Speaking at the launch of the C.V. Raman International Fellowship for African Researchers 2013, Arabinda Mitra, Head-International Cooperation (Bilateral), Department of Science & Technology, said since its beginning in 2010, the programme has benefitted more than 300 African scientists and researchers. ”The first year of the programme (2010-11) attracted 135 applications from 28 African countries, out of which 86 were selected, while in the 2011-12, 78 of the 122 applications were selected,” said Mitra.

“The third year of the programme saw a steady increase in the number of applicants as we received 400, of which 149 have been selected,” he said. The programme is intended to strengthen scientific cooperation between India and Africa by providing fellowships to African researchers for undertaking advanced scientific work in leading Indian institutions, laboratories and research centers.

Ravi Bangar, joint secretary (East & South Africa) in the external affairs ministry, called upon African Union nations that have not availed the fellowship to encourage their researchers to apply for it. ”I will request Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Namibia, Lesotho and the Seychelles to encourage students to avail the fellowship,” said Bangar.

All fields of natural sciences, including mathematics and statistics, engineering sciences and medical sciences, are covered under the programme with the exception of humanities and behavioral sciences. ”The programme aims to provide an opportunity for enhanced capacity building of African researchers and creating avenues for partnerships and future collaboration among research and academic institutions of both the regions,” said Nirankar Saxena, senior director, science and technology/innovation, FICCI.

Micky Lova, a recipient of the fellowship from Madagascar, said it has been a great experience and excellent opportunity to study in India. ”Collaboration between India and Africa is of mutual interest and it has been a great experience to work with Indian scholars and professors,” said the PhD scholar studying in the geology department of Delhi University. The programme is offered at three levels – post-doctoral fellowship (six months), visiting fellowship (three months) and senior fellowship (one month). The function was attended by several African ambassadors to India, officials of the department of science and technology and professors of various universities.

Another such student was arrested in Bongaigaon district on Sunday, police said. A senior official of Assam Police said that an operation has been launched to curb the racket of such students. ”Mubarak Hussain of Premnagar and another person – Sohal Ahmed Choudhury of Uttar Pradesh – were nabbed from a CEE centre at Dispur College Sunday. They were appearing in the examination on behalf of different candidates. Similarly, Amit Kumar was arrested for appearing in the same examination at Jalukbari Sunday. Rakesh Kumar Rai was also nabbed from a CEE centre in Bharalumukh area of the city,” he said, adding that Kamlesh Yadav was arrested later in the day.

“The four people arrested from Silchar were Binay Kumar, Safikur Niranjan Kumar, Sujit Kumar and Brajesh Kumar,” said the officer, adding that all of them hail from Bihar. Police said that the person arrested from Bongaigaon has been identified as Ravi Kumar, who also hails from Bihar.

“These are all brilliant students. They had established contacts with some students of the state, who were appearing in the CEE for admission into medical and engineering colleges. They assure these students they would get through the exams and charge huge amounts of money,” said the officer. Some of those arrested have named a few others also involved in the racket. ”During interrogation, some of them had said that they had received only Rs.5,000 or Rs.10,000 for cracking the exams on behalf of the students. But we believe that the amount involved is quite high. Our investigation is on and we hope to arrest all in the racket soon,” said the officer.

The CID had earlier warned the Dibrugarh University, which conducts the examination in Assam, about this and asked the university to implement stringent measures to check the fraud.

D.N. Johar, erstwhile vice chancellor of the university, had submitted his resignation to Governor B.L. Joshi in the state capital Lucknow Saturday afternoon.

As the news of Muzammil taking over the university reached here late Saturday, employees and students heaved a sigh of relief, a university official told reporters Sunday.

“The VC’s (Johar) days were anyway numbered after the resignation of Pawan Kumar Bansal as union railway minister. Johar was believed to be close to Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla and many decisions were taken to please him,” the official said.

Singla has been arrested for allegedly accepting Rs.90 lakh for fixing appointment in the powerful Railway Board.

Manoj Srivastav, a teachers’ union leader, said: “Johar did not listen to anyone. Students were harassed. He shunted out so many teachers.”

“People had big hopes from him (Johar) but now he leaves in utter disgrace. The university is in complete shambles,” said a retired teacher Bhagwan Sharma.

Johar, who has a legal background, was appointed vice chancellor of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University on Jan 11, 2011.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will attend the foundation-laying ceremony. Gurggaon Deputy Commissioner P.C. Meena said that the university would be established at an estimated cost of Rs.300 crore on in a 200-acre plot that has been acquired by the state government. He said that Binola has been chosen for its proximity to the national capital.

