(Eds: Updating with additional details ) New Delhi, May 8 () Pending Class 10 and 12 CBSE exams, which were postponed due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown, will be conducted from July 1 to 15, Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced on Friday.The schedule has been decided in order to ensure that the board exams are completed before competitive examinations such as engineering entrance JEE-Mains, which is scheduled from July 18-23, and medical entrance exam NEET, which is scheduled on July 26.The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has not yet notified the exam schedule. The board is also yet to announce the modalities for assessment of the exams which will not be conducted as well as guidelines for examination centres to ensure social distancing."The students have been impatiently waiting for the schedule for pending exams. It has been decided today that the exams will be conducted from July 1 to 15," Nishank said. While class 12 exams will be conducted across the country, the class 10 exams are only pending in North East Delhi where they were affected due to the law and order situation. The board had last month announced that it will only conduct pending exams in 29 subjects which are crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions.Universities and schools across the country have been closed and exams postponed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Later, a nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which has now been extended till May 17."The board was not able to conduct exams for class 10 and 12 on eight examination days due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Further, due to the law and order situation in North East Delhi, the board was not able to conduct exams on four examination days, while a very small number of students from and around this district were not able to appear in exams on six days," a senior CBSE official said. "A detailed schedule is expected to be announced by next week," the official said, adding the board is also working on resuming the evaluation of answer scripts, which was stopped in March due to the nationwide lockdown. The HRD minister had last month also directed that evaluation be started for the already conducted board exams and appealed states to facilitate the same.One of the options being considered is to deliver the answer scripts to the examiners at home, however, no final decision has been announced yet.The results for the 29 Class 12 exams will most likely be announced by August-end, before the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) declare the merit list for JEE Advanced.The IIT Counselling process hinges on when CBSE and respective state boards announce results for the class 12 board exams. To seek admission to one of the IITs, aspirants who have cleared JEE Advanced should have also secured at least 75 per cent marks in their board exams. JEE-Advanced has been scheduled on August 23. GJS GJS ANBANB

COVID-19 lockdown: Pending class 10, 12 CBSE exams to be held from July 1-15, says HRD minister

(Eds: Updating with additional details) New Delhi, May 5 () Engineering entrance examination JEE will be held from July 18-23, while medical entrance exam NEET will be conducted on July 26, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced on Tuesday.The two crucial exams were postponed due to the lockdown imposed in the country to combat COVID-19."JEE-Mains will be held from July 18-23, while JEE-Advanced will be held in August. NEET will be conducted on July 26," Nishank said."A decision will soon be taken on the pending CBSE Class 10, 12 board exams," he added.While the Joint Entrance Exam-Mains (JEE-MAINS) is conducted for admission to engineering colleges across the country, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is for admission to medical colleges.More than 15 lakh students across the country have registered for NEET this year, whereas more than nine lakh have registered for JEE Mains, the entrance exam for all engineering colleges except the IITs. The JEE-Mains is considered as a qualifying exam for JEE-Advanced. The HRD Ministry's National Testing Agency (NTA) had also given students an option to change their opted centres for the two tests as many of them have moved to different places since the lockdown. Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16, when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Later, a nationwide lockdown was announced from March 25 which will last till May 17. GJS IJT

COVID-19 lockdown: JEE-Mains to be held from July 18-23, NEET on July 26, says HRD minister

(Eds: Updating with additional details ) New Delhi, May 3 () In a relief for engineering and medical aspirants, the HRD ministry will announce fresh dates for competitive exams --JEE and NEET-- on May 5.The exams were postponed due to nationwide lockdown announced to contain the COVID-19 spread."The fresh dates will be announced by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on May 5. This will put an end to uncertainty for the aspirants. The minister will also interact with students online the same day," a senior ministry official said. While Joint Entrance Exam-Mains (JEE-MAINS) is conducted for admission to engineering colleges across the country, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is held for medical colleges.More than 15 lakh students across the country have registered for NEET this year, which is the gateway to medical colleges in India, whereas more than 9 lakh have registered for JEE Mains, the entrance exam for all other engineering colleges except IITs. The JEE-Mains is considered as a qualifying exam for JEE-Advanced. The HRD Ministry's National Testing Agency (NTA) had also given students an option to change their opted centres for the two tests as students have moved to different places since the lockdown. Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Later, a nationwide lockdown was announced from March 25, which was extended till May 17.There is however, no clarity yet on when the pending board exams for class 10 and 12 will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The board had announced that it will conduct pending exams in 29 subjects crucial for promotion and admission to higher education institutions. The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,301 and the number of cases climbed to 39,980 in the country on Sunday, according to the Union health ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 28,046, while 10,632 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals. GJS RHL

