Open universities and distance education universities like IGNOU; Ambedkar Open, Hyderabad; Karnataka State Open; and Mysore University offer distance education programmes.
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My daughter is a student of class XII, pursuing science stream. She wants to do BTech in biotechnology. Please provide information regarding admission and names of colleges.
We hope that your daughter has filled the forms for various entrance exams for admission to BTech biotechnology offered by various universities/institutes. If she has not, she will have to apply next year. Or else she might think of BSc biotechnology, offered by a large number of universities.
The IITs have been offering a four year BTech course in Biotechnology for quite some time. IIT Kharagpur offers a BTech degree programme in biotechnology and biochemical engineering; IIT Chennai and IIT Guwahati offer a BTech degree in biotechnology; IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur offer a five-year dual degree MTech course (after completion of 10+2) in biochemical engineering & biotechnology; and IIT Chennai offers a similar MTech course in biotechnology. Admission to these courses is through a Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) after class XII.
Among the other institutes offering BTech are: Anna University, Chennai (BTech in industrial biotechnology); Bharathidasan Institute of Engineering and Technology, Tiruchirappalli; Guru Gobind Singh University, Delhi; Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (BTech chemistry and Bio engineering); UP Technical University, Lucknow; Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore (Tamil Nadu).selection is on the basis of All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), or the entrance exams conducted by various state governments.
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I have recently finished my board exams. I aspire to become a lawyer. I want to shape my career right away. What subjects one opt to become eligible? Apart from institution-based studies what other types of studies and coaching do I need to take up? Please give me a list of institutions, particularly those in Kolkata. How do I prepare for the various competitive exams? Please explain the entrance procedure. How else do I realise my aim?
The admission procedure to the National Law School league – the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore; National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad; National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata; National Law University (NLU), Jodhpur; and National Law Institute University (‘NLIU’) in Bhopal is already underway. The last date for forms is over. In fact, by the time, you receive this magazine these institutes would have conducted the entrance exam. You have not mentioned whether you have appeared for your class X or class XII exam. If you have just appeared for your class X board exam, the reply will be relevant for you.
The entrance exams are usually of around two hours’ duration and contain both objective and subjective type questions. The subjects tested are: English, analytical reasoning (Logic), legal reasoning, general knowledge (including legal awareness) and mathematics.
None of the sections in the papers are usually tough, keeping on mind the standard of the board exams in India. More than the toughness of the question it is time pressure and the number of applicants that make the selection procedure tough. The English section tests students on vocabulary, reading comprehension, structuring of sentences among other things; the analytical reasoning section tests students on identifying weak and strong arguments, syllogisms, relationships, sequencing etc; the legal reasoning section tests students on their ability to correctly apply a principle to a given set of facts and decide whether something is correct or incorrect; the general knowledge section tests students on their general awareness of basic laws and legal developments; and the mathematics section tests students mainly in basic commercial maths.
General knowledge and English vocabulary are two areas that require long term preparation. Make sure to read a good newspaper daily – not at the end of the week or once in a while. Keep an eye out for news relating to law or international affairs in some way or the others. Take it one step further by maintain a scrap book of relevant cutting from the papers. Pick up a weekly magazine to boost your knowledge. Do it regularly. Build it in your routine. Similarly, pick up new words and phrases from newspapers and magazines, not just for making a word list of your own. Use them in your day-to-day conversation. These are practices you will be thankful for when you sit for the exam.
It should be noted that these are areas where one has to rely upon oneself. You can’t expect a tutor to tell you ‘OK! Today we will do facts about the Olympic Games’ or ‘Today we will do the word iconoclast!
As regards the other areas mentioned above, these can be covered through an exhaustive preparation a month or two before exams. It will help you to take help of an experienced tutor for these areas.
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I am B.Com Pass final year student. After my graduation I want to pursue chartered financial analyst course. Please suggest some institutes, along with their websites, which are offering this course. Please give me the details of the entrance exams like minimum cut-off in B.Com availability of forms and duration of the course. What are the prospects of the course?
The CFA qualification is given by Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI). It’s a three-year post-graduate programme, admission to which is done on the basis of a written test. Graduates from any discipline with at least 50 per cent marks can apply to the course. CFAs can have promising careers in finance, insurance and banking sectors.
The ICFAI website is as follows: www.icfai.org
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I am a resident of Pune, appearing for my CBSE board exams. It’s my dream to serve the country by joining the defence services. My plan was to get educated at NDA. Unfortunately, I came to know that NDA at Pune prefers only boys. I want to know whether any NDA branch is for girls too. If there is, how can I join it as soon as I complete my class XII. What subjects should I opt for in class XI so as to satisfy the qualifications essential for entering NDA? Is Air Force for girls too? Can a girl be a pilot to serve the nation when there are wars in our country? What qualifications are necessary for being a squadron leader?
NDA doesn’t have any branch. And NDA is for boys alone. Entry for girls to the Armed Forces is possible after graduation. You can fulfil your ambition of joining the Air Force and becoming a pilot. But you will be able to fly helicopters and transport planes. Eligibility is BSc physics or maths or BSc general with physics and maths. Selection is on the basis of SSB tests, interview, a medical exam, and pilot aptitude battery test.
