AICTE announces free engineering education for students with upto R 4.5 lakh family income

New Delhi: All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has brought some relief for low-income parents who wish to educate their children. According to the new AICTE announcement, students will get free engineering education if their family income is upto Rs 4.5 lakh. Tuition fee waiver scheme is applicable only for B.E./B.Tech. courses in Self-Financing Engineering institutes and Self-Supporting courses in Government Aided Engineering Institutes.

Seats up to a maximum of 5% of sanctioned intake per course will be available under the scheme. Generally, for a sanctioned intake of 60 in a Branch, Tuition Fee waiver shall be given to 3 candidates.

Sons and daughters of parents whose annual income is less than 4.50 lakhs from all sources shall only be eligible under this scheme. Students who wish to avail fee concession under this scheme should furnish proof of parental income to the counseling application issued by the revenue authority not below the rank of a Deputy Tahsildar. The tuition fee waived will be as approved by the State Level Committee.

All other fees except tuition fee will have to be paid by the students. Beneficiary student admitted under AICTE TFW scheme will not be allowed to change Institution / course under any circumstances.

The new rules will be applicable for admission in 2012-13 session. The rule has been applied in the Uttar Pradesh State Entrance Examination (UPSEE), the counseling for which starts on July 14.

The income limit for free education till last year was Rs 2.5 lakh. AICTE applies its rules to all the engineering, pharmacy, hotel management and fashion designing institutes.

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Zero in exam can still get you an engineering seat

They may have handed over blank papers but they have still qualified for admission into professional engineering courses in Andhra Pradesh. Unbelievable but true, as per officials.

Twenty-two of 78 students who scored zero in the entrance exam this year will get admission in engineering courses as they belong to Scheduled Caste(SC) or Scheduled Tribe(ST) communities.

According to officials in the education department, despite scoring zero in EAMCET (Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test), these students have qualified as they got the minimum 40 % marks in the qualifying XII exam.

While 9 students will get admission into engineering institutes, 13 can pursue other courses except MBBS. Even this was possible till 2008 when the Medical Council of India (MCI) tightened the eligibility norms.

The Dalit/tribal students who have qualified despite scoring zero in the medical stream in EAMCET can get admissions into agriculture, veterinary and horticulture degree programmes.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, conducts EAMCET every year for admission into professional courses both in government and private institutes in the state. The results of EAMCET 2012 were announced last week.

Of 90,917 students who gave EAMCET in the medicine stream, 83,686 qualified.

For the general category students, the competition will be tough with only 4,950 seats available in 37 medical colleges and 1,870 seats in 21 dental colleges.

Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of engineering colleges (671) in India.

Of 283,477 students who gave engineering entrance, 223,886 have qualified. This number has come down to about 200,000 as many students failed in the XII exam.

This means over 100,000 engineering seats would still remain vacant in the academic year 2012-13. The state has 321,000 engineering seats.

Academicians say the number of vacant seats in engineering institutes would be even higher as the top rankers will opt for the Indian Institute of Technology.

Till 2010, passing XII exam was sufficient to get entry into engineering institute even if the students score zero in EAMCET.

Last year, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) prescribed a cut off percentage of 50 in 12 Class for general category and 40 % for the reserved quota students.

The total marks in EAMCET are 160, and for the general category, the qualifying marks are 25 % of the total.

Governor ESL Narasimhan, who is the chancellor of all universities in the state, is sad over the state of affairs.

Addressing JNTU Hyderabad convocation in May, he disapproved of the trend of giving admissions to students who don't score a single mark in EAMCET.

"There should be some minimum qualifying marks. What do you expect of such students, who score zero, to do in classrooms? Do you want to develop an inferiority complex among such students?"

Governor ESL Narasimhan, Governor, Andhra Pradesh

Previous year, 26 out of 73 students who got zero marks in EAMCET were declared qualified. Of them, 17 got admissions into engineering and nine in agriculture/veterinary institutes.

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Karnataka: 15 Engineering institutes to get grants

The State Cabinet has decided to implement a Rs. 221-crore World Bank-aided project in 15 engineering institutes to enhance the quality of technical education and research.

Addressing media persons on the decisions taken at a Cabinet meeting here on Friday, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri said the 2nd phase of the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQUIP) would be implemented in 15 private and government engineering institutes to promote research and innovation.

Under the TEQUIP-II, 15 engineering institutes would receive Rs. 12 crore each. The Union Government would route 75 % of funds for the Rs. 221-crore project while the State government would contribute the rest.

Mr. Kageri said institutes such as Malnad Engineering College, Hassan; M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, R V Engineering College, BMC engineering college, Dr Ambedkar Engineering College, all located in Bangalore; NMAM Institute of Technology, Nitte; and Siddaganga Engineering College, Tumkur, have been shortlisted for this project, he said.

The State Government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with these 15 institutes with regard to the TEQIP Phase-2 when the late V.S. Acharya was Higher Education Minister.

Faculty recruitment and skill enhancements have not kept pace with the expansion of engineering institutions.

The shortage among Ph.D.- level faculty was around 30,000 and Masters-level faculty around 24,000 in 2008. Karnataka has 187 engineering institutes of which 14 are government, 12 aided and 161 unaided. On average, 63,104 students are admitted to engineering institutes.

TEQIP Phase-I (2004-09) also covered 14 engineering institutes in Karnataka, at an outlay of Rs. 162 crore. Karnataka was among 13 States covered in TEQIP Phase-I.

The main objectives of TEQIP Phase-II are to increase enrolment in post-graduate studies (primarily Ph.Ds. and M.Techs), to augment the number of research papers published and to upgrade the competence of faculty, according to Minister for Higher Education V.S. Acharya.

Dr. Acharya said that with 14 institutes given TEQIP, Karnataka has the highest number of colleges to have been deemed fit for the grant. “Some of our institutes are better than the National Institutes of Technology,” according to Dr. Acharya.

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Kerala: Opposition walkout on private engineering institute’s issue

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI-M led LDF Opposition in Kerala on Friday staged a walkout dissatisfied with the govt. response to a High court order regarding effective steps to enhance the quality of education in private engineering institutes.

Both Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb assured the House that government would adhere to the court directions and take necessary measures to ensure that infrastructure and faculty in private professional institutes were of high standards.

Seeking leave for an adjournment motion on the court order asking government either to close down the sub-standard institutes or take steps to enhance the quality of education, CPI-M member Sreeramakrishan wanted government to take steps to rein in the private institutes that, he said, were functioning with commercial interest.

The court had also made the observation that pass percentage in most of these colleges was very low.  

Rabb said the state government was yet to receive a copy of the court order.

Government would examine the order and take necessary measures, he said.

However, he said it was not practical to close down the private institutes where the pass percentage was less than 40 % as it would lead to various other problems as well.

Government would come out with guidelines for functioning of private institutes in the light of the High Court observation, he said.

CPI-M Deputy leader in the House Kodiyeri Balakrishnan resented government's attitude towards the issue and said it was taking the matter very lightly and staged a walkout.

Speaker G Karhtikeyan refused leave for the motion after Chandy and Rabb replied.

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Mechanical Engineering: First choice for Diploma students

AHMEDABAD: Mechanical engineering appears to be the first choice of students seeking admission to diploma courses this year.

Admission Committee for Professional Diploma Courses (ACPDC) said that in the first mock round of admissions, 82, 239 students out of the total 93,190 filled their choice. The total number of choices submitted was 35, 54596. The students have to fill in their choice of subjects and inst institutes in the mock round. They can choose any number of subjects ranging from just one over 100.

The mock round is done online. Of the total 47,323 seats in nearly 96 diploma institutes, only about 100 seats are remaining vacant. Mechanical engineering topped the list of subjects chosen with 54, 4674 choices being filled in. As many as 3, 94850 choices went in favor of electrical engineering, while 3, 64306 choices were for civil engineering. Computers engineering was chosen 2, 02574 times. Textile design was the least preferred with only 140 choices.

Nearly 3646 new students registered for admissions, according to a press release issued by ACPDC. Also, 2,375 forms have been distributed in the last 3 days.

The second mock round will be conducted from July 7 to July 12.

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Maharashtra: 40,000 engineering seats likely to remain vacant

Getting an engineering seat in the state seems to be a cakewalk. For, this year too, up to 40,000 seats are likely to remain vacant in engineering colleges, defying the very purpose of an engineering entrance exam in the state.

With more seats than the numbers of students, most engineering institutes will struggle to fill up their seats.

Around 2.8 lakh students had appeared for the engineering stream (physics-chemistry-mathematics: PCM) in MHT-CET this year. Of them, only 1.2 lakh students have registered for the engineering admissions, while there are a total of 1.48 lakh seats in 363 engineering institutes in Maharashtra. According to an official from the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), the numbers of seats is likely to go up by at least 5% under the tuition fee waiver scheme (TFWS).

Last year, the corresponding figure for students was around 1.04 lakh, while there were 1.4 lakh seats in all.

"The last date of registration was June 28. We extended the date by a couple of days for students who were unable to procure the required documents. However, the numbers of applicants went up only by a few thousands in the two days. Once the TFWS seats are counted, the numbers of vacancies may go up to 40,000."

An official in admission department

He said most of the vacant seats are usually found in institutes in remote areas of Vidarbha, Marathwada, Jalgaon and Nagpur.

"In cities like Mumbai and Pune, the problem is not very severe. But even colleges here face problems in filling up seats in programmes like information technology (IT), chemical, production and textile engineering."

An official in admission department

Last year, close to 35,000 engineering seats remained vacant. The AICTE lowered the eligibility criteria for engineering/technical programmes from 50 percent in Class XII (in PCM) to 45 percent for the general category. This, however, made the matter worse.

While several states, including Maharashtra, have requested the AICTE not to give approval to new colleges, around 15 new institutes have been given sanctioned this year.

