New Delhi:In far-reaching reforms, Government proposed making 10th board examination optional and setting up of a single school board at the national level for a uniform examination for class 12.
A new scheme of interest subsidy on educational loans for professional courses by economically weaker students will be launched in the first 100 days of the UPA government, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in New Delhi.
"We must detraumatise education. It cannot be traumatic for parents and children. This is unacceptable," the Minister said unveiling the education agenda.
Government will also introduce a system to replace the present assessment procedure of giving marks with grades which will reduce stress, he said.
The single board would replace 33 boards in the country including CBSE and CISCE and hold a uniform examination for all students on the pattern of combined law admission test being organised for admission to law institutions.
"By appearing in a single board, a student can decide which university he wants to go. It is happening in the law (courses). The aim is to reduce the trauma," he said adding that states would be consulted on the issue.
Taking note of students and their parents complaining of sleepless nights at the time of board examinations, Sibal said the government wants to make 10th examinations optional for students wishing to continue in the same school.
"If a student wants to go for pre-university course, he may appear for 10th board exam. But in case of a student pursuing the course in the same school, he need not appear in the class-10 exam for promotion to class-11," Sibal said, adding that an internal assessment would suffice.
Bhakra cuts water supply to North Indian states
Chandigarh:In the wake of delayed monsoon, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on Thursday decided to cut the supply of water for irrigation to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan by 6000 cusecs till July 10. After holding a crucial meeting with representatives of all these states, BBMB has decided to supply 22,000 cusecs against the current supply of 28,000 cusecs, a move that would raise the water level in Bhakra reservoir which has been fast depleting due to lack of rains.
"All the states of Punjab, HP, Haryana and Rajasthan have agreed to our decision (of supplying 22,000 cusecs) and this decision will remain enforced till July 10," BBMB, Chairman, U.C. Misra told reporters here today after holding the meeting this afternoon. Misra said, "Although states were demanding 28,000 cusecs of water in view of paddy sowing season but when we pointed out the grim situation they all agreed to receive 22,000 cusecs of water supply."
However, he made it clear that in case, there are no rains till July 10, the release of water would be further curtailed. "We want that our water level in Bhakra reservoir should raise because from June till September are filling period for us and we want to store maximum level of water in this period," he said.
Misra further informed that because of snow melting in mountain areas, the availability of water inflow has improved to 32,000 cusecs from 22,000 cusecs and water level in Bhakra reservoir has increased by half feet. "Yesterday our water level in Bhakra was 1504.5 feet and now it has increased to 1505 feet with increased inflow of water," he informed.
Blood collection scam: MCI suspends degree of 4 doctors
Jaipur, June 25: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has suspended MBBS degree of four doctors in the alleged blood collection scam, a government official said here on Thursday.
MBBS degrees of Girish Agarwal, Rajgirish, H N Singh, and Nawab Singh (all doctors) have been suspended for six months, the Karuali district collector Neeraj K Pawan told PTI on telephone.
These doctors would not be able to practice during this period, he said.
These practitioners, affiliated to two private run hospitals, were allegedly found indulged in forcible blood collection by luring children in the Hindon city for a couple of years.
The four doctors were arrested in mid June and the clinic they operated from closed by police.
Further probe is on in the case.
Another Indian student attacked in Australia
Melbourne:In yet another attack on Indian students in Australia, a youth from the community was assaulted and robbed in Gold Coast, taking to 17 the number of such incidents within a month.
The attack which occurred last week came to light today when the victim identified as Sachin sent an e-mail to the Federation of Indian Students in Australia (FISA).
“I am a student of Southern Cross university TweedHeads Gold Coast. I have been attacked and robbed ... near Coolangatta police station,” he said in the e-mail.
“They took my money, ATM card, phone, gold chain. And I got five stitches on my face,” he said, adding a case has already been filed, but that he was “not satisfied” with the police action.
The student sought FISA's advice on what he should do next despite the Australian authorities vowing to provide maximum security to foreigners pursuing education here.
FISA founder Gautam Gupta said that they had been receiving five to seven such e-mails everyday wherein victims were seeking help.
“We have been receiving ... such e-mails everyday stating they have been robbed, bashed, verbally abused or thrown out of the house,” Gupta said. STUDENT-ATTACK 2 LAST Gupta said there was an urgent need for the Indian High Commission to build trust among students to directly report such incidents.
He said FISA was working with the High Commission in this regard.
Facing flak for the recent spate of attacks on Indian youths, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday pledged to provide “maximum” security to foreign students.
Indian Business News
Nilekani quits Infosys, to join Govt
New Delhi:Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's No 2 outsourcer, has resigned from the company's board to join the government, the company said on Thursday.
Nilekani, one of the founders of Infosys, has been invited by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to head government agency Unique Identification Authority of India in the rank of a cabinet minister, Infosys said in a statement.
