Mathematics Olympiad-2008

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

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.

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

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

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.