‘Student-friendly’ changes to make CBSE X, XII exams easier this year

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:13.02.2019

“Student-friendly” changes in question papers of Class X and XII Boards are set to make exams easier this time. The CBSE has decided to increase objective type questions and question options in papers.

At present, up to 10% of the questions are objective type. “However, this year, it will be increased to 25%. This will boost the confidence of students and help them score better,” said a CBSE source. “If a student is not confident about a certain question, he/she will have 33% more question options to choose from,” the official said.

Students can also expect more structured question papers this year, with each paper divided into sub-sections. For example, all objective type questions will be clubbed into one section, followed by questions with higher marks. “At present, except the objective type, the questions are jumbled and not divided into sections. Students can attend papers in a more systematic manner,” said the official.

‘Working towards encrypted papers’

CBSE secretary Anurag Tripathi said the paper leak raised questions on the board’s credibility. “We had therefore used encrypted papers in a few subjects in 2018. We are working on logistics so as to ensure all papers are encrypted.” P 16

Movements of superintendents to be tracked

Toavoid paper leak, the board has devised a mechanism for real-time tracking of centre superintendents, who are designated to collect “confidential material” via a mobile application. Last year, two question papers (Class X mathematics and Class XII economics) were leaked and the board had to re-conduct the economics exam. It did not reconduct the maths exam as there was a “limited leak”.

“The secured mobile application will record the timing of centre superintendents collecting question papers from designated agencies and will also track their movements till they reach exam centres and open question paper packets,” said the official. Moreover, the CBSE has also asked the superintendents not to depute anyone to pick up the confidential material on his/ her behalf. This year, around 13 lakh candidates have registered themselves for the Class XII exams, while 18 lakh will sit in Class Xexams. The exams will commence from February 15, which is 15 days in advance as compared to last year. The vocational exams will be completed by February-end and exams on academic subjects will be conducted in March.

5.4-magnitude quake triggers mild tremors

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.02.2019

Residents felt mild tremor in some parts of Chennai on Tuesday after an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale in the Bay of Bengal at 7.02 am, with its epicentre 606 km off the city’s coast at a depth of 10km. No casualty or damage to property was reported Experts monitoring the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System at INCOIS, Hyderabad, said the earthquake was too far away and too mild to cause damage or aftershocks in the city.

An earthquake of 5.4magnitude is deemed as ‘moderate’ and can release seismic energy with the potential to cause damage to poorly built buildings and mild damage to well-designed buildings.

Epicentre was 10km below sea level about 606km off Chennai

GSI to study cause of earthquake

A senior official of Geological Survey of India (GSI) said the area near Andaman and Nicobar was more prone to earthquakes because of tectonic plates but not near Chennai in the Bay of Bengal. “Bay of Bengal area is not known to have frequent earthquakes but areas near Andaman and Nicobar Islands are. The activity needs to be studied to find out more,” he added.

Independent weather blogger Pradeep John posted on his social media page that the epicentre was far away from the city and that it would not harm the city.

There have been three earthquakes of considerable magnitude in the Bay of Bengal near Chennai -- on August 1, 2007, 86km away from the coast and with a magnitude of 3.5; on November 20, 2006, of 3.9magnitude; on November11, 1999, of 5.8magnitude. All three had their epicentres near that of Tuesday’s quake.

The GSI is looking to study the earthquake data to find out the cause.

Independent weather blogger Pradeep John had posted on his social media page that the earthquake would not harm the city

Reforms needed for foreign degree recognition in India

India needs new policies to reconsider recognition of year-long master’s and online courses offered by the UK and other countries, says Vivienne Stern

Shivangi.Mishra@timesgroup.com

11.02.2019

Number of Indian students opting for a foreign degree has been on a steady rise. The recent data released by UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), shows that the number of Indian students has increased by 28% in the academic year 2017-18 than in 2016-17.

The trend, says Vivienne Stern, director, Universities UK International — a consortium of British universities— is an indicator and it is time to look at policy level reforms to recognise more number of foreign degrees in the public sector in India.

Year-long master’s degrees offered in the UK are currently not recognised by centrally funded Indian universities or by various public-sector employers in India. The principal reason given for non-equivalence is the duration of course as only two-year programmes are recognised as master’s degree in India.“The education over the years has evolved and today year-long postgraduate programmes are as efficient as two-year programmes. For the vast majority of students, it is not a problem because they go for the private sector jobs, but it has been a long standing topic of discussion,” says Vivienne. “There is no substantiated evidence for the lack of quality in such courses. These graduates have great potential on returning back and can contribute academically so, why put a barrier,” she adds.

