B-schools Join Hands To Provide Quality Education

Several top notch institutions viz, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and Faculty of Management Studies Delhi have collaborated to finance the most ambitious project of establishing research laboratories to aid with research, promote students proficiency across research markets and help them with placements. 

The finance labs incorporating the project are embellished with features like Bloomberg terminals along with varied other national and international databases to deliver updated information on government securities, equity markets and capital structures. Furthermore, the faculty of IIM Bangalore has spared another 1 crore for extending its existing facilities. 

The revampment is most likely to deliver its student the access to 50 terminals and also to data from Bloomberg, Newswire 18, CMI, and CRSB I the coming year. The chairperson- career development services at IIM-B, Professor Sankarshan Basu said,” This also benefits students looking at a career in the banking and financial services industry as the companies expect them to be familiar with such databases. Accessing them earlier makes them industry-ready from day one.” 

B-schools Bloom Amidst Glooming Economy

The only one to benefit from the economic slowdown is B-schools that have witnessed an upsurge in applications by as much as 24% among the 683 management programmes across 72 countries of the world. In US itself, the full time management programmes have seen a 52% rise while the Asia pacific region, it is 53%. 

The most benefitted universities are that of Europe exhibiting an soaring percentage of 73%. In Indian context, the figures for CAT registrations are 1,93,596. With respect to the surveys of the      Graduate Management Admission Council's 2013 Applications Trends Survey, the average number of applications for several MBA programmes rose in comparison to the last year. 

The director- Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, Bibek Banerjee said,” It is basically economics of opportunity. It is a worldwide phenomenon, where demand, especially for management education, goes up during recession. Whenever the market is drying up it is good to invest in education.”

Alumni From Top Notch Insti Launch SmartQuo To Aid Market Against Job Crunch

India job market is going through its worst ever phase due to a dwindling economy giving rise to a grim employment scenario. Thus, need based hiring is the talk of the current job market. 

According to the survey statistics of a report, the employment scene has dropped by 20-25% that has severely affected the entry ad middle level positions hiring quite hard. To aid youth with the hiring process and ease up their entry to the job market, alumni from elite b-schools viz,  IIM-A, NMIMS, IRMA, and ISB have initiated a programme called the SmartQuo in order to promote employability in students and prepare them for job oriented action. 

The workforce engaged with SamrtQuo is highly experienced and have an in-depth perspective of the Indian job market and its ways, thus contributing significantly to the job hopefuls and employers with skill based training, coordinating placements for internships and permanent employment.

Quality Power Put On Hold By BSPHCL

A bad news lines up for the residents of Patna as they have to wait for another few months to seek quality power supply network. It has been done ahead of the Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Ltd (BSPHCL) decision to extend the dates for bids submission to recruit the stake holders of the Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu). 

The dates to disclose the tenders have already been delayed since Dec 31. The reports from an insider state that the bids were issued for Pesu with an additional change in the eligibility criterion in order to restrict the wider participation and filter malign practices that inadvertently creep in the bidding convocation. 

The spokesperson- BSPHCL, H R Pandey said,”   "Till date, we have not found any firm which can handle huge Pesu area effectively. We are looking for a major player who can minimize the existing transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and provide consumer-friendly services to Patnaites more effectively."

Professors Offer Tips To Improve Student Performance

As the midterm season begins, people become more and more worrisome for projects, classes, clubs and other gruel some social activities take toll over the otherwise fun filled merriment days. 

Amidst all this, students are increasingly resorting to advices aimed at seeking advice to balancing their lives. Advice seekers involve older friends to online advice columns. There are many factors that attribute the success of an individual and his overall performance. 

Adam Grat, Wharton Pofessor says,” though it’s hard to define the “perfect student,” there are some common denominators. First, students should be interested and enthusiastic. Second, they should be conscientious, meaning readings should be done on time. Third, students should work to apply the content in the classroom.” 

He also listed fun seeking individuals as the perfect ones. Another professor who teaches Foundations of Leadership assert that being introspective will aid students in excelling at school and workplace both. 

Harvard Tops The List Of Producing World’s Topmost CEOs

According to the survey statistics f a report, Harvard tops the list of churning out the largest number of CEOs per year. The college is followed by the University of Tokyo and Stanford. 

The universities adorn the resumes of those corporate honchos among the top 500 corporations of the world. Among these 500, 25 graduated from Harvard, 13 went to the University of Tokyo followed by 11 completing their studies from Stanford. The survey statistics have been accomplished by a leading London magazine, Times Higher Education (THE) covering some elite 500 CEOs and an examined the educational background of each of these to put forward the list.

However, it is interesting to note that two of the world’s best CEOs viz, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were college drop outs. Moreover, the famous Facebook millionaire CEO, Mark Zuckerberg also left studies in the middle. 

