The documents were signed by Z.A. Asif, General Manager, HAL and Prof Prabhat Munshi, Dean Resources and Alumni IIT, Kanpur in presence of Gukul Chandra Pati, Secretary (Defence Production). As per the MoU, HAL and IIT, Kanpur, will hold annual conference jointly and serve as a platform to the defence industries and encourage new ideas, innovations and new technologies in aviation sector.

Pati hailed coming together of HAL and IIT (K) and said such collaborations enrich industries resulting in key results in R&D which is crucial to self-reliance in defence sector.

“The MoU will facilitate development of training programs and training modules for capacity building of HAL personnel. We welcome the contribution of IIT faculty and students who can play their role in
breaching the technology gap”, Dr. Tyagi added.

Prof Indranil Manna, Director IITK said the institute will appoint a distinguished academician as a Professor to the HAL Chair. “We are proud to be associated with HAL and the relationship has distinct
relevance”, he added. An Advisory Committee of HAL and IIT (K) representatives will oversee the functioning of HAL Chair and periodically review the functioning. HAL had signed a similar MoU with
IIT, Roorkee recently.

In the recent past HAL signed MoUs with IIT, Madras to undertake joint research in the field of transmission system for the helicopter and engine programs and with IISc, Bangalore for development of
micro UAV and development of active control and health monitoring techniques by application of smart materials to helicopter dynamic system and with NAL, Bangalore for design and development of aircraft
structures, mechanical systems, aerodynamics, avionics, aerospace materials, composites, system Engineering, UAVs etc. A few years ago, HAL had signed a separate MoU with IIT, Kanpur for development of computational aero elasticity code for helicopter loads.

The post HAL Chair at IIT Kanpur appeared first on Education News India.

“We have come out with a formula where screening criteria will be set wherein top 20 percentile students from every board will qualify to get entrance in IIT,” said Deependra Hooda, a member of the IIT Council, after the meeting.

This will be implemented from 2013, he said.

The compromise was reached at a meeting of IIT Council, the highest decision-making body having representatives from government and Directors of all the 16 of these institutes.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who is the head of the Council, skipped the crucial meeting which was then chaired by M N Sharma, Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Madras.

According to the agreement, admission to the IITs from 2013 would be based only on rank achieved in the advance test subject to the condition that selected candidates are in the top 20 percentile of successful candidates of their Boards.

The government had earlier proposed a common entrance which was rejected by IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur and some others were also likely to follow suit.

The compromise formula is in line with the decision of the IIT Joint Admission Board (JAB), comprising Directors of IITs, which met on last Saturday.

JAB has sought a suitable time gap between the main and the advanced tests so that the results of mains are available before the advanced and only the top 1,50,000 candidates (including all categories) in the mains appear in the advance test.

IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur had rejected the proposed format on the ground that the test was “academically unsound and procedurally untenable”.

The post Top 20 percentile students from every board to qualify for IIT entrance appeared first on Education News India.

With the introduction of common entrance exam for admission to IITs, IIITs, NITs, the ministry wished to ease the stress on students and make the entrance exam more inclusive by including the class 12 board marks. But the move ended up raising objections over the governments’ alleged “interference” with the autonomy of IITs.

The decision to conduct its own test was made by the IIT Delhi senate annulling the IIT Council decision as an attack on the autonomy of the IITs. For 2014 and afterwards, the Senate will set up a panel to review the IIT-JEE exam.

Meanwhile, Sibal had refused to rollback the CET. The conflict between Sibal and several IITs is severely affecting the interests of the students. The doubt over whether or not the CET will be conducted is a matter of serious concern for aspirants to IITs.

Experts felt that the proposed test is academically not sound and practically untenable. They said that the proposal for implementation of CET be postponed until consensus is reached between the minister and the directors of IITs.

The IITs objecting to the new format argued the CET will enhance stress of students instead of reducing it.

The minister seems more concerned about addressing the shortage of engineering graduates in India as the country churns out 1000 engineers per annum as compared to 10,000 engineers in China. But it needs to be done without compromising on the quality.

The post CET row:Trust deficit between IITs and HRD ministry appeared first on Education News India.

Upset with the HRD ministry’s proposal for a common entrance exam for admission to IITs and other centrally funded engineering colleges, IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur decided to conduct their own entrance exams from 2013.

A group of IITians met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh expressing concern about the dilution of autonomy of tech institutes due to the HRD ministry’s proposal. Dr Singh assured them that there will be no compromise on the autonomy of IITs.

But the question arises: will the HRD ministry’s plan to scrap the multiple entrance exams with the introduction of a common entrance exam for admission to IITs, IIITs, NITs reduce the influence of coaching industry? Will the ministry’s move address the concern of poor students who can not afford expensive coaching classes that prepare aspirants for entrance exams viz. IIT-JEE, AIEEE.

In my opinion, lack of quality education at schools and a shortage of quality teachers have led to the growth of coaching institutes across the country. In a bid to stem burgeoning coaching centres, the ministry needs to improve the quality of education at schools. This can be achieved by recruiting efficient teachers and strengthening school infrastructure.

I do not buy the ministry’s argument that the multiplicity of entrance exams has led to stress for students and the growth of coaching classes and a common entrance exam is a panacea for all ills. No survey in the world has proved that multiple exams cause stress in students.

The post IIT-JEE row: is one nation one test a myth appeared first on Education News India.