EDUCATION

Raipur varsity clarifies
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7
Mr Amitabh Saxena, Director (Academics), of Dr C.V Raman University of Science, Technology, Commerce and Management , Raipur, today clarified that the university had an efficient computer network for a good on-line distance education programme. He was reacting to a report "Varsity with 1 prof, 6 lecturers’’, which appeared in these columns on July 4.

The Vice-Chancellor of Guru nanak Dev University, Dr S.P Singh, had criticised provisional memberships granted by the Association of Indian Universities ( AIU), to private institutions which do not have sufficient faculty on their rolls and lack proper infrastructure.

Mr Saxena maintained in a press statement received here today that the university, set up under the Government of Chhattisgarh Legislative Act, entitled Chhattisgarh Niji Kshetra Vishwavidyalaya Adhiniyam, 2001, and all degrees awarded by it are recognised by the University Grants Commission ( UGC).

The newly introduced distance courses require the study centres to arrange faculty in accordance with the norms prescribed by the university. Emphasis is laid on the re-orientation of the faculty members, so that they are able to impart the latest knowledge in the subject to the students. Students are provided computers and laboratories for practical training.

“In this era of increasing cost and competition the wise way of running an organisation is by keeping the recurring expenses to the lowest, optimising internal and external resources and outsourcing intellectuals and other experts in the country and abroad,’’ Mr Saxena said.

“Does a university require a large building for undertaking good distance education programme on-line or does it require an efficient computer network supported by good contents and understanding of technology?” Mr Saxena asked.

The establishment of various other universities in Raipur was part of the Chief Minister’s plan of making Chhattisgarh an educational hub of the country. The objective of starting distance education programmes was to provide higher education to the deprived sections of society, he added.

Seats vacant in B.Sc (Hons) courses
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7
All general category seats for the Bachelor of Engineering (BE) courses in the University Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Panjab University were filled today, while a few seats are still vacant in some B.Sc (Honours School) courses.

According to the chairman, Joint Admission Committee, Mr Jagdish Singh, the admissions to the remaining B.Sc honours seats will be done on July 8, while admissions to the aforementioned courses for foreign nationals, NRI-sponsored and industry-sponsored candidates will be done on July 9.

Counselling for general candidates securing ranks up to 1200 in the Common Entrance Test conducted by the university earlier, was scheduled today. The last rank admitted to BE Food Technology was 688, while for BE Biotechnology it was 680. The last ranks to be admitted to Software Engineering and BE Telecommunication and Information Technology were 738 and 659, respectively.

As far as B.Sc honours courses are concerned, the last rank admitted to anthropology was 573, in bio-physics 810, in botany 506, in chemistry 411, computer science and application 1,178, geology 603, physics 882 and zoology 506.

A few seats are left in B.Sc honours in mathematics and mathematics with computing. Counselling for reserved categories has already been done.

Meanwhile, counselling for two other teaching departments, Law and English, to which admission is based on entrance tests, began today.

Based on the results of the entrance test, a merit list of 300 students was displayed by the English Department and 178 students were counselled today. The department is offering 125 seats plus another 15 seats for NRI candidates.

The Law Department is offering 150 seats each in the morning and evening sessions. Students who had attained ranks up to 300 in the entrance test were called for counselling today. Counselling in both departments will continue tomorrow.

Answerbook scam: CBSE official transferred
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7
A section officer posted at the regional office of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) here has been transferred in connection with an answerbook tempering scam which had been detected in the city in May.

It is learnt that Mr S.P. Sharma, who was in charge of the regional office’s answer book cell has been posted to the registration branch in the CBSE’s Ajmer office. He has already been relieved from his duties.

Sources said in his capacity as the head of the answerbook cell, Mr Sharma was responsible for the custody of the answerbooks and his duties included overseeing the movement of answerbooks to and from examiners for being marked.

