Happy World Book Day

For someone whose life is filled with reading and writing, the notion of an entire day where the world celebrates books is a good one to me. I hope that World Book Day will encourage more people to lose themselves in the pages of a book this year.

World Book Day is also Known as:

• World Book and Copyright Day
• World Book Days
• International Day of the Book
  
  
  
  
  

ICSE schools told to train kids in yoga for 1-hr show on June 21-DNA Mumbai Dt 22.4.2016

Story from page 2 - City, dnaofmumbai ICSE schools told to train kids in yoga for 1-hr show on June 21 Kranti Vibhute kranti.vibhute@dnaindia.net The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has issued a circular to all ICSE schools regarding celebration of the International Yoga Day on June 21. The board wants all institutions to train students, so that they can present an hour-long mass yoga demonstration on June 21. In addition, the institutions have been asked to hold fun activities, musical yoga events and yoga festival to attract youth towards the practise. According to the circular, practising yoga shouldn’t be a one-day activity, and the schools and colleges must be prepared to organise yoga-related events throughout the year. From time to time, lectures and demonstration of yoga should be held with the help of professionals. They must also organise debates, quiz, essay and drawing competitions and so on to promote yoga among students. The institutions, yoga teachers and instructors have also been asked to get a certificate, developed by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in collaboration with the Quality Council of India, within the next one or two months. The above instructions were decided upon in a meeting held on April 5, in which the authorities from the Ministry of AYUSH, members of CBSE and ICSE boards, department of school education, MHRD, and representatives of some educational institutions were present. The meeting was held to discuss ways to attract the youth to yoga. Fr Francis Swamy, principal of St Mary’s ICSE School in Mazgaon, said, “Most ICSE schools have instructors to teach yoga.” Wilfred Noronha, principal of St Peter’s School in Panchgani, said, “We do conduct yoga sessions for our students, so a celebration on International Yoga Day won’t be a big task.” Published Date: Apr 22, 2016

How to Draw Cartoons Online

Apr 16 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai) 

