78.95% pass matric, 387 secure A1 grade

Total 5,44,240 students had appeared in the examination in regular category from 8,439 schools. Of them, 4,28,347 students passed. As many as 387 students, who scored more than 90% were awarded A1 grade. While 7,046 students secured A2 grade (81 to 90%), 28,417 got B1 grade (71 to 80%) and 1,15,817 were awarded F grade (0 to 20%). Students getting F grade are treated as failed, and will have to appear for supplementary examinations to be held on May 30. The results of supplementary examinations are expected by the first week of July.
In the ex-regular category, the pass percentage was equally encouraging. Out of the 48,338 students appearing, 50.09% passed the examination. In SC and ST category, the pass percentage are 71.72% and 76.43% respectively. The number of schools with nil result this time came down to 25 from 51 last year. As many as 434 schools scored 100% success against last year's figure of 289. The BSE had also conducted Madhyama examination in Sanskrit for 5,698 students, of whom 3,093 students passed.
"The reforms have yielded desired results. The performance of students has improved a lot," said Usha Padhee, secretary of school and mass education department. "The gradation system and OMR sheet were appreciated by students and teachers across the state," said BSE president D P NandaCUTTACK: The results of annual high school certificate examination, which were announced on Tuesday, showed the highest ever pass percentage of 78.95. The Board of Secondary Education, which conducts the test, attributed the success of students to reforms in the examination system.

School maintains 100% record

BERHAMPUR: The Saraswati Sishu Vidyamandir, Nilakanthanagar, has achieved a 100% pass for the 21st year in a row, with all its 231 students clearing the board examination.

While 31 students of the school grabbed A-1 (over 90% marks), 138 students got A-2 (80-89% marks), 45 students achieved B-1 (70-79% marks), 11 B-2 (60-69%). Each one student got grade C and D in the school.

S Mohan Rao, the principal of the school said the number of the A-I grade students was likely to increase when the board authorities re-check the Sanskrit answer scripts, as most of the students secured less marks in the paper. "We hope the board authorities will look into the matter," he stated.

The school was established in 1979. The first batch appeared in HSC examination in 1993. Since then, the school has been achieving 100% results, the principal said. "Some of our students might have figured in the top-100 lists in the state this year, as they have secured over 90% marks, said a teacher in the school. The Board of Secondary Education (BSE), however, did not publish the rank-holders' list this year.

Similarly, another school in town, Saraswati Sishu Vidyamandir, Ramahari Nagar, has also achieved cent percent results for the 12th year in a row. Four of the 159 students secured A-1 grade.

Principal of the school S Bisoi said some students missed out on the A-1 grade because they secured less-than-expected marks in the Sanskrit paper.

Matric results out today, no booklet this year

CUTTACK: The Board of Secondary Education will announce the results of annual high school certificate examinations at 8 am on Wednesday.

BSE president D P Nanda said results would be available only on internet and through SMSes as the board has decided not to publish result booklets this year. Students can access their results online after 10 am by logging onto websites: www.manabadi.com, www.examresults.com and www.bharatstudents.com. Students can also know their results by sending SMS ORI10 (space)roll number to 52070 and 58888, OR10(space)roll no to 5676850 and OBSE(space)roll number to 54242.

"We have done away with the practice of publishing the result booklets as it is a complete waste of money and time. Last year, we had spent over Rs 8 lakhs on publication of 4,000 result booklets, which were of no use after the result day. This time, we have increased the number of websites and students will face no problem in getting their results online and through SMS," Nanda added.

Board used to publish over 4,000 booklets every year which were supplied to all districts and sold at centres across the state. Notably, the board had carried out many reforms in the matriculation exam this year.

Board officials cited that students will be provided laminated mark sheets this time which will be equipped with eight security characters. The officials claimed that the initiative will help to put a check on duplication of matriculation mark sheet."We will start distribution of marksheets from May 10 and have plans to complete the work within a week, "added the board's president. 

Business Time for Mat Weavers

With the rising mercury, the demand for khus khus mats has increased manifold. Khus khus mat is made of roots of Bena plant and has the capacity to retain water for a long time. Mats and screens made of khus khus are sprinkled with water to keep rooms cool in summer.

