CAT 2012 results announced; technical glitch keeps aspirants waiting

Although CAT 2012 officials announced that results will be made available from 12 midnight, they were actually declared at 3 am on January 9, 2012. But due to technical glitch majority of the aspirants, who stayed awake to get the results, could log in only after 4.15 am to access their scores.

NEW DELHI: Server problem hit CAT 2012 results as soon as they were announced. The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2012 results, the entrance test for admission to the Indian Institutes of Management, were made available for the aspirants in the early hours of Wednesday, but majority of those who were trying to login failed to get access for over an hour due to technical glitch.

Although CAT 2012 officials announced that results will be made available from midnight, they were actually declared at 3 am on January 9, 2012. But due to technical glitch, the aspirants who were awake to know their scores, could login only after 4.15am.

Over 2.14 lakh aspirants registered for the test, of which about 1.91 lakh appeared for the computer based test conducted in October-November 2012. The test was conducted for over 21 days across 36 cities in the country. IIM Khozikode coordinated CAT 2012.

Apart from the IIMs, CAT scores are accepted by many premier B-schools and technical institutions for admission to their management programmes like the Faculty of Management Studies, various Indian Institutes of Technology and Management Development Institute, among others.

For the first 15 minutes, post declaration of the results, majority of the candidates failed to access their results. Their attempts to login resulted in "502 Bad Gatewa)" flashing on the screen. While CAT 2012 officials said that the high traffic at the same time could have slowed down the server, many who did managed to login failed to get the results.

Many aspirants who finally managed to login and register their numbers only to got an error message saying 'Error connecting to database. User sanjeevj__hasan already has more than 'max_user_connections active connections.'

Till around 3.30 all that the official CAT site was showing was that the results will be up online by 3am and candidates can access it by login using their registration number and email ID. CAT 2012 results can be accessed until December 31, 2013.

CAT results on Jan 9

AHMEDABAD: The fate of 2.14 lakh MBA aspirants will be sealed on January 9, when the results for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2012 will be released. About 7,437 candidates from Ahmedabad had taken the test.

Candidates will be able to log on to the portal of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) through the CAT website from Wednesday to retrieve their results. Candidates will be required to enter their CAT registration number and email address in order to access the site. Access to CAT 2012 results will available until 31 December 2013.

"We anticipate heavier traffic on the first day and candidates are advised to be patient and not rush to check their results. They may try again later if they find the site to be too slow," said Professor SSS Kumar, CAT-2012 convener. "Prometric employs an industry-standard, psychometrically sound approach for the scoring process," said Soumitra Roy, managing director, Prometric India. CAT 2012 was conducted successfully at 61 test centres across 36 cities over a 21-day testing window from 11 October to 6 November in 2012.

XAT was conducted in a new pattern on Sunday

Students appearing for the Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) for admissions on January 6, Sunday, saw a lot of changes in the exam pattern this year. 

The most notable change was the inclusion of General Awareness alongside the essay section in its second paper. Paper-I saw quite a few changes with the number of questions increasing from 85 to 91 and all questions carrying equal marks unlike last year when they had a mix of 1, 1.5 and 2 mark questions. The number of questions in quantitative ability and data interpretation increased from 28 to 36, verbal and logical ability had two questions less than last year at 30, and decision making remained at 25 questions. Each question was of 1 mark and negative marking for all the questions in every section was 0.25 marks, said an official from TIME, a coaching institute. 

In paper-II, general awareness was brought in this year which might have caused anxiety among the test-takers but the difficulty level in the section was similar to that of the other management entrance test, said the official. It consisted of 30 questions with around 18 static questions and 12 from current affairs. The questions ranged from the business, sports, economy, politics, trade, international bodies both at national and international level. Part B was an essay topic on 'Corruption is the root cause of economic slowdown in India.' 

No negative marking in Odisha joint entrance examination

There will be no negative marking in Odisha joint entrance examination (OJEE) this year, government authorities said. The test for admission into various undergraduate and post graduate courses in the state is scheduled on May 12.

"The government decided to do away with negative marks as students getting less than zero also got admission, the previous year. A large number of seats are still vacant," secretary technical education and training Chandra Sekhar Kumar said here on Monday. Four wrong answers fetched one negative mark in the OJEE.

