Online CAT examination kicks off all over India - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Common Admission Test (CAT) which is being conducted through computers for the first time, kicked off on Saturday. Over 2.4 lakh students registered for the entrance for admission into the country's premier management institutions. The Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) for the first time entrusted the task of conducting the CAT to Prometric, an American firm. The Prometric is organising the computer-based test over a period of ten days. The test is being conducted at 105 centres in 32 cities across the country and students can appear in the test at these centres during the 10-day window period. According to Prometric, there will be two rounds of test each day. The first round will start from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. while the second round will be from 3.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The aspirants will be evenly spread during the ten-day testing for smooth conduct of the entrance, sources added. The IIM sources said that a total of 2,41,582 students have registered for the exam this year, which is a marginal drop as compared to last year when 2,46,000 students appeared in for CAT. While the pattern of the exam -- the questions and the weightage of subjects -- will remain unchanged in the new format, the test does away with paperwork, IIM sources said.