Surya's Blog

U.S. Department of Education Extends Protections to Trans Students In a major step forward for the protection of trans students, the United States Department of Education announced today that trans students are protected from discrimination under Title IX. Earlier today, the United States Department of Education  issued clarification  to the until-now unanswered question of whether transgender students were protected from discrimination on the basis of Title IX, confirming that transgender students are, indeed, protected by the federal legislation's prohibition discrimination on the basis of sex. Today's guidance, released by the department's Office for Civil Rights states, "Title IX's sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity and OCR accepts such complaints for investigation." The extent to which this protectio...

‘Education needs to have some value’ Navrajdeep Singh , Hindustan Times   Fatehgarh Sahib, April 29, 2014 First Published: 13:55 IST(29/4/2014) | Last Updated: 14:01 IST(29/4/2014) Lack of good, public-sector higher education institutes and the deteriorating condition of school education were chief concerns during an interaction organised by Hindustan Times as part of the ‘Young India Votes’ series at Mata Gujri colleges’ campus here. Advertisement Domination of caste-based quota by a rich few among these communities was also a major grouse in this segment, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes. The SAD-BJP has fielded the richest candidate in  Punjab, realty tycoon Kulwant Singh, who has declared wealth of Rs.  140 crore, while Congress has replaced its sitting MP SS Libra with five-time MLA Sadhu Singh Dharmsot. The AAP’s Harinder Singh Khalsa emerged as a popular choice among the youth present, though his party and leader  Arvind Kejriwa...

Will it be a fair exam without disparity in difficulty levels for both the offline and online students this time? A) YES B) NO C) CAN'T SAY Please vote in comments

Central medical services exam goes online NEW DELHI: Doctors, appearing for this year's combined medical services (CMS) examination for getting jobs as medical officers in Indian Railways and different civic bodies in Delhi, will for the first time take their test 'Online'.  The paper-less test of objective type papers, conducted for the first time by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), will be held at over 40 centers across the country on June 22.  The candidates, under the 'online' format of the examination, will be allowed to change the answers at any time during the test.  Earlier, the UPSC used to conduct the written CMS examination for two objective type papers through OMR (optical mark recognition) sheets where candidates had to darken their choice of answer from multiple choice (objective) paper.  In order to help the candidates to take computer-based 'Online' test, the UPSC will come out with a 'demo' module on its website soon. ...

Tough physics questions stump JEE examiness KANPUR: Many examinees students coming out of the examination centres after appearing in the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Mains, conducted by Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), were heard debating that the portion on physics was tough. The questions were tricky. This made the question paper lengthy. The questions on mathematics and chemistry were average. Some were happy with their performance. Many others said that the questions based on physics were quite tough. Left hand thumb impression of the students was taken to check impersonation and cross-check the identity of the examinees. The 12th passed students were asked to produce admit card of the examination. Around 27,000 students appeared at 40 the centres in the city. Parents and guardians of the examinees were also seen. In the first session, mathematics part I, Aptitude Test Part-II and Drawing Test Part-III were held. A large number of students had come to Kanpur from Luck...

Parents seek JEE retest AHMEDABAD: The parents of students who wrote their Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) (Main)-2014 from polytechnic centre in Ahmedabad have decided to seek retest for the students from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which conducts the exam. The parents also decided that if the CBSE fails to conduct the retest, they will challenge the same in the court and urge it to conduct the retest. At Government Polytechnic College in Panjrapol, trouble started when some English-medium students were asked to return their question papers almost immediately after distribution. JEE question papers are available in a combination of two languages in the state - either in English or Hindi, or in English and Gujarati. This, however, forced students to make corrections and overwrite on their OMR sheets which carry their roll numbers and serial numbers. Overwriting can lead to disqualifications. The principal of the polytechnic has also given in writing to the p...

Students find online version of JEE Mains easier CHENNAI: Students who took the computer-based JEE test on Wednesday were a tad luckier than the offline test takers with straightforward questions in mathematics and chemistry and a comparatively simpler Physics paper.  After the written model of the exam was completed on Sunday, the first online Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Mains, 2014, was held on Wednesday in different centres across the nation. Three more online tests will be held on April 11, 12 and 19 to cater to the around 5 lakh students appearing for the computer-based examinations, which is their gateway to undergraduate engineering programmes in the IITs, NITs, IIITs and other centrally-funded technical institutions in the country.  Most students said the chemistry and mathematics papers in the online exam were simpler than the offline test model. "Except for a few toughies in chemistry, the exams were easy," said Narayanan V Baradwaj, a student of DAV Boys Senior S...

Bangalore Law School admission test on May 18 BANGALORE: The Law School Admission Test-India (the LSAT-India) will be conducted on May 18 , 2014 in 16 cities. More than 50 law institutions now recognize the scores as one of the admissions criteria. These include Rajiv Gandhi School Of Intellectual Property Law IIT Kharagpur Law School, The Jindal Global Law School, UPES Dehradun, Galgotia University Law School Greater Noida, KLE Bangalore and Amity Law School, Gurgaon. Many colleges such as Alliance University law school - Bangalore, Noida International University - Greater Noida and Sharda University Greater Noida will now accept LSAT-India scores for admissions to their 2014 batches. The test, which is created by the global non-profit Law School Admission Council (LSAC), assesses critical-thinking, logical reasoning, problem-solving skills and traits that are needed for successful law practitioners.