Official sources said the questions will be evaluated under a percentile system. However, those leaving their OMR (optical mark recognition) answer-sheets blank will stand disqualified. Besides, the government has decided to make the application filling up process completely online.

In another related development, the government has decided to offer integrated and dual degree in engineering and management courses from the coming academic session. Students can directly take admission in courses such and BTech and MBA or BTech and MTech.

The scrutiny committee of employment and technical education department has recently decided that Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) will inspect infrastructure of colleges interested in offering dual degrees. The varsity can allow allowing such colleges to run such dual degree courses after the colleges obtain no objection certificates from the government. BPUT will develop syllabi for the integrated courses and students would be drawn through the OJEE.

OJEE Exam Date : May 12, 2013

Preparations on for CBSE exams

With the announcement of the dates for Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 and 12 exams, the regional office of CBSE, Guwahati, has started preparations for the coming exams. Moreover, from this time, the board has introduced problem solving assessment for students of Class 9 and 11.

Regional officer of CBSE (Guwahati) KK Choudhury said, "Both Class 10 and 12 exams will begin from March 1. With just two months left, preparations are in full swing to finalize the centre, issuing of admit cards, preparation of attendance sheets and appointment of external examiners. There will be 297 centres all over the northeast."

This time, approximately 1 lakh candidates both from class 10 and 12 will appear for the exams. Admit cards and attendance sheets will reach the centres by mid-February and the process of dispatching answerscripts has already started, the regional officer added.

He said, the practical exams for Class 12 will start from January 16 and will get over by February 16. The board has already appointed external examiners for conducting the practical exams in different schools as per the schedule. Unlike other years, this time 3 sets of question papers will be administered.

Last year, 86,000 candidates from 770 schools all over the northeast appeared for the exams and there were 292 centres all over the region, he added

"Apart from this, the board has introduced problem solving assessment for Class 9 and 11 for the first time. The students will be given OMR sheets and they have to answer the questions only by darkening the options given below. All the questions will be objective type. This test is contentless and there is no prescribed syllabus for the exam. The students have to study their prescribed textbooks but the questions will be application based. This has been introduced basically for testing the ability of children to solve different problems on a set of questions," he added.

Soon, study MBA and engineering in distance mode

In the not-too-distant future, you could become an engineer or earn an MBA sitting at home.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex body for professional courses, will allow colleges to offer engineering and MBA via distance mode, overturning the tough stand it has maintained for years. The council had earlier stated that professional courses like engineering required intensive practical training and programmes such as an MBA ought to have several hours of classroom discussions and debates as business had several tones of grey that an aspiring manager must understand. 

The AICTE's change of heart will not only augment the number of professionals in India, but will also prove to be a game-changer as the fees will be a lot lesser than what students pay to attend college. But every candidate will have to sit for an exit or a licentiate examination, termed as the National Eligibility Test, at the end of the course before she or he is declared an engineer or the MBA or MCA degree is awarded. 

A student should have completed a degree or a diploma in the classroom mode and attained a minimum of five years of work experience before they can take up a professional course via the distance learning mode. 

"This will be a mixed mode of education—while practical training will take place face-to-face, theory can be conducted using ICT," AICTE chairman S S Mantha said. 

The decision was taken on the recommendation of a committee headed by former IIT-Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande and IIT-Kanpur chairman M Anandkrishnan who studied the possibility of offering engineering and other professional courses through the distance mode. As Mantha explained, all professional courses except architecture and pharmacy can be conducted virtually. But a student or a class XII pass-out seeking his/her first diploma or degree cannot sign up for a BTech under this scheme. 

"Essentially, there will be an entrance test and an exit exam that all students signing up for a course under the distance education mode will have to take. We have to preserve the quality of students at both the stages," Mantha added. The AICTE is currently drawing up rules and the approval process for colleges wanting to offer courses though the virtual medium. Interested colleges can apply from March 1. 

Distance education:

Currently, 14 open universities and 172 other institutions offer courses in higher education via the distance mode to about 40 lakh students. Distance education courses are regulated by the Distance Education Council (DEC), a body that operates under IGNOU. 