BSNL, MTNL Enters Agreement To Share Services And Infrastructure

The local telecom operators viz, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) entered into an agreement to share their infrastructure and deliver collaborative services to its corporate clients. 

Between these two, BSNL delivers mobile, landline and internet services throughout the country with exception at Delhi and Mumbai, MTNL on the other hand, operates only over these two states. 

According to the proposals of the agreement, the two companies mandate to share infrastructure encompassing buildings, mobile masts and international long-distance phone networks. The BSNL Chairman and Managing Director R K Upadhyay said,” In the NCR (National Capital Region), leaving Delhi, where BSNL customers is on roaming, he is not charged for roaming. 

We would like to enlarge that area individually on pan-India basis so that mobile customer does not pay any fees for roaming.” 

Broadband To Play Crucial Role In Sustainable Growth

The collaborative effort of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO, Broadband Commission for Digital Development has launched a latest report as regard the varied aspects of broadband and it’s after effects on individuals, environment and society at large. 

The task force that put forward the report was lead by the president and CEO of Ericsson, Hans Vestberg. The report entitled,”   “Transformational solutions for 2015 and Beyond: the report of the Broadband Commission Task force on Sustainable Development”  primarily analyses the national broadband plans of approximately 138 countries and highlights the best government plans, compels government to act instantly and include the broadband services in its national growth agendas. 

Not only this, it also proposes a number of other supporting recommendations. The Secretary General of the ITU, Hamadoun Touré said,” Through this work the Broadband Commission would like to encourage the international community to recognize the need for transformative solutions in the post-2015 development agenda; and this report makes the case. “

America Dreads An Economic Doom Ahead Of Fallout In STEM Graduates

A bad news lines up for the American economy as the number of STEM graduates( science, technology, engineering and mathematics) have shortfall in the country. 

The reason for debate and concern entails is the outgrowing debts pegged at a staggering $1 trillion that are unpaid. The reports of Reuters, JP Morgan Chase state that in order to prevent any bankruptcy, banks have put a halt on issuing more student loans. The Chase’s student loans chief executive, Thasunda Duckett said,” “We just don’t see this as a market that we can significantly grow.”

However, the matter of concern is that a studies conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools and the Graduate Records Examination Board  depict that the global student enrollment in the graduate courses at America rose from 8% to 10% as compared to the average graduate population. Furthermore, the analysis of Change the Equation, office and administrative positions confront an unemployment ratio of 4:1.

Hiring Remain Muted Despite Inflow Of Projects

A freeze in hiring patterns has been witnessed across several IT companies despite anticipation of big projects from US economy. The recruitment process slowed down in June. However, an upsurge was expected due to inflow of new projects and improved results in the first quarter. 

Unfortunately, the hiring was not in sync with the advancements showed by the sector. Moreover, the Vellore institute of technology in Tamil Nadu had delivered placements to 1820 students by Cognizant in Sep 2011 and 1075 by TCS in 2012; however the same companies did not turn p for any placement during the current year. 

An IT company official remarked,”   IT budgets for the year were made when the demand environment was quite different. And though the demand has improved in the last two quarters, hirings may not increase before first or second quarter of the next fiscal.”

Detroit Firms Introduce Training Courses To Train Workers

Metro Detroit has finally decided on adopting a new strategy of training IT workers for creating efficient workforce from within. The move has been initiated ahead of reducing external hiring costs and to avoid inexperienced fresher who lack skill and technology background required to excel in IT roles. 

Consequently, many companies are spending huge amounts to fill local  IT jobs as the conventional curriculum of the educational institutions isn’t suffice to deliver success oriented action at offices. The CEO of start up company, Grand Circus, Bradley Hoos said,” Technology changes so fast, even if you graduated from a top program three to four years ago, the reality is the skills needed for today have evolved. People are really drawn to (training programs). 

They’re trying to leverage technology to drive innovation.” The trend is gaining pace at super fast rate and technology business associations like, Troy-based Automation Alley are also resorting to training programmes for their employees.

Indian Students Share A Chunk Of 13% In The Popular Online Courses Of edX

In an interesting trend, Indian students showed the second highest enrollment figures in the online courses launched by the Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology a year before. More than 150000 Indian students have registered for these online courses from a total of 1.2million students that have enrolled for the programme all over the world. 

Out Of these 1.2million enrollments, 30% students herald from US while 13% are from India. The online programme initiative called edX offer courses among varied disciplines of arts, commerce and science. To name a few of these 70 courses, the most sought after includes  law, history, science, engineering, business, social sciences, computer science, public health and artificial intelligence.  

The president of edX, Anant Aggarwal reported,  “Engineering courses were in high demand initially and then subjects in public health became very popular with Indian students.”

