degrees and a host of diploma programmes.

An institute release stated scholarship recipients not only get the benefit of fee reduction but also an opportunity to play for Southland local teams in New Zealand.

IMPHAL, October 12: Manipur University has been invited by MCX-SX, a national stock exchange licensed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for academic partnership.

In an invitation sent through the Dean of Social Sciences of MU Prof Amar Yumnam MCX-SX has informed that the partnership will be followed by a deliberation on the scope of association and the support that would be extended by MCX-SX.

The invitation for academic partnership is being extended to very select institutions with an objective of providing an increased access to academic and research institutions on financial markets knowledge and know-how.

MCX-SX would extend the reach and access of the powerful and fast growing national stock exchange to academic and research institutions with an objective of capacity building in terms of financial markets research, faculty development, curriculum development, special reviews and studies, financial education, financial literacy, seminars/workshops/conferences, exchange visits and special skill development programs.

The proposed  academia-industry cooperation also aims to help the academic community to draw benefits from the growing financial markets landscape that could help expand the scope and significance of academic and research initiatives.

IMPHAL, September 14: The method of distribution of forms for the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) has drawn flak from the aspirants as availing the said forms has become a painstaking  affair.

Forms for the TET exam to be conducted by the Board of Secondary Education were made available at RDS, Palace Compound beginning September 12.

It is the only formal outlet for availing the form and candidates from all nine districts have to arrive at the said location.

According to reports culled at the site, a person standing along the queue at 11 am in the morning stood till 3 pm.

Many individuals on arriving at the counter in the evening had to turn back as the counter had to be shut close due to unavailability of receipts.

The incident sparked protest from those who had stood for hours to get the form and the police had to be called in to prevent the crowd from rioting.

Aspirants hailing from Chandel and Churachandpur voiced their discontent as they had been standing the whole day. It was mentioned that they had never faced such a hindrance and appealed that the forms should be sold at other districts of the state also. The price of the form ranges from Rs 400 for the General category and 300 for others.The last date of submission is on September 29 and the admit cards will be handed out in November 17.

The exam is to be held on November 28.

Meanwhile, The Kuki Students' Organisation, KSO submitted a memorandum to state education minister seeking to defer the date of Teachers Eligibility Test, TET examination as it collide with the date of SSC exams. It further urged to extend the last date for submission of forms and to open TET exam centres in all the districts of the state.

In a statement, the KSO highlighted the plight of the candidates residing in far flung areas and districts of Manipur and the hardship faced especially in procuring the forms in just a day.

IMPHAL, Aug 4: In a move that is believed to have changed the understanding of political science as a subject, a one-day symposium organized by Manipur Political Science Association (MPSA) was held at the Conference Hall of Manipur College, Singjamei today.

Speaking as chief guest of the function, retired professor of Manipur University M Horam explained the significance of political science as a subject.

He defined Political Science as a subject that deals men with his surroundings.

In the light of the changing circumstances, Horam opines the need of revising the syllabus to suit our needs. “We are more concerned on studying the thoughts and models of the western world. Why can’t we develop our own models to solve our problems”, exhorts the professor.

In the light of globalization, he stressed the need of political scientists to study and analyze the possible outcome of the future. “Globalization cannot be questioned. Instead we must try to develop a model of our own to face the onslaught”, he added.

It may be noted that today’s symposium is the first educational event of MPSA after it came into being on 30 May this year.

Prof Ksh Bimola Devi who is also the former dean of social science of the same university suggests how outdated syllabus is removed and replaced by new ones. She said that college authorities have their right in this regard.

“But the most important thing needed is the cooperation among teaching staffs and the heads. An appeal from the college institutions for revision of the syllabus can be sent to the University authorities,” explained the retired dean.

While the Principal of Manipur College Kh Jayentakumar Singh relates the co-relationship between political science and economics, Head of Political science of the college Dr H Indrakumar Singh spoke on the importance of peaceful coexistence.

On the scope of political science, Indrakumar said that a person considers the subject solely to state and administration. However, it is a subject that touches all aspect of life, said Indrakumar who is the functional president of the symposium.

Today’s symposium was attended by Dr L Rajen Singh, Arambam Noni, Dr Indrakumar, S Dangmei and Dr Binarani as speakers of the technical session held in the evening.