Category Archives: Education

CIMAP to lead certification system of medicinal plants and products

Agriculture, Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Lucknow :

The Lucknow-based Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, and institute under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has been assigned a lead role in the Indian Ocean in introducing a system of certification of medicinal plants and their products with a view to promote marketing and utilisation of value added products in Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) region. The development comes close to the heels of another Lucknow-based CSIR laboratory, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research getting the GLP certification.

This decision to assign the current role to CIMAP was taken in the first meeting of medicinal plants focal points of IORA Regional Centre for Science and Technology Transfer (RCSTT) held at Salalah, Sultanate of Oman from June 23 to June 25. IORA is an apex organization, which includes 20 countries Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, Yemen and 6 dialogue partners including China, Japan, Egypt, France, UK and USA.

According to the Salalah declaration adopted by the participating countries, an ad hoc committee on standards and standardisation for medicinal plants and herbal medicine has been established. The committee chaired by Prof Anil Kumar Tripathi, director of CIMAP will draft a document to introduce a system of certification of each member state in order to introduce a minimum standard acceptable to all member states for commercialisation of value added products of medicinal plants and related technology in the IORA region.

Tripathi who represented India at the meeting at Salalah said that the recommendations made in the meet would help the IORA member states and other developing countries in formulating their plans to ensure cooperation for applied research, technology transfer and commercialisation of medicinal plants and herbal medicine in the IORA region.

It was also proposed that CIMAP will host a meeting of the IORA in 2015 besides organising an international training course on the processing and quality control of medicinal and aromatic plants for the member countries at CIMAP soon.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Arunav Sinha, TNN / June 28th, 2014

Lucknow school gets NGO status from UN

Education, World Opinion

QUICK BYTE
Lucknow:

A city-based school chain with over 50,000 students in its various branches has been registered as an official NGO of United Nations, the school said on Saturday.
__________________________________________________________________
uttar-pradesh-mapLUCKNOW30jun2014

Jagdish Gandhi, founder of the City Montessori School, told reporters that the school was registered with the department of public information of the UN as a non-governmental organisation.

This special status will give the school the privilege of “participation in various programmes, conferences and seminars organised by United Nations and put forth its ideas on world unity and world peace in order to safeguard the future of 2.4 billion children of the world”, he said.

CMS was declared the biggest school, as per student population, in the world by the Guinness World Records last year.

(Agencies)

source: http://www.post.jagran.com / Jagran Post / Home> States News / by Jagran Post News Desk / Jagran Post Editorial / June 28th, 2014

Young scientists from govt schools bag awards

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

If you think rocket science is not a child’s play, think again. Rohit Kumar, a class XI student from NAS Inter College Meerut, created a working model of a hydro rocket based on the concept of Newton’s Third Law of Motion using commonly available waste at home.

But, Kumar is not the only greenhorn. Four other school children who were awarded by Council for Science & Technology for scientific innovations and projects did it within limited resources. Entries were invited from all schools in the state and these five, all from humble background, were selected for the coveted award from among 50 entries shortlisted for the final round. Significantly, four out of five students were of government colleges, where quality of education is deemed poorest in the state.

If Kumar was selected for rocket making, Sonali Mishra a class X student from Radha Kishore Government Girls Inter College, Basti was awarded for her outstanding work in the concept of mathematics. Umesh Chandra Jaiswal a class XII student also from a Government Inter College in Basti was awarded for his Unnayan Angle reader machine, a mathematical toy which determines the angle of a fixed object relative to a larger object. Mohammad Sajid, another Government Inter College student of class XII was awarded for his work on a working model of conversion of Kinetic energy into Electrical energy, his father Mohmmad Saeed is a welder. S Samridhi Jaiswal, an SKD academy student of class X received the award for her report on ‘Arsenic Contamination in Ground Water and Soil’.

Rohit explained “the bottle is partly filled with water and sealed. It is then pressurised with compressed air from a bicycle pump. Water and gas are used in a combination resulting in a 60-70 meters flight. It took me around two weeks to make it functional.” Another awardee, Sonali, remarked “I wanted to simplify the much feared mathematical concepts so that students afraid of the subject may also take interest. I was helped and motivated by my family and teachers making it easier for me to dedicate more time towards studies.” Her father Uttam Mishra is manager in a plywood factory. Mohammad Sajid said “my brother gave me the inspiration for this project. The motor utilises rollers in the road to generate electricity, so when any car passes over the rollers they turn to generate electricity,” his proud father Mohmmad Saeed.

