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

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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

BCL WorkShop on “How to Make Your Own Physical~Digital Book Leaflet?”

BCL WorkShop on “How to Make Your Own Physical~Digital Book Leaflet?” Report presented by Ms Priti Yadav Librarian Vibgyor High – Goregaon – West Workshop on “How to Make Your Own Physical~Digital Book Leaflet?” MOTIVE : Recognising the crucial role of the Library and the Librarian, along with Young India Books and British Council. Exploring philosophies of librarianship, alongside historical practices and future trends in libraries to see how a 21st century library might grow. PANELLISTS: 1. Shamim Padamsee 2. Deepak Dalal 3. Pralhad Jadhav BRIEF ABOUT PENALIST: Shamim Padamsee – She is a writer who has been through several avatars in her life – educationist, social worker, businesswoman, diplomat. Her motto is “Read India. Love India”. A prolific writer, her books have been published by leading publishing houses and have also appeared in several children’s magazines and children’s editions of newspapers. Three years ago. she instituted the Leading Reading Schools of India Award, an annual award to recognize schools, good readers, and authors. Deepak Dalal - Originally a chemical engineer, he gave up his profession to research and write books. Being a wildlife person, all his stories have a strong wildlife aspect in them. His endeavor is to create a connect between children and wildlife. Also, his stories are never set in cities, instead they are located in the wild and wonderful destinations of India. Schools appreciate the wildlife aspect of the stories and also the in-depth research behind the books. More than a 100 schools in India have used his books are readers, as part of their curriculum. Currently, Deepak Dalal is working on a book on dolphins along with a series of books on birds for younger children. Pralhad Jadhav – He is trained in one of the premier research Universities Department of Library & Information Science and was the second rank holder in Master of Library & Information Science from Mumbai Universities (2004-05) batches. Currently working with Khaitan & Co (Corporate Law Firm) as a Senior Librarian, he has in-depth experience of more than ten years in the area of Information, Content and Knowledge Management. He is invited as a guest speaker at colleges and institutes to guide Young Library & Information Science professionals on current trends in the LIS field. He is actively involved in social media tools to update his Library & Information Science community colleagues on latest trends and technology in the LIS Domain. Sara Gray: Sara Wingate Gray is a researcher, writer and artist. She is a Teaching Fellow at University College London on the interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (BASc) degree programme and has been pursuing her doctoral thesis, focusing on the philosophy of the public library, in the Department of Information Studies (UCL). In 2006, she founded The Itinerant Poetry Library, a worldwide travelling public library of poetry, which she operated full time for three and a half years across eleven countries. From 2007-08 she was The Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives (San Francisco State University) first ever Visiting Research Scholar, encouraging the Center and Archive to envision its digital future. She returned in 2011 to help steer their digitization project – The Poetry Center Digital Archive (PCDA), making digitally accessible for the very first time the largest historic collection of poetry recordings outside of the Library of Congress. Following concepts explained by Ms SARA QR Code is a Quick Response Code: Features of QR Code • QR Code is a trademark for a type of matrix barcode • A barcode is a machine readable optical label that contains into about the item to which is attached • A QR Code uses for standardized encoding modes ( numeric, Alphanumeric, byte/binary) to efficient store data • Extension may also be used • Popular outside the automotive industry • Fast readable • Can be read • Consist of black module/square clots • Can be read by camera, scanner, smart phones etc Archive. Org • Internet archive is a nonprofit library of millions of free books, movie, Software, Music & more • Search for a book title • Links as per the Title / creator etc CALIBRE • Free & Open Source e-book library management application • Library management • e-book conversion • Syncing to e-book reader • Downloading news from the web • Comprehensive e-book viewer • Content server for Online access to your book collection • E-book editor for the major e-book formats • Demo on screen provided. Following concepts explained by Ms SARA Pralhad Jadhav • Indexing of data through Google index • Helps in indexing files from desktop Discussion with librarians: • Daily activities about librarianship • Different issues discussed about librarianship Key Tips • Start with Facts • Don’t wait get going • Focus on Opportunities • Gather Good Practices • Have interests in research & research practice • Offer something to make researchers day easier • Keep on fine tuning & reinventing ****************************************************************************************************