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complex calculations of take-off and landing and have to check fuel needed for the particular distance to be traveled and height and weight to be maintained. During the flight too pilot must be constantly alert, ensuring there are no mechanical snags, maintaining contact with air traffic controls and cabin crew through-out the flight. He also has to keep a record of flight details. REMUNERATION Pay scales of commercial pilots in the public sector organizations depend on the grade level of the positions. They will get attractive remuneration and incentives. The total remuneration also includes contributory provident fund, gratuity, medical facilities and free/concessional air passage. Pilots are also entitled to a range of benefits and allowances in addition to housing, medical and out- station allowances, as well as free/concessional air passages for their immediate family and dependants. Commercial pilots can earn from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 150,000 per month, depending on the airline and one's experience. COMMERCIAL PILOT TRAINING * Advance Diploma in Aviation Management * Air Transport Pilot's Licence (ATPL) * BTEC [HNC] in Aviation, Hospitality and Travel Management * Certificate Course in Aviation and Hospitality Management * Certificate Course in Aviation Studies * Commercial Pilots License (CPL) * Diploma in Aviation and Hospitality Management * Diploma in Aviation Management * Diploma in Aviation, Hospitality and Travel Management * Diploma in Fast Track Aviation and Hospitality Management * Diploma in Global Aviation and Hospitality Management * International Aviation Management

CAREER FORUM: COMMERCIAL PILOT

INTRODUCTION The job of commercial pilot is the most glamorous and exciting job in aviation. It is highly rated and one of the most adventurous career which requires intensive training. This profession also demands a lot of time, dedication, patience and sacrifice. A career in aviation attracts many youngsters as it provide opportunity to travel around the globe. This is a lucrative field. But apart from all those attractive things the job of a commercial pilot makes him responsible for the aircraft he flies and the lives of his passengers. The most important person on an aircraft is the pilot. Pilots are highly trained professionals who fly airplanes and helicopters carrying passengers or cargo. This is a highly specialised job which requires knowledge of air navigation, interpretation of meteorological reports, operations of sophisticated electronic and mechanical controls, leading the aircraft under adverse circumstances, and being a leader to the flight crew and passengers under climatic and other emergency situations. There are a number of institutes under the recognition of the Directorate General Of Civil Aviation which conducts training in this field. Most prominent among them is Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Academy at Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh). Other major training centres are flying clubs at Mumbai and Delhi. ELIGIBILITY & COURSE AREAS Educational: To become a commercial pilot in India, one has to first possess a Student Pilot License (SPL). To get the SPL those with 10+2 with science and aged at least 16 years should register at a flying club which is recognized by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Government of India. Registration requires a medical certificate, security clearance and a bank guarantee. An oral examination in subjects form of Radio & Wireless Transmission. With the CPL, a pilot can take up any professional assignment. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES: This is a filed of discipline, patience, responsibility, punctuality, commitment and self-confidence. The job requires a lot of hard work, stamina, alertness of mind, adaptability to follow difficult time schedules, good team spirit etc. Must be mentally very alert in every situation. Emotional stability in crisis situations is another characteristic that the pilots should have. Apart from these qualities, the persons willing to take up this as profession, should be calm, pleasant, compassionate, adventurous, understanding and technically sound. JOB PROSPECTS & CAREER OPTIONS JOB PROSPECTS With the privatisation, lot of avenues have opened for CPL holders. They can find employment opportunities in both government (Indian Airlines, Air India) as well as private domestic and international (Jet Airways, Sahara etc.) airlines. Even large corporate houses with their own aircraft require the services of pilots. CAREER OPTIONS In this field after getting CPL one start as a trainee pilot. After being a trainee, one becomes a pilot or first officer on board based on ones seniority. Seniority is determined by hours of flying experience and successful completion of various programs. Then one becomes a Commander or Captain and thereafter a Senior Commander. From pre-take off to actual landing and signing off, pilot must be highly responsible. Before take-off pilots check preflight plans. These includes the route to be taken and height maintained, meteorological readings, conditions of all equipments, air pressure and temperature inside the aircraft etc. They have to do

