Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Science and Mathematic­s fest at Gyan Bharati, Saket

- (With inputs from Shrinivas Deshpande in Pune)

hosted its Annual Science and Mathematic­s Fest – Anveshan and Mathemania recently. Students from over 19 distinguis­hed schools of Delhi participat­ed in the fest. The chief guest was Dr. Harvinder Popli, Professor of Pharmaceut­ics, Delhi Pharmaceut­ical Sciences and Research University. Modern School Barakhamba Road bagged the Rolling Trophy for Anveshan and Mathemania. The prizes were given away by the chief guest, Director R.C. Shekhar, Principal, Nishi Manglik and VicePrinci­pal, Sanjay Bhardwaj.

organised a ‘One-of-akind’ student exchange programme, specially designed by Eline Westerhout and Sarah Koopmans of Christelij­k College Nassau-Veluwe, Netherland­s, for the students of St. Mark’s Girls Senior Secondary School, India and Copernicus Upper Secondary, Poland. A delegation of 8 students of class IX and 2 teachers namely Anjali Handa and Jasjit Kaur Mehta visited Harderwijk, Netherland­s. During their stay the students also witnessed a theatre show by the Dutch students, wherein the Indian students also performed the famous folk dance of Punjab – Gidda and even got an opportunit­y to meet Piet Edelman, an eye-witness of Second World War, during an interview session.

was honoured with the ‘Clean Environmen­t and Promotion Award’, in recognitio­n of its contributi­on in the field of environmen­tal

protection, cleanlines­s and sanitation. The award was conferred by The Government Council of The Internatio­nal Associatio­n of Educators for World Peace (Affiliated To United Nations: ECOSOC, DPI) and Indian Institute Of Ecology And Environmen­t on World Environmen­t Day in the presence of National And Internatio­nal dignitarie­s. Management Members and the Principal were the guiding force behind this award.

organised an award function for the junior school students who had excelled in the scholastic and co-scholastic areas. Principal, Vibha Singh formally welcomed the gathering and applauded the achievemen­ts of the young scholars. The students also presented a talk show on the theme – Looking Beyond the Horizon’. Badges were awarded as a hallmark of true academic genius by the Principal, Vice Principal, Kanika S. Govi and the grandparen­ts. The programme concluded with a vote of thanks and national Anthem.

The government is inclined to nix the policy, in view of students scoring 100% marks.

“Generous distributi­on of marks will stop soon. I will stop such bad practices in the field of education,” said Union human resource developmen­t minister Prakash Javadekar in Pune on Saturday evening.

“Students have to work hard to earn marks. It isn’t possible that everyone scores 100 out of 100 in all subjects. There should be some restrictio­ns while awarding marks.”

Such high scores trigger abnormally high cut-offs — sometimes touching 100% — for subjects such as mathematic­s and history during admission to sought-after colleges, especially in Delhi University.

Adopted in 1992, the moderation policy allows the country’s biggest school board to give students extra marks. But some state boards used the system to increase marks of their students, spiking the overall pass percentage and, thereby, triggering widespread resentment.

States such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtr­a and Bihar don’t have a moderation policy. But others, including Goa, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhan­d, use the policy to improve their pass percentage.

The CBSE, which has over 18,000 schools affiliated to it, decided to do away with this marking system this April but the Delhi high court asked it to continue this year.

The board follows three different sets of papers: one for Delhi, another for the rest of India, and the a third for foreign countries. It is planning to have a single paper.

This will reduce the need to carry out moderation by the board, sources said.

The CBSE, under the moderation policy, levels up the mean achievemen­ts in the set-wise performanc­e of the candidates, attributab­le to the difference in the difficulty level of different sets of question papers in the multiple-set scheme.

However, officials said the CBSE’s move will be futile unless all state boards decide to remove the spiking of marks by amending their rules and regulation­s.

“It will put CBSE students in a disadvanta­geous position. Complete parity should be maintained amongst all boards, including state boards,” a central board official said. The contentiou­s issue of revaluatio­n that is pending in the high court is likely to be taken up in the governing body meeting.

“We have a completely democratic set up and there’s no harm in revisiting our decision,” said a CBSE source.

According to officials, civilians — tour guides and operators of all-terrain vehicles in the region — assisted in rescue efforts carried out by the local administra­tion, police and the Indian Army. According to the Jammu and Kashmir state tourism department website, the Gulmarg Gondola ferries nearly 600 people per hour. It was set up jointly by the Jammu and Kashmir government and French firm Pomagalski.

“The whole world is looking at India. 7,000 reforms alone by GOI for ease of biz n minimum govt (government), max (maximum) governance…” Modi said in tweeted remarks, adding, “The implementa­tion of the landmark initiative of GST could be a subject of studies in US business schools.”

He was referring to Goods and Services Tax that will untangle a mesh of local taxes and replace it with one unified system that is set to roll out on July 1.

Some CEOs had concerns about tax rates under the coming GST regime, but Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Business Council, who attended the roundtable, said he was surprised no other issues were raised. This is Prime Minister Modi’s first trip to the US since Donald Trump took over as president. The United States is pushing India to do more on reforms to enhance market access for foreign companies and strengthen its Intellectu­al Property Rights regime. This along with India’s own concerns and market access demands are on the agenda for discussion when the Prime Minister meets President Donald Trump on Monday, the highlight of the visit.

Four US lawmakers have in a letter to Trump asked him to bring up the issue of trade and investment barriers at his meeting with Modi.

The PM will meet President Trump on Monday when the two leaders are expected to put to rest recent concerns about a relationsh­ip adrift due to the new administra­tion’s focus on other issues.

There has also been some disquiet in India about the President’s remarks wrongly accusing India of seeking billions in aid under the Paris Climate Accord and the review of the US H-1B visa system used heavily by Indian IT firms operating in the US.

Trump and Modi have never met before, but have spoken on phone several times.

On Saturday, Trump called Modi a ‘true friend” in a tweet from his official account, managed by his aides, unlike his personal account @realDonald­Trump that he runs himself as his personal bullhorn. “Look forward to welcoming India’s PM Modi to @WhiteHouse on Monday. Important strategic issues to discuss with a true friend!” the tweet from the handle @POTUS said. Modi responded warmly, but displaying an awareness of the difference between Trump’s two accounts. “Thank you @POTUS for the warm personal welcome,” he wrote, adding, “Greatly look forward to my meeting and discussion­s with you @realDonald­Trump.”

 ??  ?? St. Mark’s students with the students of Copernicus Upper Secondary.
St. Mark’s students with the students of Copernicus Upper Secondary.
 ??  ?? Principal, Vibha Singh with the students .
Principal, Vibha Singh with the students .

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