  FUN ACTIVITY SITES FOR KIDS 

  ...that will keep them occupied and out of trouble It's the summer vacations and your children are probably driving you nuts at home. Savio D'Souza and Ashutosh Desai tell you about some... How to Draw Cartoons Online If your kids love sketching and colouring, then they'll love this website by artist illustrator Jeff Scarterfield. The resource is filled with simple step-by-step tutorials that teach children how to draw cartoons in over 25 categories, including animals, people, dragons, monsters, landscapes and flowers. The lessons are divided into three levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. At the start of each tutorial, children are shown a finished, coloured version of the cartoon that they'll be creating to give them a clear idea of what it is they'll be doing. Seeing the finished image also gives kids a better understanding of the process, making it easier for them to progress from start to finish. http:www.how-to-draw-cartoons-online.com Art for Kids Hub Also check out Art for Kids Hub ­ a website that's the brainchild of Rob Jensen ­ a Fine Arts graduate with three children of his own. This is where Jensen shares video tutorials on how to draw, colour and sculpt (the Origami and Play-Doh kind). Each instructional video is a step-by-step guide where parent and child work together.It even has an “under 5“ section for younger munchkins. You can also subscribe to the Art for Kids mailing list to receive drawing and colouring printables in your e-mail inbox, every Monday . Quiver Vision Quiver Vision is a website-app combination that takes simple colouring pages and makes them interactive and educational. All you have to do is take a printout of an activity page from the QV website, and let your children run riot over it with their colour pencils. In the meanwhile, download the accompanying app for your smartphone. When your child has finished colouring the page, lay the sheet on a flat surface and ­ via the app ­ train the rear camera on it to scan the drawing. The app immediately creates a threedimensional rendering of the page, complete with the colours your child just used. Say , she coloured a volcano. Quiver Vision will load a 3D volcano that will start smoking and rumbling when you tap on the screen. Keep tapping the explosion button and the volcano will gradually erupt, sending lava into the air. You can move the phone around to view the volcano from different angles, zoom into it, playpause and take screenshots of the scene as well. At present, there are over thirty free colouring pages on the QV website and many more paid options that teach children about wildlife, fish, plants, robots, shapes and more. quivervision.com, Android, iOS | Free Origami Make We have all made paper planes and balloons at some point of time in our childhood. With Origami Make, you can now introduce your child to the Japanese art of paper folding. Beginners can start with the sections on “Folding Techniques“ and “Origami Instructions“. Here, kids can learn about common folds, like mountain valley fold, insideoutside reverse fold, stair fold, etc. Or, you could head to “Origami Diagrams“ to browse projects ­ how to make animals, flowers, bags, birds, boats, etc ­ by the number of steps and level of proficiency. Each origami model is accompanied by instructions on the type of paper you need, and a step-bystep guide on how to make it. Most of the models on OM are created by Hyo Ahn, and while the website doesn't score on design, it is packed with over 200 origami models ­ from a basic mouse to a stealth fighter ­ which will surely keep your kids and you occupied. origami-make.org Rebel Magic & Magic Tricks for Kids Kids love magic, and any website that promises to teach them how to pull off a few tricks themselves is bound to be a success.Rebel Magic is a place where your Hermione Granger and Harry Potter can learn some cool tricks. These are explained by way of a video that first shows the “magic“ being performed, after which it is broken down so that viewers can learn the magician's secret. Then, there's also Magic Tricks for Kids that is home to over 50 trick videos, each with photos, videos and downloadable PDFs on how to perform the magic and even build the props (if any) with common household items.All the tricks are explained by Kenneth Kelly (who has been a professional magician for over 30 years), his daughterapprentice Kristen, and magic teacher Julian Mather. Both websites are fun places where parents and kids can learn and practise magic tricks together that can later be performed for friends and relatives during a vacation party. rebelmagic.com magictricksforkids.org Science Bob Your children probably ask you a thousand questions every day. With Science Bob, you can channelize their natural inquisitive nature to explore the world around them through experiments. Bob Pflugfelder is a science teacher who makes the subject super fun for children with experiments that can be carried out at home with regular household items. On this site, you will find videos, with detailed explanations and downloadable PDFs, on how to conduct experiments, and even questions that encourage scientific thought in your little boffins. And just in case you can't find the necessary materials for the experiments, you can also order them from the website itself. Science Bob ships worldwide. Additionally, it has a section dedicated to projects that kids can do for their school science fairs, and a listing of science websites. All the experiments on Science Bob are child safe, but would require some form of adult supervision. Check it out. sciencebob.com Scratch Scratch is a free visual programming tool designed by MIT for kids, aged 7 and above.It teaches them coding concepts such as conditional statements and loops with the help of `objects' that can be dragged, dropped, and joined like Lego blocks to create animations and games. With Scratch, children are encouraged to think creatively, apply logic and even work in a team on a project. Once you sign up for a free account, kids can post their creations onto the website, `Like' what other kids have created, click on “See Inside“ to check out what code they used, and even repurpose it. We recommend downloading the “Getting Started Guide“ in PDF format first to get acquainted with the system. MIT has created something for kids between 5 and 7 as well. Enter ScratchJr, an app for Android tablets and the Apple iPad.It uses the same concept, but in a more simplified format. Start with the guide to understand the ScratchJr dashboard, watch the video and play around with some of the prebuilt projects before creating a new one. scratch.mit.edu http:www.scratchjr .org, Android, iOS | Free  

Biblical texts much older than thought? -TOI-13.4.2016

Biblical texts much older than thought? Jerusalem AP   Israeli mathematicians and archaeologists say they have found evidence to suggest that key biblical texts may have been composed earlier than what some scholars think. Using handwriting analysis technology, a Tel Aviv University team determined that a famous hoard of ancient Hebrew inscriptions, dated to around 600 BC, were written by at least six different authors. Although the inscriptions are not from the Bible, their discovery suggests there was literacy in ancient Judah. The findings, released on Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contribute to a longstanding debate about when biblical texts first began to be compiled. In recent years, many scholars have attributed the composition of biblical texts, from the Book of Joshua to the second Book of Kings, to the period after the siege, according to Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein. That theory holds that the biblical texts were written as a result of the exile to Babylon, when the composers began to think about their past and put the ir history to parchment.Finkelstein, however, said he has long believed those texts were written in the late 7th century BC in Jerusalem, before the siege. The team examined 16 ink inscriptions on ceramic shards at a fortress in Arad in southern Israel. It used multispectral imaging to reconstruct Hebrew letters and then used a computer algorithm to analyse. The inscriptions detail troop movements and expenses for provisions, indicating that people throughout the military chain of command down to the fort's deputy quartermaster were able to write. This supports the idea that some biblical texts had already been authored by this time .