IIMC to start shortterm course for Urdu journalists

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) will soon start a certificate course to impart necessary skills among Urdu journalists. In a statement released here on Thursday, the Information and Broadcasting ministry said the decision to launch the short-term course was taken in chairmanship of Uday Kumar Varma who, as the I&B secretary, is also the chairman of the IIMC board. At a recently held conference of Urdu editors, Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari was apprised of the need to provide quality training to Urdu journalism aspirants. During discussions, the representatives of the Urdu press had requested Tewari to initiate skill and capacity building measures through short-term courses in the medium. The course would be non residential and open to all full-time or freelance Urdu journalists, and shall focus on latest journalism practices, use of technology, copy writing and writing for TV, the ministry statement said. The Institute is in process of finalising the course duration, curriculum, fee structures etc, which is expected to start in the next academic session, the ministry further said.

such as Air Regulations, Aviation Meteorology, Air Navigation, Engine (technical and specific) follows the registration. Successful completion of the examination entitles you for an SPL certificate. The second step is the Private Pilot License (PPL). PPL training includes sixty hours of flying of which about fifteen hours are dual flights, that is accompanied by the flight instructor and at least 30 hours of solo flights apart from five hours of cross-country flying. This makes one eligible for the PPL exam, which consists of Air Regulation, Aviation Meteorology, Air Navigation, Aircraft Engines and Seamanship. The prescribed

age for appearing for this exam is 17 years and an educational qualification of 10+2 along with a medical Fitness Certificate issued by the Armed Forces Central Medical Establishment (AFCME). A Commercial Pilot Licence may be obtained only after a PPL has been acquired. To obtain a Commercial Pilots License (CPL) 250 hours of flying (including 60 hours for the PPL) is necessary. Besides that you have to undergo a Medical Fitness Test which is held at New Delhi and an examination which consists of Air Regulations, Aviation Meteorology, Air Navigation, Technical, Planning, and communications in the

Aligarh Muslim University signs pact with Ohio State University

ALIGARH: The Ohio State University proposes to launch a pilot project in partnership with AMU to meet the growing need for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty in India. US secretary of state John F Kerry signed eight MoUs with minister of human resource development MM Pallam Raju to step up collaboration and build partnership between American and Indian institutions of higher education. One of these involves the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Each of these projects will receive an award of about $250,000. The AMU programme will be implemented by both institutions to build a STEM-Education and Research Centre at AMU that would be aimed at providing opportunity for education and research in areas of mutual expertise and benefit.

80 candidates' CAT scores found rigged

BANGALORE: Even CAT scores are tampered with. The official website of the Common Admission Test - considered the most competitive exam in the country and acknowledged for its unblemished image - is showing inflated scores of 80 students. According to the alert sent by the CAT convener on behalf of all the IIMs, the scores of 80 students were tampered with and appear inflated on www.catiim.in. This is how it happened. The conduct and evaluation of the test is entrusted to Prometric, a global testing agency. As is the practice, the test results are published on the website www.catiim.in, which is hosted and managed by Web Weavers. However, a comparison of CAT 2012 scores available on the website with a master database of the scores (those received from Prometric) showed that scores of 80 examinees were altered. The new scores were higher. The rest of the examinees' scores on the website were found to be intact, and match the master database. The authorities, finding the discrepancies, filed an FIR on June 15, 2013, and an investigation is on. The IIMs are reviewing the process by which data is managed and published externally, they said in a statement. However, there will be no issues in the admissions already completed in the IIMs, as they've used information from Prometric's master database for short-listing. "The admission process has in no way been compromised in any of the IIMs, as a result of the tampering," an official said. But the IIMs have alerted non-IIM institutes which use the CAT score for admissions, as they rely on the official website. They've also been given the original scores.