Indian Students Make For Second Largest Chunk In Foreign Education Aspirants

The world is shrinking. Students all over the world are migrating to advanced economies of Canada and US for realizing their dreams of higher education. However, the most popular among foreign national is Canada. Students are flocking to the country forthwith its flexible visa rules, job prospects and safety assurance. 

In an interesting tend, Indians accounts for the second largest exporter of students to foreign national for education purposes. Among these migrants, a significant 13000 choose Canada as their final destination during the year 2012.  

President and vice-chancellor, Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Allan Cahoon says,” Canada provides a positive alternative for students from India because of its ethnic diversity, ability to integrate the best of both British and American university educational models and the quality of its diversified public post-secondary institutions." Cooperative models ensuring flexibility and provincial intervention are the key factors alluring students to the country.

Education Minister Shahi Hopeful Of Education Betterment In The State

The state education minister of Patna, P K Shahi expressed his concerns over the state of education in the state. He also expressed his apologies for not able to make up for the education issues forthwith the concerns of resolving the conflicts related to the recruitment of vice chancellors. 

Nevertheless, the minister is hopeful that the situation will improve in the times to come. He said,” With formation of search committees to appoint new VCs in the offing, many maladies ailing the varsities would be taken care of.” 

He quoted this whilst his visit at the Raj Bhawan for concluding session of the two day conference covering the topic,” Higher education: Exploring new trends". Treading on the footsteps of the chief minister of the state, Nitish Kumar, he expressed grief over the decrepit state of old universities in Bihar. He added,” However, today when I look at B N College, Patna Science College or the hostels of the university, all are in a poor shape. The autonomy granted to the varsities should not be confused with autocracy.’

Americans Call For STEM Course Enrollment

A surveys was conducted all over America to get a brief about the colleges that offer he maximum pay packets from pan American companies.  The survey statistics of the report depict that the top ten include those covering stem that is science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

Another money minting profession includes that of petroleum engineers attracting a starting salary range of hefty $100,000 per annum. Others who follow the line are social workers; these involved in elementary education and children healthcare and education studies. Thus, students in the west should focus more on STEM courses for enhancing their employment seeking efficiencies. 

A key participant of the Kansas forum remark,” Innovation is the strength of the United States in science and technology. That means a broadly educated and experienced person. They need to be very good at their technology or science, but [they need more than that] or we're going to be another China. They're very good at technology. They're not very good at innovation. That's why they send their students here."

Tips for Surviving Your First Job

Congratulations! You bagged a job interview and fortunately you got through it with flying colors and landed at your dream office. The not so good news is that your new abode may not be as cozy, funky, happening as your just passed college. All the excitement and happiness enthralling the astounding success withers like a puff of smoke, the moment you enter the overtly calm and peaceful place. 

While occasional chatters and laughter is a rare scene to watch, the general atmosphere is unfunny, glum and cynical. Newbie feels out of place and context. Life takes a 360 degree turn and things don’t seem to be as glorious and comical the way it was talked about. You suffer from what is known as a crisis of confidence. 

Thus, we bring all the newbie a mini guide to those tips that can be a great aid in preventing your celebration from transforming into in trepidation.  Pretty soon, you’ll make great friends and know your workplace better, meanwhile adopt the below mentioned strategies to make the transition smoother.

1. Strive to learn

If you don’t feel at ease with your new surroundings, don’t fret. The best thing that could be done in such a situation is maintain a low profile and keenly observe your new mates and colleagues. Let them “test the waters” for you. It will surely prove to be great aid in learning the jargons and who’s who of the place. 

2. Research

If you are entering an organization that is completely unfamiliar and vague, it is highly recommended to do an in-depth and comprehensive research about the company’s background, its objectives and vision. It will aid you in becoming a better employee and carve a niche for you at your new would be place.

3. Patience

This is the most important trait required by a new joinee. Things may get a little hard for you sometimes but it’s sure to reap sweet fruits at the end. Needless to say, the office environment is entirely different from school. But your efforts to cope up and persistent hard work would help you find the most suitable fit for you.

Jai Unveils Hyderabad In A 128 Page Comic

Jai Undurti, 30, a documentary filmmaker has captured the very essence and life of Hyderabad in a comic book. He is coauthor of the book entitled, the Hyderabad Graphic Novel and is an alumni from the University of West Minister, London. 

He says,” I was always interested in comic books and graphic novels. So when my plans to shoot a documentary on the city fell through because of a lack of funds, we came to the conclusion that the only way to do this was through a graphic novel.” 

He has also planned a convention at the coming weekend to uncover and promote his book. The novel is expected to put forth a story of Hyderabad’s past of 400 years in crisp and interesting manner mitigating 128pages. The novel cum comic is a one of its kind exploration trivia of the state of the nawabs.

AAPI Stress To Mitigate Physician Shortage In The Country

The American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI) hosted a Capitol Hill Healthcare symposium on Wednesday. The event was a huge success witnessing the presence of 20 members of congress and senators. 

