A few tech glitches on Day One as CAT shifts online

The day the Common Admission Test (CAT)that determines admissions to Indian Institutes of Management and other business schoolsswitched to an online format,a virus attack forced the exam to be cancelled at about 10 centres....

The day the Common Admission Test (CAT)that determines admissions to Indian Institutes of Management and other business schoolsswitched to an online format,a virus attack forced the exam to be cancelled at about 10 centres.

The exam had to be cancelled across centres in Delhi,Lucknow,Bangalore,Chennai,Bhopal and Kolkata,affecting over 100 students for whom the test will be held again,sources said.

While the full information is still being compiled,what we know is that CAT was held at some 104 venues today in 361 sites/rooms. Of these,10-11 sites were hit by virus attacks and it slowed down the entire process. There was no way to hold a time-bound examination and so it had to be called off, an IIM Director told The Sunday Express.

The IIMs sought to downplay the issue,saying these were teething problems. Prometric,the US firm that is helping formulate the test,issued a statement late afternoon claiming that CAT 2009 was not cancelled at any test centre.

Prof Satish Deodhar of IIM-Ahmedabad,who is the CAT convener this year,said there was no wide spread server crash but just delays that are understandable on the first day of such a huge exercise.

CAT is being held from November 28 to December 7 across 32 cities and 105 examination centres. Over 25,000 students appeared for the exam today as it switched from a 33-year-old Optical Mark Reader-based test to a Computer Based Testing format.

While about 95,000 candidates appeared for CAT in 2003,the number rose to about 2,50,000 in 2008.