Arund 200 Dalit families of the district have been making khus khus products to eke out a living since long. Members of the families are now busy collecting roots of Bena plants, which are available in riverside areas of Mahakalapada, Rajnagar, Pattamundai and Rajkanika, to make khus khus mats.

“After uprooting Bena plants, we dry the roots and make mats from them,” said Sarbeswar Jena of Patarpur village. Jena is into making of khus khus products for many years.

During the British rule, the demand of the khus khus mats was quite high. Due to non-availability of electricity, the Britishers, landlords and the rich used khus khus mats in summer. But after the advent of air-conditioners, the demand for khus khus took a nosedive, said Balabhadra Jena (78), another mat weaver of Pattamundei. “We make mats during summer only. But those sell at dismally low prices,” he added.

Khus khus mats have a loyal client base who prefer those to air-conditioners as the former is eco-friendly and less expensive.

However, shortage of hands has hit the business hard. “Making mats from khus khus is a seasonal business for which youths of our families are not willing to continue their forefathers’ job. This is the reason why we are not getting young people for weaving khus khus mats,” said Manoj Jena, a weaver. “This summer, we got orders from some banks and offices in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts,” he added.

Centre push to health & horticulture 500-bed, 100-seat facility on outskirts

Bhubaneswar, March 2: Union labour minister Oscar Fernandes laid the foundation stone for a 500-bed medical college-cum-hospital at Jagannath Prasad on the city outskirts here today.

The project will be set up by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) at an estimated cost of Rs 701 crore.

The medical college and hospital is expected to be ready within three years. In the first phase, the facility will have 200 beds, which will subsequently be increased to 500. The state government has provided 25 acres free of cost for the establishment of the healthcare institution.

The proposed medical college is expected to ensure better healthcare for industrial workers. It will have a state-of-the-art library, teaching blocks with modern operation theatres, hospital and residential areas.

With industrialisation picking up across the state, the new medical college and hospital will be used as the referral hospital for all the 13.20 lakh insured persons under the various health insurance schemes of ESIC.

The Union labour minister said the medical college would be a milestone in healthcare delivery mechanism for the industrial workers as three more hospitals would come up in Angul, Jharsuguda and Balasore. The proposal for the medical college and hospital was approved by the labour ministry in 2009. However, a dispute over its location delayed the project. It was finally decided to be established in Bhubaneswar.

Rajya Sabha member and ESIC governing body member Ramachandra Khuntia suggested that till the new campus of the proposed healthcare facility became ready, the existing ESIC Hospital at Jayadev Vihar could be used as the site for the medical college.

State labour minister Bijayshree Routray said: “We will try to shortly start the medical college at the existing facility. But, the Centre should provide funds to upgrade it before admitting MBBS students.”

Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Srikant Kumar Jena thanked Fernandes for its decision to set up the ESIC medical college and hospital in the state. He said the Jan Aushadhi scheme to supply generic medicine at lower-than-market rates could only be successful with the support from the state governments and the Centre.

ESIC director-general A.K. Agarwal said the Bhubaneswar hospital would be a “centre of excellence” in the country’s healthcare map.

Banks seek insurance broking relief

 Commercial banks have sought the easing of at least three conditions from the government before they embrace the new insurance broking model.

Lenders now follow the corporate agency model that allows them to collaborate with one life, one non-life and one standalone health insurer to sell their products. When a bank becomes the corporate agent of an insurance company, it is known as a bancassurance partnership.

Several banks in the country have such joint venture agreements with insurance companies where they hold the majority stake.

In December, however, the finance ministry issued a circular directing banks to turn into insurance brokers. An insurance broker can market the product of more than one insurance company. Banks fear that their insurance subsidiaries could lose business if they convert into brokers.

“Giving up the current agency structure and model is likely to raise legal issues, besides leading to the loss of credibility of domestic partners in attracting further investments from their bancassurance partner,” says a senior official of a bank, which has a life insurance tie-up with an overseas partner.

Lenders have asked the authorities to do away with the rule that broking staff involved in sourcing insurance business will not be permitted to conduct any banking transactions.

