EDUCATION NEWS – MAY 2009

Monday, May 04th 2009
IISc, Leeds and IARI receive 1 million pound for crop research
IISc-Bangalore, Leeds University and the Indian Agriculture Research Institute have together received a grant of one million pounds from the UK Research Council to develop sustainable, anti-parasitic crops through new bio-technologies. Bio-science scholars and students from these institutes will now do a joint research programme which is being co-ordinated by the Union department of science and technology. The programme is likely to end by June 2013. The researchers feel that the research will have great value for farmers in semi-arid peninsular and western India, where climate change is likely to have its largest impact. 

Tuesday, May 05th 2009
First three positions at the UPSC exams taken by women
The UPSC exams considered as one of the toughest exams in the country had three women leading the way. As per the results declared by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) Shubhra Saxena, a graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, and Sharandeep Kaur Brar, post-graduate from Panjab University and Kiran Kaushal, were ranked first, second and third respectively in the civil services (main) examination 2008. As many as 11,849 candidates qualified for the main written examination held in October-November 2008. 

Thursday, May 07th 2009
IIM Tamil Nadu to be operational in 2009
The proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) of Tamil Nadu will begin its academic session this year at Tiruchi. The academic activities of the proposed IIM will start from a temporary location identified in Magneto Hydro Dynamics campus on the premises of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). A full-fledged infrastructure is expected to be created on the 200-acre permanent site on Bharathidasan University premises. This IIM will be mentored by IIM Bangalore.

Friday, May 22nd 2009
NIT-Warangal signs pact with Finnish Universities
Agreements of academic collaboration were signed between the National Institute of Technology, Warangal and Finland's University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology. The pact ensures collaborations in systems, teaching methodologies, courses, content, hands-on learning, student exchange programmes and interaction with the industry. NIT-W also has collaborative agreements with Bellfort Technical University of France, as well as Lawrence Technical University and Cincinnati University, US.

Wednesday, May 27th 2009
Directors for the six new IITs named by the government
Six directors have been named by the government for the six new IITs proposed by the HRD ministry. U B Desai will be director of IIT, Hyderabad, M K Surappa will head the one in Ropar. Sudhir Kumar Jain will head the IIT in Gandhinagar, Madhusudan Chakraborty in Bhubaneswar and Anil Bhowmick in Patna. Prem Kumar Kalra will be the director of the IIT located in Rajasthan. All the IITs except the the IIT at Rajasthan will start their academic functions this year. They will start acdemic sessiosn ffrom their temporary campuses. The new IITs will be mentored by the old IITs.