R’than univ cracks down on ragging

To Impose Rs 1 Lakh Fine, Rusticate Guilty

Kshitiz Gaur | TNN

Ajmer: Just before the new academic session starts, a Rajasthan university has taken a tough stand against ragging in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court, which had recently cracked down on the menace.

Ajmer’s Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati (MDS) University, which has about 250 colleges affiliated to it, has decided to not only rusticate anyone caught ragging but also fine him up to Rs 1 lakh. The minimum fine is Rs 25,000. The university has added the new rules and directions in its prospectus for the new academic session. It has also formed a committee to investigate and take action against colleges where cases of ragging are reported.

The Supreme Court on May 8 directed all state governments to constitute committees to look into the incidents of ragging and curb the menace. Passing a slew of directions to eradicate ragging from educational institutions across the country, a bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat said every college should have a psychiatrist to counsel students.

“We have gone through every aspect and condition of ragging and drafted rules to prevent ragging,” said Professor K C Sharma, convener of the prospectus committee of MDS university.

Cops in plain clothes to guard HP colleges
Shimla: To pre-empt ragging attempts, Himachal Pradesh CM Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday directed lawenforcing agencies to deploy police personnel in plain clothes at all higher education institutions in the state where fresh admissions are due. The move comes in the wake of three ragging incidents in the state over the past few months. At a meet, the CM called for maintaining effective checking at education institutions to curb entry of suspicious elements.

Man dies in ragging tiff
Madikeri: An alleged act of ragging claimed the life of a middle-aged man, who rushed to a Madikeri college campus on Thursday afternoon to sort out a squabble his ward allegedly had with bullying seniors. The police said Bharat went to the college seeking admission. But he was ragged and attacked by seniors. Humiliated, he called home. His father Vishwanath and uncle Raghunath Marla came charging to the campus and argued with the seniors. One of the students allegedly gave Raghunath a hard push. Raghunath lost balance, tottered and collapsed to the ground dead. TNN

2 Indian girls set to reach out for stars

INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMY MEETS

Srinivas Laxman I TNN

Mumbai: They could be future Kalpana Chawlas and Sunita Williams. After a gap of four years, Indian girl students are once again aiming for the stars.

What better proof of this than two of them—Jeevana Priya from Secunderabad and Nidhi Pashine from Durg in Chhattisgarh—who will participate in prestigious astronomy meetings to be held in China and Iran this year.

The announcement about their selection was made on Saturday at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education.

The programme is jointly funded by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Space and is organised by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education.

Said Aniket Sule, academic co-ordinator, Indian National Astronomy Olympiad, “After four years, girls are representing this country. This is a good sign and we are sure they will perform well.’’

Priya will take part in the International Astronomy Olympiad to be held at Hangzhou in China from November 8 to 16, while Pashine will participate in the International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics at Tehran in Iran between October 18 and 27.

Sule said from an estimated 14,000 students who appeared for the first round of the national olympiad, 40 from Stds VIII to XII were chosen to attend the camp at Mumbai from April 27 to May 16.

Of these, 11 were finally chosen—six for the astronomy olympiad and five for astronomy and astrophysics meet.

srinivas.laxman@timesgroup.com

The ABC of junior college admissions

Anahita Mukherji | TNN

Mumbai: Are you a Std X student confused about which stream to apply to? Well, while filling out the online admission form this year, you can choose a maximum of two streams out of the four available—science, arts, commerce, and vocational (science). That’s what Vijaysheela Sardesai, chairperson of Maharashtra’s state board of education, said at a meeting of the education department and college principals and trustees on Thursday.

The meeting, which addressed several queries on online admissions, was attended by education minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil.

For online admissions, there will be just one admission form in which students can mark out up to 150 colleges that they wish to apply to. The name of a student who makes it to a college that is not his first preference will not be struck off the system. So, if he makes it to the college of his choice by the second or third merit list, he has the option of withdrawing his admission from the other college.

The first seven days of admission will be set aside for minority colleges to fill up the 50% minority quota, offline. “This process will not be part of the online system. Minority and management quota will be left to the discretion of the colleges,’’ said Dr Madhavi Pethe, principal of M L Dahanukar College, Vile Parle, representing the government on the matter. Admissions to the minority quota may continue even after online admissions begin. “We urge students applying through the minority quota to fill up the online form, too. If they don’t make it to the quota, and have not filled out an online form, they won’t be part of the admission process,’’ said Pethe.

Students who make it the minority quota are free to withdraw their application if they make it to the general merit list of another college later. The institution can then fill those seats once again with minority candidates, or surrender the unfilled seats to the government.

Online admissions will begin first for the vocational stream, and for ‘in-house’ students, who belong to a school run by the same management as the college they are applying to.

“Outstation students can fill out the online form, print and post it with the necessary documents to the deputy director of education,’’ said Pethe. Students from international boards can fill out the online form, too. “Their forms will be sent to the deputy director of education, where their grades will be converted to marks,’’ said Pethe.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region has been divided into 20 zones. Each zone will have a special co-ordinator for online admissions—trained by the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd (MKCL). These co-ordinators will, in turn, pass on their knowledge of the system to the administrative staff at the local level.

MAXIMISE YOUR E-OPTIONS
You can apply to a maximum of two of the four streams for junior college
The first seven days of admissions will be set aside for minority quota. This will not be part of online admissions

Students can fill in forms for both the minority quota as well as online admissions for the general category. Online admissions will begin first for in-house students and for the vocational stream
Outstation students can fill out forms online, print and send them to the Dy director, education
Forms for all students will be verified for mistakes at the submission centres (colleges). If students make mistakes, they can re-fill their forms.

Can’t access a computer? Don’t worry
Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds who don’t have access to the internet and cannot use the computer, can approach the staff at the submission centres (colleges) as well as several other centres—including schools and colleges, for assistance.