“Apart from adding to our costs, deploying exclusive resources for insurance business at each branch will not be practical. Thus, many of our branches will not be able to offer insurance to their customers, thereby impacting penetration adversely, which is directly in contravention to the government’s intention,” R.K. Dubey, chairman and managing director of Canara Bank, told.

Banks also want the government to relax the norm that stipulates an insurance broker will not earn more than 25 per cent of its business in a fiscal from the company it has promoted.Besides, banks want the government to ease the earning cap from broking. The insurance regulator has suggested that the maximum commission a bank can earn as a broker should be 30 per cent. This is lower than the 35 per cent ceiling in bancassurance.

Punishments to 3,500 students, caught cheating during the +2 examination

BHUBANESWAR:

 The Council of Higher Secondary Education  CHSE is planning to award different types of punishments to 3,500 students, who were caught using unfair means during the +2 examination.

Last year, 2000 students were found copying. All of them had got the same penalty of cancellation of their respective papers.

CHSE chairman Basudeb Chhatoi said a committee has been constituted to review the malpractice cases individually. "If there is no conclusive evidence against an examinee, he or she will be let off. However, depending on gravity of the crime, the punishments may go up," Chhatoi said.

Chhatoi said the committee will decide whether to debar a student for a particular period of time from appearing for the examination, scrap the particular paper or any other punishment on case to case basis.

Official sources said CHSE, which has already completed evaluation of +2 answer sheets, is busy in tabulation of marks. "Hopefully, the tabulation work will be over by another couple of days," Chhatoi said.

Chhatoi said the council is most likely to publish results of all the streams, science, commerce, arts and vocational, by the first week of June. "We are completing works of science stream on priority. If we fail to complete the process for other streams, results of science will be published first," he said.


The state government has been insisting on publication of results of science at the earliest as the same would be required to draw merit lists of JEE  main. +2 marks are being given 40% weightage in JEE (main), whose ranks will be the basis of admission in many central-funded technical institutions such as NITs, besides engineering colleges in Odisha

Capital Boys High School to be First Tod Jod Fod Centre

Capital Boys High School is set to be anointed as the first Tod Jod Fod (TJF) centre of the State under the initiative promoted by Odisha State Innovation Council to foster innovative mindset in the young.

Taking cue from a similar programme launched by the National Innovation Council (NInC) last year, the State Council decided to implement it in Capital High School providing fun-filled sessions of experimenting and hands-on learning.

The TJF initiative aims at providing an environment where students can deconstruct, reconstruct and re-purpose everyday objects they see or use and link those with the concepts and principles that they learn in the classroom. The exercise of breaking or dismantling objects, machines and apparatus will not only be great fun for the young ones but also enable them to observe and understand the scientific principles behind the common products they use.

By doing so, they will gradually be inclined towards innovating things on their own. They can be drawn towards tweaking the things they dismantle to create new products or even use the items from the broken objects to churn a whole new thing. The sessions will also help them expand horizons to larger concepts and applications enabling them to solve real world problems.

The NInC has been conducting sessions in select schools and colleges in different States. Following the step, the State Innovation Council has decided to pilot it at Capital Boys High School. The theme of the TJF would be “how stuffs work”.

The Planning and Coordination department will be organising an orientation workshop for attuning headmasters and teachers of schools to the niche initiative. While the headmaster of Capital High School will attend the workshop, the School and Mass Education department is keen on pushing other schools like Government Boys High School, Unit-I for the TJF.

Driving school to come up in city

BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to set up a driving training institute to teach youths aspiring to drive heavy vehicles free of cost. A 12-acre land has been identified near Khandagiri for it.

"We will run the proposed training institute in public-private-partnership mode. A leading automobile company will operate the institute and train the drivers," regional transport officer (Bhubaneswar) Lalmohan Sethi told TOI.

At present, the state's lone heavy vehicle driving institute is located at Chhatia, which was inaugurated in 2012. To attract more learners to the proposed institute, the state transport department plans to provide free accommodation and stipend to them. The authorities will train the youths for 30 to 45 days.