COVID-19 lockdown: HRD Ministry to announce fresh dates for NEET, JEE on May 5

<ul><li>Institutes in India are now embracing digital classrooms aggressively as they brace for the ‘new normal.’ </li><li><keyword id="78512" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IIM-Calcutta">IIM Calcutta</keyword>'s 68 students from 20 industry sectors — including IT, ecommerce, automobile and financial services will now take classes online amid lockdown. </li><li>“The professors are using ‘beyond-the-blackboard’ methods to ensure students do not miss out on active class participation,” the institute said. </li></ul>The nationwide <keyword id="8637077" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coronavirus-lockdown">Coronavirus lockdown</keyword> has led to suspension of classes and also deferred admission cycle for the current academic session. However, even premiere institutes are now embracing digital classrooms aggressively as they brace for the ‘new normal.’ The <keyword id="63618" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Institute-of-Management">Indian Institute of Management</keyword> (IIM) Calcutta kicked off classes for its 14th batch of residential one-year MBA on April 20, amid lockdown. “IIM Calcutta has demonstrated acute planning to ensure students’ learning is not compromised. The institute is switching to the digital delivery of the course content. The professors are using ‘beyond-the-blackboard’ methods to ensure students do not miss out on active class participation,” the institute said. The 68 students coming from 20 industry sectors — including IT, ecommerce, automobile and financial services have an average corporate experience of over eight years. “The first thing the corporate world teaches us is adherence to timelines. IIM Calcutta differentiated itself from other institutions by starting the course on-schedule by going online amidst the lockdown situation,” said Shambo B, a student at IIM-C. The institute said that the course started as per the schedule because of the transition to an online platform. “This Covidian Batch will prove themselves to be world-class leaders,” IIM Calcutta said in a statement. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/iit-and-iim-job-offers-are-fast-vanishing-and-a-second-placement-drive-in-july-might-be-underway/articleshow/75003350.cms">IIM, ISB, MDI and other management graduates to intern with the Indian government to tackle Corona Crisis — but without a stipend</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/iit-and-iim-job-offers-are-fast-vanishing-and-a-second-placement-drive-in-july-might-be-underway/articleshow/75003350.cms">IIT and IIM job offers are fast vanishing and a second placement drive in July might be underway</a>

IIM Calcutta’s 'Covidian' batch of MBA students kick off classes digitally

<ul><li>The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the <keyword id="178605" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Joint-Entrance-Examination">Joint Entrance Examination</keyword> (JEE) are two of the most competitive exams, not only in <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> but globally as well. </li><li>The <keyword id="581232" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Testing-Agency">National Testing Agency</keyword> (NTA) has announced that they will provide free coaching to aspirants starting next year through their test practice centers. </li><li>While the move may empower candidates from rural and semi-urban regions, it may also deal a blow to India’s booming coaching industry.</li></ul>In a new initiative taken up by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in India, they will be providing <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/free-govt-coaching-for-jee-neet-from-2019/articleshow/65600522.cms?from=mdr">free coaching for students</a> preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The NTA plans on converting their test practice centers to serve as teaching centers starting 2019. There are around 2,697 test practice centers will be operational starting 1 September. While the JEE ranks second in the world with respect to its toughness, no other examination has been in the news as much as the NEET. In fact, the NEET was discontinued altogether back in 2013 before making a comeback three years later. Even now, the <a href="https://www.dailyo.in/variety/will-jee-neet-twice-a-year-help-students-medical-engineering-cbse-national-testing-agency/story/1/25387.html">decision</a> to conduct the exam twice a year, announced in July, is in flux with reports <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/neet-2019-might-not-be-conducted-twice-a-year-1310614-2018-08-10">suggesting</a> that it might be rolled back all together. Impact on the coaching industry Even with cut-offs being lowered, the exams increase in their level of competitiveness with each year as more and more applicants come forward. And, with more applicants coming on-board, the otherwise unorganised coaching industry is booming. In turn, the financial burden of pursuing <keyword id="3113818" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="engineering-in-India">engineering in India</keyword> is becoming an increasingly big issue for many aspirants as these coaching centres charge a bomb for their classes. A study by ASSOCHAM reveals that 70% of the parents, right from high-income families to the bottom stratum of the social hierarchy, are in the favor of spending hefty sums at these coaching institutes in the name of education. Reports <a href="https://ideasmakemarket.com/2013/09/aug-entry16-analysis-of-private-coaching-industry-in-india.html">indicate</a> that middle-class parents shell-out nearly one-third of their income so that their children can attend these private tuitions. But despite these private tuitions flourishing across the country, the reality of the situation remains unaltered. An exam like the JEE can only be cleared by 5,500 and more than 300,000 students appear for the exam. It’s that extreme level of competition that has led to the coaching industry showing a consistent growth of 35% over the past six years. And, that is exactly why free coaching for students will deal a big blow to the industry. That being said, the notion that private education is superior to public education still prevails in India. There might not be an actual loss for the coaching institution since the coaching centers don't cater to students who can’t afford tuition anyway. According to the Human Resource Development Ministry, the aim is to empower candidates from rural and semi-urban centres. While the NEET is the national level entrance exam to gain admission into any graduate medical course in a government or a private medical college, the JEE is an all-India exam for admission into India’s leading engineering colleges like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs). (Representative image)

Indian government is rolling out free coaching for two of the toughest exams in the world

