SHEMBLOG

The Supreme Court has stayed a plan proposed by the central government to keep some seats reserved for the backward-category students for a period of three years in the higher educational establishments across various states in the country. The SC bench dismissed the plea which wanted that the seats reserved for candidates of the OBC category, if left vacant, shouldn’t be allocated to the general category, GC students.

On behalf of the government, the plea was brought forward by solicitor Goolam Vahanvati. He gave the example of JNU where the government had to allow the vacant seats of the OBC category to be filled by the candidates of the general category. This was argued as a contradiction to the recent educational reservations made for the OBC students. The SC bench, however, rejected this proposal and adjudicated that this was a waste of national resources. The SC has fixed another future hearing in this case.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has decided to set up centres of Gandhi Institution of Information Technology or the GIIT at Guwahati and Jorhat in Assam and other regional centres in Kohima, Agartala, Shillong and Gangtok. BVB already boasts of 30 GIITs all over the country and has become a recognised brand in the field of affordable IT education with its centres spread in Asia and even Europe.

This is being done as a part of an initiative to provide subsidised or free IT education to the students of north-eastern parts of India. These centres aim to provide three months of free IT education to the local youth in these regions in the beginning. The institutes are being funded by the Prime Minister’s Special Fund.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University, IGNOU has once again pioneered the cause of making education more accessible and has launched an online diploma programme in the study of Acupuncture. This is perhaps the first time that a medical diploma is being offered online. However, the students would be assisted with contact classes for practical training purposes.

The course is due to commence from November, 2008. The programme would have to be completed in a minimum period of 1 year and a maximum period of 3 years. The curriculum has been set up in collaboration with the Institute of Acupuncture & Natural Medicines, IANM, New Delhi. The programme would be available to medical graduates from various streams including those from allopathy, ayurveda and homeopathy. This initiative from IGNOU makes sense as the requirement for professional acupuncturists is growing by the day.