Nilekani, a former chief executive of the company, was not involved in active management since becoming co-chairman in 2007.
Shares in Infosys, which has a market value of about $21 billion, were up 0.7 percent at 1,771.25 rupees at 0849 GMT in a Mumbai market down 0.5 per cent.
All about Nilekani’s UID project
The government has set in motion the process of providing a Unique Identification Number to India's citizens and has appointed Infosys Technologies co-chairman Nandan Nilekani as head of the authority for this purpose.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited Nilekani to become chairperson of the new organization. Nilekani will enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister, and will also cease to be board member of Infosys, the company he founded along with NR Narayanmurthy and six others in 1981.
Here’s looking into what UID project is all about.
Satyam to cut jobs if orders languish
BANGALORE: Satyam Computer Services Ltd’s 8,500 employees placed on a so-called “virtual pool” may have their positions eliminated in six months if the company fails to find them work, Executive Vice Chairman Vineet Nayyar said.
“We are hoping that this doesn’t happen, that things will pick up, but yes, there is a possibility,” Nayyar, former chief executive officer of Satyam’s new owner Tech Mahindra Ltd., said in a telephone interview.
Satyam will release a reorganisation plan to cut costs and help retain customers after a stock collapse prompted by founder Ramalinga Raju’s admission in January that he overstated assets by $1 billion.
Raju’s disclosure triggered India’s biggest corporate fraud probe and a distress sale of the Hyderabad-based provider to Tech Mahindra in April to prevent an exodus of clients and employees.
Satyam, which said it had about 48,000 employees at the time Tech Mahindra agreed to buy it, has 8,500 employees on a “virtual bench” because of a lack of orders, Chief Executive Officer Chander Prakash Gurnani said.
Indian Cricket News |Indian Sports News|Sports News
India seek redemption in West Indies series
KINGSTON: India start their campaign on Friday to put the bad memory of their failure in the World Twenty20 behind them, when they face WestIndies in the first One-day International of the four match series.
India and their opponents settle back down to the bump and grind of 50 overs-a-side matches, following a heavy diet of Twenty20 cricket for several of the players in the form of the second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa, and the World Twenty20 in England.
But it's the World Twenty20 which is still fresh on the minds of the Indians.
They entered the competition as defending champions, and finished empty-handed, much to the chagrin of their legions of supporters at home and around the world.
They were humiliated, when they exited the competition following three defeats in the Super Eight stage, including a seven-wicket loss to the West Indies.
Tiredness and injuries were some of the factors advanced for India's demise, but they have had close to two weeks to relax and recharge the batteries.
Against this backdrop, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has asked his players to come forward and be truthful about their fitness ahead of the series.
"For me, it's the team first and then the individuals and I'd hope it's the same with everyone else in the group," Dhoni said.
"If rest is the cure for an injury, a cricketer ought to opt for it rather than let fatigue or niggles become a major setback to him and to the team.
"If anyone wants to take a break from the game, they should let me know or the BCCI."
India have also had time to beef-up their personnel for the four-match series to mitigate against the injuries which have robbed them of star batting duo Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the latter of whom was sorely missed in the World Twenty20, plus Zaheer Khan and Suresh Raina.
However, the new recruits have encountered a few difficulties with getting visas to travel through Britain.
Now ranked as the third-best ODI side in the World, India will see this as a chance to leapfrog Australia, and take aim at chart-toppers South Africa, setting the stage for another invigorating series.
India hasn't played an ODI series since they prevailed in New Zealand in March, but they have lost only three of their last 18 matches, and have emerged as one of strongest ODI sides over the last year.
But they face a West Indies side with their own demons to exorcise, following a miserable Test and ODI series against England.
The home team, however, marginally redeemed themselves with a semi-final place in the World Twenty20 in which they beat England to reach the final four.
They enter the series however, as strangers in their own land, since India have been in the Jamaica capital getting down to business since last Friday, and the West Indies players - including a few fresh faces - only started arriving on Tuesday.
West Indies coach John Dyson will instruct his side to play aggressive cricket to push the Indians to the limit.
"We will play aggressive cricket, we will play to win as always, and we will aim for consistency," said Dyson.
"We always look at the opposition and try and determine who the key players are for the opposition and think of ways that we may combat those key players.
"What we don't know, of course, is from the lower-profile players, how they are going to perform and perform consistently throughout a series. So that's something we have to monitor as the series progresses.
"(Winning) - it depends on the sort of pitches we're playing on, the conditions of the day, and the form of our own players, and the opposition players."
The short ODI series against India is part of a busy home programme for West Indies, who also host Bangladesh for two Tests, three ODIs and a T20 International in July and August.