To get into schools, teachers will have to take entrance test

MUMBAI: Aspiring schoolteachers will have to clear a compulsory common entrance test (CET) before they can be recruited in public or private schools. On Wednesday, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, along with state minister for school education Fauzia Khan, gave an in-principle approval to the proposal, which will be subsequently forwarded to the state cabinet for the final nod. The Maharashtra government has given its in-principle approval to a proposal of making it mandatory for all aspiring schoolteachers to clear a Common Entrance Test (CET) before they can be recruited in public or private schools. The new system will be an addition to the existing teacher eligibility test (TET), which aspiring teachers already have to sit for, under the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. A detailed proposal will be forwarded to state cabinet for approval after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar cleared the plans along with state minister for school education Fauzia Khan on Wednesday. "The CET will be in addition to TET and it will ensure that we select the best candidates. With the extra test, we want to make sure that only the best qualified teachers enter classrooms," said additional chief secretary J S Saharia. Several candidates felt they were denied a fair chance of becoming a teacher, said Pawar, adding that the CET would hopefully make the selection process more competitive as well as transparent. "There should not be any injustice with any of the candidates and therefore, it was important to take the decision," Pawar said. Currently, to sit for the eligibility test before being appointed in a school, a candidate needs to hold either a diploma in education (DEd) or a bachelor's degree in education (BEd). "But there have been several complaints of money exchanging hands to obtain any of those diplomas or degrees. So to weed out unqualified teachers, to stop malpractice in the short-listing procedure and to foolproof the selection of only good candidates, we introduced the extra round of exam," said an official. Senior government officials said the CET has been necessitated as there have been complaints of malpractice in the existing arrangement for selecting and short listing teachers. The TET has already been implemented in many states under the RTE guidelines and Maharashtra too has initiated the process. The CET will come into effect after a cabinet approval. The criteria for CET, however, have not yet been laid down. Apart from these tests, the government has already put in place several safeguard for minimum academic and professional qualifications for aspiring teachers.

Delhi University: Cut-off for BTech is 99 per cent

NEW DELHI: As Delhi University released its first list of cut-offs for admission to the undergraduate programme, students looking to study technology found the cut-off was a staggering 99%. As the first cut-off list was released late Wednesday, the BTech course in even not-so-renowned colleges required an unusually high minimum score. At Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Science, only those scoring above 99.75% could hope to get seats, according to the first cut-off list. "The cut-off has been kept high as the number of seats available for the course is just 46. Keeping a low percentage as cut-off would not be viable for us," Jai Prakash, principal of Bhaskarayacharya College said. With the cancellation of the entrance examination for journalism, the cut-off at Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) in the South Campus was 98.50%. Similarly, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce announced a first cut-off of 97.4% for its journalism course. Journalism and BTech were not the only courses with such staggering cut-off percentages. At Hindu College, cut-off for Economics is 97.5% Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) too announced the same score as cut-off for its Economics course. The cut-off for the science courses in all colleges of Delhi University is set at an average of 95%. The highest cut-off percentage for Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics is 96.5%, at Hindu College. Even students seeking to study subjects like English literature are expected to produce mark sheets with near-100 per cent scores. At the Lady Shri Ram College for Women, only those scoring above 97.5% would be considered for admission to the English course. The lowest cut-off percentage is for the honours degree in Sanskrit. At a relatively modest 55% score, one could expect to study the classical language and its literature at Lady Sri Ram College. The second cut-off list is expected on Saturday. The university introduced the four-year undergraduate programme this academic session. Under the new programme, students will be required to study 11 foundation courses in the first two years, and those seeking vocational education will take the courses along with those seeking to pursue academic disciplines.