But there are scores of other opportunities for women candidate in the Indian Air Force and the other two wings of the Armed Forces. Thus, for example, there is direct entry for science graduates in air traffic control. There’s also direct entry for graduates in ground duty branches like administration & logistics and education.
In the Indian army women are recruited to the army service corps, army ordnance corps, Army intelligence corps, in the signals, and in engineering corps (technical services require an engineering degree). In the navy too women get entry in the education branch, logistics branch and Air Traffic Control, the last one being open to science graduates. Women can also join the Armed Forces Medical Service, after an MBBS at Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. If you are an NCC ‘C’ certificate holder, you can avail of the vacancies reserved for them in the three wings.
As to your query regarding qualification for a squadron leader, you become a squadron leader after promotions in the Indian Air Force. And you don’t have to be a fighter pilot for that. Ground duty officers also get that designation, or even higher designations. In fact, in 2002, Padma Bandopadhyay, became the first woman officer of the Indian Air Force to be promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal. She has risen to this high position as part of the medical service.
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Everyone in my family is tensed all the time – my father, my mother, my sister and myself. Money is not an issue. My parents earn well. There are no quarrels or anything. But no one really laughs heartily. Something is lacking. Can you make out what it could be? Does it have to do with the Vaastu of the house? Is it because of some part deeds – maybe in previous lives? How can one learn the art of living properly?
I do not know anything about Vaastu or the effect of the past etc. To be happy is within one’s own ability. If you want to be happy, no one can stop you from it. In some families people are little more serious than persons in other families. This is not unusual. However, if you do think that people are not ‘happy’ at home, you can look for the causes. Find out what makes them unhappy. If you know the cause, you can always remedy it. Remember, however, that ‘laughing’ by itself does not mean ‘happiness’. What makes one happy may not make another happy. Happiness is a relative term.
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My elder daughter is in class VIII and younger one in class III. Nowadays, when I read news reports about young school students and even mothers committing suicide because of bad performance in exams, I become very upset. How can parents keep a constant tab on their child’s mood? My second worry is, even if parents are not pushy, the school – including teachers and peers – forces them into thinking that way. I remember that in the first year of our elder child’s school we were quite carefree and thought that the child would learn at her own pace. But soon complaints started coming in – if our child lagged behind in any respect. Soon we too started worrying about our child’s performance even at nursery and KG stage. True, there are exceptional stories of a child and his/her parents not bothering about academic record and the child doing very well in some creative field or the other. But what is the way out for a normal, middle class family?
I can understand your concern at parents and children committing suicide because the child did not perform well in the exams. Performing well in studies is indeed important but it is not the end of the world. What is important is that the child learns the subjects well, has a good grasp of it, is able to concentrate upon his work, completes the assignments and keeps pace with the class. If this is ensured, the performance of the child will not be below the level at which it should be. Parents should facilitate the child to do his work at his pace and to help complete whatever is expected of him or her (without doing his work for him. Parents must be alerted to any adverse changes in the child with regard to his studies, like sudden deterioration in studies, getting very poor marks in most subjects etc. Learning at one’s pace is fine, so long as the pace is in tune with the pace expected in the school and according to his age level and the class in which he studies. One need not expect a child of class III to perform at class V or VI level. If he is keeping pace with his age and class, the school will also not bother and you as parent need not worry.
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I am very scared of lizards. In fact, so grave is the problem that if I spot one in my room I cannot even enter it. It becomes extremely difficult in summers, when they are everywhere. Is this some kind of phobia? Can I get over it?
Many people are scared of lizards. If the lizards is driven away and the person is able to enter the room and carry on working, it is not a phobia. But if, despite knowing very well that there is no lizard in the room, you cannot enter the room or carry on your routine work, this may amount to phobia. Phobias are curable.
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I am not an introvert, but I can’t stand it if people don’t give me importance. I feel neglected at parties. How can I interact with people when they are discussing their own issues? How to get along with them, so that they give me importance?
You should stop thinking that you are the center of the world. Instead of thinking about yourself, start focusing on what other re talking about, what is the topic of their conversation and try to present your ideas about the topic concerned. People of your age usually want to talk about clothes, the latest fashion, studies future plans, latest happenings in the sports field, politics, films etc. Keep yourself updated by reading youth magazines, newspapers etc, so that you can express your views. Keep yourself abreast of these topics and join in the conversation of your friends rather than waiting for them to talk about your topic. This is the age when you start forming ideas, thinking differently and holding on to certain views on different topics. If you show your knowledge and contribute to the topic, they would welcome your ideas and the conversation will move on from there. Then you don’t have to worry that others are ignoring you.
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I am a very social person and want to have a lot of friends. That is the reason I don’t want to annoy anyone by refusing him/her for anything or any work. I don’t express my feelings even if I don’t like anything about my friends. But my sister says that this is not good in the long run, and that I will make friends even if I am frank about my opinions. I want to learn that art. What is the secret behind it?
