MeritTrac unveils Pariksha, secure environment Large-Scale Examination
MeritTrac, India’s largest Testing company unveiled its next-generation service offering, ‘Pariksha’ for delivering high-stakes, large-scale exams across the country in a secure environment. Continuing on its journey of innovation after winning the NASSCOM Innovation Award in 2008, MeritTrac has unveiled Pariksha as a service offering built on an innovative technology platform that comprehensively covers the entire spectrum of examination delivery processes, supported by a huge network of 50,000 testing terminals in 185 cities across India. This offering is backed by stringent ISO 9001:2008 quality standards that MeritTrac has recently got certified. Addressing the media Madan Padaki, Co-Founder and CEO, MeritTrac, said, ‘Pariksha will usher in a new era for high-stakes, large-scale examination delivery – both for the Education sector and the Government/PSU exams. Security, Accuracy, Fairness and Access are key parameters for any exam process and our Pariksha suite of offerings is leveraging technology, increased reach and quality processes to deliver large-scale exams that are 100% secure, 100% accurate and better candidate-experience. As a pre-cursor to a national roll-out, MeritTrac had partnered with Gujarat Technological University, Government of Gujarat, to conduct the Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GCET 2009) online in July this year. Over a period of 4 days, 23,000 candidates successfully appeared for this online test which was conducted in 37 centers across 11 cities in Gujarat, deployed over a network of 2100 terminals. “This entire project was a great success – it dispelled a lot of myths associated with large-scale public examinations and paved the way for launching Pariksha on a nation-wide scale.” Padaki commented. Incidentally, the GCET 2009 project won the jury award for the Best e-enabled University project at the e-India Awards in September 2009.’
Admissions open for Manipal University’s MBA (Media and Entertainment) and MBA (Advertising and Marketing Communications)
Admissions to India’s first and only MBA in Media & Entertainment (ME) and MBA in Advertising & Marketing Communications (AMC) are now open for the January 2010 batch. Manipal University, the pioneering force in higher education in India, offers MBA (ME) in association with Whistling Woods International. The programmes are offered from the Manipal University Bangalore Campus. This first year of the MBA (ME) would be conducted at MU Bangalore Campus covering all General Management Subjects and Media Case Studies. The second year of the Program will consists of one (1) year of internship/industrial training at WWIL premises located at Film City. This will include actual production and post production techniques, the process of film making, understanding TV, Radio and other sectors of the entertainment industry, hands-on exposure at the WWIL and Film City campus in Mumbai. WWIL, on behalf of MU shall also provide to the Students with industry interface and internship with Media companies.
MBA (AMC) programme is offered from the Manipal University Bangalore Campus and it covers Integrated Marketing Communication, Strategic Media Planning, and Advertising Strategy with General Management subjects. These courses are new, exciting and truly industry focused, combining managerial tools and frameworks with an in-depth understanding of the media, entertainment, advertising and marketing communications industries. These programmes prepare students to be well-rounded professionals and opens up avenues for exciting and successful careers in the fastest growing. Admissions to the two year MBA programmes January 2010 in (ME and AMC) at Manipal University are currently open. The last date for submitting applications is 30th November 2009. The programmes are open to those who have completed any undergraduate degree, with a combination of creativity & business rigour and aspire to be media and marketing professionals.
KPMG and NIIT Imperia collaborate to launch Advanced Certificate Program on IFRS
KPMG in India in collaboration with NIIT Imperia announced the launch of Advanced Certificate Program on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The six week Certificate program which commences on 2 December 2009 is designed to assist companies and individuals on the forthcoming convergence from Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The program will see KPMG’s senior professionals use NIIT’s modern virtual classroom formats to deliver the training. The training will be conducted simultaneously across several cities using NIIT’s Synchronous Learning Technology. This will allow practicing professionals and in-job professionals to be in a classroom close to their place of work. In addition, they can manage their day to day work since there will be only one day of training in each of the six weeks. This well paced program is designed for better understanding and absorption of the transition process and will help the practising and on-job professional in implementing IFRS smoothly and on time. Indian accounting and finance fraternity and those others who are interested to enrich knowledge on IFRS transition may log on to www.niitimperia.com for further information about the program.
