At CUK, no fee for girls from poor families

The Central University of Karnataka (CUK) in Gulbarga will offer a fee waiver from this year to all girl students whose annual family income is below Rs six lakh, said Assistant Registrar (PR) Veeranna Kammar.

He was speaking at the Jnana Degula education fair here. This waiver is not specific to certain categories, but to all girl students belonging to families falling within the prescribed income limit.

Their tuition fee and hostel room rent will be exempted on production of income certificate given by a competent authority, in the Government of India format. This is being introduced as per guidelines of the Union Ministry of Human Resources Department, Kammar said.

The university that was established in August 2009 is the only Central University in the State. This year, CUK is introducing an integrated five-year programme in general engineering. Students will pass at the end of the five year-course with an MTech certificate. A five-year integrated programme in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics is also being offered from this year.

The CUK has on its platter a unique course in the country, in Geography. The MSc in Applied Geography and Geo-informatics offered by the Department of Geography in the School of Earth Sciences is the first of its kind in the country, said Priya Narayanan, Assistant Professor in the department. Institutions normally offer either of the subjects in their courses, but this course has combined both the subjects, giving students an edge in the job market.

“We are offering this course with an intention to equip students with expertise in the domain that will be of practical use at a time when we are talking about sustainable development,” the professor said.

Narayanan said there were very few experts in the area as the pure sciences have few takers. “We talk about sustainable development. But people hardly know its meaning. It is important to know the planet that you live in. We need experts in the analysis of earthquakes, tsunami, global warming, melting of glaciers and the like.”

The course touches upon topics such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems, Geospatial Statistics, Geo-informatics in Rural and Agricultural Development, Geo-informatics in Environmental Impact Assessment and Land and Water Resources Management. A similar course, MSc in Geology and Geo-informatics, is available in the university’s Geology Department.

The course looks into subjects like Mineralogy, Paleontology, Stratigraphy, Engineering Geology, Remote Sensing and Economic Geology.

The university will hold entrance exams for UG courses on June 8, and for PG courses on July 13. The last dates for submission of applications are May 30 and July 6, respectively.