The event highlighted issues like immigration reform attracting active participation of congressmen and doctors from all parts of the country. AAPI President, Jayesh Shah, while addressing the huge gathering said,”   Since we're all here on Capitol Hill, don't forget to meet your Congressman. We're here to tell them what we think, as a body. 

It makes a lot of difference when they hear directly from their constituents, so please do not be afraid to approach them." A congress representative of Indian origin, Ami Bera stressed the need of physicians in the country and put forth a legislation that promises to resolve the issue of physician shortage in the country.

Datawind Collaborates With TES India

The widely acclaimed maker of Aakash tablet, Datawind has collaborated with TES India. TES is an online coaching site where users can upload content related to education on their tablets. 

The business tie is most likely to benefit Datawind with content as huge as 5 lakh to its customers. It will also enable teachers to access course material. TES ensure education content for a wide variety of courses viz, Bachelor of Arts, B.Com, B. Ed, general awareness, CBSE content, educational presentations, discussion on social topics, etc. Not only this, it also provides access to teachers looking for employment and tutors for students. 

Furthermore, Datawind also made partners with companies for providing education material. Long before, datawind had also worked with the Indian government to accomplish the government’s projects of providing access to android tablet that is cheap and affordable. In addition, it worked with other associates for content that could be preloaded on its products.

Chidambaram Expresses Concern Over G20 Operations

The finance minister of India, P Chidambaram alleged that the unwillingness of the developed countries of G20 in initiating reforms for international finance institutions has severely deterred the reliability and progress of G20. He gave these remarks at an event organized by intellectual ICRIER. 

He also expressed his concerns over the key objective of the G20 which ensures an equal growth opportunity for the emerging markets. Thus, it is vital for G20 to address issues and concerns related to developing countries of the group. Carrying forward his point, he said,” Considering the range of complex issues confronting the world economy, and the persistent weak recovery, it is important for all countries that G20 continues to be successful." 

He furthermore stressed that the forum may also end up losing its importance as tool of global governance. He added,” Emerging markets have accepted these norms in a spirit of multilateralism. However in the context of a weak global recovery, we should be careful that the procyclical bias should not be a stumbling block in developing countries.”

All About The Pink Slip Phobia

The most vulnerable facet of the corporate life in today’s world is the insecurity in job market. Employment, by definition is a hand written contract between two parties- the recruiter and the employee. 

The contract is a mutual agreement approved and agreed upon by both the entities. Also, it entails clauses that one may move out of it willingly or as per at their ease. However, when an employee moves out, the process is called resignation and enters into a fresh agreement with an altogether fresh individual with new optimism and enthusiasm. 

When things are other way around that is the employer calls it quits, the situation is dreaded as pink slip. The matter of fact, though, is that pink slips are reality and we need to prepare ourselves for the unexpected odds.  A word of caution would always be not to fret and also don’t personalize it. 

State Youth Feels Indian Education Lacks Value For Money

A large proportion of student studying across Indian educational institutes feel that education isn’t value based. These are the outcome of a survey statistics of report covering responses of 5000 college students in Mumbai. 

Out of the 5000 students, only 16% supported the practical validity of current education system, while another 24% welcomed the net friendly admission process initiative. Furthermore, a considerable 22% assert that the facilities being provided to higher education aspirants are up to the mark. 

The survey was launched by 13 students studying at St Xavier's College of the state, situated at Dhobi Talao and extended to duration of two months. A professor of the college and also the leader of the survey, Avkash Jadhav, said,” While initiating a discussion in the class on the education system in India, I was surprised to hear so many pertinent comments about what students feel and if we really bother with what they require. 

The purpose of taking up this activity was to see if the voice of dissent is uniform and if a student today seriously feels the pressure of learning, rather enjoys the process of learning."

Education scenario dismal in Gujarat

The youth of the state of BJP’s elected candidate for 2014 central government elections appear to have been hit too hard ahead of the discrepit education system in the state. 

These are the outcomes of the survey statistics of a report covering the responses of 7500 youngsters studying across 94 colleges of Gujarat. The survey was conducted by the widely acclaimed Brainchild of commissioner of higher education, BM Institute of Mental Health, to get an idea of the mental and physical welfare of the youth. 

The reports, however puts forward a very grim picture with its key findings depicting 48% of boys plagued by anxiety, and 43% of the girls suffering depression. Dr SR Apte, Institute director said,” They corroborate the general impression that education system has failed to generate capable and psychologically mature youth." The survey was done over the final year students studying various disciplines of science, commerce and arts. 

Block Education Officer Arrested For Charges Of Bribe At Patna

The state vigilance investigation bureau of the state held a block education officer in the capital of Bihar for charges of corruption. The block education officer, commonly abbreviated as BEO was found accepting bribe from a man who sought to attest the certificates of his wife. 

