TN to help 180 students crack entrance tests of top colleges
Indian Institute of Science
(IISc), Bengaluru.
In the first batch, the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) is planning to shortlist 180 students studying in the final year BSc and MSc and provide them with coaching to gain admission into PG and PhD programmes in top institutes.
"We will select 60 students each in math, physics, and chemistry. They will be given residential training during winter and summer vacations," said M P Vijayakumar, vice-chairman of TANSCHE.
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The council has identified resource trainers, and they will train the students on topics relevant to these entrance tests. "There are 34 prominent research institutes, including IISc, IISERs, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) across the country.
These institutes admit students into PG and PhD programmes based on entrance tests, including the Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST), Graduate Aptitude Test (GATE), and IISER aptitude test," he added.
It also plans to train faculty members on teaching science subjects in an interesting manner. TANSCHE will equip 5,000 faculty members with modern, evidence-based pedagogical practices. "This initiative will focus on enhancing classroom engagement, promoting deeper learning, and fostering inquiry-led teaching environments. The council also plans to collaborate with IIT-M professors to develop the training module for the faculty members," Vijayakumar said.
In the assembly budget session this year, Tamil Nadu govt had announced the establishment of basic sciences and math research centres in Chennai and Coimbatore at a cost of 100 crore.
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Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Indian Express
How to reduce risks from glacial lake bursts and carry out effective rescue operations
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Unlike earthen dams, the weak structure of the moraine dam leads to its abrupt failure, which can release millions of cubic metres of water in a short time, causing catastrophic flooding downstream. Peak flows as high as 15,000 cubic metres per second have been recorded during such events. Since glaciers in the Himalayas are in a retreating phase, glacial lakes are growing, and pose a potentially large risk to downstream infrastructure and life. The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) had completed a project during 2011-15 on 'Inventory and Monitoring of Glacial Lakes/ Water Bodies in the Himalayan Region of Indian River Basins', sponsored by the Climate Change Directorate of the Central Water Commission (CWC). It was observed at the time that there were 352, 283, and 1,393 glacial lakes and water bodies in the river basins of the Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra respectively. How can the risks from GLOFs be reduced? The NDMA guidelines say that risk reduction has to begin with identifying and mapping such lakes, taking structural measures to prevent their sudden breaches, and establishing mechanisms to save lives and property in times of a breach. According to the NDMA, potentially dangerous lakes can be identified on the basis of the condition of lakes, dams, associated mother glaciers, and topographic features around the lakes and glaciers. The identification of these lakes are based on field observations, processes and records of past events, geomorphological and geotechnical characteristics of the lake/ dam and its surroundings, and other physical conditions. NDMA has recommended the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to detect changes in water bodies, including the formation of new lakes, during the monsoon months. 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New Indian Express
a day ago
- New Indian Express
Experts: Continuous monitoring needed to avert landslides in Karnataka
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