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UPSEE counseling at Institute of Engineering and Technology marred by mismanagement

LUCKNOW: Students and parents on Thursday were a troubled lot at the ongoing counseling of the state entrance examination held on 20 percent centralized seats. The counseling organized by Gautam Buddh Technical University (GBTU) was marred by mismanagement.

At Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), students waited for their turns since morning only to know that they will be able to lock the seat on Friday only.

"We waited since morning for our turn. But, the officials did not give us a clear view. When the situation got out of control, they advised the students to report again for counseling on Friday."

A student at the counseling venue

Students also complained that the officials were themselves confused on the issue which prevented them from continuing the counseling. A parent who waited for her daughter's turn said, "There is absolutely no rule. Till late in the night, only ten students could lock their seats. The students were called randomly." Poor arrangements added to the woes. There were complaints of poor seating arrangements and system failure.

Admitting the failure of the system, SEE admission co-coordinator, Prof VK Singh said:

"Water logging and networking issues led to a late start of the counseling problem. Since the problem could not be sorted out till late evening, we asked girls to first lock their seats. Students who could not lock their seats will be given a chance tomorrow."

Prof VK Singh, SEE Admission Co-coordinator

He added that at the 2 other centers in the city, the counseling was peaceful and ended in time. Students who will lock their choice will get an allotment letter a day after.

BTE makes AICTE approval mandatory for counseling: Board of Technical Education on Thursday directed managers and directors of all colleges that offer various diploma courses to the students to get approval from AICTE for admissions in 2012-13. Secretary, BTE said all such institutes which do not have AICTE approval will not be included in the counseling schedule. This means, that no admissions can take place in these institutions for the academic session 2012-13. In such a situation, the institutions will be answerable to the board.

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Manufacturing industry boom, fuels demand for mechanical engineers

Rajasthan: The boom in the manufacturing sector both in the public and private domain has led to a sharp rise in number of takers for mechanical engineering programme.

This core branch of engineering accounts for about 20% of the total seats in Rajasthan’s 154 engineering institutes and 34 private universities.

The manufacturing sector's growing contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the years has fuelled the demand for the course that is giving other popular courses such as electrical engineering and electronics and communication a tough competition.

The course offers several career options in production and industrial to automobile engineering, among others.

"The robust growth in infrastructure has spurred the demand for mechanical engineers. Barring IT, the core companies are recruiting mechanical professionals in every industrial sphere."

Manish Jain, Associate Professor of mechanical engineering, JECRC University

With the auto ancillary industry developing around Alwar, the requirement for skilled professionals has gone up. Engineering institutes in the state too are aiming at building a pool of talented professionals who can be recruited by the industry.

PSU'S such as BHEL, SAIL, ONGC and Indian Railways besides private sector organizations like Sterlite, Tata Steel, L&T have massive expansion plans and are looking at absorbing a sizeable number of mechanical engineers.

Pavan Kaushik, head of corporate communication at Hindustan Zinc, Udaipur said the company hires a substantial number of mechanical engineers every year.

"There are several instances in which mechanical engineers have gone on to take senior management and leadership positions."

Pavan Kaushik, Head of Corporate Communication at Hindustan Zinc

This branch is also a gateway to enter defense and strategic sectors such as Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Energy, Federal Aviation Administration, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Getting a professional degree in mechanical engineering is no cakewalk, warn academicians. A sound background in Mathematics is extremely important for one to understand the concepts.

"Ideally students who can work with machines and have a good temper to work in all conditions is the minimum requisite to become a mechanical engineer."

Manish Jain

The branch offers tremendous scope in research and development too. A master’s degree in mechanical engineering can open vast avenues in academics, production and automobile engineering.

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Utkal University scraps engineering institute plan

The Utkal University authorities have confirmed that the plan to establish the Institute of Science and Technology, an engineering institute under the varsity, has been scrapped.

The university had already brought out admission notice and started accepting application forms for B.Tech and M.Tech courses. The university authorities, however, declined to reveal the reasons for the decision.

"There are certain issues. The engineering college plan did not materialize."

Debendra Nath Jena, Registrar, Utkal University

Declining to elaborate, Jena said the Post Graduate (PG) Council was looking into the matter. "We have kept the plan in abeyance due to some technical reasons," said PG council chairman P K Mishra. Despite attempts, vice-chancellor P K Sahoo was not available for comment.

Sources said the varsity abruptly terminated the ambitious plan after the govt. pointed out that it had not taken a no-objection certificate (NOC) to start the technical courses. The varsity is supposed to get a go-ahead from the Directorate of Technical Education and Training and obtain approval from the All India Council of Technical Education and Training (AICTE) for the engineering programmes. The varsity had done neither and it’s too late this year for the procedure when admission process has already begun.

"We did not receive any such application or accorded approval to the varsity," said technical education and training (TET) secretary Chandra Sekhar Kumar, adding for starting any course, the varsity has to get concurrence from the higher education, finance and technical education departments.

The latest development inconvenienced many students as they had already applied for admission.

"The flip flop is ridiculous. I had already made 2 drafts as required of Rs 350 and Rs 150 to deposit the form. I had also started preparing for the Utkal entrance examination."