MBA admissions to top B-schools run into trouble

CHENNAI: MBA admissions in top B-schools for 2013-2015 have run into trouble, with the IIMs declaring that marks of CAT (Common Admission Test) have been tampered with and altered. A notification on the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) website says: "The 2012 Common Admission Test (CAT) scores of 80 examinees on the website www.catiim.in have been tampered/altered, resulting in inflation of scores for these examinees." The notification also contained the testing IDs of the candidates. Prometric, an online exam provider, conducted the test this year, while the results were published on a website managed and hosted by Web Weavers. IIM-Kozhikode was in charge of convening the test. IIM officials said the admission process of their institutes was not affected as they used the master database of Prometric that was not tampered with. But well known Bschools, such as FMS-Delhi, NITIE-Mumbai, that use the online data have been affected. Strict action While some of the top B-schools have sought to downplay the impact on admission to their 2013-15 batches, some have initiated strict action. "We have informed our admission committee about the tampered IDs. We have not come across any of those till now," said G. Srinivasan, head, department of Management studies, IIT-Madras. According to sources, students with inflated CAT scores have already entered the final selection list for admission at different prestigious colleges in the country. "The range of selected students is mostly around 97-98 percentile. While some of them have cleared group discussions and entered interview rounds, a few would have even made it to the top notch list of reputed institutes," said a professor. The CAT was conducted between Oct 11, 2012 and Nov 6, 2012. The tests were computerbased, taken by the candidates at designated test centres. Besides the 13 IIMs, nearly 170 management institutes consider CAT scores for their admissions. Acting on the basis of a complaint, a comparison of CAT 2012 scores available on the website was initiated with Prometric's master database of scores. The comparison showed the scores of 80 examinees have been tampered with or altered. A case had been registered on June 15, 2013 at Kozhikode, under Section 420 of the IPC and Section 65 of the Information Technology Act, sources said. A director of a private B-school that claims to have been affected said, "Only the six older IIMs are involved in convening CAT. Neither the newer ones nor other institutes are consulted about the process." "An investigation should be ordered into the older results of CAT, ever since the test went online in 2009. IIMs should provide other institutes with the raw data of the last few years," he said.

20,000 apply for 3,500 seats in Patna University colleges

PATNA: Altogether 20,000 boys and girls have applied for admission to the three-year degree courses in arts, science and commerce in different colleges of Patna University this year. There are approximately 3,500 seats in different streams in PU colleges. The last date for submission of admission forms ended on Wednesday afternoon. While Patna Science College received about 6,000 applications against 600 seats in science stream, Patna College received about 3,000 applications against 600 seats in arts stream. B N College received more than 3,000 applications against 950 seats in arts and science streams. Magadh Mahila College has received more than 3,000 applications against about 750 seats in arts and science streams. Vanijya Mahavidyalaya has received over 4,000 applications against 400 seats in commerce stream. The admission counters of different colleges witnessed huge rush of admission seekers on Wednesday, the last date of forms submission. Now all these applicants will have to take the written entrance test to be conducted by the colleges on different dates. The dates of entrance test for the colleges are: Patna College (July 2), Patna Women's College (July 3), Magadh Mahila College (July 4), Patna College (July 4), B N College (July 5), Vanijya Mahavidyalaya (July 6) and Patna Science College (July 7). The results of entrance tests will be published latest by July 16 and all the admissions are to be completed latest by July 31. The minimum qualifying marks in the entrance test is 50% for general category candidates and 45% for SC, ST and EBC category students. The entrance test would be held separately by each college and the test questions would be of objective type. The test would contain 100 questions of one mark each on general awareness (40 marks) and the subjects concerned (60 marks). Candidates seeking admission on sports, fine art and wards' quota would also have to clear the entrance test, said PU vice-chancellor Arun Kumar Sinha. However, the sale of application forms for admission to the post-graduation courses could not commence even on Wednesday owing to students' protest over the hike in prices of forms. The university administration is waiting for direction from the chancellor's office in the matter. The last date for submission of forms for admission to MA, MSc and MCom courses of PU would have to be extended from July 15, said PU sources. However, there would be no entrance test for admission to the post-graduation courses.