Oxford On the ‘Top’ again.

Oxford University remains at top of league table for sixth year running. 

The university league tables provide information for more than 600,000 applicants who face tough competition for places

With Cambridge coming second, Warwick comes third and St Andrews fourth – the pair have switched positions from last year. University College London, Lancaster, Imperial College, London School of Economics, Loughborough and York are in the top 10. London Metropolitan has come last.

The tables rank universities according to the following measures: how satisfied their final-year students are; how much they spend per student; the student/staff ratio; the career prospects of their graduates; a value-added score and what grades pupils have to achieve to stand a chance of being offered a place.

The tables provide vital information for the more than 600,000 university applicants who this year face the toughest ever competition for places.

Britain's oldest universities still dominate the high rankings.

Every year, final-year students score their universities according to how satisfied they have been with their courses, as part of the National Student Survey. The tables, compiled by independent consultancy firm Intelligent Metrix, heavily weight the results of this survey when compiling the rankings. Other league tables concentrate on research ratings.

The tables reveal that Kingston has fallen the highest number of places from last year – from 73rd to 98th, but Huddersfield is the biggest climber, having risen from 96th last year to 54th this year. Hertfordshire has also shot up, from 97th place to 60th.

Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group of large, research-intensive universities, said maintaining high rankings would be "challenging" because universities face "growing cost pressures and fierce competition from better resourced institutions in other countries". She said:

Aaron Porter, president-elect of the National Union of Students, said universities should be more open and accountable about where their funding is coming from and how it is used. He said: "Students have a right to expect a higher quality of education and improvements to their experience. They should also increasingly demonstrate to prospective students what they can expect from their experience and

UK proposes 'new' test for spouses' visas

Citizens of non-EU countries wanting to join their partners in the UK for settlement will be required from September to prove that they can speak basic English.
The rules, which require partners to take a designated test of English, were scheduled to be introduced in July 2011 but have been brought forward by the new coalition government.

All spouses, same-sex and unmarried partners of UK citizens or people settled in Britain will need to speak English to A1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference, equivalent to beginner level. According to the government's immigration information website this includes "being able to understand and use everyday expressions and very basic phrases".

The home secretary, Theresa May, said the rule was part of a review of English language requirements across the visa system. "I believe that being able to speak English should be a prerequisite for anyone who wants to settle here. The new English requirement for spouses will help promote integration, remove cultural barriers and protect public services," she said.

Let's talk About Technology.

Let's talk about Latest 'TOP FIVE NEWS'

Courtesy news.cnet.com

1.)As hacker claims, Soldier leaked Google attack investigation details

June 13 ,Sunday

An Army analyst jailed for allegedly leaking a video of a controversial Iraq air strike also allegedly leaked classified information about a U.S. investigation into cyberattacks on Google that originated in China, the hacker who turned in the analyst told CNET on Saturday.

U.S. Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning had confided to well-known hacker Adrian Lamo in e-mails and instant messages that he was the one who provided the 2007 video of a military helicopter gunning down journalists and civilians in Iraq, as well as other information, to whistleblower Web site Wikileaks, Lamo has said.

Along with leaking another video of an attack in which nearly 200 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2009 and leaking 260,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables, Manning told Lamo that he leaked the code name and details of a government investigation being conducted regarding the attacks on Google, Lamo said.

Lamo said he could not say anything more or risk arrest for disclosing classified information.

The U.S. State Department complained to China about the cyberattacks, which Google announced in January and which helped push Google to withdraw its search engine from the Chinese market. More than 30 other companies were targeted in the cybertattacks, which appeared to target source code and, in Google's case, also Gmail accounts of human rights activists. The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the cyberattacks.

Any further details can be furnished by Government officials , however government officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday night.

2.) Smart ForTwo electric minicar headed to U.S. cities

BROOKLYN--Fans of the Smart ForTwo can buff up their enviro-image with an electric drive version of the minicar coming to the U.S. this fall.

Smart USA offered test rides of the ForTwo Electric Drive this week here, where I got a chance to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin on the streets of New York.

Overall, the ForTwo fits the bill as a clever city car because its size makes it easy to maneuver through city traffic and park, provided that you don't have much stuff to haul around. The ForTwo Electric Drive smooths out the gasoline version's choppy transmission and lets minicar owners pull the plug on their oil habits.

Unlike other electric vehicles, the ForTwo is going after a niche audience of sustainably minded people and business owners who want a car that stands out in a crowd. But the design of the ForTwo Electric Drive is significant beyond its initial target customer because it represents a product category--small, electric city cars--with large potential but also clear challenges related to infrastructure.