ONLINE DEGREES

Presently, there are around 7,00,000 students pursuing a UK degree through distance learning mode. India stands at 9th position, taking online courses from UK institutes. The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) does not recognise any foreign degrees awarded through distance learning.

Despite lack of official recognition, students and employers still have faith in these degrees as they match industry standards. Many graduates will be successfully employed in the private sector after getting online degrees, says Vivienne.

“Online degree provision offers a possible solution to India’s growing demand for high quality, low cost higher education. Online degrees from UK universities are quality assured under the UK’s quality assurance system, which means that they must meet the same world-class standards as any degree offered inside the country by an institution,” she says.

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

Degrees with collaborative provision is a good option for Indian students. “Rather than allowing the international branch campus model that is seen widely in other parts of Asia, the Indian government has preferred the gradual development of international collaborative partnerships to support home grown excellence.”

“Most courses are delivered entirely at a private Indian partner institution, though very few programmes offer an option of studying at the UK partner university,” she says.

There is a lot of potential for growth in such collaborations.

Foreign institutions operate within a complex regulatory environment in India with up to six bodies involved in institution or programme approval (AICTE, AIU, UGC, NAAC, NBA and a range of professional councils). This also needs to be simplified.


Vivienne Stern


BREXIT WILL OFFER OPPORTUNITIES

There is a lot of growth potential in terms of UK-India collaboration in education and research, especially in the Brexit aftermath. Various partners such as the Universities UK International and the British Council are constantly looking at all possibilities of strengthening this collaboration.

This is being done through initiatives such as the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) started in April 2006. Now in its third phase, the initiative is working towards developing programmes that meets the priorities and needs of both the countries and bring about a systemic change in the education, skills and leadership sectors of both India and the UK.

The British government, with this realisation, has proposed several changes in immigration policies, under which UG, PG and PhD students will be able to stay in the UK to look for work for six months after college. They will also have three months before graduating during which they can find work and change from a study visa to a work visa.

International graduates will be given two years after graduating during which they can apply to switch their UK study visa to a UK work visa .

Four passengers suffer as AI Express flight develops snag
Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:11.02.2019

Four passengers onboard Air India Express’ Muscat-Calicut flight on Sunday had nose bleeding and some others felt ear pain as the aircraft suffered a cabin pressurisation snag soon after getting airborne. As soon as the Boeing 737 (VT-AXW) with over 180 passengers had this issue, the pilots stopped further climb and returned to land safely at Muscat within halfan-hour of take-off. The airline has reported this to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which has launched a probe.

AI Express Flight IX 350 took off from Muscat at 3.19am (local time) Sunday. During climb at about 12,000 feet the Boeing 737’s cabin pressurization system had a snag. Passengers started experiencing discomfort, with four having nose bleed and others complaining of ear pain. The pilots immediately stopped climbing further and returned to land safely in Muscat. The aircraft had 182 passengers, three infants and crew members on board.

AI Express CEO K Shyam Sundar told TOI: “Aircraft returned (safely) to bay due to (cabin) pressurization problem. Four passengers had nose bleeding. They were treated by the airport doctor and declared fit to travel. A few other passengers who had experienced discomfort and ear pain soon became alright after the aircraft landed and they were in the terminal building.

“Replacement crew and spares reached Muscat (on) Sunday morning and the aircraft after due rectification and verification departed from Muscat to Calicut at 2.15pm (local time) with (all passengers).” Another senior official said, “The crew which operated IX 350 would have had exceeded its maximum duty time so a replacement crew had to be arranged to fly the aircraft back to Calicut once it was rectified.” Sources say the cabin pressurization issue may have been caused by turbulence.

Flight makes emergency landing in U’khand after ‘door opens mid-air

 Prem Puneth
Pithoragarh:

The Pantnagar-Pithoragarh flight made an emergency landing at Pantnagar airport just five minutes after take-off on Saturday afternoon.

While officials claimed that the sudden landing was due to a technical snag, passengers onboard the nine-seater aircraft said that the door of the plane opened mid-air creating panic among the passengers. Lokesh Bora, a passenger, told TOI, “Just five minutes after the take-off around noon, the door of the aircraft suddenly burst open and air started gushing in. All of us were so panic-stricken that we didn’t know what to do. There were two children onboard who started crying profusely. I have taken so many flights but have never faced such a situation in my life.”

He added, “I was going to meet my mother in Pithoragarh. But now because of this incident, I had to cancel my plans. If the government wants more people to avail of flights on this sector which has been recently started, they should first ensure safety of passengers.” Confirming the snag, Pantnagar airport director S K Singh said, “The aircraft operated by Heritage Aviation made an emergency landing on Saturday due to some technical problem. We are looking into the matter.” He, however, denied claims of the aircraft door opening mid-air.

