Good morning friends.  No fees hike this year.  That would be a great news to everyone specially to all parents.   They will not have to think of what other source of income will they have just to adopt to the fees of the university will give.  We are all aware that parents were doing all they can just to have their kids to have an education.   Education is the wealth of everyone.

The executive council of Gujarat University has decided to retain the old fee structure of the academic year 2008-2009. The decision was taken at a council’s meet on Sunday. Earlier, vice chancellor Parimal Trivedi had taken a decision of raising the fees of BCom, BBA and BCA courses at self finance colleges.

Students who paid excess term fees would be adjusted in second term,  the council said. The council also discussed a proposal of increasing examination fee, verification fee, rechecking and re-assessment fee. However, executive council member Manish Doshi opposed the proposal.

“Self financed institutions are reaping good profit. There is no need to introduce hike in fee structure. Instead of increasing fee, the varsity should think of reducing its expenses,” said Doshi. – AhmedabadMirror

Good morning friends.  I came across to this article.  And it has a nice story. 

Their faces wore a blank expression when Martin Luther King III with his delegation entered the Sabarmati Ashram on Friday.  Kids at the ashram knew he was a famous person and had prepared a play for the occasion.

It was only when King mentioned how his father had been inspired by Mahatma Gandhi that faces of  children at the ashram lit up.

King, with his wife and a few Congressmen, was on a historic visit to the city. His father, Martin Luther King Jr, and wife had been celebrated guests at the ashram exactly 50 years ago on March 1, 1959.

King told the children how Gandhi had inspired his father to lead the civil rights movement in the US. “Gandhiji is the reason we are getting shelter and education and he won us independence. He is our inspiration and though I don’t know about the guest, since he said he’s also a Mahatma fan, he’s our friend,” said one of the girls.

Retracing his father’s footsteps, King III said: “I thank God for this opportunity to be in this great country. I travel the rest of the world as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim.”

At Gujarat Vidyapith, he told students that they had to choose either to be like thermometers and only record things around them or like thermostats and regulate things around.

“My father used to say, Learn non-violence so that we don’t have to face non-existence’. Maybe Gandhi and King Jr are looking down at us waiting for us to play our part now,” said King.

When his father said, I have a dream’, it was not just for America, but for the world. “As we are all one – brothers and sisters, part of one family,” he added.

Reference:  The Times of India

Good Morning friends,

New week started. Today is Monday, January 19, 2009. I just have a thought that 2009 is going to come few weeks back and today, we are in 2009 and 19 days already past. Time is running out so fast. Yesterday was third Sunday and I was with family. It was nice time to be with family. I need to spare more time for family.

I was reading times of India online and I read following news. It is really something interesting IIM-A doing. They are going to start a new batch for farmers. We need to educate root leave people. I think that is the way we can bring revolution. More education to rural people, we will have more bright future. Read the complete news.

Soon, Indian Institute of Management (Ahmadabad) will have a different batch of students. This batch, however, will that be of farmers. For, the institute is launching a course on Food supply chain management, to upgrade the knowledge of farmers.

Prosperity of agriculture and related industries has been a matter of concern which has been reflected at many forums, including the recently held agri-business meet at the IIM-A.

The institute has now decided to contribute in its own way and for the first time, has launched a management development programme (MDP) in this area.

The one-week long course called food supply chain management will begin from February 15 and will be conducted by Professor G Raghuram. “The course is open to farmers, traders of agricultural products, warehouse owners, government officials in the sector and anybody who is involved,” said Raghuram.

Revealing the contents of the course, Raghuram said, “The course will cover all challenges and bottle-necks of the supply chain from the times the seed is sowed, till it reaches the consumer. Also, exports and reaching the food to poor will be discussed.”

The enrolment is open and interested participants can contact the institute. “Issues of standardisation, food safety, infrastructure facilities like warehousing and cold chains will also be looked into,” he said.

“The government bodies and facilitating agencies like APEDA (Agricultural and processed food products export development agency), National Dairy Development Board and Fisheries Development Board need to visualise the importance of food supply chains,” he added.

Ref: times of india

Science and technology have played a pivotal role in embarking the country on a mission to reach equality with the rest of the world. In post-independence India, Nehru set the tone for scientific and technological progress with the early steps of establishing institutions like the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research as well as those dedicated to higher education and research.

Today there are government departments and privately funded institutions dedicated to advancement of science and technology in various disciplines. This article will highlight examples of pioneering and path breaking advances in Indian science and technology that have either already made a mark or bear the promise of doing so.

In bio-technology sector, India has emerged as one of the top five leaders in the Asia-Pacific region. Indian biopharma and the agri-biotech industries have notched up significant success, being the largest vaccine producer in the world and the largest cultivator of Bt cotton.

Bio-informatics has created extensive electronic databases on several biological systems, after biopharma and agri-biotech industries and is the third in revenue generation. India’s biotech sector today comprises 350 firms generating nearly $2 billion in revenue and is estimated to grow into a $5 billion enterprise by 2010.

