Latest news with #USPC
The Hindu
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Last-minute change in KEAM standardisation sparks protests
The sudden change in the KEAM-2025 (Kerala Engineering Architecture Medical entrance test) standardisation formula has left many students feeling frustrated and disillusioned as it impacted their expected ranks. A number of students have lodged complaints with the government, claiming that the normalisation method used this year was unfair and illogical. Last year, State higher secondary students had suffered due to the flawed standardisation process by the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations (CEE), which conducts KEAM. This year, however, CBSE and ICSE students are facing the brunt of it. The Unaided Schools Protection Council (USPC), an umbrella body of private schools, has moved the High Court against the new standardisation method. 'It is extremely discriminatory and illogical. Taking the subject topper's mark as a benchmark for standardisation is unfair,' said Jouhar M., USPC Malappuram district president. Several students affected by the new methodology too are joining the case. T. Fida from Chathamangalam, Kozhikode, and Devanarayanan from Ponnad, Alappuzha, are among them. The government decision has evoked widespread criticism for changing the rules on the eve of the announcement of the results. 'The rules of the game cannot be changed after the game has finished,' said Devanarayanan in a complaint to Higher Education Minister R. Bindu, quoting a Supreme Court judgement. The change in the weightage of higher secondary marks for mathematics, physics and chemistry from 1:1:1 formula to 5:3:2 has also been criticised. 'Having better weightage for mathematics may be good for engineering courses. But the implementation of the new rule after the examination is ridiculously unfair,' said higher education expert C. Mohammed Ajmal. He said the CEE had a moral obligation to inform the students about such changes in advance. 'If they had done so, it would have allowed students to tailor their studies and make informed decisions about where to focus,' said Mr. Ajmal. He also criticised the government for changing the rules 'in the game's injury time'. 'None can agree to this change irrespective of whether they are logical or no,' he said, warning that people seeking legal remedy would further delay and complicate the admissions through KEAM. While other entrance examinations, such as JEE, have progressed with their admission processes, KEAM has been delayed. The standardisation issue is expected to cause further delays in the process.
Axios
03-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Charlotte will host the 2027 Military World Summer Games
The 2027 CISM Military World Summer Games have been awarded to the United States by the International Military Sports Council (CISM) with Charlotte as the host city. Why it matters: This will be the first time the CISM Military World Summer Games will be held in the United States. Plus, hosting the Games could bring the state $3 billion, the Observer reported. Context: The Military World Games take place every four years and are held the year before the Olympics. The goal of the Games is to use sport to foster friendship and peace among nations. Roughly 10,000 military athletes from more than 100 countries will compete in 25 sports, ranging from traditional Olympic sports like swimming and basketball to military-specific events, like parachuting. What they're saying: "A lot of people don't even know these games exist," U.S. Performance Center co-founder/co-owner David Koerner tells Axios. Between the lines: The U.S. Department of Defense signed the games over to Charlotte's local organizing committee to run the games, which includes USPC, plus state and local government agencies. Koerner and his USPC co-founder, Ike Belk, are members of the local organizing committee, which is now in the process of contracting venues. "The citizens of North Carolina are all going to benefit from the massive sport tourism money coming into our state," Belk tells Axios. "This for me was a dream (which sometimes seemed like a battle!), but we are heartened by the way all parties came together to make this a reality." Zoom in: CISM says Charlotte was selected due to its "outstanding sports infrastructure, its experience in hosting international sporting events, and its strategic position as a leading hub for sports tourism," per a press release.
