HRD ministry mulling second shifts in varsities and colleges
NEW DELHI: The idea of starting second shifts in existing universities and colleges is doing the rounds in government circles.
A roundtable on higher education, set up by HRD ministry, today discussed about such a measure which is aimed at utilising fully the facilities that remain unused after the class hours.
The committee, chaired by HRD minister Kapil Sibal, explored the possibilities whether facilities could be used for second shifts in the existing institutions.
There are about 480 universities and nearly 20,000 colleges in the country. Facilities at majority of these institutions remain unutilised in the evening hour.
The roundtable also discussed about uniform accounting standards to be followed by educational institutions. The educational institutions are following different accounting standards at present.
It discussed about freedom for faculty to go outside the system for development and enhancement.
The members of the roundtable include UGC Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat and CSIR Director General Samir Brahmachari.
'Sibal has agreed to make changes in new rules'
KOCHI: A national body of unaided professional educational institutions today said Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had agreed to make certain changes to the rules and regulations recently introduced by the ministry in the private self-fianancing educational sector in the country.
The Minister gave the assurance to a 15-member delegation of the Federation of Associations of Managements of Unaided Professional Educational Institutions in India when it met him in New Delhi recently, federation President President Dr G P C Nair claimed in a statement here.
The new rules had stipulated that only M.Tech holders can be appointed as lecturers in colleges instead of B.Tech and only PhD holders can be appointed as Associate Professors and Professors. The Minister had assured that this clause will not be implemented for three years when it was pointed out that M.Tech and PhD holders were in shortage, the release stated.
On a requset from the delgation, the Minister has extended the last date for submission of student data by colleges up to March 7. The delegation also brought to the Minister's attention the incident of imprisonment of certain college authorities in cases connected with pledging of college property in banks for loan.
PM's special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran to quit
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister's special envoy on climate change, Shyam Saran, is quitting the job.
Official sources said Saran, who was first appointed as special envoy on the Indo-US nuclear deal and later on climate change, would leave the Prime Minister's office on Mar 14.
"Saran will be leaving the office on Mar 14," a PMO source said.
However, no reasons were given for his decision which comes more than a fortnight after another foreign service official, Shiv Shankar Menon, was appointed the National Security Adviser.
Both were Foreign Secretaries and had retired. While Menon retired late last year, Saran had retired three years before that.
While Menon was given the rank of Minister of State following his appointment as NSA, there were reports last week that Saran would also get a similar status.
Ghandy met Prachanda, knew of Induwar's killing: Police chargesheet
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday filed a chargesheet against arrested Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy, saying he had met Nepal Maoist chief Prachanda abroad and knew about the abduction and killing of Jharkhand cop Francis Induwar.
The chargesheet running into over 35 pages was filed before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja. In it, the special cell of Delhi Police stated that Ghandy was involved in anti-national activities and was in Delhi to set up a base for Maoist activities before his arrest in September last year.
Police informed the court about several of his foreign trips to countries like Germany, Belgium and Nepal, where he met Prachanda, to discuss the activities of his organisation, the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).
According to the chargesheet, Ghandy said in his disclosure statement that he is an active central committee member and politburo member of his group and was underground in Delhi for the past three years. He also had knowledge about the abduction and killing of Jharkhand police officer Induwar last year.
Police told the court that during interrogation, Ghandy proved he was one of the main pillars of the CPI-Maoist and a think thank for the outfit.
Police also mentioned that Ghandy did not cooperate with the investigating officer, kept complaining about his ill-health and did not disclose any material facts about his associates and the illegal activities of his banned outfit.
After this, police had to demand a narco test, which was later stayed by the high court.
Ghandy disclosed that the organisation had assigned codes to various front groups to maintain secrecy, police said.
The court will take cognizance of this chargesheet March 4.
In December last year, Baweja granted police 90 more days to file a chargesheet against Ghandy after dismissing his statutory bail application.
Under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, the investigating agency has to complete the probe within 90 days in the case of severe offences. But the court, using its discretion, empowered police to extend the period of Ghandy's detention.
Ghandy has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after his arrest Sep 20 last year.
Business News
Surat gang rape case: All 3 accused get life term
Surat: A local court here on Friday awarded life sentence to the three accused in the infamous July 2009 Surat gang rape case that had rocked the city.
A Principal and Sessions Judge held the three accused in the infamous gang rape case and sentenced life imprisonment to the accused Sahid Syeed, Tariq Syeed and Abu Bakr Ismail.
The trio raped 17-year old class 12th schoolgirl around 5 a.m. on July 12, 2009 while she was on her way to the tuition. She was picked up by the accused in their car posing as police officials, who then raped her in the vehicle shocking the conscience of the people of the city.
The accused had also recorded the rape on their mobile phones. The three were however, arrested within hours of the incident.
The chargesheet in the case was filed on July 24, 2009. The hearing was scheduled on day-to-day basis.