<ul><li>Apart from startup founder, the Forbes India's list has a generous dash of youngsters from social media, television and the world of sports. </li><li>BB Ki Vines’ <keyword id="2517934" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bhuvan-Bam">Bhuvan Bam</keyword> and Technical Guruji Gaurav Chaudhary also made their debut under the digital content creators category. </li><li>Five women across industries made it to the list against 26 men. </li></ul>Startup founders dominated the list of Forbes’ 30 under 30 which recognizes the best of India’s vast young population. The 29-year old Varun Khona, the co-founder of Headout, Aravind Sanka, Pavan Gutunpalli, SR Rishikesh, the cofounders of bike rental platform Rapido - were some of the prominent names in the list. But the list also has a generous dash of youngsters from social media, television and the world of sports. The youngest person to feature is 17 year old Saurabh Chaudhary, an Indian shooter who won two gold medals at the Asian Games and headed to 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Deepak Punia, 21, the first Indian to win a Junior World Championship also made it to the list. Young Indians who work for startups like the 29 year old Vikash Bakrewala, the youngest sales leader at B9 Beverages, the makers of Bira and Boom beers; were also showcased. All the three founders of Triton Foodworks which is making breakthroughs in organic farming were recognized too. <keyword id="8722570" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="deepak-kukreja">Deepak Kukreja</keyword>, Ullas Samrat and Dhruv Khanna of Triton Foodworks are growing plants without using soil, thereby surpassing the limitations of land, fertility, and even water. The method uses 60-80% less water,” <a href="http://www.forbesindia.com/article/30-under-30-2020/forbes-india-30-under-30-india039s-young-guns-more-inspiring-than-ever/57513/1">Forbes. </a> A 27-year-old Gourish Singla of a healthcare startup like Shivom that uses blockchain technology to customize medication - was also a part of the list. “Our Forbes India 30 Under 30 members are showing the way forward on another road and to another group—to traditional and legacy businesses and professionals, across different categories like technology, health care, finance, science, media, design, fashion, sports, entertainment, and so on—with their innovations, fresh business models and a set of fresh eyes,” wrote Forbes.<a href="http://www.forbesindia.com/article/30-under-30-2020/forbes-india-30-under-30-india039s-young-guns-more-inspiring-than-ever/57513/1"> </a> BB Ki Vines’ Bhuvan Bam and Technical Guruji Gaurav Chaudhary also made their debut under the digital content creators category. Five women across industries made it to the list against 26 men. Here is the complete list of all the 30 under 30 stars: Krishnakant Mishra Brand Content Lead, Ogilvy Age: 28 The authJandia, is a 28-year-old artist who developed a practice that deals with history and historical images that chronicle events of conflict and violence. The painter then tells the story of the events that shape society's perception of them.or of the non- fiction book ‘The Exclamator’, Krishnakant Mishra is no stranger to young achievers lists. He was nominated for Impact Magazine &amp; Social Samosa’s ‘Top 30 advertisers in India under 30 in 2019. Vikash Bakrewala Division Director, Sales &amp; Marketing (South India), B9 Beverages Age: 29 Bakrewala is the youngest sales leader at the beer company B9 Beverages. He helped Bira and Boom expand to five geographical clusters within a year. Ullas Samrat Dhruv Khanna Co-Founder, Triton Foodworks Age: 29 Ullas and Dhruv, the young childhood friends who <a href="http://www.forbesindia.com/article/sustainability-special/water-of-plenty-meet-the-trio-practising-soilless-farming-in-delhi/50313/1">drifted apart </a>when Khanna’s family moved out to Singapore, came together again. And when they did, they started a self-funded startup to aid internet-enabled smart farms that use technologies like hydroponics. Sai Gole, Siddhart Dialani Co-Founders, Bharat Agri Age: 26 Siddharth Dialani and Sai Gole are the co-founders of Bharat Agri. Its algorithm helps farmers with the right time to cultivate grow in manner that maximises production and boosts income. Sanket Jadia Artist Age: 28 Jandia, is a 28-year-old artist who developed a practice that deals with history and historical images that chronicle events of conflict and violence. The painter then tells the story of the events that shape society's perception of them. Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, SR Rishikesh 
 
 

 Co-Founder, Rapido Age: 28, 28, 27 Sanka, Guntupalli and Rishikesh are the co-founders of India's largest bike taxi booking application. The services which started in 2015 are now available in 100 cities across the country. Rishab Karwan, Nitin Rana 
 
 




 Co-Founders, GoMechanic Age: 26, 29 Karwan and Rana are the co-founders of the Delhi based startup Go Mechanic. The startup helps streamline the disorganised automobile service centres in India. Akanksha Deo Sharma 
 
 




 Designer, Ikea Age: 28 IKEA opened its first store in Hyderabad in 2018 since then Akasha is the only Indian designer at the Sweedish major. He uses Indian textile history, handicrafts and construction techniques to make minimalistic and playful products. Bhuvan Bam 
 
 




 Youtuber Age: 25 Bhuvan Bam, the famous youtuber in India is just 25, and was recently invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos to rub shoulders with CEO’s. Bam is also the first Indian to hit two million subscribers on Youtube. Gaurav Chaudhary 
 
 




