math education

NO AGE LIMIT IN WBJEEB

2008-10-04T14:44:00.001+05:30

The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEEB) decided that there will be no age limit for appearing in the Joint Entrance Examination for admission to engineering and medical colleges of West Bengal.From now onwards, any student above the age of 17 years can appear in the JEE examination.Last year the board had fixed the upper age limit to 24 years for both medical and engineering entrance examination in the state.

Regional Mathematical Olympiad

2008-10-03T11:44:00.003+05:30

The Regional Mathematical Olympiad will be held on November 9 between 1 p m and 4 p m in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Adoor,Ernakulam, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod. The students from Class XI/XII and exceptional students of Class X can apply.There is no prescribed syllabus for the Olympiad.The five toppers will win a cash prize of Rs 2000 and Prof C S Venkataraman memorial prizes.Twenty toppers candidates (six from class XII) will be selected for the Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO) to be held at CUSAT on February 2009.Thirty INMO awardees will be invited for a training camp to select an Indian team for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2009.IMO-2008 was held in Spain and India was placed 31 with 5 bronze medals.There is no application form for participating in the Olympiad.Principals can forward the list of the candidates with student’s name, medium of instruction,class, residential address,phone numbers, email-ids and requested centre with a registration fee of Rs 30 by Cash/MO/DD drawn in favour of Regional Coordinator, INMO payable at State Bank of Travancore, Cochin University.The last date for filled in application is October 10. For old question papers and information brochure, send in an application with a 10*8 self-addressed envelope affixed with Rs 25 stamps to Dr A Vijayakumar, Regional coordinator, INMO, Dept of Maths, CUSAT- 22.For further details, call 0484-2577518 or logon on maths.cusat.ac.in/olympiad.

UPTU management test

2008-10-01T13:27:00.001+05:30

Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) has decided to introduce group discussions and interviews after the written test to select candidates for management colleges of the state.UPTU will hold separate entrance examination for management courses. Earlier, entrance examinations for BTech and MBA courses were held jointly under Uttar Pradesh State Entrance Examinations (UPSEE).Under the new process, the university will conduct a written test for over 11,000 management seats in December for 2009-10 session. Engineering entrance exams for the same session will be held in April-May 2009.The proposal regarding the new examination procedure has been approved by the university’s academic council and soon it will be tabled before the executive council for final approval.

SEE -2008

2008-10-01T13:14:00.001+05:30

Over 2.5 lakh candidates had appeared in SEE 2008 for admissions in around one lakh seats, which included around 70,500 seats for BTech and remaining for MBA, MCA, BArch and BPharma in 424 technical institutes affiliated to UPTU. Nearly, 1.5 lakh candidates were declared qualified and called for counselling.This included 1.25 lakh candidates for admissions in BTech course. Counselling was held in July-August. However, over 20,000 seats, including around 13,000 BTech, remained vacant after first round. UPTU also conducted a special round of counselling for reserved category candidates.After the first round of counselling, UPTU decided to conduct a second round to fill 20,000 odd vacant seats. It directed all the private colleges to provide details of the vacant seats and invited applications from the candidates interested in taking admission.However, many colleges filled the seats by conducting admissions on their own. They took plea that as per February 26, 2008 government order, they can fill the seats which remain vacant after counselling. They also said that since UPTU's academic session starts from September 11, they could not wait for the second round of counselling.

Student Feedback in UPTU

2008-10-01T13:06:00.002+05:30

From next academic session students of the Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) will assess their teachers.The evaluation parameters will range from the teacher's academic expertise, punctuality, preparation before taking a class, conduct in classrooms and others.The step will assist teachers in overcoming their weak areas, which could be inefficient communication skills, mode of teaching.At present, there are about 12,000 faculty members associated with different colleges affiliated to UPTU.Nearly, 150,000 students are pursuing various technical courses in UPTU, which governs all the engineering and technical institutes in Uttar Pradesh.

