The Joint Entrance Exam conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology is for the first time going overseas. It will be held simultaneously in Dubai on April 13 next year.

Setting up a centre in Dubai is in line with the seven IITs asking the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry to encourage foreign students for a good mix of “unlike minds with different backgrounds” to enhance the academic environment and exchange on campuses.

According to data from IIT-Bombay, the nodal IIT co-ordinating JEE 2007, there were 120 foreign students who took the JEE last year. However merely six qualified. Over and above their capacity for BTech courses, the IITs can admit 10% as foreign students. In fact, last year, the IITs had evinced interest in taking the JEE outside the country. However, “due to logistical problems, that was not possible,” said an IIT official.

More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Indias first space university is all set to take wings next month seeking to groom tailor-made experts to fuel the countrys satellite and rocket programmes.

August middle is our target, said G Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is setting up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and expected to meet the high technology requirements of ISRO.

It would initially operate from the campus of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, a lead centre of ISRO, which will create a full-fledged infrastructure for IIST on a picturesque site in Ponmudi near the Kerala state capital in about two years.

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The changes that are proposed to the admission process of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are nothing short of monumental. And despite the mixed reaction to the changes, a general feeling is gaining ground that it will benefit students. The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-2006) is to be held on April 9. Here is a snapshot of the changes announced so far: JEE will continue to be the sole criterion for ranking the students for admission in IITs, IT-BHU, ISM, Dhanbad, and other participating institutes. School result will be factored into the admission process for the IITs. Only those students who secure a first class or equivalent in the Plus-Two examinations will be eligible for admission. For students belonging to SC/ST, there will be a relaxation of 5 per cent of marks below the level of marks prescribed in the respective examinations. JEE will be a single objective type examination. The question paper can include a short write-up on a topic in physics, chemistry or even mathematics followed by objective-type questions that are based on the write-up. A student can write the JEE in the year in which he/she passes the Class XII examination and/or in the following year. Those who join any of the IITs will not be allowed to sit for JEE again. The procedure will be reviewed after JEE-2006

Notification

The decision to reform the joint entrance examination for IITs came from within and was needed, an HRD ministry official said on Wednesday, adding that the joint advisory board of IITs would meet on Saturday to finetune the new directives. The idea behind the meeting is to put in place details of the system that will come into force from next year and ensure that no student is adversely affected, the senior HRD official said. Stating that there was nothing wrong in making 60% or equivalent at the plus two level as the basic requirement for the JEE, the official said that the idea was twofold: To ensure that the plus two result is treated as the screening test, and to break the stranglehold of coaching institutes trotting out a formulaic way of cracking the JEE. so strong is the grip of these institutes that there are cases where students have cleared the JEE, but score if less than 60% or even failed the class 12 exam, as is the case of the daughter of a person running an IIT coaching institute in Delhi. The HRD official, an IIT-ian, also said another reason for the changes was that it had been felt the entrance system was affecting the IITs. Coaching institute products tended to be narrow Focussed in their approach to the IIT curriculum once inside the institutes, whereas originally, people branched out into diverse fields after passing out of IIT, he said. Asked about the vast discrepancy in the marking pattern of various senior secondary boards, the official said: A first division is a first division. Giving the example of Kota, where numerous coaching institutes have mushroomed, the official said: In these institutes students start solving JEE problems from early morning. What kind of personality would emerge from this? he asked. Asked if the new rule oflimiting JEE attempts to two would hold true for students who cleared the plus two in 2005 but did not take up the test this year, he said: Something would beworked out

Notification

(Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Roorkee)

Joint Entrance Examination 2006 (JEE-2006).

Decision for admission to undergraduate courses at the above mentioned seven Indian Institutes of Technology, IT-BHU, Varanasi & Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

The decision of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) Meeting held on September 17, 2005 at Kolkata:

Eligibility:

1. Candidates appearing in (10+2) or equivalent qualifying examination in 2006 must secure at least 60% (55% for SC/ST and PD) marks in aggregate in their respective Board Examination. In case the respective Boards award letter grades, without providing a norm for converting them to equivalent percentage marks, the norms decided by the Joint Implementation Committee of JEE shall be final (details to be provided in the Information Brochure of JEE-2006).

2. A student can have only two attempts to write JEE with effect from 2006 - in the year in which he or she passes the 12th standard examination and/ or in the following year.

3. Candidates who join any of the NTs, IT-BHU, Varanasi, and ISM, Dhanbad through JEE-2006 will NOT be permitted to appear in JEE in future.

4. One time exception Candidates, who have passed their qualifying examination in 2005 or earlier, will be permitted to appear in JEE-2006, as a last chance, irrespective of the marks secured or the number of earlier attempts at JEE subject to their satisfying the age limit.

¢ Date and Pattern of JEE-2006:

1. Date of Examination: 9th April, 2006 (Sunday)

2. Subjects: Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry

3. Pattern: Three question papers of two hours duration each in Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry. All questions will be of objective type designed to test aptitude, comprehension and analytical ability of the candidates.

The detailed advertisement will appear on 1st October, 2005 in all national dailies.

Notification

Piyush Srivasthava: Class XII topper, state engineering examination topper and now, IIT-JEE-2005 topper. And Piyush isnt done yet. The Allahabad boy is now in Mumbai, going through grueling 15-day training for the Physics International Olympiad at Spain, where he takes on the best brains in the world. No ones going to be surprised if he tops here too. By cracking the elite engineering entrance examination, Piyush, a student of Boys High School and College, Allahabad, has perhaps created history by topping almost all competitive examinations this year. This is how his Class XII report card reads: Physics: 100, Mathematics: 99, Computer Science: 99, English: 94, Chemistry: 90. For someone who doesnt believe in coaching classes, those are terrific scores. With coaching classes making a killing out of luring IIT-JEE aspirants, it is surprising that Piyush decided to go on his own. All he had to back him when he took up the entrance exam was his Class XII books. In Mumbai, where he is attending the 11-hour-long training for the Olympiad, Piyush said his hobby was to study. My favourite subject is mathematics and I love solving mathematics problems. he says. He thanked his teachers. My schoolteachers have been my guiding light and I am indebted to them. he said. Piyush says his results havent sunk in yet- he has been too busy. Piyush returns from Spain on June 28. The next morning he heads straight for the counselling at IIT Kanpur.

A seminar on IIT-JEE was organized by Hyderabad-based Sri Chaitanya Group in the Tagore Theatre auditorium on Friday. The audience comprised class 10 and 12 students from around the city and their parents.

IIT alumni and academicians like Avnish Kumar, Rahul Tuli and Shrikant Kumar counselled the students on various aspects of preparation required to pass the IIT-JEE entrance examination. The seminar was chaired by DAV Public School principal Madhu Behl.

Avnish Kumar told the students that 14-22 years of age is the right time to work towards the career goals since it is the period when energy levels are the highest, thereby resulting in better chances for success. He emphasized on the two Ps of success, Proper Guidance and Proper Environment. Nevertheless, he maintained that success is 90 per cent personal hard work on the part of the student, 7 per cent support from parents and proper environment and only 3 per cent depends upon the teachers support which serves the same purpose as salt in the curry.

More : cities.expressindia.com