Distance education is largely confined to general streams. Some universities like IGNOU offer technical courses like an MCA but tie-up with colleges so that students can use their laboratories for practical training. 

There was a tripartite committee comprising the UGC, DEC and AICTE which used to examine applications from institutes interested in offering courses via distance education, but the committee was almost defunct as the AICTE maintained that professional courses could not be imparted virtually.

2 degrees at a time may soon be a reality

Pursuing two degrees simultaneously may become a reality in near future. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is mulling introducing a system under which students enrolled in a regular degree course can pursue an additional degree simultaneously under open or distance education mode or part-time mode from the same or different university.

To look upon the pros and cons, UGC had constituted an expert committee under Prof Furqan Qamar, vice-chancellor, Central University of Himachal Pradesh to look into the feasibility of such a course. The committee however has recommended that 'a student enrolled in a degree programme under regular mode may be allowed to pursue a maximum of one additional degree programme simultaneously under open, distance mode from the same or a different university'. However, two degree programmes under regular mode may not be allowed simultaneously as it may create logistic, administrative and academic problems. The panel has also suggested that similar rule should apply if a student doing a regular course wanted to do a certificate, diploma, advanced diploma or PG diploma programme as an additional course simultaneously either in regular or open and distance mode in the same university or from other institutions. The committee however suggested that the views of the vice-chancellors of all universities in the country should be taken before taking a final decision on implementation of dual degree in the country. Talking to TOI, former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University and member of the expert committee (on pursuing more than one degree simultaneously), Prof Manoj Kumar Mishra said, "The dual degree programmes is the need of the hour. It is very common in western countries and in India, IITs already offer such dual degree programmes. To implement it, universities will have to make statutory provisions. Therefore, we have sought opinions of the V-Cs across the country."

When asked whether the dual degree programme will be offered at undergraduate or PG level, Prof Mishra said, "It can be anything. It can be UG with a PG like integrated BSc with MSc or two PGs or two UGs together, though there are complexities in its implementation." But allowing two degrees in regular mode will not be possible due to academic and administrative problems.

Experts maintain that students at present are pursuing two degrees, one through regular mode and another through distance learning mode in a clandestine manner. "Rather than keeping the matter in the dark, dual degree programme will be allowed legally," said a member of the committee.The panel also discussed the issue of awarding a joint degree by universities within India and decided that nothing prohibit universities to permit their students to take and complete a part of their programme of studies from any other recognised universities.

"The joint degree programmes are not only permissible by the UGC, but also needs to be encouraged. Interested universities may make necessary enabling ordinances specifying details and procedures in this regard and sign Memorandum of Understanding to execute the awarding of joint degrees," the panel recommended.

300 more MBBS seats to be added at 6 new AIIMS

The Union health ministry has sanctioned an additional 300 MBBS seats for the six newly setup AIIMS like institutes in the country. With this decision the number of seats in each of the AIIMS like institutes, including the one coming up in Raipur, would go up to 100 from the next academic session.

This was confirmed by the director AIIMS, Raipur, Dr Nitin Nagarkar, who revealed that besides the MBBS seats, the health ministry had also approved 60 new seats for nursing students in all the new insitutes. As of now, 50 MBBS seats are available in each of the new AIIMS at Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Raipur and Bhopal. 

Each of these institutes were allowed to admit 50 students in the first academic year of 2012, as infrastructure was no complete on them. From the next academic session, the total number of MBBS seats in the new AIIMS would go up to 600, providing an opportunity to an additional 300 MBBS aspirants. 

Dr Nagarkar said that construction work at the AIIMS site was in full swing and by the time new session starts, nursing college building and hostel would also be functional. The additional seats would in a way help to correct the existing imbalance in the availability of public health resources. 

With these new additions, the overall availability of MBBS seats in India would rise to 42,169 in the next academic year from the existing 41,569 in 335 medical colleges and 300 in AIIMS like institutes across the country. The health ministry is striving to achieve the target doctor-patient ratio of 1:1000 by 2021, which at present is 1:2000. The government plans to take the overall availability of MBBS seats to 80,000 from the present 41,569 and of PG seats to 45,000 from the current 22,194 by 2021. The aim is to tide over the shortage of doctors, which is currently pegged at around 8 lakhs.