Commenting on the launch of the Advanced Certificate Program on IFRS, Jamil Khatri, Head of Accounting Advisory Services, KPMG in India said, ‘We are pleased to come in association with NIIT Imperia during this important transition for the Indian accounting fraternity. Through this collaboration we foresee participants to gain not only the conceptual knowledge of IFRS but also the practical perspectives that KPMG’s professionals carry through years of experience. We have seen very good interest in this program and look forward to interacting with executives across the country during the IFRS training sessions.’ He added, ‘The training covers critical IFRS concepts along with case studies and will culminate with an exam at the end, which will enable participants to obtain the certificate.’ Shraman Jha, Head, NIIT Imperia remarked, ‘We are pleased to extend our offerings to now include Advanced Certificate Programs on IFRS, by KPMG- for finance professionals. Through this alliance, IFRS Training will be offered in 19 cities simultaneously, over the NIIT Imperia network, thus helping professionals overcome the challenges of mobility and time and gain from the insights of KPMG’s professionals.’ Corporates, accounting & finance professionals would need to swiftly understand IFRS and assess the implications in their work environment. This is because current Indian accounting practice & standards differs from IFRS in several areas of accounting norms. Firstly, the accounting for M&A activities and for financial instruments is largely driven by the fair value concept under IFRS, a fundamental shift from the historical cost accounting under Indian GAAP. Secondly, there are subtle but important differences in several other areas, for example, the concept of control over an entity, capitalization principles relating to property, plant and equipment, accounting for gratuity plans, the way reportable segments are identified, etc. Thirdly, IFRS lays equal emphasis on qualitative disclosures in addition to the quantitative disclosures that Indian companies are well used to. All stakeholders, from promoters to finance executives, from investors to analysts and from government agencies to bankers need to become aware of the critical differences.
Axiom Education is now Mexus Education
Axiom Education Private Limited, an education innovations enterprise, recently announced the transformation of its company name to Mexus Education Private Limited. Mexus Education under its flagship brand- IKEN delivers innovative and interactive learning tools. Iken provides interesting features as such as Iken Books, Iken joy, Iken Library and Iken Pro. Commenting on the development, Saurabh Saxena, Director, Mexus Education, said, ‘The conversion is undertaken keeping in mind our strategic business plans. As innovators, we aim to bring new and exciting products and services in the education industry. With our new identity and distinctive strategy, we intend to extend our reach not only in the domestic markets but across the globe.’ With immediate effect, all business transactions will be carried out under the name Mexus Education. There has however been no change in the company’s management or ownership. Besides, the company is in a process of launching over 200 ‘never-seen-before’ innovative products and several institutional offerings that will completely change the way education is perceived.
SAP and NIIT Partner for MultiMode SAP Training Programs
SAP India and NIIT, the leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s largest IT trainer, entered into a strategic alliance to offer training to future SAP consultants in world-leading business software, Enterprise Resource Planning and related applications provided by SAP. Both organizations believe in enhancing India’s talent base to help Indian enterprises transform and become more competitive at home and abroad. Under this alliance, NIIT will offer SAP training programs in both Instructor-led and Online modes to working professionals, post graduates and graduates as well as students in colleges. On the anvil are SAP Academy Programs, Standard Short Duration Programs and New Dimension Product Training. The training programs will cover all facets of a business – Planning, Finance, Materials, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing and Human Resources. NIIT would leverage its reach and basket of products and services to build them around the SAP training program that trains and nurtures well-rounded SAP professionals. In the next phase, these courses will also be offered in other countries in the region such as China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Iken.in Empowers e-learning Experience
e-learning website ‘Iken.in’, announced the launch of online learning subscriptions packages for Class VI to IX of study material designed for CBSE, ICSE and State Board students, mapped according to the NCERT curriculum. The packages include educational videos, slides shows, movies, animations, test papers and questions, performance assessment, feedback and a whole host of content which complements course curriculum and simplifies the learning process. Iken.in is a student centric education portal which integrates e-learning and social media features, in order to facilitate easy learning methods, with its unique blend of ‘edutainment’ – education and entertainment. Students can share and view presentations and videos, take tests, revise their curriculum, connect with peers and play educational interactive games on the site.
Unique features of Iken.in include integration of e-learning and social media features to create a unique online learning experience; it complements CBSE, ICSE, and State Board prescribed course material with interactive, multimedia enhanced learning content; it offers more than 10000 unique courseware elements which include educational videos, animation films, slideshows, mind maps, assessment tests, FAQs, etc. available on the site; it has 25,000+ users already registered on ‘Iken.in’; it includes virtual knowledge currency ‘Ken’ which facilitates easy access to educational material on ‘Iken.in’; and it has more than 6000 unique educational videos, 3000 presentations, 2000 mind maps, 4000 assessment tests and 5000 unique customized questions. ‘Iken.in’ also offers ‘pay-per-content’ option, where instead of buying an entire subscription package users can pay for access to only select study material elements, like a video or presentation as per the need