Swaraj Kumar, an M.Tech aspirant

Officials pointed out that the cancellation means wastage of public money spent on building renovation for ISTUU. The varsity had renovated portions of Master of Computer Application (MCA) building and University Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UDPS) deploying the central public works department (CPWD) for the cancelled technical institute.

Utkal advertised to admit 60 students each for B.Tech in electronics & communication engineering, computer science & engineering (CSE) and electrical & electronics engineering branches. Besides, it had invited applications for 30 seats of M.Tech in computer science engineering. The university had announced to take B.Tech students by giving weightage to Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE), GD and personal interview. For M.Tech, however, the university had announced to conduct its own exam.

The Syndicate, the apex decision making body of the varsity, during a special session on May 29 had given its go ahead for the proposed institiute. A section of faculty members questioned as to how the syndicate and the chancellor's (governor's) office allowed the college in the first place without seeking required approval from the relevant departments.

Some faculty members said the government scuttled the varsity's move bowing before the pressure from private engineering institutes.

"The private colleges pressurized the government arguing that when their seats are lying vacant, the varsity should not open a new college. However, the varsity seats would not have fallen vacant and the move would have given financial strength to Utkal. AICTE approval was a non-issue as the varsity would have got it easily. The VC himself is an AICTE member."

A professor at Utkal University

Private engineering institutes said Utkal should not have planned an engineering college.

"When seats in most colleges remain vacant, it seems illogical why the university should open an engineering college. Moreover, the government last year agreed to a proposal from the private colleges that no new engineering college will be given permission to open in the next 5 years."

Binod Dash, General Secretary, Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA)

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Galgotia Student bags 5 million offer from US based firm

The placement season at Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology, Greater Noida, witnessed some top companies making a beeline for the campus students despite the prevailing sense of economic gloom. In a candid chat, Placement Head Ms. Manisha Choudhary explains how despite recessionary pressures, Galgotias students bagged big fat pay cheques from blue chip companies.

Q. Does your experience with campus placements show that things are not as bad for India Inc as it is being made out to be?
We may be seeing a drop in the performance levels of Indian economy, but it has not affected placements so far. The process is still on and yet we placed 88 % of the students at some of the top companies, including HCL, Infosys, Accenture, Daksh Technology, Larsen & Toubro, NIIT Technology, Tech Mahindra and Huawei Telecom. As many as 96 companies have come to our campus for hiring.

Q. What is the salary range being offered to your students?
Most students from our institute have bagged jobs in reputed organizations. Infosys was the highest recruiter this year with 301 students getting job in the company.

Accenture hired 175 students. Naveen Kumar Goswami, a final-year B. Tech Computer Science student, bagged the highest offer of 50 lakh from the US-based Helix Energy Solutions Group.

Q. What are some of the most sought-after specializations at Galgotias?
Our B.Tech. programmes in Computer Science, Information Technology, Electronics and Communication, Mechanical and Civil Engineering are the favorites amond students.

Q. Do you have any academic collaboration with corporate houses?
We have a Memorandum of Understanding with Infosys called the Campus Connect Programme. It is a 7 year-old programme which offers access to training to our faculty members and students.

We also have academic alliances with Microsoft India, Wipro Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services and Larsen and Toubro.

To enable our students to make the best use of opportunities they get, they are put through a rigorous corporate readiness programmes which run concurrently with the academic courses. These programmes include industry visits, mentorship, project support, field research, corporate interface and faculty monitored internships.

Our Microsoft Student India initiative organized by the Galgotias Technology Hub and the Computer Science and Engineering Department in March was attended by more than 500 students from different colleges and universities across Delhi/NCR.

Q. What were some of the specializations that recruiters focused on this year?
Out of the 96 companies which visited our campus, 45 of them came for students who have specialized in Computer Science, IT, Electronics, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.

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Chhattisgarh PET and PPHT 2012 results out

Chhattisgarh Pre Engineering and Pre pharmacy Test 2012 results have been declared today. Students can check their result on ChhattisgarhVYAPAM website.

Click here to check results

The PET and PPHT result 2012 were highly awaited among the candidates who had given these tests for entryl engineering and pharmacy colleges of Chhattisgarh. Every year Raipur based Chhattisgarh professional examination Board organizes the entrance test for PET, PPHT and a host of other courses.

In this year’s Chhattisgarh PET and PPHT results, Manas Ranjan Sahu has topped the PET test while Gaurav Ramrakhyani has topped the PPHT test.

The declaration of Chhattisgarh pre engineering Test (PET) and Pre Pharmacy Test (PPHT) has brought an end to the wait of the engineering and pharmacy aspirants.

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EAMCET 2012: Hyderabad students sweep top ranks

Hyderabad students bagged top ranks in both medical and engineering streams in Eamcet-2012, results of which were announced on 29^th June. Vijay Ketan Reddy secured the first rank in medical stream, a resident of Dilsukhnagar and in engineering stream the top rank was bagged by Chinta Nitish Chandra, a resident of Madhapur. Unlike the results in 2011 when most of the top ranks were bagged by girl students, this year in both the streams just 2 girl students each secured top ranks. The students can check their results on the htttp://www.apeamcet.org

Out of a total of 2.83 lakh students who wrote the engineering branch of the examination about 2.07 lakh had secured ranks. Out of a total of 90,917 students who sit for the medical examination just about 77,800 students secured ranks.