A large number of students from Indian and foreign security forces and civilian officials would undergo training programmes and courses at INDU every year. One-third of the students will be civilians. The university will be fully autonomous and will promote policy-oriented research on all aspects of national security as part of the strategic national policy-making. It will facilitate post-graduate (M.Sc./M.Tech.), master in Philosophy (M.Phil.) and doctorate (Ph.D.) courses in defence studies, defence management and defence science and technology.

Vice Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal, addressing the media here Thursday, said 79 proposals had been received and eight final entries were shortlisted. B.V Doshi, principal architect of the firm, said they based their design in such a way that “it would give a glimpse of what Nalanda stood for – as a centre of knowledge, a centre of understanding life and its processes”.

Rajeev Kathpalia, of the firm, said while designing the university, they kept in mind the soil, the environment and the manner in which Nalanda University was constructed. The first phase of the varsity, an initiative of the government of India supported by the East Asia Summit, would be completed in two years, said Sabharwal.  The university, located around 100 from Patna and 12 km from the ruins of the ancient seat of learning, is to begin its academic session 2014, with masters classes in ecology, environment and historic studies, she said. The varsity would come up at Rajgir on a 446-acre plot.

Kathpalia said the buildings would be designed on the concept of “net zero” energy consumption. The university would generate its own energy, using photo voltaics. It would also collect the bio mass of neighbouring villages to generate its own electricity and use the rainwater for its use. The Detailed Project Report had estimated the cost to be Rs.1,560 crore.  ”Nalanda university has got funding from some East Asia Summit members. The government is committed to seeing the project through, and will pitch in with funds,” an official unwilling to be named told reporter.  The university, which will have seven schools, will be fully residential, like the ancient Nalanda university. It will offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with social sciences. The project took shape in 2006 at the initiative of then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

“The department of school education has a plan to close all the identified 1,372 schools that are being run contrary to the provisions of Section 18 of the (The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education) Act,” a departmental spokesman said.

He said that the department has cautioned people against such schools and urged them not to admit their wards in them. ”These schools are running in an unauthorized manner. People should help the department by informing it about any such school which is being run without permission and authority in their neighbourhood so that the appropriate action in accordance with rules can be taken against such schools,” he added.

The MoU was signed between the IT minister and Nelson Mattos, vice president (Europe & Emerging Markets), Google here.
The government-owned APSFKNW runs Jawahar Knowledge Centres in selected engineering colleges. Google Inc, a Fortune 100 company with net worth of $200 billion, has set its research and development center in Hyderabad, the first of its kind in Asia-Pacific. It has occupied over eight lakh square feet builtup space and employs close to 3,000 software professionals located in three IT parks.

“The state government has given 20 acres of land to Google India for setting up their campus. Google has committed to employ 6,000 software professionals in their new campus over a period of five years,” said the statement. The minister urged Google to expedite the construction of their campus on the land allotted by the government and assured of full support for the same. Mattos said 70 percent of their business in India comes from Hyderabad. He appreciated the talent pool availability in Andhra Pradesh.

“Apart from freshers the course will be useful to personnel working in various government departments, agencies, NGOs, cooperative banks and other institutes engaged in rural transformation,” the official statement said. The last date to apply is June 15.

“The programme is designed to provide extensive knowledge and information pertaining to various aspects of rural development in the Indian context,” it added.

According to the varsity, the prospectus form for Rs.200 is available at IGNOU and all its regional centres. For further information aspirants can log on to website www.ignou.ac.in.

The IGNOU is the world’s largest open university system with pan India and international reach, having flexible entry qualifications and wide range of academic programmes at affordable costs, the varsity said.

Satyam Kumar of Bakhorapur village in Bhojpur district qualified for the IIT last year at the age of 12-and-half years, after he got special permission from the CBSE, Mumbai zone. He then secured an all-India rank of 8,137.

Not satisfied with his low rank, Kumar appeared in the IIT-JEE preliminary examination this year again and qualified, making him the youngest person to do it.

He appeared for both the exams in Kota, Rajasthan, where he has been studying. He was one of the 150,000 candidates who appeared for the examination this year.

“He is working hard to perform better in the IIT-JEE (Mains) to be held June 2. He is hoping for a better rank,” Kumar’s father Sidhnath Singh, a farmer, told IANS Wednesday.

Earlier, Kumar had said he wants to develop a software company on the lines of social networking website Facebook.

Kumar passed his Class 12 final exam last year.

The matric results were released by advisor to the Jharkhand governor K. Vijay Kumar Tuesday afternoon. “This year’s result is better than the previous year. More than 73 percent students passed, which is five per cent higher than last year,” Kumar said.

This year, boys performed better than girls. Around 75.32 percent boys and 70.84 girls passed the examination. Last year 67.35 percent students passed the exam. The maximum number of students who passed are from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district, with 79.55 percent. The names of toppers have yet not been announced.