Mathematics Olympiad-2008

2008-09-29T05:28:00.002+05:30

the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be organising Mathematics Olympiad-2008 for the students studying in the CBSE schools on November 9 at Jawaharlal Nehru School, Habibganj Bhopal.The examination will commence at 1 pm and the duration of the examination will be 3 hours. Candidates should report to the school at 12 noon or even before that.the students of standard IX, X, XI and XII can participate in this examination. Any school affiliated to CBSE can sponsor a maximum of five students for the same. The five students should be selected strictly on the basis of the screening test conducted by the school itself.The head of the institution will forward the names of 5 students to the co-ordinator (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) V Vijay Kumar, Principal of Jawaharlal Nehru School, Bhopal (Phone Numbers as office -0755-2485026, 2505375, Residence- 0755-2423390).The list of students along with the entry fee of Rs 35 per candidate, the latter through Demand Draft, drawn on any Nationalised Bank only, payable at Bhopal in favour of "Principal, Jawaharlal Nehru School" should reach the state co-ordinator by October 10, 2008.The admit card would be issued by the sponsoring school should have complete information about the students. The admit card should also carry the signature of the student and his/her latest photograph attested by the Principal of the school.Roll numbers will be allotted to the candidates at the time of examination. Any student will not be allowed without admit card issued by the sponsoring school. Syllabus and pattern of examination will be as there is no specific syllabus for the examination.Areas of school mathematics such as geometry, basic number theory, trigonometry, arithmetic, combination etc are to be prepared for the test. For further clarifications if any may contact the co-ordinator on the above mentioned telephone numbers.Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Delhi has been conducting CBSE Group Mathematics Olympiad for the students of affiliated schools to identify, encourage, promote and nurture the talent in mathematics.Top 30 students from CBSE Group are then allowed to participate in Indian National Mathematics Olympiad conducted by National Board of Higher Mathematics.Student selected at the national level will participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas

2008-09-24T15:11:00.003+05:30

Government announced the opening of 20 more Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs). The new schools will be set up in districts having larger SC/ST population.The HRD ministry also plans to open 4,000 model schools on JNV and Kendriya Vidyalaya lines.
Navodaya Vidyalayas is a central sector scheme launched in 1986 to provide quality education to talented rural children. The scheme, which began with two schools, has now grown to 554 schools in 34 states and union territories. JNVs are all-expenses-paid residential schools from class VI to XII.The performance of JNV students has shown a steady progress in the last five years. A total of 28,987 students from 444 JNVs took the 2006-07 class X exam, while 18,682 students from 369 JNVs appeared for the class XII exam. In class X, JNVs stood first among the different schools affiliated to CBSE, while in class XII it was second.JNV class X students scored 91% between 2004-06, 96.4% in 2007 and 97.54% in 2008 even as the average percentage for private schools ranged from 84.8 to 91.77, while that of CBSE schools ranged between 76.6 and 87 in this period. From class XII, JNV students scored an average of 87.7% in 2004 as compared to 80.5% and 80.4% by private and other CBSE school students. This year, the JNV percentage was 92.44 compared with 81.7 and 80.9 for private and CBSE schools. The total estimated requirement of funds on the establishment of the opening of 20 JNVs is Rs.431.80 crore.

Infosys Mathematics Prize.

2008-09-20T14:09:00.003+05:30

Professor Manindra Agarwal of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) has been chosen as the first recipient of the Infosys Mathematics Prize. Agarwal completed his BTech in computer sciences from IIT-K in 1986, and his PhD in 1991. Over the years,he has been working on Complexity Theory, a branch of mathematics.The head of the computer science and engineering department at IIT-K, Agarwal has been selected for the award Dr Manindra Agrawal has been awarded for his outstanding work in Complexity Theory, the branch of mathematics concerned with the study of algorithms for solving mathematical and related scientific problems, especially their efficiency and running times. Dr Agrawal is best known for the discovery of a deterministic polynomial time algorithm, for primality testing in his joint paper with his former students. This discovery resolved a long-standing problem of a fast test of primality, which had been the subject of intense study in the field of mathematics and computer science research.The Infosys Mathematics Prize was jointly instituted by Infosys and NIAS earlier this year to encourage and foster an interest in mathematics.

Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship

2008-09-19T09:32:00.005+05:30

The government offers Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship to SC/ST students at the MPhil and PhD level.After postgraduation, most students want to take up jobs. If the government wants to promote research in the country, it is important to provide a proper support system to research scholars.Till now SC/ST students pursuing an MPhil or PhD were given Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 under the scheme.But there is unequal distribution of fellowships as the number of students from each state is fixed.So, sometimes a student from one state is left out even if s/he is meritorious because of a student from another state since it is a fixed number of beneficiaries.

disaster management

2008-09-19T09:32:00.002+05:30

CBSE students in class X have one less textbook to study for the board exams this year.A total of 20 marks from the board exam paper will be allotted for the disaster management component. They can choose one from a list of six topics which include interviews with officials working with disaster management, enacting a 10-minute skit on the subject and developing a pocket first-aid kit. It will give students some idea of how to react in a disaster situation.They will also learn about agencies within the system from where they can get help.

Henri Cartan

2008-08-24T22:34:00.003+05:30

world has lost one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century. Henri Cartan a legendary figure in mathematics died inParis on 13 August, at the age of 104 years.
Almost all of Dr. Cartan's career was spent in France, and he was acclaimed for his research in areas of pure mathematics, including algebra, topology and analytic functions of complex variables. He was also an influential writer and teacher.At least two of his pupils won Nobel prizes, one in economics and one in physics. Two others received the Fields Medal, which is awarded for accomplishment in mathematics and is regarded as the mathematics equivalent of the Nobel Prize.In 1980, Dr. Cartan received the Wolf Prize, one of the highest honors in mathematics.Apart from his professional achievements.Henri Cartan will be remembered for his personal qualities.He was generous to students,colleagues and friends, and a vigorous defender of Human Rights.

GM Modi Award

2008-08-17T09:51:00.002+05:30

The Gujar Mal Modi Science Foundation has presented this year's GM Modi Award for outstanding contribution in innovative science and technology to T V Ramakrishnan, DAE Homi Bhabha Professor (also Emeritus Professor), department of physics, Banaras Hindu University (BHU).Award, comprising a cash prize of Rs 2.01 lakh, a silver shield and a scroll of honour.The award is presented annually to a leading scientist of India for his/her outstanding contribution to research resulting in new innovative technology.Ramakrishnan is known for his seminal contributions of condensed matter physics and has been a fellow of all the National Science Academies, as well as the Royal Society of London. He is a Padamshri awardee and the former president of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.

Science subjects really hard

2008-08-13T09:29:00.001+05:30

A new research has shown that school kids studying science and technology subjects like Maths, Physics and Chemistry find it much harder to achieve the top exam grades than candidates of similar ability studying subjects like Media Studies and Psychology.For the study, researchers at Durham University analysed and compared data from nearly one million schoolchildren sitting GCSE and A-level exams and reviewed 28 different studies of cross subject comparison conducted in the UK since 1970.They found significant differences in the relative difficulty of exams in different subjects with the sciences among the hardest.On average, subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Biology at A-level are a whole grade harder than Drama, Sociology or Media Studies, and three-quarters of a grade harder than English, RE or Business Studies.Researchers voice concerns that students will be more likely to choose to study ‘easier’ subjects and will not opt to study science subjects that are desperately needed by employers in the knowledge economy.

Bihar Gaurav Samman

2008-08-11T09:39:00.000+05:30

Bihar government has started the process for recruitment of 80,000 primary teachers and 12,000 secondary and higher seecondary teachers.Government also decided to award "Bihar Gaurav Samman" carrying cash prize and a certificate to the students from the state securing high ranks in all-India competitive examination as well as international science competitions like Maths and Physics Olympiad.Any aspirant from Bihar securing the first rank in the UPSC, IIT, CAT and others would be awarded the "Bihar Gaurav Samman" with a cash prize of Rs One lakh, while those securing next five ranks would get a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each.