 Youtuber Age: 28 Chaudhary who is popularly known as Technical Guruji on Youtube. In his channel, he breaks down all things tech for common people and explains how tech works. His channel has 15 million subscribers. Varun Khona 
 
 




 Co-Founder and CEO, Handout Age: 29 Varun Khona is the CEO and cofounder of Handout. It is an AI-powered platform to design curated tourist experiences for last-minute travellers, launched globally. Ajai Thandi, Ashwajeet Singh, <keyword id="8722571" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="arman-sood">Arman Sood</keyword> 
 
 




 Co-Founder, Sleepy Owl Coffee Ages: 29,28,28 The Sleepy Owl Coffee launched from a two-bedroom apartment in Delhi by the co-founders Thandi, Singh and Sood. Now, the coffee brand is sold across 1,000 retail outlets in New Delhi and Mumbai with 60,000 customers. Akshay Chaturvedi 
 
 




 CEO, Leverage Edu Age: 29 Chaturvedi is the CEO of Leverage Edu, the platform focuses on career counselling and university admission. It caters to about 10,000 students and is on course to clock ₹10 crore in revenue for the current financial year. Sai Pallavi 
 
 




 Actor Age: 27 The girl who did her first film to miss math class in Grade 6 made it to Forbes list, and is the only actor in the list. Today, she is known for remarkable characters in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films -is also known for her dancing skills. Palak Shah CEO, Ekaya Age: 28 Shah is the CEO of Ekaya the brand focused on propagating the versatility and global appeal of Indian heritage weaves. The brand supports more than 8,000 weavers in India. Akshat Bansal Founder, Bioni Age: 29 Akshat Bansal brings sustainability and fashion together. In one of the Lakme Fashion Week 2018 collections, he used econyl fabric that was carved out of plastic waste. Ajeesh Achuthan Co-Founder and CTO, Open Age: 27 Ajeesh Achuthan co founded Open Financial Technologies — one of the world’s fastest growing neo-banking platforms. It provides financial services to MSMEs. Nikhil Kumar Co-Founder, Setu Age: 29 Nikhil Kumar led the team that built the BHIM app, that is owned by the government. The app was developed by the government to push India towards a cashless economy. Abhay Rangan CEO, Goodmylk Age: 22 Abhay Rangan, who started out as an active animal rights activist, is the CEO of Goodmylk. The startup provides plant based affordable milk in India. Krishna Gupta Founder, 1441 Pizzeria Age: 27 Krishna Gupta owns 1441 Pizzeria which serves fresh pizza made from woodfire ovens. The company which has five outlets now has ambitions to expand to 100. Priya Prakash Founder And CEO, HealthSetGo Age: 28 Prakash, who is a graduate from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, founded HealthSetGo to encourage healthy food habits amongst people. Gourish Singla Founder, Shivom Age: 26 Gourish Singla manages a blockchain startup named Shivom that provides genetic information to doctors. His startup was named in the top 50 innovative companies around the world at Smart Health Conference in Dubai in 2018. Jubin Varghese, Ameya Gadiwan Co-Founders, Gegadyne Energy Age: 24,25 Jubin Varghese, Ameya Gadiwan founded Gegadyne Energy in 2015 with an aim to provide a better alternative to lithium-ion batteries. It also won an award as the Startup of the year in 2019. Eshan Sadasivan CEO, PROSOC Innovators Age: 29 Eshan is an IIT Kanpur alumni who designed a foldable table that would help students in rural India. It aims to change the infrastructure deficit in India’s rural schools where students squat on the floor. <keyword id="178450" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Gupta">Abhishek Gupta</keyword>, Rishabh Verma CEO And COO, NavGurukul Age: 27, 24 Abhishek Gupta and Rishabh Verma are the CEO and COO of a NavGurukul which facilitates a one year residential programme to teach coding skills to low-income millennials. <keyword id="6287871" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="suthirth-vaidya">Suthirth Vaidya</keyword>, Abhijith Chunduru, Adarsh Raj CEO, CTO, Chief Architect And Co-Founders, Predible Health Age: 27, 26, 27 Suthirth Vaidya, Abhijith Chunduru, Adarsh Raj together run Predible Health, a startup that uses AI to help doctors identify diseases. Saurabh Chaudhary Sportsman Age: 17 Chaudhary is the youngest person to feature on the list. The teen shooter who won a gold medal at the Asian games. Deepak Punia Wrestler Age: 21 Punia is an Indian wrestler who won a silver medal at the World Wrestling Championship. He is now looking forward to participating in the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics. Akhil Aryan Co-Founder, ION Energy Age: 28 Akhil Aryan built Haptik — the world’s largest conversational AI platform. He is the co-founder of ION Energy, a battery management and intelligence platform that provides batteries. Amiya Adwitiya, Sisir Koppaka CEO and CTO, Squadcast Age: 29, 29 Amiya Adwitiya and Sisir Koppaka work with Squadcast as CEO and CTO respectively. Squadcast is a SaaS company that fixes the IT problems of their clients. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/youtuber-bhuvan-bam-of-bb-ki-vines-makes-to-forbes-30-under-30-list/articleshow/73952923.cms">YouTuber Bhuvan Bam of BB Ki Vines makes to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list</a>