Combined Medical Services test goes online NEW DELHI: Doctors, appearing for this year's Combined Medical Services (CMS) examination for getting jobs as medical officers in Indian Railways and different civic bodies in Delhi, will for the first time take their test online.  The paperless test of objective type questions, conducted for the first time by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), will be held at over 40 centres across the country on June 22.  The candidates, under the online format of the examination, will be allowed to change the answers at any time during the test.  Earlier, UPSC used to conduct the written CMS examination for two objective-type papers through OMR (optical mark recognition) sheets where candidates had to darken their choice of answer from multiple choice (objective) paper.  In order to help the candidates take computer-based online test, UPSC will come out with a 'demo' module on its website soon.  The commission conducts the C...

Less than 10% students opt for online Joint  Entrance Examinations in Maharashtra AURANGABAD: About 170 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC, Class XII) students appeared for the online state-level Joint Entrance Examinations (JEE) being held for first year engineering course from Wednesday. About 2.2 lakh students from Maharashtra and more than 30,000 students from the region appeared for the offline test for the engineering entrance examinations that were held on April 6. Mahesh Shivankar, joint director of technical education (administration), here said that more students opted for the offline method. "Though the application fees for online examination were lesser, students opted for the offline method," he said. Less than 10% opting for the online method indicates the fear or digital divide among the students, he added. The application fees for Open and OBC category for boys was Rs 1,000 for offline method, while Rs 500 was charged for girls and students appearing f...

Just 24 hours to review JEE answer keys NEW DELHI: The CBSE's decision to give just 24 hours to students to challenge the answer keys of JEE (main) and demand Rs 1000 for each question challenged has raised serious questions about the procedure.  A senior professor of IIT, Delhi, pointed out that money is not demanded from students for challenging questions. "Charging money for challenging multiple questions reflects the typical mindset of CBSE that is involved in conducting board examinations," he said.  "How does one expect a student to challenge within 24 hours. Ideal thing would be to give more time to all stakeholders like parents and students. After all, charging thousand rupees for each question is an expensive proposition," the professor who didn't wish to be identified. He also asked as to why CBSE should not correct the answer key for all students instead of only those who challenged it. "Answer key is applicable to every one. The procedur...

Fresh PG medical entrance test today HYDERABAD: PG medical entrance test (PGMET) will be held on Sunday across the state at 24 centres, of which 11 are in Hyderabad. The exam held on March 2 was cancelled by governor ESL Narasimhan after a CID probe revealed that the question paper was leaked and several students and brokers were arrested.  According to Dr Ravi Raju, vice chancellor of N T R University of Health Sciences that is conducting the exam, over 15,000 are taking the test. "Apart from the candidates who appeared for the exam earlier, this time an additional 550 candidates have applied," he said. "Results will be declared by the end of the first week of May," said Dr Raju.

Aborted: e-evaluation for vocational stream BHUBANESWAR: The Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) has aborted its e-evaluation plan for the vocational stream. The CHSE, which had postponed checking of answersheets for the online process, on Thursday decided to go ahead with offline evaluation like previous years. CHSE chairman Basudeb Chhatoi said the evaluation will begin on April 26. "We can't wait for the e-evaluation process as scanning papers and putting those online will take time. It will delay results," Chhatoi told TOI. Official sources said the government had asked the council to introduce e-evaluation on a pilot basis for the vocational course before extending it to other streams. Accordingly, the CHSE had decided to defer evaluation of vocational papers. Chhatoi said the council is striving hard to publish results of Plus II science by the end of May. "The students would need the marks by the time the results of JEE (Advanced), the entrance fo...

UPTU, NDA exam dates coincide, students stuck NOIDA: A large number of young students are in a fix with the Uttar Pradesh Technical University's (UPTU) state entrance examinations for bachelor's programmes, as well as the examination for entry into National Defence Academy (NDA) conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), have been scheduled for April 20.  The UPSEE 2014, held by UPTU, is for admission to various undergraduate programmes in the 800 colleges and institutes affiliated to the university, which has received 1.83 lakh applications.  The Naval Academy and NDA exams are to be held across 41 centers across the country by UPSC on the same date. The eligibility criteria for both exams are the same — passing the Class XII board exams in physics, chemistry and mathematics — hence, a number of students prepare for both entrance exams simultaneously.  "I have been preparing for the two exams through the last year and hoped to get into one. But due to the...

1,300 tablets will be invigilators AHMEDABAD: The 1,300 tablets that Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has received will be installed in classrooms for especially the HSC Science examinations. The tablets will be used as an alternative to CCTV cameras which were directed to be installed in each exam centre, to record the examination on camera. Board officials said that the same tablets were recently used in the election in Rajasthan, and the same tablets will be used for elections in the state. Elections are scheduled to take place in Gujarat on April 30. Board officials said that these tablets will be placed inside classrooms so that all student activity is captured. The tablets will be linked with the main server in Gandhinagar. No less than 10 people will be deployed to keep a watch on activities within the classes. Ahmedabad city will have 10 schools where these tablets will be installed. A total of 126 classes will be covered. The board had made it ...

