MBBS course to be longer by a year

A one-year stint in India’s most backward villages will become compulsory for all MBBS students from the next academic session.The Union health and family welfare ministry has decided to amend the Medical Council of India (MCI) Act that would make the undergraduate MBBS course six-and-a-half years long instead of the present five-and-a-half years.The last year of the course will be spent by students in serving patients in rural India. They will have to spend four months each in a public health centre, community health cell and district headquarters.They will be based at the district headquarters and will serve under the district health officer. Only on completion of the village stint will the graduates be allowed to practice. The doctors will be given a monthly stipend of Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000 as an incentive to work in these areas.

Varsity ready for 2007, 2008 exams

The RTM Nagpur university has scored a first of sorts in the country — after it became first university that is ready with question sets, dates of winter 2007 and summer 2008 examinations.winter-2007 examinations schedule that will begin from September 1 and results of same would be out before October 13. In addition, the summer 2008 examinations would begin from February 24 and end before April 30, before onset of extreme summer. university is now trying a unique experiment during winter examinations of conducting examinations only on Saturdays and Sundays. This will help the students to attend regular college as well they will get five days period for studies.

The SSC topper who is hearing-impaired

Sixteen-year-old Puja Shah was born with a hearing impairment that allows her to hear only 10 percent of a normal person's hearing capacity. But even she could clearly hear her success story , when she emerged as the topper in the Special Category with 91.69 percent in this year's SSC examination.Puja is a girl of few words. Her hearing condition has left a cruel impact on her ability to speak also. Everyone learns to speak by hearing and repeating certain sounds.But fate never offered this option to Puja and she also accepted it with grace and dignity.Puja's mother also used to accompany her to school initially. She would constantly interact with her daughter's batchmates in order to sensitise them toward Puja's condition. She also helped and encouraged Puja to master lip-reading, her only mode of communication with others.

HINDU RLEASES THIRD LIST FOR EVERY COURSE

DELHI University’s third cut off list may dash many hopes on Thursday but those seeking entry into Science courses still stand a chance. While many colleges have closed admissions for a number of courses, including Economics and Commerce, the third list has marked a 2 to 5 per cent decline in cut-offs across all Science courses.A number of seats are available in Botany, Chemistry and Zoology Honours in colleges like Hindu, Hans Raj, Kirori Mal, Ramjas and Sri Venkateswara while admissions to Maths has been closed at Daulat Ram, Hansraj, DDU, Dyal Singh, KMC and Miranda House.The Sanskrit (Hons) course seems to have lost its charm, with most colleges releasing a third list for the programme at cut-offs as low as 45 percent. While colleges like IP, Daulat Ram, DDU, Gargi, LSR and Sri Venkateswara didn’t release a third list for most courses, admission to courses like Sanskrit, Hindi and Sociology remain open in most.Hindu College, however, remained the surprise of the pack with a third list for every course taught at the college, though the cut-offs saw a marginal drop. While B Com (Hons) cut off dipped by a mere 0.5 percent, drop in courses like Maths, Economics and Political Science varied from 1 to 2 per cent.

Lee Chi Ching

Chinese 'comic man' Lee Chi Ching of Hong Kong bagged the 'Nobel Prize of Manga', a Japanese recognition to artistes working in the comic book genre abroad. This is the first 'Nobel Prize of Manga', an award that will now be given annually.Lee developed an adventure-based comic series , which ran from 1995-2006 in Chinese. The comic strip has also been translated into numerous languages.Manga, a name used for Japanese-style comic books, often combines complex stories with drawing styles that differ from their western superhero counterparts, particularly in their frequent emphasis on cuteness.

