Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Must Read: 07/08/2019

University Grants Commission (UGC) has permitted SDM, Ujire to start three professional courses

Existing varsities don’t qualify, yet-to-be-set-up ones do

If KREA University, Azim Premji University, Ashoka University, apart from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and the Indian Institute of Public Health—all promising private universities—not making it to the University Grants Commission (UGC) list of Institutes of Eminence recommended to the government seems odd, its justification for rejecting these seems outright batty. The UGC says that since none of these institutes—and a handful of public universities—feature in global and Indian quality rankings, they weren’t included.

'Spin' Highly Prevalent in Top Psychiatry Journal Abstracts

More than half of clinical trial abstracts published in top psychiatry and psychology journals exaggerate the significance of study findings, a discovery that may lead to poor clinical decision making.

This is potentially "dangerous," first author Samuel Jellison, third-year medical student, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, told Medscape Medical News.

Regarding Ph.D.

Varsities should send teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research: UGC panel

Universities and colleges should develop action plans to send mid-career teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research and writing, a panel set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended.

The four-member committee on “Promoting and improving quality of research in Indian universities and colleges” headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, recently submitted its report to the commission.

“The UGC should encourage and support state universities and affiliated colleges to put in place a rigorous but generous program that would offer sabbatical leave to mid-career teachers for pursuing research and writing books and monographs which consolidated accumulated original research knowledge,” the panel said in its report.

The report said mid-career national level sabbatical awards on a competitive basis for a year may be introduced enabling 50-100 faculty-members to pursue research which may also provide an opportunity for faculty to build collaborative contacts with major national and international institutions.

“Such opportunities must be mandated in both public and private institutions,” the report said.

Developing classroom pedagogy, curricula and system of assessment, promoting academic integrity, remedial teaching, encouraging vernacular languages, use of technology and media platforms and policy internships, are among the other recommendations made by the committee.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/varsities-should-send-teachers-on-sabbatical-leave-for-pursuing-research-ugc-panel/story-4M0Wgrtmh6uYy83T4W5AVO.html (Accessed on August 7, 2019)

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Must Read: 06/08/2019

Setback at high speed? India's ambitious Train 20 project reaches point of no return

Coming after the launch of the Vande Bharat Express, Train 20 was seen as the next level for high-speed trains.

To read the full article, please visit:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/setback-at-high-speed-indias-ambitious-train-20-project-reaches-point-of-no-return/articleshow/70512840.cms

India will use more power than Europe, US by 2040: Study

India will consume more electricity than Europe by 2038 and ..

New Isro system to shield its assets from space debris

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is setting up a n ..

Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70528348.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Texas Instruments India, AICTE, DST, IIM-B to bring India Innovation Challenge Design Contest to students

https://www.aninews.in/news/business/texas-instruments-india-aicte-dst-iim-b-to-bring-india-innovation-challenge-design-contest-to-students20190805105943/

Chennai: Engineering freshers begin college life with yoga, ..

Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70544005.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Hindi imposition: MHRD seeks opinion of state varsities
Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/state/hindi-imposition-mhrd-seeks-opinion-of-state-varsities-752278.html

Gender disparity at PhD level, men dominate by a huge margin

Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70535359.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Must Read - 05/08/2019

UGC committee recommends four-year undergraduate courses to boost research

The NEP panel led by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, which submitted its report to the new HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', has recommended re-introduction of the four-year course as part of the undergraduate reforms

A University Grants Commission (UGC) panel has recommended the introduction of a four-year programme from the current three-year undergraduate course for promoting and improving quality of research in colleges and universities. The development comes five years after the controversial Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) was scrapped.

Apart from the four-member committee of the UGC, an HRD Ministry panel working on the new National Education Policy (NEP) had also recommended a transition to four-year UG course.

“Increase the number of universities offering the four-year undergraduate programme, with a strong research component to provide the pipeline for good quality students for the doctoral programme,” the committee, headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said in its report, according to PTI.

“Also, the existing two-year MA and MSc programs should have a research project with a requirement of typically 6-10 credits. It may be important to stop undergraduate programmes that are limited in scope (for example in specialised subjects like Biotechnology or Bioinformatics ), as they provide training only in specialised subjects,” the report further said.

“All full-time undergraduate programmes must be broad-based. Professional and vocational courses that facilitate jobs should be run separately as Diploma courses,” the report added.

The Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) introduced by the Delhi University under the previous vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh was scrapped by former Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.

The NEP panel, led by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, which submitted its report to Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, has recommended re-introduction of the four-year course as part of undergraduate reforms.

“Both three-year and four-year courses will be allowed to co-exist, but with multiple exit and entry options. The four-year programme will provide for greater rigour and allow students to conduct research optionally,” the NEP draft said.

“Students will graduate with a four-year Liberal Arts Science Education degree with Honours, or may graduate with a B Sc, BA, B Com or B Voc after completing three years with a suitable completion of credits within their subject,” it said.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/education/ugc-hrd-panel-recommends-4-year-ug-courses-5877265/ (Accessed on August 6, 2019)

Engineering graduates must give back to safety

90 hours of socially relevant activities will be reflected in 8th sem.

To read the full article, please visit:
https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/engineering-graduates-must-give-back-to-society/articleshow/70516921.cms (Accessed on August 6, 2019)

LIRC@SFIT