Social media influencers, start-up founders and sportsmen dominate Forbes India's 30 under 30 list

The entire list and a brief profile of 'Delhi ke nirmata'⁠— the makers of Delhi felicitated at Kejriwal's oath taking ceremony

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:401px"><div class="image"></div>The Minerva ProjectFounder and CEO Ben Nelson</div>There's a massive problem in <keyword id="6375224" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="higher-education">higher education</keyword>. The number of people qualified to attend the world's best universities who don't get the chance to do so is growing. At the same time, the cost of attending college has risen to the point <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/is-college-worth-it-2012-10">where people question its value</a>, and student debt is skyrocketing. 
<a href="http://www.minervaproject.com/">The Minerva Project</a> and its founder Ben Nelson, the former CEO of Snapfish, are making an ambitious effort to fight both problems.
Their goal is to attract the best and brightest young students in the world without a traditional campus, while charging tuition "substantially less than half" of what they do in the <keyword id="106608" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ivy-League">Ivy League</keyword>.
Former <keyword id="53675" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="harvard">Harvard</keyword> President and Treasury Secretary Larry Summers <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/25efa7a8-7d9e-11e1-bfa5-00144feab49a.html#axzz1s93r4JeC">chairs the advisory board</a>; and, former Nebraska governor, U.S. senator, and the New School president emeritus, Bob Kerrey, will be executive chairman of the Minerva institute. <keyword id="274436" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Benchmark-Capital">Benchmark Capital</keyword>, one of the world's most prestigious venture capital funds, put $25 million into it during its very first round of fundraising. <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/04/higher-education">The Economist</a> says it's "one of the biggest seed investments of a leading Silicon Valley venture firm ever."
The first class is expected in 2015. All courses will be taught in seminar form, via live streaming from around the world, giving the organizers an incredible amount of flexibility, which is at the core of what's an intriguing idea. 
Today <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/minerva-project-launches-the-minerva-institute-for-research-and-scholarship-appoints-former-senator-of-nebraska-bob-kerrey-as-executive-chairman-of-the-institute-186768111.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter">Minerva announced</a> the creation of the Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, which aims to solve two of the problems the project hadn't thoroughly addressed yet: research, and creating opportunities for every student. "That's effectively what this most recent announcement is about—the foundation of the Minerva Institute—which will have a role of both promoting scholarship for our students and getting them up the curve and learning how to be the world's most impactful creators, as well as supporting our faculty in their pursuit of generating meaningful knowledge, CEO Ben Nelson said."
In an interview with Business Insider, Nelson outlined the overall idea behind the school, how it plans to get both the world's best professors and highest-performing students on board, and how it's solving that thorny research problem. 
The bottom line? 
According to Nelson, Minerva's a response to an enormous demand gap, and to the fact that we need an elite university built for this century, not another built "in a 19th century context." 
"That's effectively what Minerva is, so we really are taking every aspect of the university and rethinking it from scratch, and imagining, if we wanted to create the world's greatest university today, what would it look like?"
That includes rethinking everything from how the faculty's assembled, to admissions policies, to tuition, to how students will live. 
The pitch that got Larry Summers, Bob Kerrey, and Benchmark on board. 
"The pitch for Minerva is actually very straightforward," says Nelson argues. It all comes down to supply and demand. There aren't nearly enough spots at elite schools for the students brilliant enough to attend them.
There hasn't been a new, elite research university created since the late 19th century. Since then, there's been a massive increase in demand as women and ethnic and religious minorities joined the pool. In response, elite universities increased their class size.
Then came the 1980s, which saw demand explode even more. The need for blind admissions policies, according to Nelson, "effectively quintupled" the market for elite universities. Then came the end of the Cold War. "When that happened the international demand jumped by a couple of orders of magnitude," Nelson said. And that's not just people who want to go, that's people who are absolutely qualified to. 
The response of elite universities? They froze the size of their incoming classes. "Effectively, the Ivy League's incoming class today hasn't even tracked population growth over the last 25 years," Nelson said. 
How big is the potential pool for Minerva? In Nelson's words, "very, very, very large."
"If you look at a traditional university, we characterize their admissions philosophy as having a high floor and a low ceiling. It means that it's obviously very difficult to get into any Ivy League university," Nelson said, "but, because of their capacity constraints, depending on factors that are completely nonacademic, your likelihood of getting in is dramatically different."
Think of <keyword id="33081" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Stanford">Stanford</keyword>, which just won the Rose Bowl. They only admit 1,700 hundred students, but have too many elite sports teams. Then you add the issue of diversity. Universities concentrate on that, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it does create a problem. "Because the highly qualified kid from New York doesn't have the 'right parents' or doesn't have the right throwing arm, he's kind of screwed," Nelson pointed out. 
The problem's even worse for international students. Seven percent of Stanford's class is non-American. Harvard accepts around eight students from China each year.
That leaves thousands, if not more, domestic Ivy League-caliber students who don't get into the Ivies or their peer institutions, and by Nelson's calculations, "orders of magnitude" more international students, because the U.S. is only five percent of the world's population. 
The pool gets even bigger when you look at the options available in students' home countries. Many countries may have top tier institutions in a few fields, but are completely lacking in others. 
"Let's say I'm a brilliant kid growing up in India. But I don't want to be a doctor and I don't want to be an engineer. Therefore, I don't want to go to IIT or IIS," Nelson said. "I want to be an economist, I want to study political science, I want to study philosophy. Right? Where do I go? There actually is not a single institution of the caliber of any top tier university in the world that teaches those subjects at an undergraduate level. So we provide that opportunity."
Assembling a world-class faculty without shelling out millions to poach them
Maybe the most important part of creating a new university to challenge the Ivies is getting world class faculty. Minerva doesn't want to go out and say, "We'll pay you 20 percent more if you come and leave Harvard and Yale and come to us." Nelson said, That's both very expensive, and worse, it's actually very bad for the industry.
What they do want to do is pick up the top talent that gets stuck in what Nelson calls "transition points"—the areas where bright people stall because there's simply no room. 
