The vice-chancellor of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), Prof KS Rangappa, has been accused of plagiarising an Osmania University's research paper. The research paper on 'Kinetics of oxidation of adenosine by tert-butoxyl radicals: Protection and repair by chlorogenic acid' was written by Osmania University's professors from the chemistry department
MHRD says entry of foreign universities benificial
The Human Resource Development Ministry has answered the queries raised by a parliamentary standing committee on the entry of foreign institutions in India. The ministry has said that the proposed bill will limit brain drain and attract quality faculty from abroad. The ministry feels that the potential foreign education providers (FEPs) will help in brain gain as they are expected to attract quality teachers from abroad. Allaying all fears of probable mass exodus of faculty from Indian universities to the foreign ones, ministry said presently also teachers can switch jobs for better emoluments, research or teaching freedom. “Exodus of faculty, if at all it takes place after the entry of FEPs, will at least be within the country, not outside. Even today, certain outstanding teachers are leaving institutions and going abroad for various reasons. This trend can get arrested or at least slowed down,” it said. However, experts feel that a second level of teacher recruitments should be done by the institutions in order to face any eventuality. “There is a possibility that the FEPs will poach faculty from existing institutions. To meet that challenge, the institutions should create a second level of faculty. There is no dearth of talent in our country,” said educationist N.R. Madhava Menon. The parliamentary standing committee has also asked ministry that the bill might allow sub-standard colleges to open their shops in the country. To this, the ministry replied that only institutions with 20 years of standing in their home countries would be allowed to set up campus in India. But the president of the Federation of Central University Teachers Association, A.N. Mishra, was not convinced. “Twenty years of standing does not prove an institution to be an excellent institution in research and teaching. My impression is that only third-rung institutions from foreign countries will come to India,” he said. Former Delhi University vice-chancellor Deepak Pental also felt foreign institutions might not be interested in research here. “Do you think they will bring their research facilities to conduct high quality research here? Unless the government gives them some research grants, the foreign institutions may not be interested in science and technology. They may offer courses in humanities and management as these courses do not demand much investment,” Pental said.
IIFT: Cultivating the future minds through Green Conclave 2011
In focus of promoting the Indian Carbon Consulting Industry, the IIFT took the initiative in focus with PAT: Perform, Achieve and Trade by organizing “GREEN CONCLAVE 2011”. The baton of this strategy lies with the Carbon Consultant who would help the industries modify their processes to make them energy efficient. The growth and success of PAT depends largely on the skill set and the in-depth analysis that a consultant can do for the firm. This emerging field of Carbon Consultants has created a very niche market for itself across Europe and now in India. “To achieve goal congruence in the highly dynamic corporate world, understanding the work of a Carbon Consultant would be of great help for career growth and industry growth at macro level. It is really encouraging to see our youth being part of this initiative & showing their concern in making the world a better place to live” said Mr.K.T.Chacko, director, IIFT. The discussion happened on the market based mechanism to enhance cost effectiveness of improvements in energy efficiency in energy-intensive large industries and facilities, through certification of energy savings that could be traded. “It was great to see the level of engagement from IIFT and other student delegates who came up with this issue on Carbon trading as it has become an integral subject across the world.” said the speaker Nitin Zamre, MD, ICF International, Further talking about IT sector, Ajay Ahuja, research scholar, DMS, IIT Delhi, said “Curbing the carbon emission is a challenge & the key hot area in IT too, as Green IT is all about the usage of ecofriendly servers & storage, techniques like virtualization & consolidation and effective usage of real estate space etc. leading to the efficient data centers & lower cost of ownership.” Also, it highlighted the GOI initiative i.e. NMEEE (National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency), on making the industries Energy Efficient.
