Hyderabad,May 14 A record number of ever 3.96 Lakh students will be appearing for Eamcet amid fight Security. The Purpose is to check hightech copying in 735 centres across the state.The results, with ranks, will be announced on june 2 by giving 25 Percentage for 10+2 board exams(inter)marks.

Hyderabad,Jan 9 Eamcet,for admissions into engineering (BE/B Tech),Pharm-D,B and Pharmacy (math and biology streams),colleges in the state will be held on May 10 this year and the results will be announced on June 2,minister for higher education Damodar Rajanarasimha announced here on Tuesday.The notification for Eamcet will be released in the first week of February.

The first phase of admissions for BE/B Tech,B Pharmacy and Pharm D (math stream) will be held from June 17 to 30 and the second phase of admissions will be from July 8 to 11.The first phase of counselling for B Pharmacy and Pharm D (biology stream) will be held from June 25 to 30 and the second phase will be held from July 12 to 15.The last date for admissions will be held on July 30 and classes would commence from August 1.

Speaking to media persons,Damodar Rajanarasimha said schedule for various exam were being announced in advance as per the instructions of the Supreme Court.Date of examinations of Integrated Common Entrance Test (ICET) for admissions into MBA and MCA colleges,Engineering CET (ECET) for lateral entry into engineering colleges,Education CET (EdCET) for admissions into B Ed colleges,Lawcet and PG Law CET (PGLCET) for admissions into law colleges and Post-graduate CET (PGCET) for M E/M Tech,M Pharm and M Arch colleges were also announced.

The minister said management quota admissions would be done as per the merit list.College managements will not be allowed to take admissions as per their whims and fancies.The state will crackdown on any management which does not take the merit list into consideration.And as per the High Court order online admissions will also be conducted for management quota admissions in all private colleges, the minister said.

Source: Times of India

Hyderabad,Jan 5 Eamcet-2013 is likely to be held on May 12, Sunday. The test will be conducted for admission to engineering, medical and agriculture courses. JNTU-Hyderabad will conduct Eamcet for the 16th time. The AP State Council of Higher Education will announce the schedule for various CETs including Eamcet on January 8 for the coming academic year 201314. JNTU-H has urged APSCHE to consider holding Eamcet-2012 on May 12, which is likely to be approved in the meet on January 8. Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, who also holds the portfolio of higher education, will participate in the meeting to finalise the schedule for CETs.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,Dec 28 The state government has decided to announce the schedule for Eamcet in the first week of January, 2013, for engineering and medicine courses.

The AP State Council of Higher Education will meet in early January to finalise the schedule for the various Common Entrance Tests for admission to professional courses for 2013-14 along with Eamcet.

Chairman of APSCHE, Prof. Jayaprakash Rao said that the council will announce the schedule for all CETs, including Eamcet, by January 10, 2013. He said that JNTU Hyderabad would be entrusted with the responsibility of conducting Eamcet for the sixteenth time and Prof. N.V. Ramana Rao would continue to be the Eamcet convener in 2013 too.

“The universities which had conducted CETs in 2012 will be asked to conduct the same in 2013. There are no plans to change the universities this year,” Prof Rao said.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,Dec 28 The test has to be conducted as admissions to veterinary and agriculture courses are based on it.

Irrespective of the Supreme Court’s final direction to the States on the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET), the State government will conduct the EAMCET next year, including the medical examination for the science students.

The medical stream test has to be conducted as admissions to veterinary and agriculture courses are based on it. So whether NEET is made compulsory or not, science students have to take the medical stream test of EAMCET if they wish to seek admissions in veterinary and agriculture courses.

Since almost all the aspirants appearing for the medical stream of EAMCET opt for veterinary and agriculture courses once the MBBS and BDS seats are finished, there is no point in worrying about NEET or EAMCET. “If NEET is made mandatory also they have to write medical stream of EAMCET for admission into other courses. So its better they concentrate on their preparation without worrying about the outcome in Supreme Court,” an official said.