Eamcet counselling

2008-08-11T09:31:00.002+05:30

The final phase of Eamcet counselling for admission of candidates from ranks 54,001 to the last rank would begin on September 2.This final phase would end on September 23 and classes would commence from September 24.A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level conference held at the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE).The continued first phase of counselling for 52,000 SC,ST,BC(A), BC(C),BC(E)category students would be held from August 18 to August 29.Meanwhile the web-based counselling for the candidates would be held from August 22 to 31.So far, 44,073 candidates attended the first phase counselling. "BC(E) candidates were given conditional admission and they would be given formal admission based on the Supreme Court’s verdict.Around 6,000 students are being admitted in four phased manner.The dates of admission for third and fourth batches remain undisturbed.

HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

2008-08-08T11:32:00.000+05:30

The UGC committee, comprising Prof Duraisami of Madras University and Prof Sudhansu Bhusan of National University of Education Planning and Administration, has suggested starting an additional 735 universities in the country during the 11th Plan ending 2012.The committee, set up to suggest reforms on the affiliation system and monitoring of education in 11th plan, has worked out a formula of 20,000 students per university to achieve the target.assumes significance in view of the estimation of National Knowledge Commission last year, when it said that at least 1,500 universities are needed to make India a knowledge society.The enrolment ratio in higher education is abysmal 10 per cent in India. It is less than eight per cent in states like Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttarakhand

Financial Reporting Training Course

2008-08-08T09:46:00.002+05:30

The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) and audit firm Pricewater house Coopers (PwC) have tied up to train professionals in International Financial Reporting Standards .The two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide this training to address the existing demand-supply gap in the country for IFRS-trained professionals.The training would be divided into two parts - basic and advanced module.The course module has been jointly developed by IIM-C and PwC and will be taught jointly by ‘our own faculty and by finance experts from PwC.Convergence with IFRS has gained momentum in recent years all over the world. More than 100 countries currently require or permit the use of or have a policy of convergence with IFRS.The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has announced that IFRSs should be adopted for all public interest entities like listed entities, banks and insurance entities and large-sized entities from the accounting periods beginning on or after April 1, 2011.

CAT-2008

2008-08-07T22:38:00.002+05:30

CAT is a gateway to getting admission to IIMs and other leading B-schools. There are 116 non-IIM institutions, which will use CAT 2008 scores.These management institutes offer 13,000-15,000 seats.There are only 1,700 seats (last year, it was 1,500) for the next two-year management programme (2009-11)in IIMs.The increase in the number of students taking the CAT exam this year will be around 20 per cent over last year when an estimated 250,000 students appeared for the exam.Around 300,000 students are slated to appear for CAT this November.

'Ideal answer sheets

2008-08-07T22:18:00.001+05:30

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has posted the answer sheets of students who scored full marks in the Class X Science,Social Science and Mathematics examinations this year, on its website.The Board had also posted some of the 'ideal answer scripts' of students who appeared for the class XII Science and few subjects of Class X last year on its website.

IIT-PATNA

2008-08-04T22:59:00.002+05:30

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is ready to function in Patna from Aug 06. It is one of the six new IITs being set up the country.The classes will formally begin from the next day at its temporary acquired premise on the Navin Pataliputra Polytechnic campus located in posh Patliputra colony in Patna.The classes will carry on until its new campus that is planned to come about near Amhara and adjoining villages near Bihta in Patna district. temporary classes for 109 selected students will go on in 20,000 square feet area in the new building of polytechnic campus. The Polytechnic has two hostels with a total capacity of lodging for 200 students. At present, there is no hostel for faculty members coming from IIT-Guwahati since IIT- Patna is opening as an extension to IIT- Guwahati.Gautam Barua from IIT-Guwahati has been appointed as an acting director of IIT.The 10 faculties will handle the theory and practical classes for the first batch of first year engineering students. The Centre has approved to appoint 30 faculties for the first three years each for all new established IITs.