Commenting on the matter, the Vigilance DG P K Thakur said,” A vigilance team arrested BEO Mahesh Jha while he was accepting Rs 20,000 as graft from complainant Om Prakash."

The raid was leaded by the DSP of district, Mohammad Jamiruddin. The reports of Thakur committee state that the BEO posted at Tarari block in Bhojpur district had asked for a hefty amount from the husband of the women for attesting her experience certificates. 

The complaint made by the victim entails charges of bribe and mental harassment against the block education officer. The complainant teacher is a teacher at a middle school, and wanted the attestation so that she could send it for approval to her seniors for releasing her salary.

Government Institutions Infuse High Quality Education

V Srinivas Prasad commented that people generally misinterpret the standard of education delivered across government institutions. Prasad is the district minister of Mysore. 

He gave the remark during the inauguration of co-curricular activities and Prathibha Puraskar programme held at Maharaja Government PU College on Saturday. He said,” Education in government schools is good when compared to some private ones. Of late, private institutions have turned commercial. 

It is a myth that students studying in private schools and colleges are bright. Many of those who have studied in government institutions have scaled heights in different fields." 

The function was followed by felicitation of near around 40 meritorious students who performed well in studies and secured cent percent marks in accounts and business papers. Awards were given away by Janardhana K R who said,” I'm to be a student of this college, which has remarkable history and provides quality education."

Education withers with booming corruption

It is dismal to note that the present state of the country entails evils like corruption and red tapism spreading its roots in every domain  of life, education, healthcare, industries etc, to name a few. 

Cut to the present, the cause of concern is the sprawling corruption in education sector that has severely affected the higher education in the country. The crux of the problem is speculated to be the rising levels of political intervention in educational work structure. 

The appointment of vice chancellors, for example requires the recommendation of state government for the short listing process. Unfortunately, it is a common practice of ministers to demand bribe from the panel members to appoint them as VC. 

Sources reveal that the bribe money could range between a hefty 5 crore to 50 crore vis-à-vis the status of the universities. The vicious process is followed by collection of money by the VCs forthwith the appointments and promotions within the university.

Education Scenario Dismal In State: Alva

People of the country are deeply concerned as regard the form and extent of corruption in almost every walk of life. Cut to the present, Rajasthan Governor, Margaret Alva gave vent to his deep concerns about the conspicuous corruption in higher education. 

She remarked that the evil has become so pervasive that not even a single educational institution of the country could make it to the top 200 world list. She commented during her inaugural speech at the National Youth Conference 2013. The conference spoke on “energizing for excellence” and took place at the Indira Gandhi Panchayati Raj Bhawan. 

Alva asserted that what is particularly alarming is the present state of education, it needs to be more focused and student friendly. Alva added,“ The projections say by 2025, 70% of India's population will belong to the working age and we don't have a single Indian institute among the top 200 in the world." "The projections say by 2025, 70% of India's population will belong to the working age and we don't have a single Indian institute among the top 200 in the world." 

Silicon Valley- Fresh Hub For Start Ups And Entrepreneurs

The venture capitalist, Ben Horowitz named Christian Gheorghe as the most notable rags-to-riches entrepreneur. Christian is primarily an immigrant of Romania and a non-English speaker who made it to the status of the CEO of Tidemark, a business analytics company. 

Christian was initially a limo driver but impressively rose to skies with his hard work and labor regardless of social class, educational merit, race, caste, creed or nationality.  His example establishes the fact that Silicon Valley encourages every young mind with a great idea to earn money with a personal start up.

However, a cloze and genuine inspection depicts that a degree from a top institution, strong networking and pre established credibility are the basic requisites of the entrepreneur world. Another success hero of success story at Silicon Valley, Michal Wroczynski remarked in regard of fund raising for start up,” It would be great value to be from one of the big universities with a big strong network.”

TTSL Scraps Attendance System From Its Talent Management System

In an interesting move, the Tata Teleservices Ltd has scrapped the attendance system to increase the productivity of its employees and relieve them off unwanted stress. 

The move has been taken ahead of the new talent management system that scraps daily time sheets, card swipe or turnstile to keep a check on its workers attendance. The new system now evaluates its manpower vis-à-vis their performance and deliverables. 

The executive president of human resources, S Varadarajan said,” We have taken a liberal view on the working time of an employee. The benefit for employees is that they can focus on their work rather than fret over their attendance. 

Apart from this, we provide opportunities to work from home depending upon the need of an employee.” Carrying forward his point, he added that TTSL has a track record of proven reliability and support of its staff to any lenient system.

VIT high on placement convocation

It is dismal to note that IT firms in India prefer one tier and two tier college graduates in lieu of students graduating from smaller colleges. Placement sessions indicate a constant trend of recruitment in large numbers with the pay scales stagnant at Rs 3 lakh -4 lakh for five consecutive years. 