Ref: thetimesofindia

Good morning friends.  Happy New Year to everyone.  This is the start of the new year that I wish will be the perfect one the whole year to all of us.  Start of 2009, and this is also the first publish article I want to share it.  As my thought the youth are the one’s we can depend on in the future.  They are our hope.

What’s Gujarat’s youth like? The mind of GenNext in the state will soon be unravelled in a novel attempt by the education department. It has embarked on an ambitious survey to map needs, skills and mental aptitudes of the young.

The survey form, that has been specially designed by experts from BM Institute of Mental Health, aims to help set up Life Goals Aptitude Inventory’ of youth.

Education department officials say forms have been sent to 900 colleges across the state. Detailed analysis will be sent to Gujarat Knowledge Commission (GKC) to help it design courses that match dominant aptitudes and skills.

“This is a pathbreaking survey which will assess intelligence levels and mental aptitudes of the youth and help colleges, industry and the state create better courses and jobs to suit their skills and emotional capabilities,” says Dr SR Apte, director of BM Institute.

Informal surveys have revealed that majority of the students don’t get jobs after completing graduation in arts, commerce and science in the state.

“Only eight per cent of the youth get jobs after completing graduation. State government wants to take this figure to 25 per cent. Hence the survey,” a senior official explained.

Do you get confused if immediate action is to be taken? Do you get distracted when you make efforts to concentrate? Do you experience bouts of joy and sorrow without reason? These are some of the questions that youngsters will be asked to gauge their psychological and emotional wellbeing.

They will also be quizzed on their sleep patterns, anxiety levels, emotional resilience and mental clarity. The second section of the survey will assess skills and career-related aspirations. Here they will be asked what they want to do after graduation and in what way they feel education is of help to them, among other things.

ref:  thetimesofindia

Good morning friends. Education is very important to a person.  It is our wealth.  That’s why parents should prepare for the education of their children.  No amount of many can buy if our children finished their education.  We have to plan for the future of our children.

Many Indian students want to study abroad, paying through their nose in the process. At the same time, students from across the world are filling university seats here for ‘cheap, professional and internationally ranked’ Indian education.

On an average, about 3,500 students visit India on educational programmes from over 70 countries every year, courtesy the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), one of its officials told IANS.

The ICCR awards 2,000 scholarships to these students every year.

‘People from my country come to India because the cost of education here is very low. Besides, India offers really high quality and good education in a very short duration – the courses here do not take that much time to complete and we can go back home and easily get a job,’ Jessica Dayal, a special education volunteer from Tanzania, told IANS.

Dayal is in Delhi for a year to learn how to help out children with disabilities.

Sam Kast, anothr Tanzanian, is studying pharmacy at the Jamia Hamdard University: ‘India is constantly developing in terms of technology and that is also one reason we want to come here,’ he said.

‘Pursuing pharmacy back home for me would have taken around eight years and if I’d failed, it might have got stretched to even 12 years. However, in India, it’s only for four years and I can do a specialization in the time I’d have taken just to graduate in Tanzania.’

Ref: yahooindia

What is even more true is that when education and employment join hands, this breaking away from poverty and discrimination is faster. Often, education takes the student away from his or her roots. After education, son of a farmer almost invariably refuses to take up agriculture, even modern profitable agriculture. Education makes many of us bound to table-chair-office’ jobs. Reading and writing take over doing and drawing and thinking and discussing.

To establish the employment education link, we at SEWA have started an experiment called Jeevanshala’ or life school where young SEWA women members between 12 and 30 years learn everything – from alphabets to science to maths, drawing from their work. A’ is for Ahmedabad, B’ is business and C’ is for credit. Maths is learnt through buying and selling of vegetables. Science is learnt through making salt or food items. This education has direct relevance to their work, on day-to-day basis. Most of this education is in their own language, even in their own dialect or boli’ where possible. Women learn to use a cell phone by learning numbers in English. They learn to use the computer key board. But it has its own due place, and not a glorified central position.

We draw from all sources Gandhiji’s ideas on bringing education and manual work closer, Jugatram Dave’s ideas of how we learn; Leena Sarabhai’s ideas of what I call seasons of learning’ which innovate Tagore and Montessori’s ideas in our Indian context. We set up systems drawing from Anil Boradia’s successful experiment in education in Rajasthan. What is drawn is of direct use to women, by women, for themselves.

The power of education is pronounced manifold in their life. Women manage banks, trade centres and academies without hesitation. They pay our insurance scheme premium or count their salt production without hesitation. We want Gujarat to be number one, if not in anything, at least one thing: Zero illiteracy among working poor women. This is possible.

ref: thetimesofindia

Good morning friends.  After reading one of the article in reference with The Times of India.  It hits my heart.  It’s sad to hear those kind of story.  Because of poverty, everybody were helpless.  Let me share it with you.  I’m sure you too will pity on those kind of people.