Applications for RTE seats to be issued from 7 JAN 2013

 The first phase of RTE admission, application forms for the admission in private schools under the quota for underprivileged children will be issued from Monday.

The application forms can be obtained from respective block education officers or downloaded from the website of the Department of Public Instruction.

Download application forms

People can also download applications from the website of the Department of Public Instruction (www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in)

For help, call

RTE helpline: 1800-42534567.

RTE Calendar

Issuing of application forms for admission and submission of duly filled in applications to schools: January 7 to February 5.

Scrutiny of applications and selection of candidates by schools: February 16

Approval of the list of candidates selected by BEOs: February 28

Admission process commences: March 1

CBSE's heritage quiz to be telecast on History channel

KOCHI: CBSE's twelfth All India Heritage quiz will be telecast on History channel.

The quiz is being organised on the occasion of the World Heritage Day being celebrated by CBSE and 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekanand. The quiz will telecast on January 12.

Around 2500 children representing all the eight regions of CBSE participated in the initial round. 16 teams reached the semi-final round and four have qualified for the finals.

Emphasizing on the importance of the quiz, the Board in its circular to school principals had said, "It is important for learners to know about the heritage which enables them to understand the beliefs, values, history and socio-cultural context of their country. This helps them to accept and respect the cultural differences given in the diversity and leads to developing critical skills".

The CBSE Heritage India Quiz, initiated in 2001, is an Inter School Quiz which has been conceptualized by the Board with the objective of creating awareness and appreciation in the student community towards the rich cultural heritage and diversity of our country.

This year the quiz will be conducted in multiple phases. The participation was open to the students of classes IX to XII studying in CBSE affiliated schools.

Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University conducts first online engineering examination

AURANGABAD: The Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU) conducted its first online examination for first-year engineering students on Saturday.

The 40-mark examination was conducted for the subject 'Elements of Civil Engineering' of Unit I.

"More than 5,000 students appeared for the online examination that was conducted in around 20 colleges," said Sanjay Shinde, public relation officer at the university. Shinde said that the examination was conducted on experimental basis and plans are on to conduct similar online examinations for other subjects faculty as well.

The examination was conducted under the directions given by the Information and Technology department of the state government under the university examination reforms.

Governor K Sankaranarayanan had called a meeting on November 3 last year, of the vice-chancellors of all the 14 conventional state universities to discuss this and a slew of other technology-driven exam reforms recommended by an 18-member high-powered committee under state IT Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal.

A question bank containing 1,000 questions has been created from which the question paper is generated in the system. Another examination on Electronic and Computer Engineering (EECE) would also be conducted on the same lines.

The online examination has been implemented for the courses to avoid paper leaks and discrepancies found during exams as suggested during the meeting by the senate members. A mock examination had also been held to familiarise students with the paper pattern and the software.

The invigilators said that such examinations will help students be more comfortable with the format which is also used in competitive exams.

HS, Inter exams of UP Board from March 12

ALLAHABAD: A total of 62,08,229 students have been registered for this year's high school and Intermediate examinations of the UP Board slated to start from March 12.The HS examinations would be conducted on 14 working days from March 12 to April 3. On the other hand, intermediate examinations would be conducted on 25 working days, from March 12 to April 18, informed the director, Secondary Education, Basudeo Yadav, on Saturday.

As compared to last year, the total number of candidates who have registered for the examination is around 5.37 more lakh than the previous year, as the total number of candidates for the 2013 exam stands at 62,08,229 compared to 56,70,535 in 2012.

This year a total of 37,09,877 students would appear in High School examination and 24,98,352 in Intermediate exams that would be conducted at 10,000 centres in the state.

In 2012, a total of 3,60,3857 candidates appeared in HS examinations while 20,56,678 appeared in the Intermediate examinations.

A notable feature of this year's examination would be that the Board has allotted 15 minutes extra time to candidates, which means that the total duration of the examination would be 3 hours 15 minutes. Similarly, 20 minutes per hour additional time would be given to handicapped and blind examinees, which means that the total time allotted to them would be four hours.

To check the malpractices prevalent during examination where 'B' answer books are often changed by unscrupulous elements, the board has decided to use only numbered answer sheets in Intermediate examinations.

