Management Development Institute (MDI), one of India's premier B-school, has appointed Prof Vinod K Gupta as the officiating director of the institute wef 11 Oct 2010. Prof Gupta's name was chosen by the board members of MDI after accepting Prof. B S Sahay resignation from the position. Prof Sahay served as director of the institute for 18 months. Prof V K Gupta is a well known professor of Human Resource and Management (HRM) and has been associated with MDI for the last 20 years. Prior to joining academia Prof. Gupta had a successful career in the industry. After completing his engineering in Aeronautics he joined DRDO as a scientist and also did his Masters in Engineering while in service. He worked on large projects in the organization and was also involved in Recruitment
Training attended by 57 Senior High School teachers in West Jakarta
West Jakarta saw attendance of 57 senior high school teachers for an in-house training programme held in SMAN 94 Jakarta, Semanan, Kalideres, West Jakarta to improve their quality and competence. By this program, teachers are expected to be able to apply the training material in making the learning module and student worksheet (LKS) as well as in preparing the teaching material based on Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
The training enables teachers to write the exam grids as well. It was reported that the training being conducted is based on Regional Budget (APBD) 2010 in the form of block grant fund of senior high school in Jakarta. A number of private senior high schools and equivalent levels near SMAN 94 Jakarta, such as Madrasah Aliyah Annida Al Islami, Santo Leo Senior High School, and Kalam Kudus Senior High School were invited to become participants. Abdul Hamid, Head of West Jakarta Sub-dept. of Secondary Education (Dikmen), explained that from his end all the activities that aim to improve the quality and competence of teachers are being supported.
2010 to see Foreign Universities campuses in India
Diverse nationalities aren't a common feature even in India's top educational institutions, the IITs and IIMs. However, a mixed campus could Vital facts of foreign study loans well become a reality when the international universities come to India, particularly because these schools aren't planning to price themselves out of the reach of locals. As they have done in Singapo re , most foreign varsities will bring down the price tag involved in getting a foreign degree, largely thanks to the lower cost of living and ancillary expenses in India. But, more interestingly, they will also have fees that match those charged by private institutes in India, said HRD minister Kapil Sibal. In a complete turn-around of the government's stand on foreign universities, Sibal said that foreign institutes coming here would be considered on par with private unaided universities.
However, the accreditation and assessment agency that will monitor the quality of Indian institutes will also rate the international universities. The Foreign Education Providers' Bill is likely to be presented in the upcoming Parliament session in November, Sibal added University presidential delegations from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and Purdue have come to India in the past few years to learn more about and from the country. Last week, a team from Imperial College met Sibal and also visited Maharashtra. Several foreign universities keen on coming to India have already moved beyond the spadework. To mark its presence in the financial capital, this Canada-based management school is offering MBA programmes by partnering with the S P Jain Institute of Management and Research. If all goes as planned, the world will be in the classroom called India by 2010.
Induction programme at Bhalessa by IGNOU
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) recently organized an induction programme at its Special Study Centre at Bhalessa. Students, who got admission in different academic courses of IGNOU, attended the Induction Session.K.K. Bhat, Regional Director, IGNOU, focused on the diversified delivery system adopted by IGNOU HQs and Regional Centre Jammu. Referring to vast scope of computer education, he said the revolution of Information Technology holds a bright future for computer professionals. Sadaket Malik Coordinator of the centre in Bhalessa praised the IGNOU for taking up the massive programme of education through it unique system, which do not require elaborate and costly infrastructure. Malik assured IGNOU of all cooperation in providing support service to the students who have opted for some computer course. K.K. Bhat assured that BCA and MCA classes will be started in this centre keeping in view the demand of the students of the area.
12 hopefuls undergo open source certification exams at Philippines
Expertise in the area of Free/ Open Source Software (F/OSS) platforms and applications was examined for twelve hopefuls from state colleges and universities. This was commenced under the iSchools Project, which supports establishment of computer labs in public high schools by using non-proprietary platforms and applications. iSchool Project's objective is to promote the use of virtually inexpensive yet highly functional F/OSS platforms. The iSchools Project, through its Training component, coordinated with the Digital Data Corporation (DDC) to conduct this certification exam.
The Open International Computer Driving License (ICDL) certification examinations was held on October 9, 2010 at the seminar room of CICT-NCC building from 7:30 AM until 5:00 PM. