Over 3.2 Lakh To Write IIT Exam
Nearly 3.2 lakh students would appear in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) on April 13 for admission into IITs across the country, registering an increase of about 70,000 candidates over last year
There will be no change in the question pattern this time, Director of IIT Delhi Prof Surendra Prasad said on Sunday. ?The format of the examination remains the same as before. It will comprise two papers of 200 marks each,? he said.
Seven zones will conduct the test. Students qualifying for the entrance will be eligible to take admission to the IITs at Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Guwahati and Roorkee. There are nearly 4,000 seats in these elite institutions.
The candidates include 53,000 students from Delhi zone alone, Prasad said. The test will be held in 600 centres across the country, including 117 centres in Delhi zone.
The IIT JEE last year decided to change the pattern, making provision for two papers in place of three earlier. Each paper consist of questions from physics, chemistry and mathematics. The questions are of objective type.
The IITs were supposed to increase the seats for implementing OBC reservation which has been put on hold by the HRD Ministry as the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
Studying in the IITs could be costlier this year with the elite institutions proposing to hike the fees.
The students in all the seven IITs are now paying about Rs 25,000 per annum as fees. It could be increased up to Rs 50,000, he said.
"We have proposed a fee hike. But the final decision will be taken by the government", Prasad said. 
Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle 07/04/08