Squads:
West Indies: Chris Gayle (capt), Denesh Ramdin, Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard Jr, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rudra Pratap Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik.
Saina in quarters; Arvind, Jayaram out of Malaysian Open
Johor Bahru, Malaysia:Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal continued her dream run and reached the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with a gruelling three-game win over Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand here on Thursday. Second seed Saina rallied to outlast Intanon 18-21 21-12 21-18 in a 46-minute clash to set up a quarterfinal with Chinese qualifier Xin Wang tomorrow.
Xin thumped sixth seed Japanese Ai Goto 21-14 21-14 in the other pre-quarterfinal. Intanon played better from the nets and scored from her smashes but could not get past Saina, who recovered well from a game down to get the better of her Thai rival. In a see-saw battle, Intanon had the upper hand when she overcame Saina in the first game. Even though Saina played well, the game slipped through her fingers.
With her back to the walls, the world number eight Indian switched into an aggressive mode in the next game and raced to a 9-6 lead before pocketing it comfortably at the end. At 1-1, the decider turned out to be a perfect pot-boiler as fortunes fluctuated with the two involving in a tooth and nail battle. Saina raced to a 10-5 lead but the Thai soon reeled off four straight points to claw back and reduce the gap to 10-9 before Saina changed gears and eventually sealed the issue.
However, it was curtains for Arvind Bhat and Ajay Jayaram in the men's singles.
Ninth seed Arvind was thrashed by Chinese Long Chen 5-21 11-21 in just 27 minutes, while Ajay went down to Yun Hu of Hong Kong 15-21 14-21 within half an hour.
Prakash-Qureshi beat 16th seeds, advance to 2nd round
London:The unseeded Indo-Pakistani duo of Prakash Amritraj and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi stunned 16th seeds Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins in a see-saw five-set battle to enter the second round of the Wimbledon men's doubles event, here on Wednesday.
Amritraj and Qureshi scripted a sensational 6-4, 6-7 (12) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 triumph after slogging it out for close to four hours in a match that spanned two days. The two teams were locked 2-2 yesterday and Amritraj and Qureshi finished it off in their favour today.
The 16th seeded Australian-Brit pair of Huss and Hutchins were in for a tough fight. After losing the opening set, Huss and Hutchins battled it out for 70 minutes in the second to clinch it 14-12 in the tie-breaker.
Sharapova ousted, Federer strolls on
London:Maria Sharapova was heading for the airport after losing at Wimbledon on Wednesday while another former champion Roger Federer sauntered through to the third round in glorious sunshine after a clinical display.
Sharapova struggled on the Centre Court where she made her name in 2004 by beating Serena Williams to win the women's singles title as a 17-year-old. The Russian looked a pale shadow of the player who once looked set to dominate the game.
Bedevilled by shoulder problems since losing in the second round here last year, the 24th seed ran into inspired Argentine Gisela Dulko, falling 6-2 3-6 6-4 to a player she had dropped just three games against in their two previous clashes.
Sharapova lost the opening set in 35 minutes and despite some typically tenacious resistance to win the second from 0-3 the booming weapons that used to blast the Russian to safety in such situations failed to function at crunch time.
ABSORBING SCRAP
Dulko eventually prevailed on her fifth match point when Sharapova, who was bumped up the seedings from a world ranking of 60, fired a forehand long to end an absorbing scrap.
"It took me a while to get going," former world number one Sharapova told reporters. "It's a little too late to start picking yourself up when you're down a set and 3-0."
Referring to Federer as a former holder of the Wimbledon title he won five years in a row still takes some getting used to but his form in a 6-2 6-2 6-4 win over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez suggests he will soon reclaim his throne.
Sania crashes out of Wimbledon singles
London:Sania Mirza's singles campaign at the Wimbledon championships ended with a 4-6 4-6 second round loss to Romanian 28th seed Sorana Cirstea here on Wednesday.
Unforced errors proved costly for the Indian in the one-hour-22-minute contest as she yet again failed to move beyond the second round here.
Sania played mostly from the baseline but struggled to keep her booming strokes within the court.
The inability to win points on serve added to the woes of the unseeded Indian against an opponent ranked as high as 27th in the world.
Sania had the first opportunity to get a break but Cirstea denied her friend the favour.
Sania then committed a double fault in the fifth game to hand the Romanian a break chance.
Sania saved four breakpoints in that game but another double fault undid all the good work.
That one break proved costly for the Hyderabadi as the next four games went with serve with Cirstea claiming the first set.
The second set too started on an ominous note as Sania dropped her serve in the very first game. Though she managed a double break – second and fourth games -- to take a 3-1 lead, the unrelenting errors allowed the Romanian claw her way back.
Sania will now look to put up a better show in doubles where she and her Taipei partner Chia-Jung Chuang will take on Americans Jill Craybas and Carly Gullickson.
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