IBS Hyderabad case study wins award at Global Case Research Competition
Two students of leading B-School IBS Hyderabad, Somaditya Das and Wasim Harunbhai Kalwa, won second prize in the prestigious Baylor-USASBE Student Case Research Competition organized by The Baylor University Entrepreneurship Program and United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). The students won the coveted prize for their case study titled “SKS Microfinance: Managing Growth and Continuity of a Social Enterprise”, written under the guidance of Prof. Debapratim Purkayastha of IBS Hyderabad. The case study deals with the challenges faced by a social enterprise as it considers opting for an Initial Public Offering. The competition was intense as it attracted submissions from top B-Schools from around the world. The IBS Hyderabad team was initially shortlisted as one of the six finalists. After a presentation before the judges on January 13, 2011 at the USASBE Conference held at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (SC), the team was declared the second prize winner. A team from Queen's University in Charlotte, SC, won the first prize, while the third prize was bagged by a team from the University of Colorado at Boulder. IBS Hyderabad is one of the leading B-Schools in India. It is a constituent of IFHE, a “Deemed to be University” under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. Since its establishment in 1995, IBS Hyderabad has grown impressively and achieved widespread recognition from business and industry, academic circles, and professional bodies.
CS TechBytes – IT Quiz for engineering students
Tata Consultancy Services the leading IT Services firm and the Board for IT Education Standards (BITES), an autonomous agency promoted by Government of Karnataka in association with IT industries, and are rolling out the second edition of the Engineering IT Quiz – TCS Tech Bytes. The quiz is open to engineering students of all streams in Karnataka. “We are proud of our association with BITES in this initiative.TCS TechBytes aims at providing a platform to nurture the competitive spirit and showcase the importance of Technology to businesses. In a nutshell, it helps students understand the difference between what is and what can be in the world of business and technology, which is the stepping stone towards realizing one's true potential,” said N. Ganapathy Subramaniam, President – TCS Financial Solutions, Commenting on the program, Prof. R. Natarajan, Chairman, BITES said, “We introduced this program in collaboration with TCS last year. This is an important initiative that enhances technology awareness among students and provides them an impetus to succeed in their careers. It provides an opportunity for students especially from the rural parts of Karnataka to showcase their talent and get noticed” TCS TechBytes a campus outreach program strives to provide a better understanding of IT, to students of all streams of engineering. The objective is to enhance the knowledge and awareness of students and enable them to compete in the changing landscape of technology intensive industry. Each institution can send 10 teams (two-members per team) to participate in the Regional Finals of the quiz through an internal selection process. There is no participation fee. Entries have to be sent through the respective institutions on or before 18th March to: The Coordinator, BITES-TCS IT Quiz, BITES, #9 Ground floor, UNI Bldg, Thimmaiah Rd, Millers Tank Bed, Bangalore 560052, e-mail : itquiz@bites.org.in / Fax – 22207270/71. The Regional Level Quiz Competition will be conducted at the following six locations: Gulbarga – 5th April, Tumkur – 7th April, Hubli – 8th April, Mysore – 11th April, Mangalore – 13th April and Bangalore on 15th April. The State Finals will be held in Bangalore on 15th April, 2011. Winners at both the Regional and State Finals will receive educational scholarships and other attractive prizes from TCS. The quiz will focus on application of technology across various sectors and aspects such as: The technology environment, the business, its people, new trends, legends, etc. It will also focus on emerging areas such as: cloud computing, telecom, biometrics, robotics, etc, besides covering personalia – international and national, software products, history of IT and areas where IT has made an impact.
Shridhar University increases scholarship for girls on International Women’s Day
Shridhar University Pilani Rajasthan has announced the enhancement of special scholarship from existing 20% to 25% towards admission fees for all programs for girl students taking admission to the university for the academic session 2011
A one day Workshop on
The University Counseling & Guidance Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia is going to organize a workshop on “Communication Skills Training” for the students of Jamia on Saturday, March 12, 2011 from 10 AM to 4 PM. The purpose of the workshop is to build the capabilities of youth to meet the demands of today's world. The main focus of the programme would be on Basics of Communication and Barriers to Communication, Active Listening, Communication Style Assessment, Assertiveness, Body Language, Public Speaking, Presentation Skills, etc.
