February 17. 2010

February 17, 2010

ü      The Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) on Tuesday took a “unanimous” decision to adopt a core curriculum for physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics at the senior secondary level.

·         The new curriculum will come into effect from the 2011-12 academic year, Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal said here after a daylong meeting with member-boards of COBSE to forge unanimity for the core curriculum.

·         While the boards will have to draw up the syllabi on the basis of the core curriculum, they will have to work out how to tailor their examinations as per the new regime. And, now that a beginning has been made with the pure sciences and mathematics, COBSE has been asked to explore the possibility of replicating this in the commerce stream.

·         With the core curriculum agenda clinched, the Council has now been asked by the Minister to work towards a single entrance examination by 2013 in each discipline where entrance examinations are conducted for entering professional courses.

·         Many students these days are concerned about the amount of time that it is spent on exam preparation, and all the stress that it is suffered. It would be good if we forget for a moment that we are students and take a objective look at exams.

o    Stress and anxiety is very common in youth nowadays as a consequence of exam preparation and professor´s pressure towards students.

o    All that leads to illnesses and the quality of student´s life decreases.

o    It is well known that large numbers of young people become frustrated when they fail an examination which was probably prepared in a whole year.

o    Exams also test students´ memory. It is a sad fact that knowledge required to pass the exam is theoretical, and sometimes useless. 

o    They are thought to think in the wrong way, because we are surrounded by open-ended problems in real life.

o    Exams are wrongly associated to knowledge.

o    Apart from the stress levels and wrong notion of exams, another major reason to vouch for abolishment or reforms in the educational system is  the introduction of 22.5 percent reservation for OBC students in higher education, it becomes necessary to strengthen education at primary level. It has become a norm even in premier educational institutions like IITs, IIMs and Delhi University to fill up reserved seats with general category candidates in absence of claimants. So, educational reforms at primary level are mandatory to educate backward caste students and prepare them for higher education.

o    Moreover, rising cutoffs adds to the pressure on the students.

o    Also, the new bill on Right to Education makes provision of free education to all children of the ages 6-14 free of cost absolutely necessary.

o    But, is the picture always rosy? No, it ain’t. A supposed move towards abolishment or reforms does have its negative connotations.

o     Such a move will put a lot of burden on the state’s treasury.

o    Steps like optional Class X exam or a common entrance test might cause a bit of confusion in the initial phases.

o    Students might not be in an ability to make a decision about their preferred stream of education after Class X.

o    There has to be a comprehensive testing method to check whether the teaching method itself is successful

o    A mad rush towards the preferred streams might cause a shortage of seats as the supply side will remain the same.

o    This could cause more private players to come into the education system and this could adversely affect the quality of the overall student pool.

o    Another view that the opponents of abolishment of exam system hold is that the overall quality may get eroded.

o    Some argue that students are required to face Board Exams in Class XII, and it would be beneficial for them to face one before that.

o    Several pedagogues believe that exams are required for testing how much a student has learnt.

o    Assignments are a viable option in place of exams

o    A continuous assessment of the students is far better than an exam or test on just a day of the year.

o    It is interesting to note that ICSE has come forward and said that exams are necessary to inculcate a sense of seriousness in children.

o    It is ultimately the students who are at the centre of the news. Experts who are well versed in the subject of child psychology along with parents and school authorities should be the best judges of the matter, but the children should not be left out.

o    Moreover, it has to be taken into consideration whether the purpose of testing a child is to rate or rank him according to his marks or to check his knowledge as well as skills.

o    A more comprehensive method of assessing the inherent skills of children should be evolved and the testing pattern should not be limited to traditional fields of Science, Maths and Language.

ü      Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday described the CPI(Maoist) attack on a camp of the Eastern Frontier Rifles in West Bengal as another “outrageous” attempt by the banned organisation to overawe the established authority in the State and admitted that there were “indications of failure in some aspects,” which only a detailed review would reveal.

·         But, is military offensive the only option against the Naxals.

o    Where Indian Prime Minister described the Maoists movements as the gravest internal security threat, the Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram admitted presence of Maoists in 17 states and disclosed that they are responsible for 90 percent of the violence in the country.

o    Recently, while addressing state Police chiefs at a three days conference at New Delhi, Chidambaram disclosed that last year alone there were 1,591 incidents of Maoist violence resulting in 721 killings while this year until August there had been 1,405 incidents, resulting in 580 deaths spread over 11 states

o    The Indian Government sources at New Delhi, quoting Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai, claim that India is all set to launch joint Army, Air Force and Para Military Forces operations against Naxals in November 2009.

o    The Indian Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS) had recently approved the Government's plan to counter Maoists in the six affected states.

o    The Intelligence summaries submitted in the month of October 2009  by Indian Military Intelligence (MI), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) highlighted that Naxal menace can be wiped out from across the country only through joint operations of Indian Air Force, Indian Army and Para Military Forces.

o    But, what stops India from going ahead with the plans? When India used Military action against insurgents, even in a single state, there have been serious repercussions. Naxalism is a disease that is spread over several states.

o    The number of locals involved and the chances of innocent getting killed in case Naxals use women and children as shields are huge.

o    A military operation might lead to several separatist tendencies and the vested interests outside the country might also get involved on a larger scale.