Likewise, in High school examinations, the board has decided to issue coded answer sheets in some of the sensitive districts including Aligarh, Hathras, Etah, Allahabad, Kaushambi, Ghazipur, Mau, Ballia, Deoria and Azamgarh.

There is good news for girl examinees from urban areas this year as the Board has provided them the facility of self-centres by appearing in the examination from the school from where they have filled up the examination form. Earlier, the facility was only extended to girl candidates appearing in board examination from rural areas.

In view of the introduction of the policy of Comprehensive and Continued Evaluation, High School examinees, the total marks awarded in theory examination would be 70 and the remaining 30 marks would be awarded by the school through internal assessment of the candidates.

Altogether 65% of the work related to printing of answer sheets by the Government Printing Press has already been completed and the Board has started the process of sending them to different districts.

Practical examinations of High School and Intermediate examinees would be conducted in two phases from January 21 to February 5 this year in the first phase. Likewise, the second phase of practical examinations would be conducted from February 5 to February 20 this year.

Blacklisted centres which facilitated copying and other malpractices during examination have not been appointed as examination centre in this year's examination.

Odisha Teachers' Eligibility Test results out, better than CTET

CUTTACK: In comparison to Central Teachers' Eligibility Test (CTET), results of Odisha Teachers' Eligibility Test (OTET) were found encouraging. The OTET results were made public on Friday. 

While only eight per cent Certificate Teacher (CT) students were found eligible to become teachers in primary schools, little over 10 per cent B.Ed students of the State have shown that they have it in them to become teachers in High schools. 

This was much better than CTET results in which only less than one per cent students were found eligible to become school teachers, official sources said on Saturday. 

Under the Sarva Sikhsya Abhijan and as per the norms of National Council for Teachers' Education, the OTET was conducted in the State for the first time and after some initial hiccups, the test was conducted by the State Board of Secondary Education ( BSE) here last month. 

Sources said a total of 86,926 CT candidates had taken the Test of which only 6765 (7.7 per cent) were found eligible to become teachers in primary schools. Similarly, a total of 43,738 B. Ed students had appeared the OTET and only 4446 (10.16 per cent) of them were found eligible to become teachers in High Schools. 

They said results of at least 39 CT and 17 B.Ed students were kept withheld for several reasons, which would be published after verification.

MCom aspirants can take Common Entrance Test

KOLKATA: Commerce graduates will not be exempted from appearing in the Common Entrance Test (CET). Postgraduate students will have to take the commerce examination for gaining admission to the government colleges - affiliated to any of the state universities - offering MCom courses.

"We have kept commerce as one of the subjects in the admission test. Though a BCom graduate may have completed honours in accountancy or finance, he will have to take the examination under one generic syllabus which will combine all aspects of commerce. We have already selected 44 honours subjects in which CET will be held," said a member of the CET committee that is giving final shape to the exam structure. is preparing recommendations to give final shape to the examination structure.

"A postgraduate aspirant will be allowed to appear only in the honours or major subject in which he or she has graduated. If they prefer to alter their subject at the postgraduate level or take up a multidisciplinary course, it will have to be done in the university only after securing a CET score," he added.

The CET committee has decided to structure the examination on the lines of GATE - the entrance test for MTech programmes in the country. "At present, we are preparing the syllabus for each subject. In all likelihood, the examination will only consist of have multiple-choice questions (MCQs) with some exceptions in the language section. A Weimer sheet will be provided to the candidates to take back home so that they know their mistakes and can compare the answers," said a university official who is also on the CET committee said.

Phalguni Mukherjee, the convener of CET committee and secretary of West Bengal State Council of Higher Education, said, "We are in the process of developing the examination framework which may include commerce among the 44 honours subjects. A final shape will be given during the next meeting at the end of this month."

It has, however, not yet been decided if the model answers will be uploaded on the website. "We will have to take a call," added the official.

Several state universities are, however, skeptical about the proposed examination. In Jadavpur University, a committee has already submitted its report after talking to all stakeholders. The report will be discussed by the executive council - the university's highest decision-making body. A senior JU teacher argued, "Most departments in JU do not agree with the concept of CET."

Partha Pratim Biswas, EC member and secretary of Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA), said, "There is something unique about each university which may be harmed if CET is introduced. There is no common syllabus.