The Supreme Court is likely to give its verdict in mid-January on whether States have to mandatorily opt for NEET or conduct their own tests for the next academic year. Some States, including Andhra Pradesh, have moved to Supreme Court seeking some more time to be part of NEET.

Meanwhile, the government is busy finalising the dates of all the entrance exams. APSCHE Chairman P. Jayaprakash Rao said that the dates of all entrance tests would be announced by January 10. The government has already decided to entrust the responsibility of conducting the tests to the same universities that conducted the tests this year. Even the Conveners are likely to be the same.

Fee structure

Prof. Rao also said that the process of finalizing the fee structure for all professional courses would start soon and the notification concerned would also be issued in January. College managements would have enough time to submit their proposals so that AFRC could fix the fee accordingly.

“We want to stick to the AICTE schedule on the academic calendar and will ensure that classes started on August 1 after completion of admission process by July-end,” Prof. Rao said.

Apex court verdict in mid-Jan. on whether States should mandatorily opt for NEET

Dates of all entrance tests will be announced by January 10, says APSCHE Chairman

Source: The Hindu

Hyderabad,Nov 29 The state cabinet on Wednesday decided that no new engineering college would be allowed to come up in the state and also capped the number of students that existing engineering colleges can admit each year to 420 students per college.

As a result the number of engineering colleges in the state will not go up from the current figure of 717. However, for accredited colleges, the number of new admissions per college has been capped at 540 students. But the cabinet decided to give some exemptions. If any management comes forward to set up engineering colleges in the backward districts of Srikakulam, Mahbubnagar, Adilabad and Anantapur and also ensure that the required standards are maintained, a few colleges would be allowed in these districts.

Wednesday's cabinet decision on the engineering colleges were taken on the basis of the recommendations made by a high-powered expert committee headed by former bureaucrat K Lakshminarayana that was appointed in 2010 to suggest modalities and remedial measures for strengthening un-aided (private) professional institutions. In all, the 717 engineering colleges in the state at present have an intake of 3,44,986, up from an intake of 82,225 students studying in 238 colleges in 2004-05. In 2010-11, approximately 30% of the engineering seats remained vacant while in the current academic year, nearly 50% seats were not filled. In addition, the increased number of engineering colleges has put enormous strain on the availability of qualified teaching manpower, thus affecting the quality of education and employability, an official note said.

Therefore, the state government requested the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) not to sanction second shift of sections in the existing engineering colleges. Also, the state government decided to recommend to AICTE imposition of ceiling on the number of seats in under-graduate engineering, MBA and MCA courses, as per the recommendations of the expert committee.

Welcoming the move, Vidya Samasthala Parirakshana Samithi, a body representing engineering college managements, stated that they have been repeatedly asking AICTE to put a cap on the seat allotment in the existing engineering colleges. "We have been asking AICTE since the past three years to not approve proposals for new colleges as the existing seats are not getting filled. Currently, 3.2 lakh engineering seats are available in 717 engineering colleges and over 40% of them have no takers. Under these circumstances, the cabinet decision is welcome," said K V K Rao, president of the managements' association.

Source: Times of India

Hyderabad,Nov 14 The government has decided not to ratify the ‘B’ category admissions of eight engineering colleges for violation of norms.

Sources said that three of these colleges belong to the Malla Reddy Group, two to the Gayatri Vidya Parishad Vishakhapatnam and the remaining include CVR Engineering College, Srinidhi Institute and one belonging to the brother of Malla Reddy Group.

Officials said these colleges violated the norms including denying access of applications to students, not displaying the merit list and not following other admission procedures. The government has decided to let off some other colleges as the deviations were found to be minimal.

Source: The Hindu

Hyderabad,Nov 1 The qualified candidates of EAMCET-2012 (M.P.C & Bi.P.C Stream) who are seeking Admission in to Pharma-D Course are informed that the Certificate Verification and Option entry will commence on 04.11.2012 and 05.11.2012 respectively (For MPC Stream) and on 06.11.2012 and 07.11.2012 respectively (For Bi.P.C. Stream) using URL: http://apeamcet.nic.in (for MPC Stream) and http://apeamcetb.nic.in (for Bi.P.C. Stream) from any internet centre or Help Line centre. Allotment will be placed on 06.11.2012 (MPC Stream) and on 08.11.2012 (Bi.P.C Stream). For details download the Detailed Notification from the above websites.