Nelson gave the example of a friend of his who teaches philosophy at Berkeley who described a grim job market for graduates. "There were two, and I kid you not, two postings for professors of logic open in the country," Nelson said. "I will tell you that there are more than two PhD graduates from excellent institutions who have concentrated in logic."
That's one of the four major transition points Minerva has identified—the transition from PhD to associate professor, where there simply aren't enough jobs. This is an opportunity to get formal training and experience in teaching, do research, and publish, which puts those graduates in a better position to move to a top tier institution. 
The second transition is from assistant to associate professor, where great professors don't quite get tenure. Nelson had an experience many people can relate to, where a beloved professor didn't get tenure because they hadn't published quite enough. "When you don't get tenure at Penn you don't wind up going to Princeton. Right? You wind up dropping a couple of 'tiers.'" 
Minerva hopes to provide an opportunity for these sorts of people to take a couple of years to publish and burnish their credentials so they don't necessarily have to drop down to a lower-tier institution just because their seven years ended at the wrong time for their department.
The third point is dual academic households. Think of a doctor who wants to go work at UCSF, but is married to an economist. UCSF is only a medical school, so what's his spouse going to do? Because Minerva faculty can teach from anywhere, it can help resolve what's become a significant problem.
The final option is emeritus professors who still want to work, but want to live somewhere other than the last place they happened to have taught. 
It's a faculty model that works with, rather than against, existing institutions, without having to pay massive salaries to poach people, and without sacrificing quality. 
Providing an opportunity to professors left behind by the current system is one part of building a great faculty. The other is the opportunity to do great research. Minerva doesn't want to build massive labs, but professors sometimes need them. They will provide all of the support needed to write grants, but the experience will be very unique.
"Whenever there's overhead that's necessary for a research project, it is built just in time, not necessarily built but actually charged for, outsourced," Nelson said. "So as an example, there are entire biotech companies now that don't own a single lab, what they do is outsource their experiments to labs in India and they get the results back and continue to iterate on them in that fashion, and those labs in India are open 24 hours a day, so there's absolutely no lag."
That doesn't mean researchers who want to work in a lab won't be able to find one, because they can live anywhere in the world. "For example, if they want to sit in a lab they can go and [collaborate] with a scientist in Germany, they can go to the Max Planck institute," Nelson explained, "and even though we pay their salary, they can be working alongside their colleague and sitting on their bench for free."
The same goes for professors who work extensively in the field.
The final point, which Nelson hopes will be particularly appealing, is that Minerva won't claim any part of the intellectual property researchers create because they won't be paying infrastructure costs, unlike Universities, which get a chunk and manage commercialization.
Getting students to take a chance 
Beyond the fact that there's a massive population of brilliant students who are effectively locked out of an Ivy caliber <keyword id="6355445" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Education">education</keyword>, Nelson argues that Minerva has something to offer students, to convince them to take a chance on a new model.
"I think the preponderance of our students will come simply because they believe in what we want to do and are excited by our educational system," Nelson said. 
Additionally, the experience is going to be dramatically different from anything else available. "At Minerva we will facilitate and expect our students to live in 7 different countries by the time they graduate. So they live in the U.S. or their home country for their first year, going through our core curriculum, and then every semester thereafter they move from city to city, to the city of their choice," Nelson told us, "so they can go to Moscow and London, another student can go to Beijing and Mumbai, another student will go to Rio and Sydney, and another student will go to Johannesburg and Jerusalem."
They'll have residence halls in a range of cities, where students will live together, but no central campus. 
Additionally, everything will be in a seminar format. "There are no lectures at Minerva. Every single one of our courses is meant to provoke and actually change your perspective of the world."
Completely changing the admissions process
When it comes to aptitude, Nelson expects Minerva will be harder to get into than Harvard. 
Applicants will have to demonstrate the ability to handle an intellectually rigorous curriculum, with good grades and good test scores. But they won't have to write an essay. According to Nelson, people often just pay someone else to write their essays. "The more you pay someone the better your essay will be, and that's generally what happens," Nelson said. "We don't think that that's necessarily a fair thing to do."
What differentiates their admissions process is the interview. "We interview the students. And in the interview we'll actually do a battery of tests that will look at their potential as far as leadership, grit, creativity, analytics, etc."
So once you demonstrate that you're "Ivy caliber as far as smart," you have to show that you have these additional abilities to get in.
However, the big difference is that "if you pass those tests, you're in. There are no waiting lists, there's no well, we will get back to you later. If you pass our bar, you will have an opportunity to get into Minerva," Nelson said. 
"What will never happen at Minerva is a student who is qualified who meets our bar but we say, 'we already have too many of you, so you're rejected,'" Nelson said. 
The business side of the equation 
The first thing to realize is that Universities are an incredibly good business. "The fact that Harvard has a $37 billion endowment is not because it's a non-profit organization, it's because it's a for-profit organization, and rather than paying out taxes on its profits, it puts it on its endowment."
Minerva hopes, by being narrowly focused, appealing to a huge pool of untapped demand, and dramatically reducing costs, they can be a big player in that business.
They won't have an ever-increasing infrastructure, they won't have a University-sponsored athletic system, they won't have major labs, they won't offer courses and majors that require intensive lab resources, like mechanical engineering, and they'll have a vastly smaller administration. 
All of that means that they will take out an "enormous percentage" of the costs of running a University. They won't spend it on advertising like some lower end universities. 
Those savings are going to go into creating a good experience, and into lowering tuition dramatically. "We really are going to spread our message by going and identifying the best students and talking to them, which is far more capital efficient."
"Obviously room and board is room and board, we have to eat and we have to live, and we don't know how to make that much cheaper," Nelson said, "but we certainly know how to bring tuition dramatically down and we think that's going to be very important."
NOW READ: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-liberal-arts-majors-2012-12">30 People With "Soft" College Majors Who Became Extremely Successful</a>