UGC brings changes in PhD norms - Source - Apr 13 2016 : The Times of India

Apr 13 2016 : The Times of India (Ahmedabad) UGC brings changes in PhD norms   Acting on suggestions made by HRD minister Smriti Irani last week, the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday decided to relax criteria for women and disabled candidates pursuing MPhil and PhD degrees. Women and those with more than 40% disability will now get a year extra to complete their MPhil papers and two years more to submit PhD theses.All women candidates will also be provided maternity leave and child care leave for up to 240 days once while they pursue these two degrees. In case a woman scholar needs to relocate because of marriage or otherwise during her study , she would be allowed to get research data transferred to the university to which she intends to shift pro vided all other regulatory conditions are followed and the research work does not pertain to a project secured by the parent institution or her supervisor from any funding agency. The scholar will also have to give credit to her parent guide and institution for the part of research already done. In another important de cision, the full commis sion of UGC also decid ed that award of degrees to those registered for MPhilPhD programmes prior to July 11, 2009 will be governed by the provisions of the then existing ordinancesbylawsregulations and will be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of National Eligibility TestState level eligibility test for recruitment and appointment of assistant professor or equivalent positions in universitiescolleges and other higher educational institutions subject to few conditions. In 2010, the regulation of July 11, 2009 was amended by which NETstate level eligibility test was made mandatory uniformly.

UGC relaxes norms for women, disabled doing MPhil, PhD - Source Apr 13 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

Apr 13 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai) UGC relaxes norms for women, disabled doing MPhil, PhD New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK   Acting on suggestions made by HRD minister Smriti Irani last week, the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday decided to relax criteria for women and disabled candidates pursuing MPhil and PhD degrees. Women and those with more than 40% disability will now get a year extra to complete their MPhil papers and two years more to submit PhD theses. All women candidates will also be provided maternity leave and child care leave for up to 240 days once while they pursue these two degrees. In case a woman MPhil or PhD scholar has to relocate due to marriage or otherwise, research data will be allowed to be transferred to the university which she intends to join provided all other conditions in these regulations are met and the research work does not pertain to a project secured by the parent institutesupervisor from any funding agency .The scholar will give credit to the parent guide and institute for the research that she has already done. In another decision, the full commission of the UGC has decided that award of degrees to those registered for MPhil PhD programmes prior to July 11, 2009, will be governed by provisions of the then existing ordinancesbylawsregulations and will be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of national eligibility teststate level eligibility test for recruitment and appointment of assistant professors or equivalent posts. The UGC has decided that those registered for MPhilPhD pro grammes before July 11, 2009, will be governed by rules that existed then for appointment as assistant professors or for such posts in universitiescolleges and other higher educational institutions, subject to a few conditions. This includes PhD degree of a candidate should have been awarded in regular mode only , PhD thesis should have been examined by at least two external examiners, open PhD viva voce of the candidate should have been conducted, candidate should have published two research publications from hisher PhD work out of which at least one must have appeared in a refereed journal and candidate should have made at least two presentations in conferencesseminars based on hisher PhD work. In 2010, the regulation of July 11, 2009, was amended by which NET state level eligibility test was made mandatory uniformly . Many who had got jobs without NET faced the threat of losing them, resulting in widespread agitation in Uttarak hand, Bihar and other states. The UGC also decided that a college which is accredited with the highest grades in two consecutive cycles and also secures the highest accreditation grade in the third cycle from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will be granted autonomous status provided it obtains no objection certificate from the affiliating university and also adheres to UGC regulations on ragging, promotion of equity and fast grievance redressal system. These institutions will enjoy autonomy and freedom to design curricula, prescribe syllabi, assess student performance, and declare results. They will have their own Board of Studies Academic Council which will oversee the academic functioning of the institution. It was also decided that if an institution is accredited with highest grade in two consecutive cycles by NAAC and also secures the highest grade in 3rd cycle, the validity of ac creditation period will be seven years instead of five years and the validity will remain to be seven years for each cycle if the institution gets a highest grade in subsequent cycles. Click To Enlarge

Book Review :

1. Bookbrowse.com (http://www.bookbrowse.com)

2. New York Times Books (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/)

3. Google Book Search (http://books.google.com/)

4. Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.co.in/)

5. Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org)

BCL 2ND WORKSHOP - READING CHALLENGE AS ON 4TH APRIL 2016.

BCL READING CHALLENGE PROGRAMME

READING CHALLENGE PROGRAMME

FIRST WORKSHOP CONDUCTED BY BCL AT VIBGYOR CAMPUS ON 16.3.2016