Hyderabad,Oct 9 Nearly 70 engineering colleges have violated rules pertaining to management quota admissions this year. The department of higher education has started issuing show-cause notices to managements of these colleges asking them to explain why action should not be taken against them. The department may not ratify those admissions that were made in deviation of the norms. Parents who bought seats for their wards in these colleges by paying huge amounts of money are worried about this development. The AP State Council of Higher Education had constituted inspection teams to verify whether management quota admissions were made according to the rules in GO No.74 issued by the state government last year.

The rules stipulate that colleges should release admissions notification in three leading newspapers and issue applications to all the students who approach them. They should display the list of all the applicants on their website and prepare the merit list from among those applicants, which should be displayed on college notice boards and their websites. However, it was found that several colleges flouted rules and sold seats to students of their choice. In some cases, the number of applications issued by the colleges were equal to the number of seats available in them, proving beyond doubt that the seats were allotted to only those students who agreed to pay the ‘donations’ demanded by the colleges.

“We have issued show-cause notices to about 35 engineering colleges so far. Show-cause notices will be issued to another 15 colleges in a couple of days. Based on their reply, we will decide on the future course of action. The government has all the powers to cancel such admissions which were made in deviation of norms by not following merit and transparency,” said Prof Jayaprakash Rao, chairman, APSCHE. The college managements, of course, are trying to use their political clout to ensure that they are let off this year. While the government-prescribed fees in most of these colleges for management quota is only Rs 35,000, many of the errant colleges collected between Rs 50,000 and Rs 85,000.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,Oct 6 After the final phase of admissions for the BiPC candidates seeking admission in B.Pharmacy courses 1,477 seats remained vacant while 14,464 candidates took admission. The allotments are placed on the website ‘http://apeamcetb.nic.in’ and the candidates have to download the allotment order along with the bank challan fee. The indicated fee has to be paid in any one of the branches of Indian Bank or Andhra Bank. Candidates have to report at the college before October 10.

Source: The Hindu

Hyderabad,Sep 17 Students preferred “quality” over “fees”, when it came to selection of colleges in the Eamcet engineering counselling.

Despite the government fixing higher fees ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.05 lakh in about 85 colleges, against the common fees of `35,000 fixed for 585 other colleges, students opted for colleges with higher fees.

The government fixed higher fees in these colleges based on their claims of offering the best faculty, infrastructure facilities and academic standards.

In the OU region, top colleges such as CBIT, MGIT, Anurag, CVSR, Aurora, Sri Nidhi, Narayanamma, Bhoj Reddy, Gokaraju Ranga Ranju, VNR Vignana Jyothi, Vasavi etc. attracted a large number of students.

“The demand for top colleges is huge as they offer better campus placements. Most of the large companies prefer top colleges for the purpose. Students studying in these colleges will be at an advantage”, said Kamalakar Reddy, secretary, CBIT.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,Sep 17 Online counselling for B Tech and B Pharm courses in minority colleges will start on September 16 in the city at the Veterinary Association Hall in Shanti Nagar. Counselling sessions will be held on the same day in Nellore, Markapuram and Vijaywada.

Course fee remittances should be paid in full and in the form of demand draft (DD) in favour of 'Convener, EAMCET-AC-SW-II-2012' payable in Hyderabad or at the bank counter in the venue. Consortium of AP Minority Educational Institutions said here on Friday that each applicant should produce original Eamcet rank card and hall ticket, Intermediate or its equivalent marks memo, SSC or its equivalent marks memo, study certificates from class VII to intermediate, residence certificate, parent's residence certificate for a period of 10 years in the state. Candidates with a parental income of less than Rs 1 lakh are exempted from payment of tuition fee on condition that they furnish an income certificate. Students will have to pay Rs 300 and Rs 600 towards registration and counselling fee.