Students say Class 10 state board paper easy CHENNAI: Class 10 students in state board and matriculation schools found new confidence after taking their first board exam on Wednesday. Around 11 lakh students took the exams.  Most of the students who sat for the Tamil and Hindi papers said that the questions were easy. Revathi Bonns, principal and correspondent of MCC Matriculation School, said that her students found the French paper a tad difficult, but nothing they couldn't handle. "My students were very happy with the Tamil question paper, because many of the questions from their revision tests were repeated," she said.  Pockisham Flora Bai, high school Tamil teacher at Shree Niketan Matriculation Higher Secondary School, said that around 50% of the questions came from this year's third revision paper, and another 25% from the first and second revision tests held in 2012. "We conduct eight to 10 revision tests in school," she said.  There was some app...

Teachers go on training, exam dates tweaked PUNE: The annual examinations in some state board schools will be a little haywire since teachers are away for election duty training. The examinations for students from standard I to standard IX usually begin in the last week of March, but many schools are yet to start the papers. While one session just got over, another session is scheduled in the first week of April. Since it coincides with the examination schedule, schools have had to re-schedule the papers by a day or two. Some schools are getting their administrative staff, lab assistants, and even parents to help conduct the examination. Vasant Patil, president, All India Secondary and Higher Secondary School Principals' Association, said, "Many schools have to send all their staff for election. We are unclear as to who will ultimately be reporting for election and its related work as all those trained do not necessarily join election duty. Some are kept as reserves. With t...

Indians account for 'second largest' international student group in Australia SYDNEY: Students from India reportedly form the second largest group of international students studying in Australia. According to the most recent figures from Universities Australia, more than 30,000 international students are studying across the country, out of which, China, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam are the top five countries with largest student groups. An increasing number of students from Pakistan, Colombia and the Philippines are also enrolling for different courses in the country. The most recent data published by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship showed that, in the last six months of 2012, there was a 27 per cent growth in higher education student visas granted to offshore applicants, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Meanwhile, Sydney proved to the world's most popular destination for international students, beating more than 83 cities including ...

Medical ethics could now be part of MBBS course BANGALORE: The Association of Health Universities of India will write to the Medical Council of India (MCI) to make professionalism and a code of ethics part of the MBBS course, which will be assessed through an exam. Hitherto, though medical ethics were taught to students, there was no exam to assess them. This was one of the most debated sessions at the third conclave of vice-chancellors of health universities of India, hosted by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) on Monday. DOCTORS' DILEMMA The programme proposed by Venkatesh for faculty has text, video and case studies. For example, a pilot is under depression and administered anti-depressants, which make him drowsy. A doctor needs to maintain confidentiality about his patient's disease. Is it right for him to tell the pilot's employer about it? Or a patient who is on dialysis asks a doctor to take him off it for want of resources. A patient has a sa...

Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad: Various Posts Applications are invited for the following posts. Sr. Research Fellow: 01 Post Qualification: M.Sc. (Ag) in Agriculture. Project Assistant: 01 Post Qualification:   B.Sc. with work experience on climate change related projects and working experience with MS Office (word, ppt, excel, etc.). How to Apply:   Candidates can attend walk-in-interview at IGH, CRIDA, Hyderabad. Along with all original certificates. Walk-in-interview:   05/05/2014

Wildlife Institute of India (WII): Various Posts Applications are invited for the following posts: Senior Research Fellow: 01 Post Qualification:   Masters degree in Zoology/ Forestry/ Wildlife Science/ Environmental Science/ Life Science/ Sociology/ Economics with a minimum of 60% aggregate marks from a recognised university and at least 2 years research experience after post graduation. Technical Assistants: 02 Posts Qualification:   Masters degree in Forestry/ Wildlife Science/ Environmental Science/ Life Science/ Sociology/ Economics with a minimum of 55% aggregate marks from a recognised university. Senior Project Assistant (Biological Component): 01 Post Qualification:   Masters degree in Wildlife Science/ Forestry/ Environmental Science/ Zoology/ Botany/ Agricultural Science/ Life Science with a minimum of 60% aggregate marks from a recognised university and at least 2 years research experience after post-graduation. Senior Project Assistant (Soci...

University of Hyderabad: Assistant Professor (Mathematics & Statistics) Applications are invited for the following posts: Assistant Professor (Mathematics & Statistics): 06 Posts Qualification: M.Sc. with 55% (50% for SC) and NET qualified or PhD. How to Apply : Candidates may appear for walk-in-interview at The Dean, School of Mathematics & Statistics, University of Hyderabad, Central University P.O, Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500046. Along with a copy of the curriculum vitae with details of academic qualification, work experience and original copies of certificates in support of qualification and experience etc.   Walk-in-interview:   09/05/2014