Counseling for admissions to engineering colleges is expected to begin in the 3^rd week of July and classes are expected to start by the end of August. Since about 2.34 lakh seats are available in engineering colleges in the state each of the students who secured rank in Eamcet will get a seat for sure. On top of this, another 13,844 students who qualified in Eamcet engineering have failed in the Intermediate exams and thus become ineligible for BE/B.Tech. Thus, there are only 1,93,629 students available for 2.34 lakh seats.

Another 15,000 seats are expected to be added by AICTE before the Eamcet counseling begins in the third week of July.

However, in MBBS with just about 4,500 seats available for 77,800 students the competition will be tough, officials said.

The toppers said that they had bagged the best ranks as they had spent 18 hours a day preparing for the exam. Medicine topper Vijay Ketan said he decided to opt for Medical stream against his father's wish and hence he had to prove his mettle. Ketan's father, Raghuveer Reddy is an ophthalmologist who runs a private clinic in the city.

"My father did not want me to become a doctor as my elder sister had opted for the same profession. My parents wanted me to be an engineer but my interest was in medical sciences and I followed my dream,"

Vijay Ketan, topper of EAMCET Medical Stream

Vijay Ketan is planning to join Gandhi Medical College. The topper in engineering, Chinta Nitish Chandra said his interest’s is in computer engineering.

"I have still not decided which college to choose from as I have cleared national entrance examinations as well."

Nitish Chandra, topper of EAMCET Engineering Stream

Interestingly, a majority of the rank holders in engineering stream might not take admissions in state's engineering institutes and they would opt for IITs or IIITs. Region wise and category wise ranks will be provided to enable students to know their position in the region's rank list this year. Damodar Raja Narasimha, minister for higher and technical education released the results here on Friday. With Eamcet going online this year officials had saved much time, said M V Ramana Rao, convener, Eamcet.

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Andhra Pradesh EAMCET 2012 Results Out

EAMCET ranks and result 2012 had been declared yesterday, Friday, June 29, 2012. The students who have given the exam of Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) of Andhra Pradesh can check their results on Andhra Pradesh EAMCET Website.

Students can also check their EAMCET ranks through SMS, which will be sent directly to the candidates. Because of this reason, the candidates were asked to provide their mobile numbers in their registration forms.

As planned, Damodar Raja Narasimha, minister for higher and technical education, declared the results at JNTU- Architecture and Fine Arts University on June 29, 2012.

As score of EAMCET depends a lot on the intermediate exam results and hence AP EAMCET results could only be declared after declaration of Intermediate supplementary results by the Board of Intermediate Education

Here it is worth noting that test for EAMCET was conducted on May 12 on various centers across state. As results and ranks of EAMCET 2012 have been declared, the counseling will begin soon.

The declaration of EAMCET results 2012 has brought an end to the eager wait of the students who had given this exam in order to secure a rank in the engineering, agriculture and medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh.

The students can check their results on the website:

http://results.andhraeducation.net/eamcet/

www.apeamcet.org

To check your AP EAMCET Rank through SMS

For BSNL subscribers

Type EAMCETRANK HTNO and send it to 53345/6

For other subscribers

Type EAMCETRANK HTNO and send it to 57333 and 56969.

To check your AP EAMCET Rank through IVRS

• Airtel-543212222
• BSNL-1255225, 1255560
• Idea-5545678
• Reliance-56566
• Tata-129660
• Tata GSM-54321234
• Uninor-51234
• Vodafone-56731

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Jharkhand Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Results Out

Jharkhand JCECE result 2012 has been declared today. The candidates can check their results on the JCECE board website.

Check results for Engineering PCM group
Check results for MBBS PCB group

40,518 in engineering stream (PCM group) and 11,173 students in medical (PCB group) have been declared successful. The successful candidates of PCM group will soon be invited for counseling, while candidates of PCB group have to sit for mains exam.

With declaration of Jharkhand JCECE PT results the board has also declared that the main examination for Medical stream will be held on 15th July 2012.

Here it is worth noting that Ranchi based JCECE Board conducts entrance exams for admission in medical and engineering colleges of the state. Lakhs of students give this exam every year to secure a seat in the engineering or medical institutes. The declaration of the results has ended the anxious wait of the students who had given the exam.

Those successful in JCECE PT results 2012 will get a chance to appear for the mains exam for MBBS course.

The date of mains exam for MBBS (PMT) has been declared and the successful candidates of engineering will soon be called for counseling.

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Close down Engineering Institutes with poor results: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court on Thursday said that private engineering institutes where pass percentage was less than 40 % should be closed down. More than 70 % of the private engineering institutes in Kerala will have to down shutters if the court’s order is implemented, according to managements and experts.