Source: Times of India

Hyderabad,Sep 8 Over one lakh seats are sure to remain vacant in engineering and pharmacy courses this year in the convenor quota itself. This gets reflected in the difference between the available seats and registration of candidates for admissions that ended on Thursday.

By evening 1, 34,747 candidates registered for both engineering and pharmacy courses across the 59 helpline centres for the 2,34,540 seats available in the convenor quota in 672 engineering colleges and 264 pharmacy colleges. The remaining colleges are in the minority window, where admissions will be done separately.

Source: The Hindu

Hyderabad,May 25 The fate of the Eamcet will depend on the outcome of a crucial meeting convened by the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry on May 28 to take a final call on holding the national common engineering entrance test (Iseet) from 2013.

Officials in the higher education department expect the confusion surrounding Eamcet to end once the HRD ministry convinces the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) to the joint Iseet. The 40 per cent weightage for 10+2 marks in Iseet has become a bone of contention with the IIT faculty and alumni opposing it.

The Union ministry of health has already decided to hold the national eligibility-cum-entrance test (Neet) for medical seats from 2013-14 academic year as per the directions of the Supreme Court.AP, too, expressed its willingness to adopt Neet from the 2013-14 academic year. However, it has not decided on joining Iseet the absence of clarity from the HRD ministry.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,May 19 There is no clarity yet on whether the medical and engineering entrance test, Eamcet, will continue even though it is being widely reported that the nationallevel common entrance tests, Neet and Iseet , for medical and engineering admissions, will replace all existing entrance tests from next year.

Minister for higher education Damodar Rajanarasimha recently said that Eamcet will be held as usual next year since Neet will be conducted only for MBBS admissions from 2014, and the decision on Iseet for engineering admissions is yet to be taken by the Centre and states. He said Eamcet will be applicable to engineering and pharmacy admissions besides other medical allied courses like veterinary science, agriculture, home science, nursing courses etc, even if Neet is implemented from 2013.

Meanwhile, minister for medical education Kondru Murali also said that Eamcet will be held as usual in 2013 for MBBS admissions since Neet is scheduled to be conducted from 2014. Taking advantage of the new nationallevel tests, junior colleges and coaching centres are charging higher fees.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,May 15 Difference of opinion among officials and lack of direction from the government on whether to release the EAMCET marks now or wait till the supplementary exam results are announced is complicating the issue that has left lakhs of parents and students confused.

Till a couple of days back, the government was firm on releasing the ranks based on the annual examinations and the not supplementary exams. After differences of opinion developed on that line of thinking, officials said EAMCET marks will be released first without any ranks. Now there is an argument within the official circles that there is no point in releasing the EAMCET results separately, and it would not serve any purpose for admissions in the State.

A senior official said that EAMCET marks and final ranks may be released in June second or third week and not on May 24 as announced earlier. Though officials seem to be in favour of delinking EAMCET results with supplementary exams, as was the practice till last year, pressure is being put on the government by some political parties. Political parties are apparently under pressure from parents and students, particularly those who have fared badly in the physics paper.

And there are nearly 1.5 lakh such students appearing for the physics improvement exam apart from 1.62 lakhs who have failed in that paper. The Higher Education Minister, Damodar Rajnarsimha, has apparently sought some time to take a final decision and it is said that the government may buckle under pressure and prefer to wait till the supplementary results are announced to announce ranks and marks together. “A clear position will emerge in a couple of days,” a senior official says.

Meanwhile, the delay in the EAMCET result is keeping thousands of students, who wish to move to other States or national institutions, on tenterhooks. “Except the top 40 or 50 engineering colleges there is no point in taking admission in the rest. The announcement of marks at least will help us gauge our position,” says a student. Engineering colleges also fear that delayed results and delayed admissions will encourage students to opt for other States where the admission procedure is already on.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,May 13 The Eamcet on Saturday was marred with errors in some of the engineering question papers. Experts claimed to have found at least four errors in engineering questions with three of them being major ones.