"We want to attract more helpers of heavy vehicles' because they learn driving without guidance. We often came across accidents caused by rookie helper-cum-drivers," Sethi said.

The NH-5, passing through the city has turned into death trap as bulk of the accidents here was caused by heavy vehicles. More than 2,000 trucks pass through the NH everyday. While 599 and 625 accidents took place in 2011 and 2012 respectively, at least 675 mishaps were reported in 2013. As many as 200 persons died here last year as against 184 in 2012.

Absence of dedicated driving learning tracks for light vehicles here is another cause for concern. At present, private driving training institutes are imparting the skills to people on busy roads, causing mishaps on a regular basis.

School summer break from May 1

BHUBANESWAR:

 With no sign of any relief from the grueling heat, the state government on Saturday decided that summer vacation would begin in schools, both state-run and private, from May 1 and in colleges from May 9.

"Examinations in schools are over and they should go for summer vacation from May 1. Those who want to keep their institutions open beyond the said date have to take permission from the government," said chief secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra following a meeting on various measures adopted by the state government to prevent sunstroke cases.

He said the school and mass education department has been asked to ensure that children do not stay in schools after 11 am. The government has instructed anganwadi centres not to expose children to the sun.

Official sources said summer vacation in colleges will continue till June 17.

The government decision came amid serious concern in different quarters about possible heatstroke cases due to the scorching sun.

On Saturday, at least 17 places in the state recorded above 40 degree Celsius.

Of them, the mercury level at nine places hovered above 42 degree Celsius. Hirakud recorded the day's highest temperature of 43.8 deg Celsius, followed by Titlagarh and Bhawanipatna at 43.5 degree Celsius each. The state capital recorded 40.8 degree Celsius.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that heatwave condition would continue at least till next week and may continue even after that.

Mohapatra said instructions have been issued to all district collectors and administrative departments to take steps to meet the heatwave and water scarcity situation. He also appealed to people to avoid moving outside during peak heat hours.

The state government has decided that heatstroke patients will also be treated in central government-run Employees State Insurance (ESI) hospitals and those being managed by it.

It directed chief district medical officers and other medical officers to undertake prompt inquiry into alleged sunstroke death cases. Ten alleged sunstroke death cases have been reported in the state. One case in Cuttack was confirmed after inquiry.

Official sources said restrictions were imposed on movement of public transport between 11 am and 3 pm. All bus owners and associations have been asked to ensure potable drinking water and first aid boxes in each vehicle and avoid overcrowding. The labour department was advised to restrict the working hours of labourers.

At the meeting, energy secretary P K Jena said uninterrupted power supply would be provided to pump houses, including those, which have defaulted in payment of bills, during summer.

The government also asked health and rural development departments to keep hired generator sets in pump houses to meet any power tripping.

A report from Sambalpur said normal life was affected as the temperature touched 43.4 deg Celsius on Saturday, the hottest day in the town this season.

Market places and commercial establishments remained closed during the day as people stayed indoors.

Last year, Sambalpur recorded the highest temperature of 47.4 deg Celsius on May 24. The all-time high of the town was 47.5 degree Celsius on June, 2, 1998.

Medical colleges to get constructed in Puri, Gajapati and Rayagada

BHUBANESWAR: 

The state government on Monday decided to construct medical college and hospitals in Gajapati and Rayagada districts in public-private partnership (PPP) to provide super- specialty healthcare facilities in tribal-dominated areas.

While the proposed hospitals will have 500 beds each, the medical colleges will have intake capacity of 100.

Health secretary Pradipta Mohapatra said each medical college and hospital will cost Rs 326 crore. He also said the Puri district headquarters hospital will be upgraded into a medical college and hospital. "If everything goes as planned, we will float tenders in June and start construction in October. We plan to make the proposed medical college operational in 2016," Mohapatra told the media.

The proposed medical college will have a student intake capacity of 100 while around Rs 200 crore will be spent for uplift of the hospital into a full-fledged medical college. Official sources said the project will be funded under the centrally-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surakhsa Yojana. The Centre and the state government would share 75% and 25% of the cost respectively.