While considering a petition related to the affiliation of self financing engineering institutes, the court said that the Govt. should take steps in this direction on the basis of the pass percentages in the colleges in the last 3 years. The students of such under-performing colleges should be shifted to other colleges while closing them down, the court instructed.

A division bench comprising Justices Babu Mathew P Joseph and CN Ramachandran Nair gave the order after examining the results the private institutes had achieved between 2008 and 2011. It also asked the Govt. to consider raising the marks required to qualify for eligibility test from the present 50 %.

Noticing that the higher education standard in the State had deteriorated, the court asked the private engineering institutes to publish the results for the last 3 years on their websites so that the students could decide which college they should opt to join.

The High Court said that the Govt. and the All India Council for Technical Education should take necessary steps to enhance the academic standards in the engineering institutes. The court gave the instruction after studying the report of a committee that had looked into the infrastructure and academic conditions of the self-financing engineering institutes.

GPC Nair of the Kerala State Private Engineering College Managements Association said the High Court order could help in improving the study standards if implemented but highlighted that this was impractical.

“Tens of thousands of students would be out of the colleges. Kerala does not have enough institutes to absorb them.”

GPC Nair

Stating that implementation of the court would mean closure of 70 % of the self-financing colleges; Nair said the Govt. and universities should examine ways to improve the academic standards. He said one of the reasons for the present crisis was the non-availability of “quality students” for admission in the engineering institutes.

Academic experts pointed out that there was a tendency among the parents to somehow buy seats in engineering colleges for their children without considering their aptitudes, interests and qualification.

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All about new IIT JEE exam pattern

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Council on Wednesday formulated a compromise with the HRD ministry on the new pattern of entrance examinations.

Some of the salient features of new IIT JEE pattern are:

1. There will be 2 exams, the joint entrance examination (JEE) "main" followed by the JEE "advanced".
2. These exams will combine the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and the IIT-JEE, with the "main" exam being equivalent to AIEEE, and "advanced" being equivalent to the IIT-JEE.
3. There will be a "suitable" time gap between the 2 exams, though the duration of gap has not been clarified as of now.
4. Only top 150,000 candidates (including all categories) from the JEE "main" will be qualified for appearing in the JEE "advanced" examination.
5. Admission to IITs will be based on the rank in the main "advanced" exam.
6. However, only students who come in among the top 20 % scorers in their respective board will be considered eligible for the IITs.
7. The "advanced" exam will be jointly conducted by the IITs, just like the IIT- JEE. It will be organized by a Joint Admission Board (JAB) and Joint Implementation Committee of the IITs, the same which so far conducted the JEE.
8. The JEE "main" will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and it will coordinate with the IITs. It will be implemented from 2013.
9. Admission to the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) will be based on the "main" exam score. A final decision on methodology of admission is pending. A meeting of representatives from the NITs is scheduled for 4^th July.
10. Admission to various deemed universities will also be on the basis of scores in the "main" exam, which earlier took students on basis of AIEEE scores. Minimum percentage criteria will be fixed for these too.

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Andhra Pradesh Engineering Admissions Counseling

Web counseling ensures enough time for candidates to select the colleges and courses and they can give any number of option.

The engineering counseling this year is likely to begin in the 2^nd week of July after the results are declared on 30^th June.

Selecting the right combination of course and colleges is the 1^st step of success in realizing one’s dream. Since the State adopts the web counseling process to allot seats, students should understand the process carefully and execute it properly. Even small mistakes in web counseling can result in a good ranked student getting a poor college.

The benefits for students of web counseling are that aspirants have enough time to close in on the colleges and courses they wish to select and they can give many options. The options can also be changed any number of times until the last date.

After the last date all the options are locked by the computer and the software will allot seats based on the preferences given by the students taking into account several parameters like local/non-local area, reservation category, gender reservation and other permutations and combinations involved in the process of seat allocation.

Exercising Options

Exercising options means engineering aspirants have to select colleges and courses they wish to join and arrange them in the order of their priority. For instance, if a candidate wish to join JNTU College of Engineering, Hyderabad, under option number he have to write 1, under College code JNTUH and CSE under course if he wants Computer Science Engineering. If he wants Mechanical in the same institute he has to choose it as the 2^nd option and enter all the details like college code and course code.

If the same student wants CSE in Osmania University he can write the same in the 3^rd option field. Similarly, any number of options can be given with the combination of courses and institutes. One can choose the same course in all the institutes, or all the courses in the same institute, or a combination of different courses in different institutes. The computer will look at the 1^st option first and allocate the seat if it is vacant. If it is filled then it will check the 2^nd option, and similarly it will continue to check till a vacant seat is available for that rank matching the combination of course and institute opted by the student.

However, it is advised that students should do a study of previous allocations to find out which colleges and courses were available last year for the same rank. It will be more or less the same this year too. The details of certificate verification centers, generating the password and other admission related information will be released by the Technical Education Department while issuing the admission notification.

Students should not reveal their passwords to anyone. Several private agents are on prowl in the districts trying to lure students with promises of free transport or hostel facility.