Mr Sharma’s transfer follows the transfer of the CBSE’s regional officer, Mr Yograj Sachdeva, who was moved out from here in June. He, too, was posted to Ajmer. Meanwhile, a police inquiry into the matter is still underway. Subsequently, the Deputy Secretary at the CBSE Headquarters, Mr P.I. Sabu, had taken over as the regional officer here.

The Chandigarh police had detected a racket in May in which employees of a private contractor employed by the CBSE authorities to encode answerbooks of the Class X examination used to take money from students to smuggle out the answerbooks from the secrecy branch. The students would then fill in correct answers and the answerbooks would be smuggled back into the branch before being encoded and dispatched for marking.

The Chandigarh police had arrested seven persons in this regard and had seized a number of answerbooks which had been sent for a forensic examination. The police is still awaiting the receipt of the answerbooks, while the statements of the accused as well as the students who had been involved in the racket have been recorded.

Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure against the use of unfair means, the CBSE regional office here has decided to establish examination centres for the forthcoming supplementary examinations only in Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidalayas. According to sources, centres are not being set up in public and government schools.

SCHOOL WORLD
About Belize

The Great Blue Hole seen off the Belizean coast,

LOCATED in Central America on the Caribbean Sea, Belize shares its borders with Mexico on the north and Guatemala on the west.

Formerly known as the British Hondarus, it was the last British colony before it attained independence in September 1981.

Belize is a largely flat country with a swampy coastal plain and low mountains in the south.

The country’s highest point, Victoria Peak rises 1,160 meters above sea level.

Principal rivers flowing through it include the Hondo, Belize and New River.

The climate is tropical -- very hot and humid, with rainy season lasting from May to November and a dry spell prevailing from February to May.

Natural hazards Belize has to cope up with includes devastating hurricanes during the rainy season and coastal flooding, especially in the southern parts.

Belize occupies 22,960 square kilometers, out of which about 2.8 per cent is arable land. Its natural resources include arable land potential, timber, fish and hydropower.

Principal agricultural products are bananas, coca, citrus fruits, sugarcane, lumber; fish and cultured shrimp, while industrial output includes garment production, food processing, tourism, furniture, rum and construction.

The small, essentially private enterprise economy is based primarily on agriculture, agro-based industry, and merchandising, with tourism and construction assuming greater importance.

Belize has trade relations with the United States, Jamica, Mexico, Caricom, United States, Canada, United Kingdom and some European Union countries.

It imports machinery and transportation equipment, manufactured goods; food, beverages, tobacco, fuels, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, while it exports sugar, bananas, citrus fruits, clothing, fish products, molasses and wood. 

School kids get books
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7
Canara Bank, Kalka, has distributed books to 50 primary students of Hindu Girls S. S. School, Kalka, on a need-cum-merit basis. The programme was held under the bank’s social action/image building activity.

Mrs Geeta Goyal, in charge of the bank branch, addressed plus two students on the occasion. She apprised them of various schemes that could be beneficial to them with special emphasis on the ‘Vidyasagar’ scheme for higher studies.

Mrs Raksha, Principal, Mr Ashok Aggarwal, president and Mr Nardev Singh, secretary of the school, teachers and students attended the function.

Protest by research scholars
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7
Members of the Panjab University Research Scholars Association today protested against the university’s new hostel rules under which there are no provisions for hostel accommodation for those researchers who do not have any fellowship or project funding.

They demanded that the university implement old rules under which all research scholars were entitled to hostel accommodation.

The students also met the Vice-Chancellor outside his office and apprised him of their problems.

They suggested that RDC and JRB meetings be regularised and supervisors submit quarterly progress reports on various research projects.

Order reserved in Tribune case
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 7
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today reserved order on a Contempt of Court case against “The Tribune”. The Court had earlier taken suo motu notice of a report published in the newspaper.

The order was reserved by a three-Judge Bench, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi, Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi and Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar, after hearing arguments for over four hours.