With this initial roll-out in the U.S., Smart USA expects that about 80 percent of the customers will be businesses, which generally will have the luxury of a place to charge the cars at night. With its unique look, the electric minicar will be a "rolling statement on environmental awareness and oil dependence," said Derek Kaufman, the vice president of business development for Smart USA, which is based outside Detroit.

Daimler, which owns the Smart brand and manufactures the ForTwo, will start volume production in early 2012 and sell it as a 2013 model year car in the U.S.

3.) Probe returns to Earth after asteroid landing

Five years after touching down on a distant asteroid, Japan's Hayabusa space probe returned to Earth on Sunday, landing in the Australian Outback after a spectacular fireball.

Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aren't sure whether the probe managed to collect samples from asteroid Itokawa after its three-month rendezvous with the small space rock in 2005. They would be the first samples returned from the surface of an asteroid.

The probe burned up on reentry, streaking through

the night sky (see pic here), and Hayabusa's heat-resistant container landed with the aid of a parachute in South Australia's Woomera Prohibited Range.

Earth photographed by the asteroid probe Hayabusa before reentry.

(Credit: JAXA)

4.)World Cup pushes Internet to new record
Akamai's metrics from Friday.

(Credit: Akamai)

World Cup fever pushed the Internet to a new record on Friday, according to measurements from Akamai.

Traffic to news sites globally started a steady climb about 6 a.m. Eastern time and peaked six hours later at noon, reaching nearly 12.1 million visitors per minute.

The day's traffic far exceeded the previous record of 8.5 million visitors per minute, which was set when Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election in 2008.

As of Saturday afternoon, Web traffic to news sites was still heavy at 5.7 million visitors per minute.

Solar light bulb to shine on developing world

Here's a bright idea for the planet. A Hong Kong-based company has introduced what it bills as the world's only solar-powered light bulb with the hope of reaching millions of people with little or no access to electricity.

5.)Nokero's N100 solar LED light bulb

The Nokero N100 solar LED light bulb is meant to replace kerosene lamps as a lighting source in the developing world. The company says 1.6 billion people still lack sufficient access to electricity, and many burn fossil fuels for light, which can be dangerous and expensive.

The N100 solar bulb is about the size of a standard incandescent bulb and has four small solar panels in its rainproof plastic housing. Five LEDs and a replaceable NiMH battery inside provide up to four hours of light when the device is fully charged. People hang it outside during the day and then turn it on at night.

The life of the N100 is basically 5 to 10 years, according to Nokero representative Tom Boyd.

A single bulb is $15; a case of 48 costs $480. The company offers a "significant" discount when buying a thousand or more. It adds that the bulb pays for itself within months when used in place of a kerosene lantern

'Australian International Education Climate' appears turbulent

Australian international education is facingthe current situation described as "a perfect storm". This is the result of a host of negative factors for Australian education all operating at the same time. 

Of course, the global financial crisis, which has weakened has demand because parents and students have found themselves under financial stress. 

The weakening American dollar - and strengthening Aussie dollar - has made Australia more expensive while, at the same time, America has become a less expensive destination for foreign students.Students, particularly those from China, students who would have formerly come to Australia are now choosing to study in the USA. Because of the financial crisis, American universities have become more interested in attracting fee-paying international students. 

Indeed, they are now using IDP, the marketing agency originally founded by Australian universities, to compete with Australia. They are also employing other agents; in many cases, the same agents used by Australian universities. 

The fees at many American state universities are lower than Australian Counterparts. The US government is helping universities by relaxing visa requirements and greatly speeding up visa processing times. The UK, the second most popular study destinationafter the USA, has also freed up its visa system and it also makes visa decisions faster than we do in Australia. 

Australia is also suffering from the terrible publicity surrounding attacks on Indian students, the collapse of private providers (which sometimes leaves students stranded and out of pocket) and the just completed review of the ESOS Act, which gives the impression that Australian education has been poorly regulated. Not surprisingly, many agents have lost confidence in Australian education, preferring to send students to the USA and UK instead. 

Alas, this is not the end of our problems. The Australian government surprised and worried international students by cancelling the old list of occupations acceptable for immigration and then, after several months of uncertainty, replacing the list with a new and much smaller one. Students are now worried that the rules may change again. 

While our competitors are relaxing their visa requirements, the Australian government has tightened ours requiring Chinese students (who make up one-third of higher education enrolments) to show that they have $18,000 in the bank for every year of proposed study. 