If students fall in their trap they will not get the seats of their choice as these agents will fill their choice of colleges first in the web counseling.

Highlights:

• Counseling notification is expected to be released by the second week of July.
• Certificate verification will be done first.
• Booklet containing college codes and course codes will be given after certificate verification.
• Videos of web counseling procedure will also be screened at certificate verification centers.
• More than 700 Engineering Colleges and 300 Pharma Colleges in State
• No limit on options to be given
• Study previous years rank allotment and arrive at a realistic figure.
• Don’t reveal the password to anyone.

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Gujarat Engineering students pursuing summer course in Kansas University

For most of the students, summer is a time to travel and explore new opportunities. A group of students from India is doing just that - at Kansas State University.

Last year, the Indian state of Gujarat, initiated collaboration with Kansas State University, signing a MOU to launch the Engineering Summer Institute. Students from Gujarat Technical University, or GTU, will complete 2 eight-week courses in electrical engineering taught by K-State faculty. Classes started in June on the Manhattan campus.

Mohammad Hosni, professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Kansas-State said Gujarat Technical University administration shortlisted the first group of students to participate in the institute, and all are taking degrees in electrical engineering from the Indian university. Every student has passed national university entrance exams and GTU requirements. All of the students have sound technical and academic backgrounds.

Classes the students are taking at Kansas State University include wireless and mobile communication and digital signal processing.

Students will get credit for these courses as part of their curriculum at their college, and this offers the opportunity for them to possibly seek graduate school admission at Kansas-State or another institution upon graduation.

The program is sponsored by Gujarat Technical University and covers Kansas-State faculty instruction and graduate teaching assistant support for the 2 classes, as well summer institute fees. Students have to make arrangements for their travel, lodging and personal expenses.

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Mohammad Ismat – Topper – CBSE Class 12 - 2012

Manipuri boy Mohammad Ismat, who scored the highest marks in this year’s CBSE Class 12^th Exam, says the word impossible does not cross his mind.

“I have a strong conviction that everything is possible when a man is determined,” Ismat said Tuesday, a day after he scored 99 % marks in the Class 12 science stream examination organized by the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE).

He secured perfect 100 each in Mathematics, Chemistry, Home Science and Fine Arts, and 97 in Physics and 98 in English, scoring 495 out of 500.

“It is indeed great. I proved myself and confirmed that the northeast India has more such brilliant students. They should be properly nourished.”

Mohammad Ismat - 21-year-old student of Manipur’s Zenith Academy

He noted his family’s poverty, and said: “After passing Class 10 examination, I planned to study in a good school in Imphal… but I could not, because of the financial hardships faced by my family.”

Ismat, a Meitei Pangal (Manipuri Muslim), has now become the 1^st student in the entire northeastern region to top the CBSE AISSCE (All India Senior Secondary Certificate Examination).

A resident of Manipuri Muslim-dominated Lilong Haoreibi village in Thoubal district, Ismat is the only boy and the youngest of 7 children of Mohammad Bashirur Rahman, a government primary school teacher.

The boy began his primary education in a local English medium school before taking admission into Kendriya Vidyalaya in Imphal where he studied up to Class Eight. Later, he joined the Sainik School Imphal where he scored 94.2 % marks in the Class 10 CBSE examination.

Expressing his gratitude for his school teachers, he said: “Sir S.M. Singh, the management secretary of Zenith Academy, accepted my request to (allow) study in the school at a minimum fee, and with his kind advice and guidance I have come out with flying colors.”

Besides scripting history in the entire northeast, Ismat is now looking forward to set another record in the civil services exams. “I want to be an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer.”

“I am planning to study at St. Stephen’s College in New Delhi and work hard to top the civil services exams too,” said Ismat, who considers books as his best friends.

Expressing happiness over his son’s achievement, an excited Bashirur Rahman said, “My happiness knew no bounds. My son Ismat has done it and I think he would surely become a leader to guide thousands of poor students to become great personalities.”

Ismat’s school — Zenith Academy — also went into celebrations over their student’s success.

In this interview, Mohammad Ismat talks about how he could not study for 3 months because of an anal surgery, why it is important not to lose focus and why he wants to appear for the Civil Services exam and top that too.

When did you realize that you have topped the country in the CBSE results?

Where I stay, there is no Internet access. I had sent my roll number through sms to a friend in Bangalore. He informed me that I had scored above 99 %, with 100 each in four subjects. Later, my school called to inform me that I was the all-India topper.

I thank Allah and all the people who showed faith in me and supported me in helping make this dream come true. This success is not my own; I owe it to my school management, who funded my education and my father who brought me up despite our family's poor financial condition.

How did you prepare for the exam?

I studied for 8 to 10 hours every day before the exam. I had to put in an extra effort because in November 2011, I had to undergo an anal surgery that restricted me from studying for long hours. For almost 3 months, I had to lie on my stomach and prepare. It was painful and exhausting, but I did my best.

Did you take any coaching? How important is coaching for success, according to you?