The examination was held at 749 centres across the state and malpractices were reported in some districts like Kurnool, Kadapa and Hyderabad. The engineering examination saw an attendance of 96.4% with the medical stream recording 94% attendance.

Experts from various coaching centres in the city reported errors in five questions in the physics paper of the maths, physics and chemistry (MPC) stream. Most of the errors were found in the English section of the question paper with the corresponding Telugu questions found to be error free.

Experts said that in code D question paper, for questions 86 (on magnetism) and 93, the correct answers were not mentioned among the four options. Question 109 of the same code was wrong, experts claimed, as some of the values given were erroneous. Even question 116 was found to be ambiguous.

Experts said that in MPC, the maths and physics sections were lengthy with many questions being of the sort that took up substantial amounts of time in a competitive exam.

For medical candidates, it was the chemistry paper which was found to be tough. Eamcet convener MV Ramana Rao said that he has asked an expert panel to look into the allegations. "Preliminary key for the examination will be released on Sunday and all stakeholders will be given one week to report errors," Rao said.

Speaking at a news conference, Rao said that, at the Masters Junior College centre in Kurnool, a student had turned up for the exam with fake documents. "He was given the fake documents by a management representative of the same college. It is reported that the same person provided fake documents to five others. A malpractice case has been booked and the matter is under investigation," Rao said.

Cases of students missing the examination after reporting late at the centres, too, have come to light. "It's a policy not to allow candidates inside the hall even one minute after the commencement of the test. Our estimate is that just about 15 candidates in the city would have missed the examination owing to this factor," Rao said. As compared to last year, the number of students writing the test has dropped by 1.5% for both the engineering and medical streams. A total of 3.7 lakh students had appeared for the engineering and medicaltests.

Eamcet officials have not released the date of announcement of ranks. "We have not got any directive from the government whether the marks should be announced on June 24 as had been earlier planned," said Rao.

Source: Times of India

Hyderabad,May 10 With the due date for the submission of Eamcet applications ending on Wednesday, it has been revealed that a record number of students (3,88,570) have applied for the exam this year. Eamcet is to be held on May 12.

While nearly 2.94 lakh students applied for engineering exam, about 95,570 opted for medical exam. As many as 55 students submitted applications with a penalty of `10,000 on the last day.

While the Eamcet fee was just `250 if paid within the due date, students were allowed to pay the fee along with the late fee of `500, `1,000, `5,000 and `10,000 after the due date. About 1,500 students paid a late fee of `500, another 1,000 paid a late fee of `1,000 each.

Nearly 300 students paid a penalty of `5,000 and 155 paid a penalty of `10,000 each. “Students who applied for Eamcet by paying a penalty of `5,000 and `10,000 will be allotted centres only in Hyderabad,” said Dr N.V.Ramana Rao, convenor, Eamcet.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,May 5 Seeking to put an end to the confusion surrounding the announcement of Eamcet ranks, Secondary Education Minister K. Parthasarathy said the ranks would be awarded only after the declaration of the results of the advanced supplementary examination. The Eamcet marks however will be announced as scheduled on May 24. It may be recalled that the Eamcet convener's statement that the ranks would be announced on the basis of the annual examination held in March this year, created a furore among students appearing for advanced supplementary to improve their marks, particularly in physics. In the wake of concerns expressed by students and their parents, the Secondary Education Minister, Board of Intermediate officials, members of State Council for Higher Education attended a review meeting chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha. The meeting considered the view of the students and their parents that if Eamcet ranks were released ahead, without taking into account supplementary examination results, it would not anyway benefit the students appearing for the advanced supplementary. After discussing all aspects, the meeting resolved to release Eamcet ranks only after supplementary exam marks were announced, said Mr. Parthasarathy. The rank would be based on Eamcet score and weightage for inter marks.

The Eamcet marks however will be announced as scheduled on May 24. Rank to be based on Eamcet score and weightage for intermediate marks

Source: The Hindu

Hyderabad,May 5 The hue and cry over the Intermediate Physics paper this year reflected how fragile our examination and evaluation system is. A slight deviation from the set standards of question paper setting shook thousands of students including bright ones who score no less than 90 per cent at any given time.