If students from various backgrounds are tested on a common syllabus, their aptitude will not be tested. Their knowledge may not be compatible with JU's academic requirement. Each university has a different characteristic and frames its syllabus depending on its strength and weakness. CET will actually kill the uniqueness of the state universities."

He added, "Outside students should be given a fair opportunity to study in JU. But an acceptable criteria should be in place for admission. Through debates and discussions, a common platform has to be reached on the percentage of reservations for home students in the PG courses."

January 10 last date for IGNOU management course admissions

NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) on Thursday announced Jan 10 as the last date to apply for its various management programmes.

The pan-India entrance test is scheduled for Feb 24 and graduates in any discipline can take the test. Candidates who have already cleared the Common Admission Test (CAT), Management Aptitude Test (MAT) and state-level entrance exams need not appear for the test.

The university has invited applications for various management degree and diploma courses like Master in Business Administration (MBA), Diploma in Management (DIM), PG Diploma in Management (PGDIM) and PG Diploma in Human Resource Management ( PGDHRM), among others.

Established in 1985, IGNOU was set up to provide cost-effective education, especially to the poor.

The university educates over four million students in India and 36 other countries through 21 schools of studies and a network of 67 regional centres, around 3,000 learner support centres and 67 overseas centres.

The varsity offers about 490 certificate, diploma, degree and doctoral programmes.

Free coaching for SC/ST students at Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj University

KANPUR: From the next academic session, Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj University will provide free coaching facility to all SC/ST students of the university. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has allotted nearly 30 lakh rupees for the purpose.

Apart from free course-related remedial classes, the SC/ST students will also get coaching for various competitive exams within the campus.Meanwhile, CSJMU has also decided to introduce foreign language diploma/certificate courses for students from next academic session. Languages like French, Japanese and German will be taught to the students initially and the permission for introducing the courses has already been received.

Diploma in teachers education result to be declared online today

PUNE: The results of the diploma in teachers education (DTEd) second year examination, conducted by the Maharashtra state council of examinations in September 2012, will be declared on Wednesday at 11 am on the council's official website: www.mscepune.in .

The marksheet will be distributed to candidates on January 19 through their respective colleges, the commissioner of MSCE said in a release on Tuesday.

The MSCE has asked all recognized D.T.Ed colleges to authorize one of their representatives for collecting the marksheet and result sheets from the principal of the concerned district institute of education and training (DIET) or the educational inspector, Mumbai (South), the release said.

CBSE course in hospitality, tourism soon

LUCKNOW: India is witnessing a burgeoning growth in tourism and hospitality industry.

In a bid to tap its growing potential, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to introduce five skill-based courses in tourism and hospitality from the academic session 2013-14.

Recent statistics (as mentioned in the CBSE letter) say over 50 lakh foreign tourists come to India every year.

In comparison to this, domestic tourism is significantly greater.

In the upcoming years, India is likely to see an increase in strength of domestic as well as international tourists. Going by this, the annual demand for trained manpower in hotels and restaurants is approximately 2.03 lakh per year.

In view of the acute shortage of trained professionals, CBSE has introduced two vocational packages under the hospitality and tourism sectors.

The courses will be taught to students of classes XI and XII. The courses include food production, food and beverage services, front office management, bakery and confectionery, and travel and tourism. The initiative has been taken after the Central government's constant emphasis on development of employability skills.

For the new vocational subjects meant for classes XI and XII, students will be able to opt for one language and two academic subjects related to the field as per their interests.

Appreciating the move, CBSE coordinator in Lucknow Jawaid Alam Khan said, "The new courses will help students who want to foray beyond engineering, medical and other conventional fields and are inclined towards tourism and hospitality industry. But the board and the schools should pursue it strongly.''

Citing an example, Khan said sometime back the board had introduced a course in financial marketing management in schools but it failed. "Students who passed with the subject faced umpteen problems getting admission at higher levels. Thus, it was more of a deterrent rather than of help to the child. Universities and colleges should be prepared to take in such students," said Khan.

CBSE will also facilitate support to its allied schools offering Food Production and Food & Beverage Services courses by arranging mentor institutes like Institutes of Hotel Management (IHM) that are under the National Council of Hotel Management & Catering Technology (NCHMCT). These schools can also seek financial support from the Ministry of Tourism for successful implementation of courses.