Counselling for medical seats begins

The counselling for admission to health science courses in Maharashtra began on Tuesday with PCB group toppers of MHT-CET examination getting top priority. The counselling sessions simultaneously started at Grant Medical College in Mumbai, BJ Medical College in Pune and Government Medical Colleges in Nagpur and Aurangabad from 9 am. The first round would continue till July 11.As many as top 750 students from state merit list (from 186 to 189 marks out of 200) all over Maharashtra filled up the preference form of which 89 were from Nagpur with three absentees. A majority of students opted for MBBS course in 18 state government colleges, which indicated that most of the general category MBBS seats were already filled up.The admission procedure for physically handicapped candidates was also started on Tuesday at the Directorate Of Medical Education and Research (DMER) at St George's Hospital Compound in Mumbai. The process will continue till July 9. The list of candidates selected in the second round will be declared on August 28, and the last date of joining colleges is August 30. The list of candidates selected for the dropout round will be declared on September 14, and the last date of joining colleges is September 21. The cut-off date of the admission process for MBBS and BDS is September 30.

India’s math contribution

Indians' contribution to the development of mathematics has largely been swept under the carpet in global history books. But a BBC crew, led by an Oxford professor, was in the country last week to film a documentary revealing Indians created some of the most fundamental mathematical theories.The Story of Maths, a four-part series, will be screened on BBC Four in 2008. The first part looks at the development of maths in ancient Greece, ancient Egypt and Babylon; the second focuses on India, China and Central Asia and the rest look at how maths developed in the West. The India reel focuses on how several Indians developed theories in maths that were later discovered by Westerners who took credit for them.Aryabhatta (476–550 AD), who calculated pi, and Brahmagupta (598-670 AD) feature in the film, which also showcases a Gwalior temple, which documents the first inscription of ‘zero’.The documentary also features the history of Kerala-born mathematician Madhava (1350-1425) who created calculus 300 years before Newton and German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz did, said Du Sautoy. “We learn that Newton invented the mathematical theory calculus in the 17th century but Madhava created it earlier,” Du Sautoy said.Chennai-born Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) also features in the film. “He developed a lot of his own maths. He contacted English mathematician G.H. Hardy, who persuaded him to come to Cambridge. They began a collaboration between the analytical maths of the West and the intuitive maths of India, and together produced brilliant theories and amazing results.”

BPO SECTOR

India’s competitive advantage as compared to other countries has made it a target destination of multinationals for their back-end operations. To begin with, the abundant skilled manpower gives the country an edge in BPO. About 100,000 engineers graduate from India every year. Many of these engineers are employed with call centres for trouble shooting and providing technical support.India’s technological advances are noteworthy. Several Fortune 500 companies have opened centres here, to benefit from the technologically skilled, highly educated, motivated workforce. Indian BPO organisations have successfully built up the scale of operations to match the pace of increasing demands of these services. These companies have now graduated and expanded their service offerings from simple processes to providing higher value knowledge-based processes. India does a lot of analytical work and has a vast pool of PHDs, MBAs, statisticians and economic graduates.India ranks high in areas such as capabilities, quality of work, linguistic capabilities and work ethics, and thus is ahead of competitors such as China, Philippines, Ireland, Australia, Canada etc. Indian companies also have unique capabilities and systems to set, measure and monitor quality targets. Also, India is able to offer a 24x7 service and reduction in turnaround times by leveraging time zone differences.INDIATIMES.COM

Microsoft Code4Bill contest

Abishek Kumarasubramanian from the IIT, Madras, has won the Microsoft Code4Bill contest that Gates had announced when he was in India late last year.the IITian will have the opportunity to work with Gates and his technical assistant team in Redmond on a 1-year internship.According to Microsoft India, the team comprises the world’s top-notch techies who formulate and drive Microsoft’s technical strategy.Mr Kumarasubramanian was selected on the basis of a competition spanning over 7 months, with a registration of some 20,000 students that included three online technical challenges and two rounds of one-on-one interviews. The last of these 19 students also interned with Microsoft India for a period of two months.The final 19 students who took the internship at Microsoft India are from India’s premier technical institutes including IIT, Madras, IIT, Roorkee, Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and Army Institute of Technology, Pune.