o    While it has been accepted that Naxals are a grave threat to society, the Prime Minister has gone on state that Naxals are no “terrorists”.

o    The recent attacks point to this growing menace.

o    It is necessary that the government does a cost analysis and decides whether the cost of not going on with a military offensive is far greater than the cost of a military operation and finishing the menace then and there.

o    The role of states which are under the Naxal threats are also important for it  is necessary that political differences are kept out in such a grave matter and the Centre and State see eye to eye.

o    A planned welfare programme has its own advantages and disadvantages for the roots of Naxalism has grown deep and the aim of Naxals has grown from “equitable distribution of wealth” to” seizure of state power”.

o    The faith of the people in democratic process has eroded. This has to be attained back.

o    A military action might efface the Maoist action, but the roots might remain. It is necessary the government acts in such a case. It is necessary that the governments move forward from their “feel good: welfare programmes and ensure that the needs of tribals and dalits, who are the most affected are met.

o    A cautious step in which the lives lost are as least as possible has to be considered.

o    The local security forces have to be included in any such plans for they understand the terrain and the people better.

o    In short, it is the policy that the government decides to follow that would determine whether a military operation is justified. It has to be remembered by all the people involved in the decision making process, right from the Prime Minister to the security forces that the innocents are least affected.

o    It is easy to offer a consultants point of view when talking about such grieve matters, but it becomes essential for each and every person who offer his/her views to understand the ground reality and what the people are going through. We respect that with total sincerity and our hearts go out to the people affected.

o    We salute the brave soldiers who fight for our security.

ü      In a series of high level interactions, Russia and India on Tuesday decided to firm up two major pacts — on nuclear energy and a fifth generation fighter plane — in time for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit in March. They also resolved to step up trade ties and develop closer cooperation in the energy sector.

ü      Egyptian archaeologists have claimed to have finally solved the mystery of the lineage of boy king Tutankhamun more than 30 centuries after the pharaoh was sealed in a gold coffin.

·         A team, led by Zahi Hawass of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, will on Wednesday reveal the results of DNA testing carried out over the past 18 months on the pharaoh’s mummy as well as two mummified foetuses found in his burial chamber.

ü      Preview to the budget ( infrastructure sector)

·         With the economy poised to register a 7.2 per cent economic growth in 2009-10 fiscal and the government pegging the GDP growth at around 8 to 8.5 per cent in 2010-11, the target can be achieved only by removing various policy bottlenecks and accelerating spending in the infrastructure sector with the active and aggressive participation of the private sector under the public private partnership initiatives.

·         Experts are of the view that for sustained infrastructure development which is essential for accelerated economic growth, it is important that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is expected to provide decisive steps to cut down fiscal deficit, would also give top priority to policy decisions and initiatives in the infrastructure development.

·         The country clearly lacks adequate sources of long-term funds that can flow to the infrastructure sector. The chief executives of top banks have already told the Reserve Bank of India that they would have issues in providing long term funding for infrastructure development as they do not have access to resources of matching periods.

·         The industry is of the view that the government should make investments in long-term bonds issued by banks free of tax.

·         Similarly, the RBI should exempt such funds from the requirements of having to set aside 5.5 per cent as cash reserves and invest another 25 per cent of the funds in government bonds.

·         The other problem in infrastructure funding is the foreign lenders’ unwillingness to take project risk.

·         The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has called for the sharp increase in the planned investment levels for infrastructure and the expanding role for the private sector.

·         According to Suman Bery, Director General, NCAER, the 11th plan projected investments in infrastructure development to the tune of $500 billion.

·         According to Naveen Raheja, chairman and managing director, Raheja Developers, housing and real estate is a vital segment of the economy and has multiple connectivity to other parts of the economy.

·         It is therefore important to give a thrust to the housing sector by raising the Interest deduction limit of Rs.1.5 lakh in the computation of income under section 24 of the Income Tax Act, to Rs.3 lakh.

·         To pep up demand, the government should provide tax incentives for smaller size of units and accordingly the applicability of section 80IB should be extended up to March 31, 2010. Therefore, income tax exemption will be applicable for projects sanctioned up to March 31, 2009.

ü      The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the States and Union Territories to formulate, within eight weeks, a comprehensive policy on removal, relocation and regularisation of unauthorised religious constructions. We will surely put up our views on land encroachment tomorrow.

ü      Please visit this link to know more about India’s seed repository, a good read.

ü      Following up with its $1 billion package to Bangladesh, India on Tuesday offered a $250-million line of credit to Nepal. It also extended a massive 80,000 tonnes of essentials, mainly food grains, to Nepal.

Protesting the IPL’s new match coverage guidelines, which reduce the footage that can be carried on bulletins, the 34 members of the News Broadcasters’ Association (NBA) have decided not to cover the Twenty20 event at all. At a meeting held on Tuesday, the IPL organisers refused to back down and return to the norms negotiated in 2008, provoking the NBA decision.

ü      The European Union member states have decided to temporarily withdraw preferential tariff benefits known as GSP+ granted to Sri Lanka from August on the ground that there are “significant shortcomings” in the implementation of three U.N. human rights conventions.

ü      Tata Motors on Tuesday launched a mine protected vehicle, eyeing good growth in the defence business right up to frontline combat vehicles.