Less Than a Quarter of Delhi’s Poor Kids Get Free Books

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August 27, 2014

Only 17,500 out of a total of 68,951 children from poor and economically weaker sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups have been provided with free books during this academic year, the Delhi government informed the Delhi High Court in New Delhi yesterday.

According to a report filed by the Directorate of Education, 17,497 students were provided with free books while 16,467 students got free uniforms. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding proper implementation of the Right To Education Act. The law mandates the government to provide free books and uniforms to children from the EWS and disadvantaged categories in private unaided schools.

The report filed by the Delhi government will be taken up for consideration by a division bench of Justice B D Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul today. The court had earlier slammed the Delhi government for a ‘wishy washy’ report and asked it to file a status report on the number of students in schools in both categories in the 6-14 age group this academic year. The court also sought details regarding the number of students given free books and uniforms.

Centre Invites PepsiCo to Partner for R&D in Processed Food Products

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August 26, 2014

To beat rampant malnutrition and iron deficiency among children, India has invited global soft drink major PepsiCo to partner with it on research and development of processed food products that can be supplied as part of the mid-day meals in rural India.

The Union Budget for 2014-15 allocated Rs 13,215 crore for the Mid-Day Meal scheme.

The suggestion was made by Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal during a meeting with PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi.

Badal stressed upon the potential for providing healthy meals to children in their tiffin boxes. The minister also highlighted that large segments of kids in the rural areas are suffering from iron deficiency.

“PepsiCo has already invested substantially in India’s food processing sector and we wish to double this investment in the coming years,” said PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi.

Badal also asked the soft drink major to bring down the sugar content beverages so that the health aspects of such products are duly taken care of. She also suggested that the company should bring out new products in the market that are tasty as well as healthy and nutritious.The minister also cited the example of oat-based products that can be developed as part of the food processing sector to provide choice of healthy and nutritious food products to consumers at a reasonable price.

Irani Asks States to Focus on Girls’ Education

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August 26, 2014

Union minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Irani has asked all states and Union Territories to lay special focus on education for girls and create a conducive environment for girls to go to schools and complete their education.

Speaking of the government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyan during the Conference of State Education Secretaries in New Delhi today, Irani also asked all state government schools to prepare an action plan for construction of toilets. This is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal for providing all government schools with toilets within a year.

The HRD minister also launched the programme ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ which aims at early reading, writing and comprehensive and early grade mathematics. Irani has sought the co-operation of every state to adopt this programme to make the children skilled. An amount of Rs 2,352.57 crore has been allocated for the year 2014-15 to the states and UTs for the improvement of quality programmes.

The conference also witnessed the launch of “Including Children with Special Needs- Primary Stage”, a Curriculum Adaptation Development publication brought out by the NCERT to help teachers create a classroom environment for children with special needs. The minister noted that though considerable progress had been made in bringing such children into regular schools, providing a truly inclusive education remained an unfinished agenda.

The website of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan was also launched during the conference for greater public participation and awareness.

Vietnam Eyes CBSE Pattern in Schools

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August 26, 2014

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) model of education looks set to make its way to the schools of Vietnam. In an interesting move, the Vietnamese government has sought cooperation from India to boost the primary school education.

The proposal is said to have come up during a meeting between the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj with the Vietnamese leaders during her visit to the Communist country. It was noted that India has a good primary school system.

The CBSE methods of teaching have already been introduced in three subjects – Maths, Science and English – across 25 schools of Vietnam by Navneet Kalia, founder and chairman of Ismart Education. “When one talks about education, everybody thinks of Cambridge and American system. I want everyone to talk about CBSE system,” said Kalia, who has been in Vietnam for the past 17 years.

Poor Quality of Higher Education Disappointing: President

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August 25, 2014

President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed concern over the poor standards of higher educational institutes in India as compared to international standards.

Saddened with the absence of any Indian institute in the list of top 200 universities prepared by grading organisations, the President said that despite the presence of over 720 universities, 37,000 degree colleges and 11,000 polytechnic institutes, the standards of higher education institutes remained ‘abysmally low’.

The President said that a culture of excellence must be promoted in higher academic institutions and core competencies must be nurtured. He also laid emphasis on the industry and academia tie up to create the right synergies and environment for industrial growth and industrial excellence and said that academic cooperation with institutions must also be encouraged.

He was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the first Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) of the country at Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal on August 24.