Years back, a fatherless boy used to go knocking doors in his village Mitiyala in Amreli asking people to donate some wheat flour so that he and his mother could subsist themselves. Of the flour he got, he would take half and sell it to raise some money. He could do with two less rotis but could not give up saving 10 paise everyday so that his fees could be paid!

Bharat Pandit was son of a teacher who died at a young age leaving an unfulfilled dream his son should get a doctorate! Not only did Bharat get a PhD but he also became a district  education officer, currently posted in Gandhinagar.

Bharat was just three years old, but mother Manjula would keep telling him about his father’s aspirations. He wouldn’t mind going hungry but there was not a day when he would not study hard. With the mission of education blazing in his mind, Bharat completed his primary schooling while begging for flour which he delivered at home for making rotis. Many times, he would also sell the flour to buy vegetables

When he entered secondary school, he also worked as a farm labourer to earn some money for his school fees and to keep the home fire burning. “People were nice to me. They would pay but not make me work very hard,” says Bharat, who would use his free time for reading  textbooks and reference books.

Much to the pride of Manjulaben, Bharat completed his BA, MA, BEd and even his PhD. His first job was as a teacher in Amreli and later grew in his profession to become a DEO. He was also posted in Ahmedabad.

“Education has helped me overcome poverty. Had it not been for education, I would be still living in my village working as a labourer,” says Bharat.

Bharat’s big moment in life was when he paid a loan of Rs 400 which his father had taken in 1965. “It was a big amount then. I remember, many of our relatives would send of Re 1, Re 5 to pay as interest and keep our head afloat. My job helped me repay that loan. When I completely paid it off, I silently saluted my mother for constantly supporting me in my mission to educate myself,” says Bharat

According to Manjulaben, children of this generation should also take studies seriously. “Education is a tool that can change the thinking of a society and help alleviate social status of poor,” says Manjulaben.

More than 800 delegates have gathered from all parts of the country in the city to discuss strategies that need to be incorporated in schools to Ignite Young Minds’ 

Participating in the 51st All Principal’s Conference of Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Board since November 26, these principals, observers and visitors enriched their learning through deliberations and paper presentations. The three-day long annual gathering has been convened by Seventh Day Adventist Higher Secondary School, Ahmedabad.

Day 1 was a delight for all participants as former president APJ Abdul Kalam explained to them the role of teachers in igniting minds. On second day, Education Initiatives director Sudhir Ghodke enlightened the elite gathering with his talk on continuous school improvement’. He outlined five factors that play a significant role in enterprising education. These included Hungry for change’, Being innovative beyond child’s imagination, Globally connected’, Disruptive by nature’ and Genuine and not generous’.

Talking to TOI, council’s chairman Neil O’Brien said, “It is an opportunity for principals to clear their doubts about rules and regulations of the board. They covered a huge gamut of questions, including those on subject combination, marking, time-table among others.” Recalling 50-year-long journey of the council, he said, “We have come a long way, but lot remains to be done.” Talking about his future programmes, he said, “We soon plan to start management training programme for teachers in association with IIM (Kolkata).”

Science and technology have played a pivotal role in embarking the country on a mission to reach equality with the rest of the world. In post-independence India, Nehru set the tone for scientific and technological progress with the early steps of establishing institutions like the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research as well as those dedicated to higher education and research.

Today there are government departments and privately funded institutions dedicated to advancement of science and technology in various disciplines. This article will highlight examples of pioneering and path breaking advances in Indian science and technology that have either already made a mark or bear the promise of doing so.

In bio-technology sector, India has emerged as one of the top five leaders in the Asia-Pacific region. Indian biopharma and the agri-biotech industries have notched up significant success, being the largest vaccine producer in the world and the largest cultivator of Bt cotton.

Bio-informatics has created extensive electronic databases on several biological systems, after biopharma and agri-biotech industries and is the third in revenue generation. India’s biotech sector today comprises 350 firms generating nearly $2 billion in revenue and is estimated to grow into a $5 billion enterprise by 2010.

Nanotechnology, with the ability of providing tools to control, manipulate and construct materials at nano-metre scales, in combination with bio, promises unique solution in diseases like cancer. Khandelwal Laboratories has developed a patented technology on Gene Repair Therapy to stimulate dormant genes to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS and promoting research in nanodrug and drug delivery techniques.

The penetration of ICT to grassroots levels, achieved by voice, video and data networks have been phenomenal. Indian Railways’ Passenger Reservation System is a notable example.

Satellite mapping tool ‘Bhuvan’ that is getting ready at ISRO is going to have a great impact on general public and in addressing problems like floods, famines, infrastructure development, education and so on. This will contribute to synergetic application.

India’s space programme operates one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems and the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites built indigenously. Nearly 211 transponders of INSAT and GSAT communication satellites support a variety of communication and broadcasting applications including telemedicine and distance education.

Similarly, Indian remote sensing satellites provide a host of societal and natural resource management inputs in areas relating to agriculture, forestry, water resources and ocean studies to name a few. Meteorological data from geosynchronous satellites like Kalpana are critical to weather prediction and disaster management.