An elite college down south, Vellore Institute of Technology announced that near around 3,934 offers made to its students were given by top IT firms viz, Accenture, Wipro and Cognizant. Nevertheless, the average salaries lie in the range of 3.5-4 lakh. 

The VIT chancellor, G Viswanathan said,” The salary offered by three firms was in the range of Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, which has not changed much in recent years." Furthermore, he added that the college witnessed placement offers from 225 companies the previous year. Following the statistics, 40-590 recruiters have visited their campus and another 150 are being expected over the next few weeks.

Villagers Dreads As Banks Flak Faces Of Education Loan Defaulters

The SBI branch of Tamilnadu published photos of loan defaulters in leading newspapers and editorials in an attempt to pressurize the loan takers to repay their loans. Furious students have opposed the move and carried out demonstrations and agitations against the bank. 

The incident took place at Theni district of Tamilnadu’s Bodinayakanur. Annoyed students asserted that the move has brought shame to their families and activists claimed it to be violation of human rights. A concerned student on grounds of anonymity told,” This is a shame. 

In rural areas, none would marry us. We are poor people, now ashamed." The executive director of a coveted People’s Watch, Henry Tiphagne said,” Would they ever be willing to portray the photograph of Mr Vijay Mallya for all the payments he has not paid back banks for years? This is a loss of dignity and human rights for the poor people. They should resort to legal recourse even in the worst case." 

Training for Free by Indian Coaches

Home grown chicken and lentils are of the same value. Highly qualified and able Indian coaches do not get paid for working with the national team while foreign nationals are being sacked in at stratsphoric pay packages. The sports authority of India (SAI) roped in the Aussie hockey star at monthly remuneration of $11000 while the Indian counterparts  viz. 

V Baskaran, Cedric D’ Souza,  Harendra  Singh are performing these duties for free. "I have worked with the various Indian sides from 1998 and finally took over as chief coach in 2008 but never got a single penny for my service. I am not demanding crores, but I think we are good enough to expect some remuneration for our hard work," quoted former Indian coach, Harendra Singh. 

Indian coaches expressed their concerns stating that SAI has been assigned the task of roping mentors for the team and regarding shortlisting and selection process but the contracts signed in with the Indian nationals devoid professional approach and salary statistics. 

In an attempt to justify its adequacy, SAI clarified that Indian coaches lack professional training and are already employed with several other companies. Unfortunately, the foreign bubble burst when India lost all their matches at the London Games. Thus, there is a immediate need to overhaul the system and appoint an Indian as the chief coach instead of a person who has no motivation or commitment.

Government To Pass Foreign Education Providers Bill Soon

Many Indian students aspiring to join foreign universities for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes can now realize their dreams of world class education in rupee if the government agrees. The much debated Foreign Education Providers Bill formulated by the MHRD in 2010 rants permission to universities of foreign nationals to set up their campuses in our country. 

Nevertheless, it is dismal to note that the bill is vying for approval from parliament since long.  The existing state of rupee has compelled the government to initiate the process of finalizing regulations sought after to accomplish the major objectives of the bill. 

The bill also confines the minimum corpus to a staggering Rs 500 million mark along with restrictions on foreign universities reaping profits for establishing their campuses in the country. The bill has gained relevance whereby a dwindling rupee has disheartened many foreign education aspirants of their dreams and hopes. 

An Analysis Education Standards In The Country

A (Programme for International Student Assessment), commonly abbreviated as PISA was conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to evaluate 15 year old school students in its member nations. 

The test was taken to evaluate their performances in varied modules of mathematics, science and reading in the year 2009. India stood at 73 position out of a total of 74 nations that were assessed during the test. The last position was bagged by Kyrgystan. 

Amidst the present scenario whereby India strives to compete with China, it is dismal to note that the China bagged the first position in the  2009 PISA rankings. The representative state was chosen as Shanghai and interestingly it set new standards of academic excellence for students worldwide. Contrary to this, India backed out of 2012 PISA test asserting that the testing modules are not compatible to what our students are being delivered in at schools. 

Alva Laments Education Standard In The State

The governor of Rajasthan, Margret Alva threw light on the education standards in the state at the state-level Teachers’ Day function held at Birla Auditorium. Alva commented that although progress has been underway in education sector yet the situation is worrisome and not up to the mark. 

She made the claims on the basis of the findings of an NGO called Pratham. She asserted that more than half percent of the schools in the state lack the RTE Act recommended student- teacher ratio. She added, “The state with over four lakh school teachers in about 1.20 lakh schools is reportedly short of 70,000 teachers. 

As many as 8,000 schools have no drinking water while about 15,000 schools do not have toilet facilities.” Carrying forward the point, she added that there are schools with single teacher heading the task while many lack basic infrastructure of building and play grounds.