All this factors are creating a stormy environment in which Australian education will definetly suffer. 

Courtesy onlineopinion.com.au

Right Approach is the key to ‘Learn English’.

During the last few decades, English has acquired a powerful hotseat in communication throughout the world .All over the world people from different nationalities and communities communicate in English.In India, there has been a quiet ubiquitous rise in the awareness among the people for learning english, but what has been the final result out? Let’s see.

During the last so many years I have experienced as a faculty hearing many cases from my colleagues(since I am just a faculty for Mathematics) and even from my friends, that the students do want to learn English but they lack a zeal to learn it.An interesting  fact is  that many students leave within few weeks after joining the classes unable to speak the English fluently and condemning the teachers for it.

What do you think ? You want to learn English within 3 months something which contains more than 8,00,000 words and the most vast grammar.
 

The language which can be moulded to write a poetic paragraph or to command conversation with a firm tone cannot be easily put into your blood so easily.The core of the issue is that no body understands that it takes years to develop a sound reasonable mind to start speaking a new language.They try to compete with those who speak very well but they forget that they are not learning from last three months rather they have been using it from last 3 years and watching those genuine news channels unlike others who watch those idiotic soap operas , talk in local language all over the day and come to class and expect the teacher to spoon feed them or put a chip in their brain , so that they start immediately.

No body wants to push himself or herself hard to practice and learn the language.

My dear fellows it takes years to be a master of something.Ok  you can be given a good initial start by the teacher but not the brain which he or she has.I will be ultimately you who will have to memorise the words, learn the language from it’s roots, develop the creative ways to deliver the language ,develop an analytical approach to find the reasons where to use what and how, avoiding the misleading people in the market who are using wrong English sometimes.
 

Then only you will be able to put yourself on right track and lead this process of learning for the nest few years until you become a very good conversationalist.
 

That is the reality of learning a language.The more you avoid this fact , the more you are trying to deceive yourself mentally.If anybody says that you can become a master in few days or weeks or months is a deceiver in his profession or a fool but the one who simply believes such people is the biggest fool.Isn’t it ?

Think over it.

'Culture Cards' - A Step to Rejuvenate Relationships.

Over 1.6 lakh international students, including those from India will be given a 'Culture Card' by the Victorian government which will enable them to attend some of the city's best cultural events.

The 'Culture Card' was launched on Tuesday by Skills and Workforce Participation Minister Bronwyn Pike, Committee for Melbourne CEO Andrew MacLeod and North Melbourne Football Club Captain Drew Petrie.

The new move will give international students living in Victoria a virtual key to some of the state's best attractions as according to official s said . Pike said the Culture Card would ensure international students get the best from their study experience in Victoria.

Majority of 1.65 lakh international students, majority of whom are from India and China.

Pike said the Culture Card was part of the local Government's plan to ensure international students get a warm welcome when they arrive in Victoria. "Combined with the Culture Card, we now have a suite of services that are providing international students with the support, information and assistance they need." MacLeod said Culture Cards would be distributed through universities and education providers when international students arrive in Melbourne.

courtesy ndtv.com

Indian Universities ' Leap Forward' to Abroad

MUMBAI — Indian universities too have been looking in the foreign to set up their own institutions and to better equip students for the demands of the global economy.

Some top Indian higher education institutes have had foreign annexes for several years but expansion plans aim to offer students a chance to broaden their horizons and give them an edge in the competitive jobs market.

Among them is the private university Amity, which is opening two new global business schools for Indian and international students in New York and San Francisco in July, adding to its existing centres in London and Singapore.

The moves come not just as part of a worldwide trend for international education but as the government in New Delhi looks to improve education standards to maintain India's economic growth in the years ahead.Nearly one in three Indians is under 14 and ministers say that 800 to 1,000 new universities are needed in the next decade to increase the number of students going into higher education from the current 12 percent to 30 percent.

Some foreign universities, many of which already have tie-ups with Indian establishments, including student exchange programmes, have expressed an interest.Foreign companies, for example, have said many Indian graduates, although academically well-qualified, often lack essential "soft skills" required for global business, in particular telephone manner or email etiquette.Amity and S.P. Jain said many of these problems can be eliminated just by mixing with students from different countries, backgrounds and cultures and through a more "all-round" education in and out of the classroom.

The elite Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, for example, said cultural and sporting activities are increasing on its campus and could benefit students in the long run, including in their future careers.

"I'm sure recruiters look at this," said Jaya Josha from the IIT.

Courtesy AFP