IITs agree to a compromise, but retain hold on test
New Delhi: Ending the impasse over the entrance to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), the IIT Council on Wednesday struck a compromise with the human resource ministry and agreed on a common test, but in two stages, with the final one under their control. The council also decided that only the top 20 percent scorers of any school board will be eligible to appear in the entrance examinations. "We have taken a unanimous decision to follow the formula suggested in Saturday's meeting. IITs will get control of the 'advanced' test," said M. Anandakrishnan, chairman of the board of governors, IIT-Kanpur. Under the pattern adopted Wednesday, two exams - the "main" and "advanced" - will be held. The IIT and All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) will be combined, as Sibal had advocated, with the "main" exam being the erstwhile AIEEE, while the "advanced" will be the equivalent of the IIT-JEE (joint ent...