An Analysis Of The State Of Education In The Country

The status of education report, 2012 was released by a NGO on the eve of teacher’s day on Thursday. The facts brought out by the report are however disheartening as it depicts a considerable 53% of class-5 students unable to read a class-2 text aptly. Furthermore, it shows that 47% of class 5 kids are not able to solve basic 2 digit algebraic subtractions. 

The irony of the situation, however is that the passing year of 2012 was heralded as the mathematics year in the country. It is contemptuous to note that India, despite having the largest public funded education system in the world, has a disappointing figure of 75% trained teaching staff. 

These numbers witnessed a drastic fall from 2008. The study also throws up that inefficient staff is responsible for the declining education standards. A planning commission report of the 12th five year plan said,” There are 8.1 lakh untrained teachers in the country, with four states -- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal -- accounting for 72% of them.”

American Varsities To Guide Students At Local Fair In India

Good news has lined up for higher education aspirants as representatives across 26 American varsities have collaborated with the Institute of International Education and United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) for hosting an education fair. 

The fair will be held at the Oberoi Grand Hotel on Sunday. The fair will commence from 2 pm and wrap up at around 6 in the eve. The detailed information may however be availed on its website as regard its program-mes for graduate, post graduate and doctoral levels. 

The fair will be of immense importance to the students as they can obtain fruitful information as regard their entrance tests and scholarship program-mes for underprivileged students. 

In addition, the fair will also host discussions whereby consular officer of the US consulate will gave clarifications and guidelines on the admission procedure and ways to apply for visa. The fair has got unpaid entry and interested students can register online through the link, http://bit.ly/usief-iie-Ed USA or at the spot at venue itself.

Academics suffer loss forthwith the overburdened teachers

Gone are those times when Indian education was applauded all over the world for its high quality teaching faculty and value based education. Acharya and gurus resided at secluded places to increase their productivity and instill morale values in their pupils to make them all round performers. That time was aptly heralded as the golden era of education in the country. 

However, changing times has brought phenomenal changes in the standard of education. Teachers, all over the world are being overloaded with household responsibilities and social commitments. Not only this, the school work structure is also largely non-academic and irrelevant, greatly affecting the quality of education. 

Among others, teachers are entitled to the work of census, election, aadhar card registration for a prolonged span. Thus, teachers feel burdened and less interested in the more relevant teaching process. It directly affects the quality of efficient and result oriented learning.

Skorton Calls Indian Institutes World Class in Quality Education

The president of Cornell University, David J Skorton has expressed his views over the dwindling Indian students in foreign US universities. He compared the dropout rates with brain circulation in lieu of an intense reverse brain drain. "I call it as a brain circulation and in the past it was going in one direction. We see discoveries are coming in the field of medicine, agriculture, technology from places that we did not think of in the past.

India has some of the finest and world class institutions such as IITs and Indian Institute of Science and there is no dearth of world-class quality education there," quoted David J Skorton, president of Cornell University, in dialogue with PTI held at Cornell Club in the magnificent Islands of Manhattan. During the meeting, Skorton attributed the change to the revolutionary research and technological advancements in the education sector of India. 

Skorton is the president of coveted Cornell University which is a private ivy cheque university located in Ithaca, New York, USA. The university was remarked to be the “first American university” by educational historian, Fredeick Rudolph. 

According to a survey conducted in 1970’s, as large as 100,000 students have been enrolled at American universities and three fourth ratio of elite Indian IITians migrated to US for higher education programmes. Unfortunately, the figures dipped to an all time low of 5% in the present scenario. 

If sources are to be believed, 1,03,895 applications were received for in the year 2010 and the number declined to 1,00,270 during 2011-12. Educationists cited visa restrictions, economic slowdown as the key determinants behind the havemanating attrition rates. 

Schools to Introduce Tablets to Improve Learning

In a latest trend, students across Delhi are being asked to purchase tablets at subsidized prices with aim to revolutionize education in schools. A concerned parent, Richard Mahapatra, told that during parent teacher interactions, authorities persuaded them to buy tablets of leading IT company viz, HCL for about 6000 rupees. 

The situation is awkward for the middle class families and those belonging to lower middle class as they see the initiative as extra burden on their preoccupied shoulders. Voicing their concerns, the journalist reported,” I don’t discount that we are living in a different age. 

But first I want to know how helpful is it as an educational tool.”  The initiative has been taken ahead of the advancements encompassing state-of the-art technology promoting education accessibility to all. The Indian govt is seeing the move as violation to the right of education due to the costs involved.

Ramadorai Calls for Expansion of Online Education

The world is changing, evolving every passing minute. Online education is the latest innovation of the 21st century. Carrying forward this point, the chairman of National Skill Development Agency and also the vice chairman of TCS, S Ramadaroi said,” The gross enrolment ratio of 17% will not do; we need to move to a 21st-century model of learning, disrupting the conventional model of education as an assortment of brick-and-mortar schools.” 