The NCHMCT, which is the specialised body for joint certification, is exploring possibilities for providing students passing the course with an additional weightage in entrance examination for graduate courses in Hotel Management in the IHMs across the country.

Revise regularly to score well in the general knowledge section of management exams

General knowledge is a vital component of management entrance exams like the Tata Institute of Social Science exam (TISS), Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) and the recentlyconcluded Indian Institute of Foreign Trade exam (IIFT).

With the introduction of Common Management Aptitude Test (CMAT), the second exam of which will be held in February this year, another examination has put general knowledge at the forefront. Now, with the tough-to-score Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) also including a section on general awareness from 2012, general knowledge is the new area to focus on.

Significance Of General Knowledge 

In most exams, sections like quantitative aptitude (QA) and verbal aptitude (VA) follow a pattern. Even reading comprehension passages that require on-the-spot thinking, can still be practised. However, GK includes a boundless variety of questions. For an examination like the CMAT, every test slot can have completely different GK questions in terms of the pattern. So it is not easy to predict and prepare

Vast scope: The scope of GK is vast in that, it doesn’t follow a fixed syllabus and no level of expertise can be deemed enough. In other words, nobody can claim proficiency in GK like one can in QA or VA

Preparation for GD/PI: The second stage in most MBA entrance tests is group discussion and personal interview and an up-to-date general awareness is the key to a confident performance here

Measures To Improve Your General Knowledge

1. You have to understand that your knowledge cannot be built overnight. Devote one hour every day to reading newspapers and make notes of important points in the articles.
2. Apart from newspapers, refer to magazines for an analysis and in-depth coverage of a news story.
3. Identify your area of interest, whether its sports or books or politics and start working on that. You will require lesser effort to upgrade your knowledge in this particular field and can use the saved time to work on other areas. Having said that, do not ignore any area that falls under the purview of GK. 
4. Make extensive notes on the basis of the information you gather from various resources. You are more likely to remember what you have written down rather than something you just glanced over.
5. Start improving your GK from the first day of preparation. Do not put it off for the last month before the exam.
6. Whenever you read the news, make note of these six questions: who, when, where, why, what and how. For example, if you are reading about the Euro Crisis, find out answers to these questions: Who are the personalities mentioned? When did the crisis start? Where is it happening? Why did the situation come about? What exactly is the Euro crisis? How has the crisis unfolded? The answers to these questions will give you a clear idea about the topic and making notes in the form of these points will help you to remember the topic well.
7. Refer to the notes after a definite time period, say 15 days or a month, as it will help you remember what you have learnt. A major reason why aspirants get bogged down by GK is its vastness but it can be overcome only by continuous and sustained revision.
8. Refer to selective resources, online as well as offline for reading and reference purposes. Too many resources create confusion and also unnecessary duplication of news.

Get ready for the new JEE

Thoroughly revise CBSE syllabus and treat all topics as important

One thing that remains unchanged in the new Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is that an aspirant needs to have indepth knowledge of all subjects. That is the key to success. By now, you would need to cover the full syllabus and get into revision mode by solving a lot of practice tests. You should prepare small notes related to important formulae and results.

Since Paper 1 of JEE Main is likely to be objective-type, the level of questions asked in physics, chemistry and mathematics is not likely to be very high. The emphasis will now be on what you have studied in school because the syllabus for paper 1 of the new JEE will be based on the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum. The responsibility of setting questions will be on experts from the CBSE, though the team will also have professors from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Knowing the IITs, however, one can expect brain-teasers, which will require you to get your concepts clear for different subjects. The papers will test not only your knowledge, but your aptitude, speed as well as accuracy. So, for excellence, a good command over subjects will be necessary.

Ensure that you revise the chapters given in the NCERT books first to be able to get your concepts clear. With school board marks also getting weightage, school teaching can really help. Regular practice of single-choice questions asked in previous examinations really helps. Make sure you understand what you are doing. Mere ticking of options may not be the right way. Attempting single-choice questions from previous years’ IIT-JEE will also help you crack paper 1.