Andhra govt reserves 4 percent seats for Muslims

The Andhra Pradesh government will give four per cent reservation to Muslims in jobs and education. Fourteen 'castes' among the Muslims have been put by the state government in "Category E" and will get the benefit of reservation.As of now, there are now four categories of Backward Classes - A, B, C and D - with a combined quota of 25 per cent while Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have 14 and seven per cent reservations respectively.The move came against the backdrop of the High Court quashing an earlier ordinance providing five per cent reservations for Muslims. With the scaling down of the quota by one per cent, the total reservations in the state will touch 50 per cent, which would be in line with the ceiling set by the Supreme Court.

National Institute for Nanotechnology

The Central Government has cleared a project of Rs.400 crore for Punjab to set up a cluster of premier technology institutions including a world class National Institute of Technology for agri-foods and Rs.150 crore for National Institute for Nanotechnology.An official publication was released here on Monday in which the Union Government has agreed to upgrade the Medical Institute at Jalandhar to a National Institute for Research in Health Sciences with an annual funding of Rs.100 crore.

Students can mention mother's name for CBSE records

Students now have the option of mentioning their mother's names and candidates who are orphans can give the names of their guardian while registering for the exams conducted by Central Bureau of Secondary Education (CBSE).The changes are part of the amendments in the examination bye-laws that were recently notified by the Board.Candidates now have the option of either mentioning their mother's name or their father's name or both for the records of the Board, such as certificate and marks statement.As per the notification, candidates who are orphans will have the option of mentioning the guardian's name while registering for the exams.But the guardian's name cannot be mentioned if the names of either or both of the parents are known.The other amendments include giving the dyslexic and spastic candidates and students with visual and hearing impairment the option of studying one compulsory language as against two at present.A candidate placed in compartment may avail five chances to appear in the exam and clear the test, as per the notification.Now, transfer certificates will be issued only under the signature of the regular principals and vice principals and it will have to be counter-signed by an officer not below the rank of district inspector of schools or deputy director of education or education officer of the state or concerned Union territories, the notification said.The amendments were made as per the recommendations of the examination committee of the Board.PTI

Mumbai,s top scorers cut off from 1st merit list

High cut-off percentages could result in state board students losing out to students of ICSE and CBSE boards in the first list, said several colleges.St Xavier’s College, most of the students in the Arts and Science merit lists are from ICSE and CBSE boards.While the first merit list was delayed by a day owing to the rains, the second merit list for junior college will be declared on Wednesday after 5.30 pm. cut-off percentages this year have also seen an increase of two to four per cent at many colleges in comparison to the first merit list of 2006.

Health Ministry to restructure the MBBS curriculum

The Union Health Ministry in order to make the rural health service more efficient may restructure the curriculum of MBBS. In the purposed scheme a MBBS student has to spend a one-year compulsory rural service either in the community health centre or public health care units.The new national curriculum is set to finalise in the next couple of weeks after consultation with state governments. As the acute shortage of rural health is one of the prime concerns these days it seems a good idea for providing better health service in rural areas.Few months back the Medical Council of India (MCI) had forwarded a proposal of 6-months extension in the medical curriculum but the government comes with a one year plan. This entire one-year will be dedicated to rural service and students need to spend at least 6 months in any rural areas at their final segment of study.As per the new curriculum a student has to spend almost seven years for a MBBS degree compared to the five and half year at present. Though the medical fraternity has welcomed the new proposal but some senior professionals have cited the modification of degree structure.

PanIIT meet

Senator Hillary Clinton; GE CEO, Jeff Immelt; Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin; president of University of California Bob Dynes and Rajat Gupta, senior partner, McKinsey will attened annual PanIIT meet which is being held in Silicon Valley.The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Transforming the World through Technology’. The theme reflects the broader impact that IITians are having on society and business through technology. In addition to the obvious technical successes, IITians are playing an increasing role in financial services, consulting and new media.Another highlight this year is the presence of US Presidential hopeful Senator Clinton at the PanIIT meet.In numbers, women IITians are few, and this reduces the chances that they will have opportunities to meet and fraternise.