Furthermore, he stressed the development of IT industry for accomplishment of the move. “For this, we need an IT backbone, bandwidth, educational content and stakeholders who can bring all these together, “said Ramadaroi on his visit to the silver jubilee  convocation ceremony of IIT Bombay. 

He was invited as the chief guest for the occasion. The inductive process was followed by a motivating and inspirational lecture for young and aspiring entrepreneurs venturing to set enterprises and manufacturing units. If surveys are to be believed, near around 10% of IIT alumni are responsible for creating a job market encompassing 100 jobs.

SCPCR Applauds Education Revampment In Bihar

The State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, commonly abbreviated as SCPCR, recently called a review meeting as regard the findings of the surveys conducted over 375 random government primary schools and neighborhood communities in the state of Bihar.  

The chairperson of the commission was reportedly saying that the study has been conducted with the aim of monitoring the standard of education in Bihar. The study depicted that near around 51% of the students enrolled in government primary schools are girls. 

It is interesting to note that a noticeable proportion of these girls students herald from SC, ST and Mahadalit backgrounds. It also threw up the proposal of formation of School Management Committees inviting active participation of parents. 

During a surprised visit of officials to these schools, the parents of the admitted students commented,” Our kids study in this school, and we are quite satisfied that there is good teaching here. We want the government to send at least two more teachers, then it can be even better."

Facebook reward engineering graduate for netting critical bug

An engineering graduate from Hindustan Institute of Technology in Coimbatore won a $12,500 bounty from facebook for discovering a pre existing bug on the social networking site. The bug permitted anyone to delete a photo hosted on the site. 

The rupee exchange rate that Arul is expected to receive is near around Rs 8,25,000. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that the electronic and communication graduate has bagged such an accolade. 

He netted another bug on facebook about a month ago for which he has been promised a hefty sum of $1500. He said,” Earlier this year, I heard about the Facebook bug bounty programme through which the company rewards people find who flaws on the website. Then I came to know about some Indian hackers who hunt for bugs and are rewarded," in an interview with TOI from Chennai. 

Court Reviews Medical Education In India

The supreme court of India recently gave a verdict saying that the MCI doesn’t have any right to interfere in the admission process except in a matter of legal debate. Furthermore, it suggested a common entrance test for admission to medical courses.

The health ministry is looking forward to file a petition opposing the judgment. The common test is most likely to benefit the private institutions charging sky rocketing capitation fees and stratospheric fee structures. 

An apex court commented whilst the Inamdar case commented,” To set up a reasonable fee structure is also a component of the right to establish and administer an institution within the meaning of Article 30(1) of the constitution, as per the declared law in Pai Foundation. 

Every institution is free to devise its own fee structure subject to the limitation that there can be no profiteering and no capitation fee can be charged directly or indirectly, in any form (Para 139)”.  

Oman: Budding Education Centre for Aspirants

Oman is the latest destination for high school senior graduates vying to procure admission in its prestigious universities. The sultanate is growing as an enticing option for countless grade12 pass outs for pursuing an undergraduate degree in any of the several acclaimed field.”I was not forced into it, but I chose it specifically because I want my family close. It's a solid proposition,” said Supriya, another hopeful of the sultanate education. 

The professor and dean of a native college expressed his concerns stating that stereotypes rover owing to anti female environment and lack of world class facilities across varied education disciplines. Consequently, parents prefer to send their kids to Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka in vague of better socio cultural environment and upgraded educational services. 

Carrying forward the point,Dr Shameena Mehtab, associate dean for Quality Assurance at Gulf College, further claimed that state-of-the-art education facilities could be availed at affordable prices but living and accommodation expenses should be taken a separate count. As they say “home is where the heart is”, the nationals are resorting to career plans in the country itself.

Nepalis Thronging India for Higher Education

India’s pre-established status as an international hub of education is a well known and worldwide accepted fact that hardly needs repetition. According to the surveys of a latest study, India has been ranked as the no.1 choice of Nepali students for pursuing higher education. 

Nepal nationals have been thronging our country since time immemorial. However, the figures surged to alarming levels lately ahead of the revolutionary developments in the field of research and education. Flexible visa rules and affordable tuition fees are cited to be the key determinants responsible for the stratospheric student inflow.  

The change is also being attributed to India’s rising stature as an “Asian powerhouse” and “the fastest developing economies”.  Students are eyeing the country as one of their hot favorite destinations for its elite 50 business schools, 36 IITs, 18 NITs and much more. However, the flow is recorded to be more profuse in north east institutions viz, AIMS Bangalore, NSHM Knowledge Campus and JIS Group of Educational Initiative among others.