Your focus should always be on getting your concepts clear and understanding the topics well. There are times when students try to be thorough only with important topics from the point of view of the JEE, but that is not the right way. Total focus on a particular topic can be problematic, as you never know which topic will have more questions. The best way is to give equal importance to all topics. For instance, a student who decides to skip probability and gives more importance to quadratic equation, can repent later. In the new JEE, it is difficult to ascertain what trend will be set.

Finally, confidence holds the key. And for building confidence, regular practice is the only way. Still, if you come across difficult questions while writing the exam, there is no need to get nervous. There may be a few questions that will be difficult for most candidates. Keep your confidence high, for cut-off in the JEE can really fluctuate.

CBSE exams from March 1

The Delhi-based Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced the timetable for its standard X and XII exams. According to a press release by CBSE PRO Rama Sharma, both exams will commence from March 1 at 10.30am.

The standard X exam will begin with the painting subject and continue till March 15, when the last paper scheduled is home science. The paper of mathematics is on March 2 and Hindi on March 4.

The standard XII exam will start with a paper of English (Elective, Core and Functional) followed by history on March 4 and physics the next day. It will end on March 17 with a paper of Punjabi. The CBSE has directed all schools to conduct School Based Assessment (Scheme 1) between March 16 and 31.

50% weightage to CET score for postgrad studies

KOLKATA: The government is firm on holding a common entrance test (CET) for admission to state universities for post-graduate studies from 2013 despite opposition from students.

However, keeping in mind university autonomy, the CET committee has proposed to give 50% weightage to CET scores while letting varsities decide on the remaining 50% .

The universities can hold interviews, written examination or give points based on the performance of students at the graduation level.

"All students who will be graduating in 2013 will have to appear in CET in June. The PG courses, starting from August onwards, will be filled by students who clear CET. A merit list will be published based on the CET score. The students can then apply to various universities in their preferred subject based on the score. The universities may also prepare a list depending on the CET rank. They will then have to clear the university's own selection process." said a higher education council official.

Board declares exam schedule

Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board ( GSHSEB) on Tuesday declared the schedule of the SSC, HSC science and general streams as well as the second semester board exam of XI (science).

In SSC, over 10.5 lakh students are expected to appear for the exams. Board officials have made it easy for the students by giving one-day holiday between main papers for the students to be better prepared.

In HSC (science) fourth semester exam, over one lakh students will appear which will be the final semester exam. Board has departed from tradition and not given any holiday between main papers. This exam will begin on March 18 with maths as the first paper. On March 19 chemistry, March 20 physics, March 21 English and Gujarati (first language), and on March 22 biology exams will be held.

The board has also declared the schedule of XI (science) second semester exam which will also begin from March 7.

The SSC exams will be conducted from 10 am to 1.20 pm. It will have two papers - the first paper will be objective and the second paper subjective in nature.

The SSC exams will conclude on March 16 while the HSC (general) and old course science stream exams will conclude on March 21.

Board officials said that they have sent the detailed schedule of the exams to the respective

Class XII Board exams to begin on Mar 1, date sheet out

The 2013 board exams by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will start on March 1. The board announced the datesheet for the exams on Monday. While a majority of Class X students will sit for the school-based exams based on Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system, over 8 lakh students are going to appear for the senior secondary exams.

For Class XII, the exams will start on March 1 with english core, elective and functional. For commerce stream candidates, the next subject will be business studies on March 6, while humanities students will sit for their history exam on March 4. The science subjects will start from March 5 with physics. Mathematics is being scheduled for March 20. The Class XII exams will end on
April 17.

Class X boards will commence with painting, followed by mathematics on March 2 and end on March 15 with home science.

According to CBSE sources, the results for Class XII boards are likely to be declared earlier this year and also re-evaluation of answer sheets for the Class XII science students will be done on priority and those results too would be declared by June 30, 2013. This has been done so as to facilitate smooth conduct of the Joint Engineering Examination as well as the counselling, because only the top 20 percentile scorers their respective Class XII boards or other qualifying examination and those who have appeared in JEE (advanced) are eligible for admission to the Indian Institute of Technologies. Also the merit list of the JEE (main), which is for admission to National Institutes of Technology and other central government funded technical institutions, will give 40% weightage to class XII board results.