You cannot ‘opt out’ meals on Vande Bharat Express

New Delhi:11.02.2019

Meals on board the soon-to-be-launched Vande Bharat Express or Train 18 will not be optional for passengers unlike in premium trains such as Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto Express, where passengers can choose not to take catering services, officials said.

However,passengers travelling the last leg on the route of the semi-high speed train Allahabad to Varanasi will have the choice of opting out of the meals provided by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), in advance while booking their tickets, the sources said.

The catering charges would not be included in their ticket prices. For others, the prices of the meals will be part of the ticket fare of the train which will run from Varanasi to Delhi on its maiden journey on February 15.

If the passengers who have opted out in advance want a meal during their travel, they will have to shell out an extra 50 for it, the sources said. In 2017, the IRCTC made meals on board prepaid trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto (which add the meal prices in ticket) with pantry services optional.

It was done to effectively control unfair practices of overcharging, issues of quality as well quantity and also to avoid wastage of food. This gave the passengers option to ‘not eat’ if he does not want the food supplied on board.

This also reduced the cost of the tickets on these trains by around 250. PTI

Bengaluru HC to RGUHS: Make exams transparent 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Jan 4, 2019, 6:45 am IST

Several unsuccessful candidates had approached the HC seeking direction for revaluation of their answer scripts.

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences

Bengaluru: The High Court recently asked Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) to examine the requests for considering adoption of Model Key Answer System or any other desirable measure for making the present examination system more transparent and efficient.

The court in its order dated December 21, 2018, passed by Justice Krishna S. Dixit passed made the observations with regard to a batch of petitions filed by several unsuccessful students, who had sought for revaluation of their answer scripts.

The court has ordered to look into their individual grievances in relation to pitfalls in the Digital Valuation System.

Several unsuccessful candidates had approached the HC seeking direction for revaluation of their answer scripts. The grievances relate to the refusal of the respondent-University (RGUHS) to send their answer papers for revaluation on the ground that the differential of marks awarded by two evaluators in the case of students of U.G. course and the differential of marks awarded by four evaluators in the case of students of P.G. course are less than 15% of maximum marks prescribed for the papers in the respective exams

Karnataka: Medicos seek God’s help to pass, results withheld The varsity had recently issued a circular, warning students not to indulge in any malpractice, including writing the names of Gods and other requests on the answer scripts. 

Published: 15th December 2018 09:16 AM

By Rashmi Belur

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Results of over 200 students pursuing MBBS course under Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) have been withheld since they invoked various gods on their answer papers.

The varsity had recently issued a circular, warning students not to indulge in any malpractice, including writing the names of Gods and other requests on the answer scripts. However, over 200 scripts containing such texts were identified during the recent first-year exam.

RGUHS follows digital evaluation and such scripts are rejected. “This time over 200 such scripts were identified and results have been withheld,” said registrar-evaluation Dr MK Ramesh. The scripts have been forwarded to the committee which handles malpractice cases and the students will now have to appear before the committee.“There is no fixed punishment for such malpractice,” he said.

“There is no fixed punishment for such malpractice and the expert committee will decide the same after hearing the students out,” registrar-evaluation Dr MK Ramesh said. As per the guidelines, those who indulge in malpractice should pay a penalty of up to `3,000, but now the university is even thinking of penalising the institutions concerned, along with the candidates.


In a circular issued in October 2018, university officials had clearly instructed students not to indulge in malpractice, and clarified that answer sheets featuring texts such as names of gods, ‘please turn over’, or irrelevant messages addressing the evaluator are banned. The university had even directed all medical education institutions affiliated to it in the state to guide students about the same.

“The circular was published on the website and all colleges were asked to upload the same on their websites and also to put it on the notice board. Unfortunately, despite all this effort, students ignored the warnings and continue to indulge in such malpractice. This time we want to be strict and put an end to these methods,” said another official. 

Students often leave emotional messages, names of gods or pleas for evaluators in the hopes that they would be given marks. “We have even witnessed cases where students go to the extent of inserting money inside the answer scripts. Some students try to create sympathy by writing their family background, etc. Hope this measure by the university will bring such cases down,” said a professor.

BU was the first

Bangalore University was the first to bring in a policy that considers actions such as writing names of gods and other irrelevant texts on the answer book as malpractice. When Dr N Prabhu Dev was the V-C of BU, he warned students that the results of those indulging in such malpractices will be put on hold.

What they wrote

I believe in Lord Ganesha. If you don’t pass me, he will curse you!

God, pass me this time. I will name my clinic after you
.
God forgive me this time and help me sail 
through. I will prepare the next time.

Jesus, if you help me clear the exams, I will light the candle every Sunday at church.

If I pass in this exam, I will visit Tirupati.