Such was the impact of the changed paper setting that nearly 31 per cent students failed in Physics alone while failures in other subjects such as Mathematics were just 12 per cent and Chemistry 11 per cent. About 60,000 candidates secured the exact pass mark of 21 while only 649 students secured 60 out of 60. It is quite apparent that those who secured the exact pass marks did so due to some liberal valuation of teachers at the camps.

Though the government succumbed to the pressures of students and parents to some extent providing some relief in the supplementary exams to those appearing for the paper again, the focus has now shifted to teaching of Intermediate subjects. Are the students learning the subject for knowledge and is the teaching designed for that, or are they being prepared for the marks that have relevance only to the next level of their study – either engineering or a conventional degree course?

Eamcet weightage

The very thought of considering the Intermediate marks weightage in the EAMCET rank was to cut down the increasing trend of learning by ‘bits' and ‘pieces' as the corporate colleges prepared students only for the entrance exams totally ignoring Intermediate education.

The Dayaratnam Committee, consisting of eminent academicians, recommended 50 per cent weightage initially, and five years after the new system has been adopted, qualifying marks could be considered as the sole criterion for admission into all professional courses.

To ensure fair play, the committee recommended a jumbling system for practical examinations too and inclusion of those marks for the weightage consideration. The committee also suggested that EAMCET be conducted in two sessions for both engineering and medical streams with the first session reserved for core subjects such as Mathematics and Biology and the second session for Physics and Chemistry.

Regarding content, the committee recommended that analytical type, matching and grouping type questions be included along with objective type questions. Among all recommendations, Government initially chose to adopt 25 per cent weightage and continued with it with the Supreme Court making entrance tests mandatory for admissions into all professional courses. Other suggestions were ignored.

The initial impact of the weightage was positive with some concentration on core subjects but over the years, the colleges have conveniently found new methods. Important questions are framed based on the blue print created for the convenience of paper setters and students are made to rote learn them. The Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) in a way indirectly helped them by not deviating from the established blue print.

Twisted questions

This year, the BIE deviated from its old pattern and tested students with twisted questions though they were within the syllabus. The allocation of marks for different topics too was changed leaving students stunned. The BIE Secretary, M. Subrahmanyam, brushed aside allegations of blue print deviation as he argued that the blue print system was discontinued from 2008 itself. Apparently, it was done away with due to apprehensions that any deviation would land up in courts and prolong the process of results.

Shouldn't there be a blue print at all for an exam that is taken by nearly 12 lakh students, is the question being raised now. Teachers say a blue print is must, detailing on what aspects the student will be tested. As per the old blue print, 30 marks were earmarked to test the students' knowledge, 22 ma

Hyderabad,May 4 Contradictory statements by ministers and officials of secondary and higher education departments over giving weightage for “improvement marks” in Eamcet have spelled trouble for over one lakh second year Inter students. These students are taking the improvement exam to improve their score in physics. While about 31 per cent students had failed in physics, several thousands more secured low marks, prompting the government to allow them to write the “improvement exam”. This is for the first time that second year students are being allowed to take improvement exams.

While the students are preparing for improvement exams seriously, the ministers and officials are creating utter confusion by making contradictory statements on giving Eamcet weightage for these students.

While minister for secondary education K. Parthasarathy says these students will be treated on par with other students, officials of higher education department say they will be allowed for Eamcet counselling only for the second phase by giving them Eamcet ranks later. Parents and students say officials are irresponsibly making contradictory statements and creating unnecessary confusion. However, clarity over the issue is expected on Friday when officials will meet CM N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and deputy CM Damodar Raja Narasimha, to take a final decision.

Students and parents argue there is no point in taking improvement exams if Eamcet ranks are not announced for them simultaneously with other students by taking fresh inter marks into consideration. “What is the use in taking such exams, when we have to opt for leftover seats in second phase of Eamcet,” asked A. Avinash, a second year student.