Delay in Jammu varsity chief’s appointment rocks assembly
The delay in the appointment of a vice chancellor at the central university here rocked the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Friday with legislators from Jammu alleging the government was displaying “sheer indifference” on the issue. Jammu Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) legislator Harshdev Singh alleged there was a “great deal of non-seriousness on the part of the state government that has led to the delay in the appointment of the vice chancellor of Central University, Jammu”. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jammu State Morcha legislators alleged the state government was playing hide and seek over the issue and the delay was causing huge academic loss to students and those aspiring to enroll themselves in the varsity. “How come all other central universities across the country have become functional and Jammu's central university is yet to get off the ground in the absence of the appointment of a vice chancellor,” he asked. To press their point for early appointment of a vice chancellor, opposition members belonging to the BJP, JKNPP and Jammu State Morcha staged a walk out. Minister for Higher Education Abdul Gani Malik said “certain forces were causing hurdles in the appointment of the vice chancellor”. He did not elaborate on the forces or their objective. The centre had appointed Amitabh Mattoo as vice chancellor of the central university in December last year, but he declined to join the post. He had cited “personal reasons” for declining the offer in his letter to Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal. Some Jammu-based groups had been opposed to the appointment of a non-Jammuite as vice chancellor of Central University. They had targeted Mattoo in particular and opposed his appointment.
HP to fund innovative projects for teachers, students
HP along with the International Society for Technology in Education has organised a three day long first ever “HP Catalyst Summit” in New Delhi. The international summit aims to accelerate collaboration and the success of the funded projects. The summit is strategically located in India to encourage dialog and collaboration between the Catalyst delegates and education experts/leaders in India.
Expanding its commitment to education, HP also announced plans to initially invest US$1 million in support of a new Education Innovation Challenge Fund for India, led by a consortium of leading education organizations in India. The fund will grant public and private (not-for-profit) education institutions the opportunity to pursue novel approaches to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning for the 21st century. Madhav Chavan, CEO and President of Pratham Education Foundation, Ashok Kamath, Chairman of Akshara Foundation, and Sridhar Rajagopalan, Managing Director of Education Initiatives, are serving in an advisory role as the fund gets established at an independent non-governmental organization (NGO).
The goal is to operationalize the fund by August 2011 and encourage other private sector organisations to support and promote innovations in STEM education through similar donations of cash, equipment and expertise. “HP is committed to empowering students and teachers globally improve the models of STEM education and enable them to address some of the bigger social challenges around the world and in their communities. The Education Innovation Challenge Fund is meant to motivate institutions and students to think out-of-the-box for solutions and ideas that are both collaborative and creative in furthering STEM education in India,” said Jeannette Weisschuh, Director of Global Education Programs, Office of Global Social Innovation, HP.
The summit is focusing on topics such as the effective use of tablet PCs for teaching and learning, cloud computing in education and converting textbooks into a social media platforms for conversations and assessment. Agastya International Foundation will also be conducting a hands-on mobile science learning event to families and students in Delhi. Outcomes of the HP Catalyst Summit will be captured in a special report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The HP Catalyst Summit builds on previously announced education initiatives in India such the HP Lab-in-Box in 2011 and BASE Sankya Learning Laboratory.
JNU VC skeptical on entry of Foreign Institutions in India
The recently appointed vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), SK Sopory has expressed reservation on the proposed Foreign Institutions Bill. Sopory pointed out areas of concern in the bill before the parliamentary standing committee on HRD, which met to discuss the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010. The proposed bill allows foreign education institutions to set up their campus in the country. According to sources, Professor Sopory said that there were concerns about the lack of a level playing field for Indian educational institutions. The availability of teachers, the differential salary structure and the impact it would have on existing domestic institutions, curriculum for these institutes and the fees to be charged by the foreign education institutes were among the issues that the JNU VC raised. Political parties like the BJP and the Left have also been opposing the bill stating it will harm the country's education system. They have argued that the government should firstly tackle the issue of faculty crunch and ensure quality among domestic private players before opening the education sector for foreign institutions. It is to be noted that the opposition is not coming just from the rival parties even Congress MP Keshav Rao has also raised concerns on teacher availability. The Congress MP from Rajya Sabha, said that foreign universities will hire the best teaching talent of the country with attractive pay packages and facilities affecting Indian universities adversely. According to sources, Rao has said that bill in its current form had no safeguards for domestic institutions.The panel may take up clause-wise discussion to find ways to address the concerns.
