CAMPUS
Delhi University students gearing up for D-Day
Smriti Kak

Near empty classrooms, crowded libraries, silence in the hostels and endless queues outside photostat shops. Clearly, students of Delhi University are quietly marching towards the D-day. With the declaration of the schedule for the forthcoming annual examinations, the university campus bears a sombre look, activities being limited to formalities like procuring clearance certificates and looking out for teachers to clear doubts related to the examination.

“Exams are approaching, high time for us to hit the books. I have already coaxed the ‘grey matter of our batch’ to lend me his notes, after all a friend in need is a friend indeed,” explains Saurabh Sharma, a second year Political Science Honours student in Hansraj College.

New faces are visible in library reading rooms. Heads pouring over stacks of reference books and fingers flitting across sheets, last minute note making, after all, is not a bad idea. “Most of us rely on guide books, but if you can quote from reference books, you can impress the examiners,” points out Reema, a student.

Meanwhile, the university has decided to post the examination schedule on the Internet. Undergraduate students can visit the website to check the examination dates.

“This is for the first time, the university is posting the date sheet on the web. The step will benefit correspondence students, who often complaint that they receive the date sheets late. Moreover, there are limited students visiting colleges around this time and colleges are inundated with calls from students wanting to know the details of the examination schedule,” said Prof. B S Garg, OSD, Examination.

Aptech in Afghanistan

Rebuilding a war-ravaged country is not an easy task. Making provisions for education is not only necessary but also a major challenge in the rebuilding process. While the government authorities are doing the needful by sending buses and food grains, FICCI and Aptech have decided to offer IT education programmes.

Aptech Ltd. has signed a MoU with FICCI to set up information technology training centres in Afghanistan. The agreement was signed in the presence of the Afghan President, Mr Hamid Karzai, during his recent visit to India. Aptech will set up centres in Afghanistan to offer courses in Software Engineering, Multimedia Technologies and IT Literacy. FICCI will render the necessary assistance to Aptech to set up such centres in Afghanistan.

Mr V. Balasubramanian, Executive Director, Aptech, who inked the MOU, said, “Aptech plans to offer training on the latest technologies to give an opportunity to the youths of Afghanistan to leverage on IT education. FICCI and Aptech will strive together to build the IT competence of the Afghan people, and provide them the platform to pursue career opportunities in the field of information technology.”

Courses in Indian medicine

Indian system of medicine is gaining popularity. Now with Western countries acknowledging the benefits of the Indian system of medicine, the government and the health sector have been echoing this sentiments. With the government having announced more support and funds, the number of colleges offering studies in Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unnai system of medicine have increased over the years.

Now, the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, has also announced her support to the Unani system of medicine. Speaking at the inauguration of a new building of the faculty of Unani Medicine at the Jamia Hamdard University, Ms Dikshit stressed the need for greater research in Indian and Unani systems of medicine. She said research and development was particularly needed to face the challenges by the Western system of medicine.

Appreciating the constant endeavour of the university in making the Unani-Tibb system of medicine accessible and popular, she announced that the government would increase the grants being provided to the university.

Footwear Design Courses

The Footwear Design and Development Institute of India (FDDI) has announced the schedule for the entrance exams, slated to be conducted on June 1, 2003. The examination centres are at Allahabad, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna and Ranchi. Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), Ministry of Commerce and Government of India are the premier institutes providing professional and specialised training in footwear designing and technology.

The institute offers specialised courses in a two-year programme in PG Diploma in Footwear Technology and Management, and a three-year Diploma in Footwear Technology.

A national conference on ‘Microchips Design and Technology’ was organised by Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology.

Meet on Microchip Technology

Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology organised a national conference on ‘Microchips Design and Technology’. The event was inaugurated by Prof. R. Natrajan, Chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education.

Dr Vikram Kumar, Director, Solid State Physics Laboratory, delivered the keynote address. Dr Natrajan called upon the engineering institutes to impart technical education and carry out excellent research work.

Sheila stands up for Indian youths at ‘Trends 03’

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at the inauguration of the annual management festival of Amity Business School.

The Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, inaugurated ‘Trends 03’, the annual management festival of Amity Business School.

Speaking at the function, she said, “Indian brain power is ranked among the best. Given the training, there is no stopping the Indian youth”. She said the success of Indians abroad, particularly in the IT sector, proved the point.

A concurrent session was also held on, ‘Ever Changing Market Horizon: Marketing Challenges in the New Horizon.’

Among those who spoke were heads of MNCs and management honchos. Debates, quiz’s and fashion shows were also organised. The festival concluded with a rock show performance by Parikarama.

Marketing acumen

Ishita Tandon and Saumya Tyagi of the Institute of Marketing Technology (IMT) have been chosen for the ‘Best Marketing Students Award’. The students were chosen on the basis of their presentation on ‘Marketing of Liberalisation in India’. The event was sponsored by Rajiv Karwal, CEO and MD of Electrolux, who is also an alumnus of the institute.

The event began with a panel discussion on scope of cricket advertisement. This was followed by a group discussion where students voiced their opinions on subjects like ‘the disconnection of MNCs with the Indian consumers’.

COURTS

HC concerned at meagre funds for burns ward
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 12
Expressing concern over low priority being given to health services, the Delhi High Court today took a serious view of the Centre providing only a sum of Rs 1.64 crore for improving the super speciality burns ward at Safdarjung Hospital.

The court ruled that the amount was insufficient to meet the requirements of equipment, accommodation to patients and other support systems. A Bench comprising Justice Usha Mehra and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog said that the health services have been a low priority for the government.

Directing the government to submit a report detailing the steps being taken by the Health Ministry to provide sufficient accommodation and equipment at Safdarjung’s burn ward, the court asked standing counsel Sanjay Jain to furnish details about the Centre’s move to set up a National Institute of Burns at the cost of Rs 30 crore.

While MPs and MLAs were being provided crores of rupees in the name of development fund, the proposal for grant of Rs 30 crore for this project is not being cleared, it observed and asked Mr Jain to submit a reply by April 30.

The Medical Superintendent of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTBH) was also directed to submit a report about the poor facilities for burn patients there.

The directions were issued during the hearing of a five-year-old Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting the poor conditions at Safdarjung Hospital’s burn ward.

The directions followed a report by a high-powered committee, appointed by the court to examine the same in major government hospitals in the city.