“If the intention of the government is not to allow improvement students in the first phase of Eamcet counselling, why did it ask students to appear for reexams in the first place? We request the government to rethink its decision,” said M. Aishwarya, a second year student. Meanwhile, the Inter board has extended the due date to register for improvement exams by another day to May 4.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad,Apr 30 Will the senior Intermediate physics examination cost corporate colleges top ranks in this year’s Eamcet as Inter marks have 25 percent weightage in ranking? Generally, each corporate college forms a cream batch with 200 to 400 students to crack top ranks in Eamcet, which helps them lure more admissions for next academic year. This year only 650 students scored 60 out of 60 marks in physics, out of about 4.7 lakh who appeared for the test and many corporate college students did not get expected marks. This is surely a blow to corporate college managements.

According to sources, the colleges had used all means to get grace marks for students in physics. Some management representatives and ‘elite’ faculty members rushed to television studios to put out their arguments strongly. But they had no proof of any violation in preparing the question paper. They were seen arguing that the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) had violated the blueprint, when there was no blueprint exists in reality. The BIE dropped the blueprint since the 2008-09 academic year. Also, corporate colleges are reportedly behind the protest organised by parents, students and some organisations at the Intermediate Board on Wednesday.

Hyderabad,Apr 29 Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad supported the government's intention to increase the duration of the MBBS course from the existing 5.5 years to 6.5 years, reported IBN Live. He said that the Medical Council of India was working on the proposal.

The Minister affirms the government's intention to introduce one year mandatory rural posting for doctors. According to Mr. Azad, the rural stint will address the shortage of seven lakh doctors in villages. The proposed year increase in MBBS duration is being considered to retain the additional year for mandatory rural service of MBBS graduates.

As per the new proposal, MBBS degree will be awarded only after the completion of 5.5 years of regular MBBS course in addition to one year of rural posting which would be linked to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

The proposal was suggested to improve the poor healthcare facilities in rural India and strive for better medical treatment and facilities to the rural population. Moreover, the government has put much emphasis on its flagship NRHM program. (Read more)

Meanwhile, another interesting angle has emerged. In a bid to check the outflow of doctors leaving the country on the pretext of higher studies a bond has been introduced. Any doctor travelling to the United States for higher medical studies from this year onwards will have to sign a bond with the government, promising to return to India after completing his / her studies.

"Any student travelling for further medical education to the US will have to give us a bond that he will return after completing the studies. In the last three years, 3,000 doctors went abroad for studies and didn't return. If a student doesn't return from the US, he won't be allowed to practise there," Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

Hyderabad,Apr 27 More than 50,000 candidates downloaded the EAMCET hall-tickets within a few hours after the facility was opened on Thursday evening. EAMCET-2012 convenor N.V. Ramana Rao said that no complaints have come in so far with regard to data mistakes in the hall-tickets. The facility will be opened till the day of the examination on May 12. Apart from the hall-tickets, candidates also need to download the form they have submitted online and take it to the examination hall or else their results will be withheld.

Candidates belonging to SC and ST categories need to take a copy of the caste certificate along with the hall-ticket and a print out of the application or else their results will be given in the general category.

The exam will be held on 749 centres of which 190 are medical centres. Prof. Rao said that an enforcement officer will be posted at every medical centre. Similarly, one invigilator is being roped in for every 20 candidates and one observer for every 500 candidates.

Source: The Hindu

Hyderabad,Apr 25 Top officials from the police, intelligence and higher education departments will hold a joint meeting on April 25 at APSCHE, Masab Tank, to finalise security for smooth conduct of the Eamcet on May 12.

In a related development, the state government has directed Eamcet officials to announce the Eamcet merit list with ranks immediately after the declaration of the Inter main results. The decision will enable the officials to announce Eamcet ranks within two weeks, by May 24, and complete engineering and medical admissions counselling in a month, so as to begin classes from July 1. However, the officials will prepare a separate merit list after the announcement of Inter supplementary results. The meeting will focus on eliminating high-tech copying and installation of jammers, especially in the medical stream exam.

Source: Deccan Chronicle