JNU set to return to classes by June 25

With restrictions easing out and shops opening, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is all set to restart. The students are expected to return to their classrooms between June 25 and June 30.

Advertisement

The new academic calendar was announced keeping in view of the COVID-19 situation and the UGC guidelines. “This academic calendar has been unanimously approved by all the Deans of Schools and Chairpersons of Special Centres”, read a statement issued by JNU vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar.

The resumption of the classes are planned so that students can complete their remaining academic components. Examinations will be completed by July 31, said the JNU.

Meanwhile, the next semester for the continuing students will start from August 1. Like last semester, the entire monsoon semester registration process will be completely online making it easy for the students to register even from their homes. Last time it created a row with many students objecting to it. “We have made sure that research scholars who have to submit their theses/dissertations will not face any difficulty as the deadline for submission is shifted to December 31, 2020,” the university added.

As of now, this academic calendar is tentative and much of it depends on when the lockdown is lifted and how. JNU administration said it is also expecting new guidelines from the UGC. IANS

LSAT entrance exam to be held online due to Covid-19

US-based The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) has decided to administer the 2020 LSAT-India entrance examination online for the first time ever from June 14 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

LSAC said LSAT-India, which was a paper-pencil test since its inception in 2009, becomes India’s first and only Law Entrance Exam to be entirely online, AI-enabled remote-proctored.  The move to online exam will enable candidates to take the test from the convenience of their home or other respective settings without worrying about their health and safety, it said in a statement.

Candidates seeking admission to law schools in the country will be able to take the LSAT-India from June 14, 2020 using an online test delivery system.

It said Pearson VUE, one of the leading players in computer-based testing in the world, administers this test as an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled, online solution for aspirants to take their required college admissions tests in a safe manner, thereby overcoming the restrictions posed by the Covid-19 lockdown.

LSAC President and CEO Kellye Testy said, “In order to safeguard the ability of Indian students to apply to law schools in India, we have partnered with Pearson VUE to offer students a technologically advanced entrance exam this year. The test delivery system has technical features that ensure the transparency, convenience, and integrity of the testing process, without sacrificing security,” Kellye said.

The statement said students seeking admission to all programmes of Jindal Global Law School can take this exam at their own convenience from the safety of their homes or other settings to complete the admissions process in an efficient and timely manner.

C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) & Founding Dean, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), said: “At a time when the global pandemic has created unprecedented uncertainty for all law entrance exams generating huge anxiety among law school aspirants, LSAT-India has given hope and aspiration by launching this exam in an online format.

“As a leading law school in the world, it is our endeavour at Jindal Global Law School to offer the best of educational opportunities to our valued students and that includes a world-class, transparent, fair and scientifically evolved online admission test,” he said.

JGLS has opened its doors for admission to the class of 2020. It offers four major degree programmes in law and legal studies — 5-year BA/BBALLB Hons, 3-year LLB, 1-year LLM, and the 3-year BA (Hons) in Legal Studies programme.

LSAT-India is a standardised test adopted as an admission criterion by multiple law colleges across India. Each year, LSAC, headquartered in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. helps more than 60,000 law school candidates navigate the admission process and provides the essential admission software and data relied upon by more than 220-member law schools in the United States, Canada, and Australia. PTI

New exam dates for pending papers of Class X and XII to be announced shortly, CBSE Syllabus To Be Reduced – Check 5 Important Updates

New exam dates for pending papers of CBSE  12th & 10th board exams 2020 might be announced shortly online at cbse.nic.in. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank yesterday announced exam dates for NEET 2020 (26 July) & JEE Main 2020 (18 July to 23 July). About exam dates of remaining CBSE 2020 board exams, he said that the committee is working and new exam dates will be announced shortly.

CBSE Syllabus 2020 To Be Reduced:  Ministry of Human Resources Development, through its official Twitter Handle, announced that the course committee of CBSE is working on the reduction of the syllabus in the various scenarios.

To avoid any confusion, the Ministry of Human Resources Development also tweeted that no examination will be held for class X students nationwide, except for students from North-East Delhi.

UG and PG Courses for New Students (1st Year) May Commence from 1st September 2020

Universities exams might get cancelled if the situation does not improve and here are the guidelines from MHRD regarding evaluation & assessment.

Reduced GATE score, lateral entry option for PM Research Fellowship applicants: HRD

The HRD Ministry has announced significant amendments in the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship Scheme including reduction in the required GATE score and introduction of a lateral entry option.

 The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) among the top 25 institutions as per NIRF ranking will also be eligible to grant the fellowship. “To boost research in the country various amendments have been carried out in Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship Scheme. Now for the students from any recognised institute or university (other than IISc, IITs, NITs, IISERs, IIEST and IIITs), the requirement of GATE Score is reduced to 650 from 750 apart from minimum CGPA of 8 or equivalent,” Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank said.

“There will be two channels of entries, one direct entry and lateral entry. In lateral entry, the students, who are pursuing PhD in PMRF granting institutions (completed 12 months or 24 months as per certain requirements) can also apply to become fellow under the scheme as per new guidelines,” he added.

The scheme announced in the 2018-19 Budget is aimed at improving the quality of research in various higher educational institutions in the country. The scheme seeks to attract the best talent into research thereby realising the vision of development through innovation.

The institutes which can offer PMRF include all the IITs, the IISERs, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, some of the top central universities and NITs that offer science or technology degrees.