If you are social and have a circle of friends about which you feel happy, you need not worry whether you are right or wrong in refusing anyone or annoying anyone. You must worry only when you find that your approach causes you problems and makes you feel uncomfortable. Remember, each person has his/her own ways of dealing with others. So long as one’s way of interaction does not cause problems to oneself or others, and at the same time makes the person feel good, there is no need to change that approach.
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I am student of B.Com final year. I want to know more about MBA. I want to know whether I should do MBA after graduation or after giving the CAT entrance in 2006 and which field I should choose for doing MBA. I would like to clear that I am not so good in maths, so which field would be more suitable for me and what are the chances of placement after doing an MBA. Also tell me about the different entrances conducted for entering a management college.
You need to understand what MBA is. Master of business administration is a postgraduate course in management, which, as the name suggests, you can do only after graduation or an equivalent qualification. But some leading management instructions (or B-schools) providing a course in business management / business administration offer a post-graduate diploma in management (PGDM), AND NOT MBA. CAT is the entrance test for admission to Indian Institutes of Management and several other B-schools. So it’s not a matter of choice that you can do an MBA either after doing your graduation o after CAT.
Yes, there are several other exams besides CAT for admission to B-schools, like XAT for admission to Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur, JMET for admission to management programmes run by IITs, CET for admission to Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, and so on. Those who aspire to join a B-school don’t appear for just CAT (though the first priority for anyone would be an IIM, of course), they appear for all the major tests.
As regards maths, while comfort in maths is no doubt an asset, but a lot of people from non-maths background have also cracked these exams successfully.
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I am always unhappy about something or the other and am always cribbing. I want to be content. But some of my friends say that if I am content I will never progress in life. Is that true?
It is indeed remarkable that you are aware you are unhappy and that you crib. When you are aware about it, it is only a question of self-introspection as to why you are unhappy. Is there any specific reason or event that makes you unhappy? You can find this out if you felt unhappy and see what event led to this. For all that you know it may be a trivial event about which you really need not have bothered. Also give a thought to your cribbing – what are you cribbing about and whether the cribbing is justified. As you start thinking and analysing on these lines, you will automatically give up being unhappy and cribbing all the time.
As to the question of contentment, one must have a goal and should put in efforts to reach the goal using one’s own intellect, skill and efforts. Being unhappy and cribbing more often than you yields negative rather than positive results.
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My parents were very fun-loving persons, but over the years, because of financial constraints, have started believing in superstitions. They consult a pundit for everything. In which direction should the puja be done? They even believe in Vaastu for home decor. They are now worried that the main door faces the wrong direction and that the kitchen is in the wrong part of the house. I want to tell them that it is not practical to implement large-scale changes in an ordinary household with limited means. But they are obsessed. Can you suggest a way out of this madness?
I do not know how old you are. Whatever your age, you must understand that in one’s life many behavioural changes occur due to a number of events that are at times very painful. Such events increase a person’s inclination towards superstitions beliefs and the tendency to depend upon God. In my view you should concentrate on your studies/ work and leave them to decide their course of actions,
Furthermore most people today believe in Vaastu and I am sure your parents do realise the economics of modifying various parts of the house. I am sure they will not do anything that will upset their on your lives. Have trust in them and I am sure things will change for the better. Despite all this, if you still want to do something about it, find a suitable and appropriate time and talk it over with them to express your concerns. I am sure their reply will bring about some comfort to you.
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My younger daughter is in class VI and already she has started having performance anxiety. Come exam time and she develops all the symptoms, including stomach upset. I don’t know why she approaches exams in this fashion, when no one in the family exerts any pressure on her.
It is indeed a matter of concern that your daughter should have performance anxiety at this age, that too when none of you puts any pressure on her. The best way to approach this problem is to talk over with her and find out what exactly does she fear? Is it exams by themselves, is it her fear that she may forget what she has learnt, is it the fear that she has not been able to follow whatever is being taught in the class, are the teachers and peers pushing her into competition, is her brother or sister doing far better so that she feels that she also has to come up to that level and fears she will not be able to reach that level of expectation? Once you know the cause it would be easy to help her to get over the problem.
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Money: Plan well. Save by using coupons, discounts, etc. Take advantage of ‘Sales’. Resist the urge to shop for unwanted items. Keep supplementing your income by hourly jobs.
Cultural shock: In some countries, students tend to be more boisterous than people from Indian culture. To remain unfazed, use the Reasonable Person Principle and do what a reasonable person would do in the same situation.
Study pressures: Take the right course, and manage your time well.
Food: The west was once non-vegetarians’ delight, and vegetarians’ hell. But today, there is a variety of juices, cheeses and fruits to be had. Learn to cook.
Friends: Choose your friends carefully. Some so-called friends could distract you from your goal.
Homesickness: You will miss your family, but if you use your e-mail effectively and pursue your hobby, it will surely cheer you up.
Insurance: Medical insurance can prove vital in countries where medical facilities cost a fortune. Take care of your health.
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