Even though Dalai Lama’s aim in visiting Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is to give spiritual lessons to his followers, this visit is expected to provoke Beijing which maintains that 90,000 sq km (55,900 square miles) of Arunachal Pradesh along the border as its own.

Dalai Lama’s one week visit will start on November 8,2009. It is believed that China is anxious about Dalai Lama’s visit to the disputed state. According to Dalai Lama’s aide, the leader will fly to Tawang directly from Guwahati.

Dalai Lama fled to the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala in 1959 when he could not succeed in his revolt against the rule by the Chinese. Dalai Lama’s visit could encourage the Tibetans who struggle against Chinese territorial integrity.

The prime ministers of the two countries are set to meet in Thailand to talk about the dispute.

However, those students who wish to evaluate themselves (on the Board examination system) can do so on demand.

While all those students who will move from Class 10 to Class 11 in 2011 will have no Board examinations, all the students who will move from Class 10 to Class 11 in 2010 will take a Board examination.

The CBSE will also divide Class 10 into two semesters after the Board examinations are abolished from 2011.

A grading system will be introduced in 2011 – the grades being A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D, E1 and E2.

The 9-point scale will start from A1 (with 91-100 marks, exceptional); A2 (81-90 marks, excellent); B1 (71-80 marks, very good); B2 (61-70 marks, good); C1 (51-60 marks, fair); C2 (41-50 marks, average); D (33-40 marks, below average); E1 (21-32 marks, needs improvement); and E2 (00-20 marks, unsatisfactory).

This 9-point scale is expected to do away with examination-related fear, Kapil Sibal explained.

A high-level committee, headed by Veenith Joshi, chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education, finalised the new grading system.

Once the Board examination for Class 10 is abolished in 2011, students will have the choice to take the Board examination on demand for transfer (to another school) or entry into pre-university institutions.

The examination on demand also is available to students who wish to continue in the same school.

Under the new system, students who wish to continue in the same school after Class 10 need not take the Board examination, starting 2011.

The grading system, Kapil Sibal clarified, would be a “continuous and comprehensive evaluation” that will be good for the students. Along with the grades, students can ask for their percentile.

“This system,” according to him, “will judge the potential of a student very well.”

Another new system, called the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system, will take effect from October 2009 for those who are completing Class 10 in 2011.

The CBSE will divide the Class 10 into two semesters – like in management colleges and in engineering colleges – to make the evaluation process easier and smoother after the Board examinations are abolished from 2011, a senior official of the CBSE said.

The year will be divided into two terms, or two semesters – from April to September, and from October to March.

Initially, pupils will be evaluated for the first six months. In the second half of the year, they do not have to bother about what they studied in the first semester, the official said.

The Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, which is a system of school-based evaluation of students, will cover all aspects of a pupil’s development, including the core areas of subjects being studied in the classes and the co-curricular activities.

The CCE system has two components – the formative assessment and the summative assessment.

The formative assessment –based on a whole range of tests like project work, interviews, practical assignments and quizzes – will takes care of scholastic as well as co-scholastic aspects of a pupil’s growth.

While the scholastic aspects comprise curricular areas (or, subjects-specific areas), co-scholastic aspects will include attitude and values, life-skills as well as activities related to physical fitness and health.

On January 22, 2009, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Afghan President Hamid Karzai inaugurated a new Indian-built road in Western Afghanistan. The Delaram-Zaranj highway was built six months ahead of schedule, by the Border Roads Organisation. 

The Delaram-Zaranj road extends from Zaranj on the Iranian border to the main road between the cities of Herat, Kandahar and Kabul. The 200km (124-mile) highway, an $85-million project has been totally funded by India. The road links with a route to the coast, near Iran. The Delaram-Zaranj road is expected to help India to export products to Afghanistan through Iran by sea from the Iranian port of Chahbahar.

The 220-km road is another example of India’s $1.1-billion effort to help in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

With tensions between India and Pakistan escalating, one isn’t oblivious of the fact that India has been denied access through Pakistan. The new road will challenge Pakistan’s hold on trade routes in the region.

Pranab Mukherjee has said in a statement, referring to the terror attacks in Mumbai on November 2008, “This project symbolizes the strong determination of the government and people of these two countries that they will not succumb to the pressure of the forces of terror.”

However there is a lamentable fact linked to the construction of the Delaram-Zaranj road. Eleven Indian workers, 126 Afghan police and and soldiers, who were providing security to the road, lost their lives during the construction of this road running from Delaram in Nimroz to Zaranj on the Iranian border. Reports said that casualties were caused by Taliban attacks.

Pranab Mukherjee was quoted as saying, “In fact, for the construction of (every) 1.5 km (1 mile) of road, one human life was sacrificed.”

“The completion of the road reflects the determination of both India and Afghanistan that nothing can prevent or hinder collaboration between the two countries,” Mr. Mukherjee was quoted as saying.

Mr. Karzai also emphasised that the completion of the Delaram-Zaranj project was a message to those who want to stop cooperation between India and Afghanistan, reports said. 

This project is expected to help develop political and economic relations with other Asian countries too.