THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF SHIPPING

1. The Director General of Shipping has approved Diploma in Nautical Science leading to Bachelor degree in Nautical Science program in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) vide Circular No. 20 of 2004. The first course has since started from 2.8.04. The selection for the first batch was through interviews conducted jointly by IGNOU and DG(S).

2. The issue regarding a common entrance examination and interview for the programme has been under examination in the Directorate in consultation with IGNOU. This has also been discussed with other stakeholders including some of the training institutions conducting these courses.

3. Based on above, the scheme which shall henceforth be followed for Diploma in Nautical Science leading to Bachelor in Nautical Science degree program shall be as under :

(a) Written examination : Written examinations shall be conducted for the next batch scheduled to commence in January’2005. The written examination would be one comprehensive paper of duration of 3 hours approximately. This paper will have 5 sections viz. English, Maths, General Science, IQ/Aptitude and General Knowledge.

The examination is likely to be conducted by IGNOU at 30 centers covering various parts of the country. Candidates will apply to the various training institutes / regional centers and admission cards / intimation regarding the exams / interviews would be issued by respective regional centers of IGNOU. The applications collected by training institutes should be forwarded to concerned regional centers on or before the last date of submission of application.

(b)     Interview : Subsequent to declaration of result of short listed candidates, interviews will be conducted at various places. These interviews will be conducted by IGNOU in association with DGS.

(c)    Advertisement for courses : The advertisement is likely to be published in Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Employment News and some other regional and Hindi newspapers. The likely date of appearing of this advertisement by IGNOU may be 30^th, 31^st August and 1^st September, 2004. All training institutes approved to conduct this course may also take initiative of giving wide publicity and advertisement in newspapers and other media.

(d)   Milestone dates for January’2005 examination : Following dates for the entire selection process are being notified :

30/08/04	IGNOU Advertisement to be released
30/09/04	Last date for submission of application
17/10/04 (Sunday)	Written test at different centers across the country
1/11/04	Declaration of short listed candidates for interview
15/11/04 to 1/12/04	Interviews
15/12/04	Declaration of final results
8/1/05	Course to begin

(e) Eligibility of candidates : The eligibility of candidates shall be in accordance with the criteria laid down by the IGNOU-DGS. No deviation is permitted. The responsibility of ensuring required essential qualification shall be on the training institutes / IGNOU regional centers for candidates. In case of doubt, DGS (Training Branch) and Programme Coordinator, IGNOU should be consulted before giving any effect to such admission. The criteria for this open national competitive examination shall be as under :

	Minimum requirement on Academic Qualifications	Maximum Age limit on the day of commencement of course
(a)	Pass in (10+2) examination with Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics as separate subjects with a PCM average of not less than 55% OR	20 years
(b)	With Physics as individual subject in one of the year, B.Sc. in Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry or Electronics with an average of not less than 55% of marks in the final year OR	22 years
	B.E./B. Tech. Degree from I.I.T. or from a college/University recognized by AICTE / UGC / DEC	24 years
Note : Requirement of English : The above candidates should have obtained 50% marks in English at 10^th or 12^th standard or in the degree course conducted by Board or any University.

f) Prospectus : All detailed information of above will be available in the prospectus which will be issued by IGNOU immediately after issue of advertisement for the next batch.

This issues with the approval of Director General of Shipping and ex. officio Additional Secretary to Govt. of India.