India Fastest Growing Source of International Students to NZ: Report

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August 25, 2014

India is the fastest growing source of international students to New Zealand, a recent report has revealed. The number of Indian students seeking student visas to New Zealand has witnessed an increase of more than 80 per cent between January – July 2014 as compared to the same period last year.

According to the latest figures released by Education New Zealand, India is the fastest growing source of international students to New Zealand. Student visas issued to Indian nationals seeking to study in New Zealand also increased by a staggering 123 per cent between January-July 2014 as compared to the same period in 2013.

Commenting on the report, New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Grahame Morton said, “New Zealand’s economic future is very much tied to our key relationships and India is a key export market for New Zealand and is one of the fastest growing large economies in the world. New Zealand’s success over the next 20 years will be determined by our level of connectedness with the rest of the world. One of the best ways we can make these connections is through the people-to-people links that international education offers”.

In a move to attract more students to New Zealand, Education New Zealand (ENZ) is conducting education fairs in major cities like Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi and also other parts of the country. The fairs will offer students an opportunity to talk directly with New Zealand education institutions and find the programme that is right for them.

According to Immigration New Zealand Area Manager Nathanael Mackay, New Zealand has put in place policies to make the country a top choice for international students. A range of scholarships are available to students interested in studying in New Zealand, including the New Zealand India Sports Scholarships which were recently announced by High Commissioner Morton and well-known cricketer Stephen Fleming. The New Zealand government has also made changes to its work rights programme which allow more international students to work while they study, enabling them to gain valuable first world business experience.

Trivitron Healthcare partners with University of Tartu for R&D

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August 25, 2014

Chennai-based medical technology company Trivitron Healthcare Private Limited and The University of Tartu, Estonia, have joined hands for scientific cooperation and furthering medical education between India and Estonia.

According to the five-year memorandum of understanding signed, the cooperation will mainly be in areas related to mass spectrometry, microchips, sequencing, molecular diagnostics and bio-banking, the company said in a release.

Commenting on the new partnership, Dr. G.S.K. Velu, Founder and Managing Director of Trivitron Healthcare said, “After our acquisition of Labsystems Diagnsotics in Nov 2012, Trivitron is actively pursuing R&D in the new generation IVD techniques like next gen sequencing, micro array, mass spectrometry and molecular diagnostics areas. We found that the scientists of University of Tartu had some clear insights in advancement of technologies in this area and hence we have formed an alliance to cooperate in R&D and commercialisation of products in this area.”

Apart from the partnership, Trivitron has also identified several areas of collaboration in R&D and medical education to improve access and affordability for high-end medical technology initiatives in selected areas of focus. The cooperation will begin after both the partners have chosen common topics that are of interest to the researchers with commercial potential. The partners will also explore the opportunities to give medical education to the University of Tartu in India, Dubai or in Shanghai.

India Fails at Shanghai Rankings

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August 21, 2014

None of the major institutions of higher learning from India have made it to the Shanghai Rankings of the top universities worldwide. The only consolation was Bangalore’s Indian Institute of Science listed at the 327th rank. No other Indian institute figured in the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) released by the Centre for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. While Harvard University remained number one

Railways Mulls Four Universities in Five Years

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August 21, 2014

The Indian Railways is exploring the possibility of setting up four universities across the country for trained manpower. The railways, which is hailed as the lifeline of the country, currently has only one training institute located in Baroda. The idea of a dedicated railway university originally came from none other than ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan. Union Railway minister D V Sadananda Gowda had talked about plans for one such university in his maiden budget speech and has now extended it to set up four such universities in different parts of India in a phased manner over the next five years. According to Gowda, graduates coming out of railway universities will have an assurance of getting absorbed in the system as all-rounders. “We should have a full view on the issue by December and roll out the university from start of an academic year,” the minister said. These Railway Universities are slated to be world-class and will impart knowledge in diversified fields of technology and innovations in Railway operations etc. The intention to set up Railway Universities is not to limit the university to a particular region but to cover all four corners of the country.

Rajasthan Sets Up First Skill Development Centre

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digitalLEARNING Network

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August 21, 2014

In a move to help the state’s unemployed youth with good job-oriented training programmes, the Rajasthan government has set up India’s first dedicated skill development centre in Udaipur. Set up under the ‘Livelihood Skill Project’, the one-of-its-kind centre is aimed at getting the state’s young poulation job ready and aid the development of the state. The Udaipur centre was recently inaugurated by Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje and the state government is in plans to open 200 such centres in the 33 districts of Rajasthan. MoUs have also been inked with 40 agencies which will provide skilled training to the youth, Raje informed.

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