The accused Shahid and Tariq are sons of police officials.
The city was on boil after the incident and circulation of MMS. There were protests in the city after the gang rape of a 17-year-old minor girl.
The court has completed the hearing time in record time and announced the verdict within a year of incident setting an example for others.
Budget 2010: PMEAC for hike in duties
New Delhi: Ahead of the Budget, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) made a case for a partial roll back of stimulus by way of raising excise duties and reducing expenditure - which would automatically help reduce the fiscal deficit.
"There is a case for adjustment of duties...adjustments are possible both on the revenue side and the expenditure side in order to bring down fiscal deficit," PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan said after releasing the Review of the Economy 2009-10.
The Review said the economy would grow by over 7.2 per cent during the current fiscal and exceed 8 per cent in the next.
PMEAC member Govinda Rao said, "Partially, we need to roll back and if you partially roll back, you need to unify (excise duty and service tax rates)."
A uniform excise and service tax rates would imply raising of excise duty to 10 per cent. It is also possible that both rates may be raised to 12 per cent.
"There is one possibility that you unify both the rates at 10 per cent. There is another possibility... that both be raised to 12 per cent," Rao said.
As part of the stimulus package given to the industry to combat the impact of the global financial crisis, the government, in two tranches, reduced the excise duty from 14 per cent to 8 per cent and service tax from 12 per cent to 10 per cent.
Rao, however, clarified that he is not making any suggestion to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and it was up to him to take a call in the Budget.
India will compete with US and China: Intertek
New Delhi: Dr. Jochen P. Zoller is the President of the Global Food Service division, Intertek. Intertek provides testing, inspection and certification of products, and a range of other services, operating a global network of laboratories and offices with over 22,000 people in more than 100 countries. In a short talk, Zoller tells Ashok Kumar more about plans of Intertek for India.
How big is the Indian market in terms of food quality certification?
It is relatively small at present, but, in the next five years India will take a global place competing with US, Chinese and European markets.
How do the food brands gain mileage with the certification?
Certification has two distinct advantages. Firstly, it facilitates the trade beyond the local markets to sell products. Secondly, it helps the company to develop the right understanding. To sum it up, it is the end to the process of ascertaining quality.
Ads by Google ISO Certification ISO certification in 10 Days We share Our expertisewww.tcmservices.netIntertek Testing Lab Analytical Testing Laboratories Materials and Products Analysiswww.intertek.comSensory Evaluation The Custom Market Research & Sensory Analysis Companywww.Tragon.com
Does the certification scheme for food quality, vary from country to country?
Standards are all the same. From the point of implementation, variations may occur from the basic levels to the upgraded levels.
Tell us the fundamentals adhered by you while certifying a food brand?
Classical food safety is the fundamental idea, followed by quality of the food, company quality (in terms of environmental responsibility) and last but not the least, the health and safety standards.
Tell us about your some being clients, in India?
Nestle, Coke and Walmart are illustrious among the major clients we handle in India.
Worldwide, our customers include leading brands such as Shell, Canon, McDonalds, BP, IKEA, Nike, ExxonMobil, LG, GAP Inc, Valero, Ericsson, Wal-Mart, ChevronTexaco, The Home Depot Inc, Marks & Spencer and Levi Strauss.
Sports News
India strikes gold at Commonwealth Shooting C'ship
New Delhi: Shooters Gagan Narang and P T Raghunath brought glory to the country on the first day of the Commonwealth Shooting Championship by winning the gold medal in the men's 10-meter air rifle pairs event at the Dr Karni Singh shooting range in New Delhi on Friday.
Narang and Raghunath scored 599 points and 594 points respectively to win the gold on the first day of the event.
Women shooters also joined the party as they won the gold in the 25-meter sports pistol woman pairs.
The Indian duo of Virat Singh and Bapu Vanjare won a silver in the men''s 50 meter free pistol pairs.
Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra has been ruled out of the 11-day Commonwealth Shooting Championship, as he did not attend the trials.
Jaipur curators predict high-scoring opening ODI
Jaipur: With a batting-friendly wicket on offer, a high scoring encounter is on the card when India takes on South Africa in the first cricket one-dayer at the Sawai Man Singh stadium here on Sunday.
If the curators of the ground -- Ashok Joshi and Taposh Chattejee -- are to be believed, they have made a batting beauty for the opener which will set the tone for the three-match series.
"There is no doubt that it would be a fine batting wicket. People come to watch runs in ODIs and we won't disappoint them," Joshi said.
Fellow curator Chatterjee said the surface looks in great shape and would be ideal for strokeplay.
"We have kept grass on the wicket and underneath too 0which will help in binding the soil. We had watered it adequately and we are rolling it to help it dry.
"A little bit of evaporation and rolling pulls out the moisture from underneath. It makes the surface which means the ball will come on to the bat," he said.
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