Court asks UGC to include Amity's name in website

The Delhi High Court on directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to include the name of Amity University in its website in the non-statutory category.The UGC website has names of some institutions which are not recognised universities but as registered institutional bodies.The court directed UGC to make periodic inspection of the institute, which imparts education to thousands of students.Amity University, earlier recognised as an university registered at Chhattisgarh, was de-recognised by an order of the Supreme Court.Amity, which has its campus at Noida and Lucknow, has applied for recognition to the UGC.

DU Admission---second cut-off

Cut off marks remain high in the second list annouced by the Delhi University for admission to undergraduate schools.Several sought after colleges have closed admissions based on the first cut off list itself.In Economics honours, the cut-offs range from 92 to 93 per cent in Hansraj College 90.5 to 95.5 in Hindu.There is no vacancy for Economics honours in Kirori Mal and Lady Sriram colleges.In B.Com (H), the cut-offs range from 93.75 to 95.75 per cent in Hansraj College, 93.75 to 94.75 in Hindu and 93.75 to 97.75 in Kirori Mal.There is no vaccany for B Com honours in LSR, Gargi and Ramjas.But for the Physics honours course, the cut offs have gone down in the second list and they are 89 to 87 per cent in Hansraj College, 86 to 83.3 in Kirori Mal College and 81 per cent in Ramjas.But there is no vaccany for Physics Honours in Hindu.

Doctors' Day

July 1 annually is celebrated in India as the Doctors' Day.Dr B C ROY who was born in Patna on the first of July 1882. Is it an irony of fate or just a mere coincidence that the great man breathed his last also on the first of July 80 years later in the year 1962.In his lifespan of 80 glorious and hard years Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy rose to excel as a physician, shine as an eminent freedom fighter and a brilliant statesman. He was associated with the Indian National Congress party and was the chief minister of West Bengal state for 14 years when he died on first July, 1962. He was credited with taking charge of the greatly disturbed state of the region post-partition.Having done his undergraduate medical studies at Calcutta Medical College, he later joined his alma mater as a teacher after doing his higher studies at London. Deeply motivated to serve the people and the nation he did a lot of work in the health sector building hospitals and health care facilities for the poor , downtrodden and the needy.He received the Bharat Ratna award, the highest civilian award bestowed by the Government of the Republic of India on February 4, 1961. After his death his house which was named after his mother 'Aghorkamani Devi' was turned into a nursing home as per his wishes. The government in 1976 constituted a national award named after him for excellence in the medical field.He is known for his famous words as well as deeds. He once said ""We have the ability and if, with faith in our future, we exert ourselves with determination, nothing, I am sure, no obstacles, however formidable or insurmountable they may appear at present, can stop our progress... (if) all work unitedly, keeping our vision clear and with a firm grasp of our problems."

LU launches four new courses

Lucknow University (LU) has started four new advance courses including diploma in food processing, human development, counselling communications and in HIV/AIDS and family life education.Diploma in food processing will spread over two years apart from three months practical training at a recognised food processing unit. The course is aimed at promoting and developing food processing industry by imparting training in fruit and vegetable technology so as to create an infra-structure of trained personal at supervisory and middle management levels.

IIST

Students who may not make it to the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) despite clearing entrance exam can now look forward to careers in space technology.Such students can now directly apply to various courses in the new Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), which is launched in Thiruvananthapuram this academic year.IIST will offer the undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral programmes in space technology and space science.The online registration for the first batch of IIST has started and all the candidates who are placed in the extended list of IIT-JEE 2007 are eligible to apply in the first phase.The registration for IIST closes on Tuesday.The candidates qualified with an IIT-JEE rank will be eligible to apply in the second phase after the completion of IIT counselling, provided they have not selected an IIT seat.