IIM plans study to bring down infant mortality in state

Prof Dileep Mavalankar,Public System Group,IIM-A,said: “A part of Gujarat was under Bombay state,so both the states have shared many similarities. Even the eating habits of both states are same. We have begun the task of analysing the data of both the regions. If Maharashtra can have two medical officers in a Primary Health Centre (PHC),why can’t Gujarat have two medical officers in a PHC? There is a need to scrutinise this issue very carefully. IIM-A is looking for sponsors.”

He added: “We are also approaching health experts from Norway. The problem lies in the fact that the state is not investing enough in this issue and there is a need to improve that as it has a direct impact on the Human Development Index (HDI).”

IIM-A is preparing a questionnaire and also getting in touch with other health experts in the city. They have also been sent an official communiqué to discuss this issue with other health experts.

A few months ago,the state government had set up a nutrition task force and contemplated to start an Integrated Nutrition Project with the help of corporates.

IIM heads to review CAT-2009
Holding of computer-based CAT-2009 will be reviewed by directors of all the eight IIMs by this April end or May,a professor at IIM-A said on Tuesday.

“Definitely all directors need to meet once and discuss threadbare how to take this newly introduced computer-based CAT forward,in terms of conducting the test,” Director IIM-A Dr Samir Barua told PTI.

“Since it was introduced for the first time replacing the traditional paper and pencil format there were some technical glitches in conducting the test initially,but in terms of results there are no issues at all,” Barua said.

The date for CAT review has not been fixed yet as majority of IIMs are now slated to hold their convocations,sources at IIM-A said adding “But by mid of April the date is likely to get finalised.”

“Directors of seven IIMs had taken a decision to replace the paper and pencil format of CAT by switching over to the computer based test in 2009,and IIM-A was chosen as its convener,” a professor at IIM-A said.

Following the decision,American firm Prometric was awarded a USD 40 million contract by the IIMs to conduct the prestigious computer based CAT exam in 2009,he added.

The computer based CAT-2009 in the first phase was marred by technical glitches from the very first day as students faced problems in logging in at centres in Ahmedabad,Delhi,Mumbai,Pune,Chennai,Bangalore,Kolkata and Bhopal. The CAT glitches were attributed by the IIMs and Prometric,the American firm conducting the test,to virus attacks and some hardware related problems.

Subsequently,CAT-2009 had to be re-conducted for about 10,000 candidates. A total of 2.41 lakh students had applied for CAT-2009. — PTI