Online Startup Plans To Create 'Ivy Caliber' Education For Half The Price

<keyword id="51897" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Eric-Schmidt">Eric Schmidt</keyword> has made us proud. By saying India’s entrepreneurial innovators have the potential to build the “next Google” if the country “plays its cards right” and ensures Internet access for millions of its citizens. His statement came in an essay written for the book Reimagining India: Unlocking The Potential of Asia’s Next Superpower, edited by the global consulting firm <keyword id="6372399" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="McKinsey">McKinsey</keyword>. 
 According to the former <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> CEO and currently the executive chairman, he has witnessed the creative potential of India’s people all around him in <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword> where India-born entrepreneurs account for 40% of the start-ups. “Just think what will happen when India’s entrepreneurial innovators are able to create great global companies without leaving their country. They will change the world. Hundreds of large firms focused on the Internet will be founded and will succeed by focusing purely on Indian consumers, Indian taste, Indian style, Indian sports. 
 
“Can anyone of those companies ultimately become the next Google? Of course.” 
 
He then goes on to elaborate all the right ‘technology’ measures India should take to make it happen. But unknown to him, a war of words has already started on the Indian shores. In a <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131114095731-28180694-can-india-produce-the-next-apple-or-google">Live Chat</a> on LinkedIn, <keyword id="6413985" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kiran-Mazumdar-Shaw">Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw</keyword>, chairman and managing director of <keyword id="6358361" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Biocon">Biocon</keyword>, a global biopharma enterprise, has pointed out the pitfalls that entrepreneurs and start-ups often face in India. While the debate rages, we bring you a tongue-in-cheek look at what’s hindering the future <keyword id="6357934" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Steve-Jobs">Steve Jobs</keyword>, Mark Zuckerbergs and even the Sheryl Sandbergs and Marissa Mayers of India. 
 
Student start-up… OMG! 
That’s a strict no-no, if you are in a premier institution and spent lakhs in admission fees. Don’t waste your time and let your grades fall – that’s the bottom line. Business can wait, your career can’t. If you are trying to hit back with the lessons learnt from Aamir Khan-starrer Three Idiots (a movie passionate about following the path your heart wants to go), let’s tell you dude, that’s just plain filmy. 
 
Get a job first; your family has some expectations. 
Understandable, if you are from a middle-income family with loads of burden. Your kid brother needs education, as good as you had. You need to marry off your sister (again, refer to the above movie). What about buying a home (after all, mom and pop stayed in shabby, rented places all their life)? If you are a woman, your family could be sitting in a dharna when you try to move out and start something on your own. Have a job, get married, settle down – that’s the clear career graph for you. 
 
Work, ugh! We are a clan of dreamers. Well, we are not saying that, but an ad campaign did it pretty smartly. The entire display board was smudged with a beautiful shade of blue with just a small green spot at one corner. And the text read: Blue: Dreamer; Green: Doer. Need we say more? <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">Entrepreneurship</keyword> is mostly hard work, tough work, fraught with risks. So it’s no wonder that the green spot appears so miniscule. 
 
