Ten engineering colleges from AP have sought the permission of the All India Council for Technical Education to shut shop citing falling admission rates . Last year, 56 technical institutions from AP, which include engineering, pharmacy, MBA and MCA colleges, had applied for closure. AP has the highest number of engineering colleges in the country at 710.This year, AICTE received 58 closure applications from across the country, of which 10 ? the highest number from a single state ? are from AP. The number is expected to increase further before the December 31 deadline fixed by the AICTE to apply for closure.JNTU-Hyderabad has received nearly 350 applications from 100 colleges this year seeking closure of existing courses, of which 90 colleges sought closure of information technology (IT) courses alone. Only 28 per cent of IT seats in engineering colleges were filled during Eamcet counselling this year. Out of 17,317 seats on offer, only 4,983 seats were filled.Hundreds of engineering colleges also sought closure of MBA and MCA courses due to poor response from students this year. In MBA courses, out of 67,518 seats on offer in the ICET counselling, 21,776 are vacant, while 15,224 seats out of 23,532 MCA seats found no takers.There was ?zero admission? in 29 MBA colleges and 159 MCA colleges this year. Prof. S.S. Mantha, chairman, AICTE, said the final decision on whether or not to close down the colleges that have applied will be announced in March 2013 and only genuine applications will be considered.?All precautions will be taken to ensure that the existing students in those colleges do not suffer. All existing students will be shown an alternative and will be accommodated in nearby colleges,? he said.He added that AICTE has received 21 closure applications from engineering and management colleges, 10 from pharmacy colleges and six from MCA colleges across the country with AP standing at the top, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. ICSE students appearing for Class X Board exams will get an additional half-an-hour to write science papers. At present, students are given one-and-a-half hours to write exams, which will be increased to two hours.The initiative will be implemented for students who take admissions in 2013-14. Students will get additional time only for the physics, biology and chemistry papers and there will be no extension for other papers.