“The candidates will be selected through a rigorous selection process and their performance will be reviewed suitably through a national convention. Starting Academic Year 2020-21, candidates can apply for PMRF through either direct entry channel or lateral entry channel,” Nishank said. PTI

Sebi invites applications for internship programme

Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday invited applications for internship programme in its economic and policy analysis department for one year.

The interns will be recruited for a period of 12 months depending upon Sebi’s requirement and a stipend of Rs 35,000 will be provided, the regulator said in a notice.

Spelling out the eligibility criteria, the regulator said candidates should have completed at least two years in full-time PhD program from a recognized Institute/ University. Besides, PhD thesis of applicants should be related to Financial Economics.

It further said that part time PhD students will not be eligible for internship.

Among other criteria, candidates must have secured a minimum 60 per cent aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA in post graduation.  In addition, knowledge and skills in statistics (intermediate level) is mandatory and programming knowledge on R/Python is desirable.

The deadline for submission of applications is June 10. PTI

Any back-to-work questions? Consult the ‘hygiene steward’

Returning to work after the coronavirus lockdown, you could find ‘hygiene stewards’ on hand to ask after your health, tell you how to disinfect your mobile phone, or set up one-way traffic on the staircase.

Denmark’s ISS, one of the world’s biggest private employers, said on Wednesday it was seeing higher demand for disinfection and deep cleaning, as well as advice on how to maintain social distancing in the workplace.

“We are training ‘hygiene stewards’ around the world who will clean and disinfect workplaces during the day and advise people on how to act,” CEO Jeff Gravenhorst told Reuters in an interview. “Feeling safe is a big part of returning to work.” In addition to the normal cleaning routine in the evening or overnight, such stewards will be present during working hours and help encourage workers to follow guidelines on hygiene and social distancing.

Britain’s Rentokil Initial said last month it had trained some 7,000 of its staff to perform disinfection and deep cleaning services, as it was preparing for new business in markets where restrictions were being eased.

ISS staff will offer advice on how to limit the risk of spreading the virus, including how to act in the reception or canteen or how to disinfect mobile phones.

Wearing uniforms and protective gear, the hygiene stewards will also measure the temperature of every person entering the building and ask questions about their well-being and whereabouts to make sure sick people don’t turn up to work.

While China and other parts of Asia had reopened, people had also started to return to work in Denmark, Austria, Belgium and to a lesser extend in Spain and Italy. Other markets like Mexico, Indonesia and Singapore had seen the opposite trend.

“We are still in the eye of the storm,” Gravenhorst said.

The Copenhagen-based company, which also competes with companies such as Sodexo and G4S, delivers services such as cleaning and catering to more than 2,00,000 clients in 63 countries.

*************************************

FSSAI launches online training programme for food businesses

Food regulator FSSAI on Wednesday said it has started an online training programme for food business operators (FBOs) to help them maintain safety and hygiene across food supply chain in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

“COVID-19 is posing a serious challenge for food supply chains worldwide. The challenge is to ensure uninterrupted food supply to consumers whilst containing the risk of COVID-19 for the workers, customers and all participants in the food supply chain,” FSSAI said in a statement.

FSSAI had already issued detailed guidelines for food businesses.

“Further, to enable and equip food businesses to function and reduce the risk of contagion, FSSAI has launched a training programme for food businesses under its flagship Food Safety Training & Certification programme (FoSTaC),” it said.

The training will be conducted online through empanelled training partners.

Food businesses can visit FoSTaC website or connect with FoSTaC training partners directly for the certification programme.

The training programme caters to all stakeholders in the food ecosystem comprising manufacturers, packers, transporters, retailers and food delivery partners and aggregators.

The agencies/NGOs serving food in places including langar, community kitchens, among others, should also get their food handlers trained for COVID-19 precautionary measures, it said.

A certificate of participation shall be issued to the trainees through FoSTaC portal. PTI

JGU partners University of Arizona to help Indians get US degree

India’s OP Jindal Global University (JGU) has signed a pact with The University of Arizona to help Indian students earn a US degree without leaving their home country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given travel restrictions, school delays and visa moratoriums, JGU said it has created flexible, affordable options with the University of Arizona to allow students in India to earn a full US degree or US transfer credits with full access to the JGU campus as part of a new GIFTED Programme (Global Immersion Fellowship for Talent & Educational Development).

“The GIFTED programme is an innovative and affordable way of promoting excellence in international higher education and could profoundly impact the future of knowledge creation, collaborative learning and global engagement at universities around the world,” Vice Chancellor ofJGU, Professor C. Raj Kumar, said in a statement.

Students can choose from two options in the GIFTED programme: Students can complete a full US undergraduate degree, graduate degree or graduate certificate online with complete access to the JGU campus. Or they can enrol in a pathway programme of online courses to prepare for virtually any major and for eventual study in the US.

The fellowship programme includes specially designed courses taught by JGU faculty, as well as access to JGU’s campus infrastructure and co-curricular options such as academic writing and Mandarin language instruction.

“At the end of the fellowship, the GIFTED Fellows have the option to continue their studies in the USA,” said GIFTED Programme Director, Professor Kalyani Unkule.

To provide an education to international students, the University of Arizona announced this week the launch of a “Global Campus” across five continents, partnering with top universities.

Global Immersion Fellowship for Talent and Educational Development can be accessed at https://jgu.edu.in/admissions/

IANS