Magsaysay Awards

2008-07-31T14:32:00.000+05:30

A Philippine governor crippled by polio, an Indian couple providing medical care and education to tribal people and an unconventional Japanese publisher are among winners of this year's Magsaysay awards.The awards, seen as Asia's equivalent of the Nobel prize, also honored Ahmad Syafii Maarif, the head of Indonesia's powerful Muhammadiyah group, Thai prosthetic limb manufacturer Therdchai Jivacate and Sri Lankan social worker Ananda Galappatti.The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation named Prakash and Mandakini Amte for the community leadership award. The couple, both medical doctors, run a hospital and school for the Madia Gond tribals in a remote part of central India.

IIT CUT-OFF

2008-07-31T11:39:00.001+05:30

The Indian Institutes of Technology will reveal cut-off marks used to select students in this year’s entrance exam, allowing candidates for the first time to independently verify whether their scores merit a seat.On August 1, the IITs will display online the cut-off marks used in their Joint Entrance Examination 2008 to pick the top performers in the test, exam organisers have said.The IITs will also disclose, on the same day, details of opening and closing ranks for students belonging to each category — general, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, physically handicapped.For an entire month — from August 1 to August 31 — students can see their scores online. On August 1, the question papers from this year’s exam, and the key to the papers, will also be displayed online, allowing students who remember their answers an opportunity to match their scores with their performance.Both the subject cut-offs — in physics, chemistry and mathematics — and the aggregate cut-off used to screen students who have cleared all subject cut-offs, will be displayed on the JEE website — http://jee.iitr.ernet.in .

LAPTOP AT Rs. 400

2008-07-30T10:06:00.001+05:30

India is developing a laptop to be sold at $10, that will target higher education applications.Research on the new low-cost laptop is being carried out at the Indian Institute of Science ,Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai. government is planning to use information and communications technology (ICT) to strengthen its current programs for distance learning by making them accessible online. The government also plans to make available free bandwidth for education purposes to every Indian. It plans to use this bandwidth to build a "knowledge network" between and within institutions of higher learning in the country.India's Internet penetration is currently very low. The country had 4.38 million broadband subscribers at the end of June for a population of over 1.13 billion.

Physics olympiad 2008

2008-07-30T09:41:00.002+05:30

Shitikanth, this year’s IIT-JEE topper from Jharkhand, bagged gold at the 39th International Physics Olympiad in Vietnam. A five-member team represented India in the Olympiad being held in Hanoi from July 17. Based on physics theoretical and practical examinations,the competition drew 390 participants from 82 countries.Along with Shitikanth, three other Indian boys — Nishant Totla, Garvit Juniwal and Kunal Shah — also bagged golds.Another member of the Indian team, Saurabh Goyal, bagged silver in the competition.. On July 30,team would be felicitated for his achievement at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education in Mumbai. In IIT entrance,Shitikanth scored 470 out of 489, among the highest scores in the IIT joint entrance examinations

NEW IITS

2008-07-29T09:27:00.001+05:30

The Cabinet had approved establishment of eight new IITs with an estimated cost of Rs 6,080 crore.The Government had also approved creation of 30 faculty posts per year in the first three years of establishment of each of the new IITs, besides approving posts of a director and registrar.Six of the eight IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan would start their academic session this year while the remaining two in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pardesh will begin teaching in 2009.New IITs will be mentored by the existing ones. The IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat would start the academic session with 120 students each for B.Tech programmes through temporary campuses and would be mentored by IITs of Madras, Guwahati and Bombay respectively.The IITs of Rajasthan, Punjab and Orissa would start their classes in the campuses of their mentor IITs at Kanpur, Delhi and Kharagpur respectively.The aspirants for the post of directors can send their applications directly to the Ministry, while the eminent persons can also nominate candidates and send their recommendations to the selection committee.