Education should be child centric, says Kapil Sibal

Rooting for reforms in education system, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said reforms need to be child centric so that children can pursue their own dreams and aspirations.

Referring to India's firstmission to Mars, Sibal said: "When we talk about launching a satellite on to Mars, we have more than 220 million satellites in the country, our children and each satellite has its own trajectory. We should help them in finding their orbit and shine."

Sibal has previously held HRD and Science&Technology Ministries.

Speaking here on the occasion of the two-dayCII global university-industry congress, the Minister said that education needs to concentrate on the child and not the curriculum. Its efforts should be to bring out the brilliance in the child.

He also propagated a 10-year vision to create a road map to facilitate reforms in education to ensure that India comes to the forefront of world's education scene.

CBSE  take decision for class IX^th and X^th

A circular released last week makes it mandatory for students from classes 9 and 10 to appear for the two summative assessments (SA) and pass with a certain percentage of marks. The rules will be effective for class 9 students from the 2013-14 academic year and for class10 students from 2014-15.

The government's strong defence of the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) format of assessment is, surprisingly, showing signs of dilution as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE ) has decided to assign 25 per cent pass marks for the term-end examination called summative assessment (SA) for students of classes IX and X. The change will be effective from the next academic year.

Earlier students were graduated to the subsequent class if he/ she scores 33% in the complete assessment which includes four formative assessments and two SAs. There was no minimum pass marks for the SAs, which is the written examination conducted at the end of the two semesters.

In case a student of class 9 or 10 is unable to appear for SA1 due to an illness, he would be given one more chance to appear for the exam till 31 October. Class 9 students can take the Eligible for Improvement of Performance (EIOP) exam for SA2, a month after the results are declared.

Govt auditor's report warns of gaps in nuclear power safety

New Delhi: When Parliament was busy dealing with disruptions through the last three days, perhaps very few noticed the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report on the country's nuclear watchdog being tabled in the House on Wednesday.

For the government that is already battling the fallout of CAG's report on coal allocation, this report on India's nuclear watchdog - the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board - comes with a new headache. 

The report says:
running nuclear plants has not come up with any radiation safety policy even three decades after it was set up.

• The maximum fine the AERB can impose is that of Rs. 500 as a deterrent in cases of nuclear safety oversight.
• The AERB reports to the government - another concern the CAG report has flagged saying lack of an independent and autonomous regulator is a serious risk.
• The regulatory body has no powers to make rules, enforce compliance or impose penalty in cases of nuclear safety oversight.

Former bureaucrat and anti-nuke supporter, MG Devasahayam told NDTV, "When we said these things, we were called anti-national. But continuing with these projects is anti-national. First put in place the mechanism, whether its compensation policies, rehabilitation etc. What is the hurry in setting up these power plants? The government must put a stop to these projects till these safeguards are in place."

Aruna Roy, Activist and member of the national advisory council, who has also visited the Kudankulam nuclear power plant site, lashed at the government.

"Imposing nuclear energy is a travesty of law, travesty of the rule of law, travesty of citizenship and raises many questions," she said.

The government is already working on trying to close in the gap.
 

Obama may sign SOPA even if he says he opposes it

It is crucial that you take action now, because even though SOPA has been "shelved" and Obama has withdrawn his support for it, remember thatObama also promised he would veto the NDAA, yet he quietly and sneakily signed that on New Year's Eve, stripping Americans of their due process rights

Just because Obama says he opposes something doesn't mean he won't sign it! And believe me, the tactics of all these evil minions in Washington is tooperate in darkness, meaning they will delay SOPA when people are paying attention but then, a few months later, after public awareness has waned, they will insidiously attach it to some spending bill and quietly make it law. One day you will wake up and all your favorite websites will simply be GONE. Remember, the government hasalreadyshut down 84,000 websites with no due process