I did not take any specialized coaching. I could not afford it either. But I did approach my teachers to help me after school and they immediately agreed. I think coaching is important, but only to guide you, to improve your weaker areas. You can ask your teachers at school, your friends -- anybody who is willing to help.

How did you overcome the challenges you've faced?

Ever since I was young, I have been a victim of adversity, losing my mother, my family's poor financial condition...

But I have learnt that there is no place in society for people who complain. I don't believe in destiny. I believe that everyone is responsible for his/her own destiny. Life will always be difficult for those who are looking for excuses. We have to break free from adversity and focus on the larger goal -- what we want to achieve in life.

You have to be patient, learn from your experiences and run towards your goal without resting.

What problems do students in the North-East face with respect to education?

 The North-East, especially Manipur, is not as advanced as the other states. We have very limited access to the Internet, for instance and are not informed (about things around us) like the city kids are.

Majority of us don't even have a Facebook account! How and where will we access it? There are indefinite power cuts. We can't afford to purchase invertors or generators. So we rely on candlelight in the evenings. It may sound filmy to many people, but it is very common here in Manipur.

When you are not studying, what activities do you enjoy?

I love reading scientific journals, most of which I get from the school library. I love watching sci-fi movies, but we don't have much time after school, because we have to do our homework and prepare for our exams.

The last movie I enjoyed watching was Independence Day. I liked the concept and I could watch it again and again.

Who do you seek inspiration from?

My father would often tell me stories of Prophet Muhammad and legends of great men who braved difficult situations and emerged successful. I am greatly inspired by the life and times of Prophet Muhammad. He has left behind great messages for each one of us, for every situation.

You were felicitated by the State Education Minister. What did he have to say about your achievements?

He congratulated me and also promised to take care of my educational needs. He said the Manipur government will give me a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh for my higher studies. I am happy that I will not have to worry about my education expenses now.

What are your career plans?

I want to pursue Physics honors at St Stephen's College, Delhi. I have heard it's a big college and it's also the best institute for science. I would also like to appear for the UPSC exam and top that too, so I can become an IAS officer and work to improve the administration of the state of Manipur.

I want to enhance the educational facilities for students and help them in all possible ways - good study material, good teachers, scholarships etc. I want to improve the lives of students in my state and my country. As an officer, I would like to bring peace and prosperity to my home state and country.

What would you like to tell students who will appear for their CBSE examinations this year?

Concentration is the key to success in any examination. You have to work hard to improve your concentration. There will be several distractions in your way, but you must not lose your focus. The bigger goal should always inspire you to confront all challenges and obstacles in your path.

Any message for our young readers?

Nothing is impossible. In life, whenever you are sad, you must remember the good experiences and motivate yourself to see better ones. Everyone fail at some point. But it is important to look at failures as stepping stones which will lead you to success. To achieve bigger success, you have to be patient and let the bad times pass.

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Arpit Aggarwal missed being topper in CBSE 2012!

Arpit Aggarwal who topped the prestigious IIT-JEE 2012 missed topping the CBSE class 12th exam results. Though he may not have topped but he has achieved what is the dream of every IIT aspirant.

While Arpit never attended a social gathering for around 2 years and is thankful to his parents for helping him study without any distractions, he says it is equally important to take short breaks while preparing for a competition.

A resident of Faridabad and a student of Modern Vidya Niketan Senior Secondary School, Arpit belong to the state of Jharkhand. He says he loves reading books on organic chemistry and has, in fact, read them like fiction novels for the past 2 years.

Arpit confesses he is really not into sports or gaming, but advocates that one should pursue whatever one is interested in outside the school curriculum.

“I believe it’s OK to fair decent in one and top in another.”
Arpit Aggarwal.

Well said. After a stupendous success in IIT JEE 2012, a 96.4% in CBSE is surely another feather in the crown! IIT JEE topper Arpit Aggarwal got a whopping 98% PCM in CBSE 12th Boards. In conversation with Engineering Entrance Guide, Arpit Aggarwal shared his CBSE Class 12th scores. With a brilliant score of 98% in PCM and 96.4% overall the young boy is glad and overjoyed.

Arpit Aggarwal’ CBSE Class 12th marks subject wise:

• Physics – 97
• Mathematics – 98
• Chemistry – 99
• English – 96
• Physical Education – 92

Does that make any change in your IIT Delhi plan?
No, I’ll stick to my IIT Delhi plan.

Do you think it is difficult for science stream students to score well in CBSE Class XII exams as they have to prepare for different entrance exams also?
Commerce students according to me are doing nothing. It may be a mean statement but that’s what I have observed. Science students are the ones who generally top, even in a subject like English.

Besides, somebody who is preparing for IIT-JEE can easily manage CBSE as about 70 percent of the curriculum is same.

Do you think coaching classes help in achieving the desired score?
I would call it an integrated effort. In the last 4 months, I focused on CBSE only.

What advise will you give to students who have not performed well in their exams?
Don’t be over tensed and over pressured, you may not be able to top in both but probably doing decent in one and topping in another is good too. It requires a decent share of luck to top. But, it is not difficult, just time management and perfect planning can get you to your desired goal.

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