The felicitated students of Government and private colleges give force to the thought that if provided with equal opportunities children from all walks of life can perform well on educational front. All of them were given prize money of Rs 10,000 along with mementos and certificates.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 20th, 2014

Lucknow’s civil services topper made it in second bid

Education, Leaders, Records, All

Lucknow :

In 29 years, Thursday was the one of the busiest and most exciting days of Prem Ranjan Singh. His cell phone kept ringing every minute and all he said was ‘thank you’. It was not his birthday, but an unforgettable day as he secured 62nd all India rank in the civil services examinations. Ecstatic, Lucknow-based Singh, who was currently undergoing training at National Police Academy, Hyderabad, said: “it’s a moment worth living for. After four years, my dream has come true.”

This was his second attempt for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). While in first he couldn’t clear the interview, in the second and third round, he got selected in police services. A mechanical engineer from MNIT, Allahabad, Singh worked for four years in Ashok Leylands, Chennai. “I wanted to do MBA but took the civil services route to serve my country,” said he.

On why IAS, he said “being an administrator puts one in diversified roles. There are different domains where one can work. One gets experience working in different departments and can also specialise in a particular one. IPS was restricted to police.”

His father D N Singh is a retired railway employee, while his mother is a homemaker. One of his two brothers is also in the railways while the other is an IIM-Ahmedabad graduate working in Mumbai.

Holding AIR – 67, city boy Rituraj Raghuvanshi said “rigorous studies and being patient is key to success.” Rituraj is presently working in Indian Railway Traffic Services. It was his fourth attempt in civil services. In his last attempt, he secured AIR – 555.

A CMS student, Rituraj did BA LLB (hons) from Symbiosis School of Law and LLM from National Law University, Bangalore. His father Anil Kumar Singh is an IAS officer and presently special secretary, rural development department, UP. On his success, Rituraj said “my books always accompanied me while I was out of home.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 13th, 2014

Sitapur boy tops civil services in UP

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

Sitapur boy Avi Prasad is UP topper in the prestigious Civil Services examinations-2013 by securing an All India Rank, 13. An IPS officer, Avi is currently undergoing training at National Police Academy, Hyderabad. “I will now shift to IAS,” Avi told TOI over phone from Hyderabad.

Having done his schooling from Sitapur, Avi graduated in international business and finance from Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi. Later, he pursued post graduation in management and business law from NLU, Jodhpur. Avi has one and half year of working experience at the Reserve Bank of India. “I had absolutely no inclination towards civil services. While I was working in RBI, I realised our system just doesn’t deliver. Interacting with people, I found its people who are running the system makes a difference. I chose civil services to work for a citizen-centric system,” said Avi.

Son of a business man, Avi’s mother is a home-maker. His sister is preparing for judicial services. It was Avi’s second attempt. The first time, he secured an AIR of 171. On how difficult it was to quit a plum government job, Avi said “In RBI, it would take another 15-20 years to achieve something. In civil services, one begins early age. Responsibilities comes early and one has full control on his work place and environment. The charm to deliver pulled me towards IAS.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / June 13th, 2014

Display of robotic manipulators at IIIT-A

Education, Science & Technology

Allahabad :

The basic concepts and challenges in robotics were discussed in the ongoing summer school on robotics by IIIT-Allahabad on Monday.

Delivering a lecture, Subir Kumar Saha from IIT-Delhi demonstrated his software Robo Analyzer which enables students learn the hard, scary and mathematics savvy topics in robotics, using this motivating software. Saha set the tempo at the very start of his lecture with fascinating display of amazing things robots do at the labs of IIT-Delhi. He dealt with robotic manipulators, or ‘intelligent’ movement of the robot’s arms and wrists.

Amar Banerjee from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai talked about telepresence or the technology wherein one may see and feel the presence of dear ones miles away. He focused on robotic manipulators or robot arms.

The session was followed by a poster presentation by Somnath Biswas, director, IIIT-A. The participants were asked to present their work as posters to enable the participants delve into the core of the subject.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / June 10th, 2014

Girls Outperform Boys in Class 12 Uttar Pradesh Board Exams

Education

Allahabad:

Girls outperformed boys in the Class 12 exams of the Uttar Pradesh Board, results for which were declared in Allahabad today.

A total of 30.48 lakh students had appeared in the examinations held earlier this year, and 28.10 lakh of them secured the required pass marks, said state Director of Secondary Education and Chairperson of Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad Shail Kumari Yadav.

The overall pass percentage this year was 92.21, a drop of 0.47 per cent from the previous year.

The drop in pass percentage was mainly on account of the girls’ pass percentage falling by a significant 1.19 per cent, even though the pass percentage of boys rose by a modest 0.02 per cent.

Nevertheless, the pass percentage of girls (95.31) remained significantly higher than that of the boys (89.81), in keeping with a trend that has been discernible for past few years now.

There was, however, an overall deterioration in the quality of performance as the percentage of those securing a first division fell sharply by 5.56 per cent while the proportion of those getting second division fell by 0.01 per cent.

However, there was an increase of 1.62 per cent in the proportion of those managing a third division.