Sure, come back for the money when you’re the next <keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword>. If you have overcome the first three hurdles, chances are you are not a trust fund and need plenty of <keyword id="1396410" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="seed-money">seed money</keyword> to start up your idea. Well, venture <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> in India, or any funding for that matter, has poor <keyword id="170907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="risk-appetite">risk appetite</keyword>. They don’t mind putting in some dough when it comes to Series A, provided you show them good <keyword id="900658" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="traction">traction</keyword> and a sound <keyword id="1949341" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Exit-route">exit route</keyword>. But if you are a greenhorn out of college and trying to walk in with an idea, you can walk out again. Incubators across the country could be the only hope for you, but the competition is very, very stiff there – as stiff as landing a decent job. 
 
Want to start up? Give us your pound of flesh. This input comes straight from an IIT passout who tried to set up his first solar power project in South Bengal. Even after a year, the venture is stranded mid-way, permissions are pending and <keyword id="85355" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="red-tape">red tape</keyword> rules supreme. It’s still not certain how much persuasion, influence or other incentives will be required to get out of the logjam but in the meantime, the bootstrapped firm is fast running out of cash. If that is the price of starting up here, it is no wonder that potential entrepreneurs give it a wide berth. 
 
What <keyword id="94495" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Innovation">innovation</keyword>? Have you applied for a patent? That’s a real problem, to be sure. Very few <keyword id="770060" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-start-ups">Indian start-ups</keyword> have the <keyword id="1949348" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="RD-fund">R&amp;D fund</keyword> or the inclination to step into uncharted territories. And a recent chat with a <keyword id="6404679" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="start-up">start-up</keyword> focused venture capitalist further validated the point. According to him, most tech start-ups try and focus on the service side of things or at the most, customise tech platforms to meet their requirements. As for creating something as huge as Apple, Google or <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>, we simply lack the bandwidth. Are the start-ups in non-IT or non-Internet space (for instance, pharma) doing any better? Not really, as very few private organisations are ready to back up risky bets. 
 
If innovations are out, let’s do what we do best – copycating. Majority of the Indian start-ups do just that to survive. Most of the concepts and business models introduced in the US are closely followed here and seem to be making good money. Both <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="384914" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Groupon">Groupon</keyword> have their India competitions (we prefer not to name any name as this piece is done in jest) for a long time, which shows we are quick to follow good ideas but not quick enough to churn out something ahead of others. 
 
‘No-transparency’ is in, but that does hurt business. We are not taking sides here, but most will remember the ugly showdown between Lilliput Kidswear and its PE investors – Bain Capital and TPG Capital. The PE firms took the company to court over alleged accounting fraud. The same thing seems to be happening to home-grown kids’ wear retailer Catmoss as PE investor SAIF Partners alleged that the company was selling its assets, doctoring its books and fudging meeting minutes. Then there is the painful case of Timtara.com, the controversial e-commerce portal who allegedly failed to deliver and shut shop when its promoters were arrested. If integrity is the first <keyword id="6379994" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="casualty">casualty</keyword>, nothing can buy a business a fresh lease of life. 
 
Snif… Snif… I don’t want to be your co-founder. 
Nothing can cure that holier-than-thou attitude that ails most start-up founders. And the result is a painful walkout by key people – right from co-founders to senior executives. Oh yes, most of them are sweet about it, saying they need to start all over again and would love to get a kick out of their new assignments. But then, people like Bal Krishn Birla, co-founder of the online hypermarket ZopNow.com, complain openly about being wrongly ousted from their own companies. That kind of conflict might remind you of Steve Jobs but it’s hardly an ideal situation for an early-stage business to thrive upon. 
 
Can’t wait to sell, if you give us a <keyword id="1949352" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Million-dollar-deal">million-dollar deal</keyword>. That’s the exit line for most of the start-ups and investors are only too happy to go with the flow. Well, that’s not exactly what Snapchat is doing right now (it has refused a $3 billion offer from the mighty Facebook) or what WhatsApp did a year ago. But then, ventures at home are always in a hurry to get over with it if they can and walk away with a tidy sum. Of course, that is sound business sense but it hardly helps growth at a global level. Patience pays at times and <keyword id="6354616" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword>, once a no-revenue company, has proved it by going for a really huge IPO. If we can’t wait to attain the <keyword id="6402302" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="scale">scale</keyword> and size that will start gaining us <keyword id="1620112" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="global-visibility">global visibility</keyword>, India is not likely to produce the next Apple or Google in near-term.

You Searched For "admissions in new IITs" and got 9 results

COVID-19 lockdown: Pending class 10, 12 CBSE exams to be held from July 1-15, says HRD minister

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COVID-19 lockdown: HRD Ministry to announce fresh dates for NEET, JEE on May 5

PTI

IIM Calcutta’s 'Covidian' batch of MBA students kick off classes digitally

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Indian government is rolling out free coaching for two of the toughest exams in the world

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Social media influencers, start-up founders and sportsmen dominate Forbes India's 30 under 30 list

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The entire list and a brief profile of 'Delhi ke nirmata'⁠— the makers of Delhi felicitated at Kejriwal's oath taking ceremony

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Online Startup Plans To Create 'Ivy Caliber' Education For Half The Price

Max Nisen

10 (Tongue-in-cheek) Reasons Why India Can’t Build The Next Apple Or Google

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