About
Anna University is a public state university located in Tamil Nadu, India. The main campus is in Chennai. It was originally established on 4 September 1978 and was named after C.N. Annadurai, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. After taking many different forms over the years, as per a September 2020 bill passed in the Tamil Nadu Legislative assembly, the varsity is now reconstituted to be an affiliating university for engineering colleges across Tamil Nadu, excluding the engineering colleges that are part of Anna Technological and Research University. The University is now the affiliating authority for close to 550 engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu.
History
Statue of C N Annadurai in College of Engineering, Guindy campus
The first version of Anna University formed in 1978 had a similar constitution as the current structure of Anna Technological and Research University before various governments repeatedly kept changing the varsity’s structure and affiliation scope. In 2001, under the Anna University Amendment Act of 2001, the erstwhile Anna University became an affiliating university, taking under its wings all the engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu. This included six government engineering colleges, three government-aided private institutions, and 426 self-financing colleges. On 1 February 2007, as a result of a Government of Tamil Nadu decision, the University was split into six constituent universities: Anna University, Chennai, Anna University of Technology, Chennai, Anna University of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore, the Anna University of Technology Tirunelveli and Anna University of Technology, Madurai. The institutes were formally created in 2010. On 14 September 2011, a bill was passed to merge the universities. The merger became final in August 2012.
In 2011 and 2012, the constituents were merged back to a single affiliating university, and the four regional universities continue to function as a regional campus of the University.
And then, in September 2020, the Tamil Nadu government passed a bill making the varsity’s four campuses in Chennai be constituted as a ‘unitary type’ institution and called ‘Anna Technological and Research University’ while a new affiliating type university called ‘Anna University will be constituted to manage the affairs of the constituent and affiliated colleges.
The subsequent new Acts will be called Anna University (Amendment) Act 2020 and Anna Technological and Research University Act 1978. The new Act will come into force after the state government issues a notification.
Admissions
A common entrance test – the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examination (TNPCEE) – was used for admission to professional courses in the state until 2006. Starting in the academic year 2007–08, students were admitted to engineering colleges based on their higher secondary marks. The post-graduate admission process is carried out through TANCET and GATE scores.
Academics
The University offers courses in engineering and technology through its affiliated colleges and follows a dual semester system. The university conducts examinations for an even semester in May–June and for an odd semester in November–December. The first semester students have exams in January.
“Above mentioned information taken from Wikipedia.”