Basti (97.41), Sultanpur (96.56) and Ambedkar Nagar (96.53) emerged as the best performing districts, while Ghazipur stood at the bottom with a pass percentage of 85.58 only.

Interestingly, none of the districts known for academic achievements like Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Aligarh and Agra figured in the list of the 10 best-performing districts in the examinations.

According to Yadav, 4.9 lakh more students appeared for the examinations this year as compared to last year.

Consequently, the number of examination centres (10,546) also saw an increase this time.

source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> All India / by Press Trust of India / May 25th, 2014

Three girls share top honours in city

Education, Records, All

Allahabad :

Three girls shared the top position in the city in the UP Board high school exam, results of which was declared on Friday. Smita Singh of St Anthony Girl’s Inter College along with Sakshi Pandey and Viplaw Yadav of Brij Bihari Inter College secured 94.83%.

With Kalpana Chawla and A P J Abdul Kalam emerging as the foremost role model for city toppers in high school examination this year, the message was clear that selfless service was the key to achievements and winning admirers across the globe.

Sharing her success mantra with TOI, one of the three toppers from the city, Smita Singh said, “One should be honest in his or her endeavours in any field to court success. However, one must not forget that at least 6 to 7 hours of round the year regular studies can fetch you top rankings in the exam.”

Daughter of a section officer of Utter Pradesh Public Service Commission, Smita aspires to become a successful surgeon after completing MBBS from a prestigious medical college. Giving credit for success to her parents who always remained by her side to provide the much needed guidance, the topper said: “Just like Kalpana Chawla students should be creative and focused in their studies.”

Hailing from a modest background Viplaw Yadav, daughter of primary teacher at Phaphamu, aspires to be an IAS. Pledging to follow former president’s footsteps, Viplaw said “I also want to become a renowned scientist like Prof Kalam and take my country to the pinnacle of glory in the field of science and technology”.

Similarly, Sakshi Pandey has no words to express the contribution of her parents who worked tirelessly to ensure quality education to their children.

Ishika Singh of St Anthony Girl’s Inter College and Prajjwal Saxena of SBM Intermediate College, Naini jointly stood second with 94.67% while Ashwani Singh also of SBM Intermediate College secured 94.50% to bag third position.

The fourth ranker was Preeti Yadav, 94%, Vijay Shankar Patel bagged fifth position by securing 93.50%, Jyotika Agarwal was sixth with 93.50%.

Shalini Singh and Neha Yadav shared the seventh spot with 93%, Komal Prajapati, Sanjana, Sadaf Bano, Swati Singh all bagged eighth position by securing 92.83%. Similarly, Sachin Tewari and Sheelu Singh shared ninth spot with 92.67% and 10 position spot was bagged by Shivam Singh who secured 92.50%.

Trans-Yamuna, trans-Ganga regions perform better

This year schools situated in the blocks of trans-Yamuna and trans-Ganga regions have churned out majority of city top 10 rankers. Barring St Anthony’s Inter College and Brij Bihari Sahai School, others belong to remote areas of Meja, Karchana, Naini and Amilo Deeha.

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / by Vinod Khanna, TNN / May 30th, 2014

Barabanki girls tops UP board exams

Education, Records, All

Lucknow / Allahabad : 

Like UP Board intermediate results, Barabanki students bagged the top honours in class X too, results of which were declared on Friday. 

Prerna Verma of Maharani Rani Laxmi Bai Inter College topped the class X UP Board exams scoring 98%. Arnav Nigam of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Barinath, Jaunpur, was second with 97.5% marks. Two girls – Himanshi Parmar of Thakuar Abhilash Singh Inter College, Saharanpur, and Sarita Chaurasia of Sri Sai Inter College, Barabanki was joint third with 97.3% marks. 

“I was expecting good marks but never thought I would top the state. I came to know about the results from news channel reporters when they called me for the interview. I’m on cloud nine,” said Prerna, who hails from a humble family. Prerna’s father was a para-medical worker but lost his job 10 yeas ago. Thereafter, her mother took up a job at a primary school to earn the livelihood for the family. 

Prerna’s brother, Kumar Ashok, said, “It’s a big day for us. She (Prerna) has made us all proud. We knew that she will score high marks but never of this day.” Prerna aspires to become an IAS officer. 

Overall, 86.71% students – highest in five years – passed the exam. The pass percentage was 86.6% last year. Girls outdid boys with an impressive pass percentage of 90.8 against boys’ 83.2%. 

This year, there was a significant drop in the pass percentage in government schools, falling to 81.2% from 85.4% last year. In government- aided schools too, the pass percentage dipped to 84.8% from 86.3% last year. Private schools recorded a pass percentage of 86.3%. 

A total of 33.3 lakh candidates appeared in the high school examinations — 18.2 lakh boys and 15.1 lakh girls, said director, secondary education, Shail Kumari Yadav

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / May 31st, 2014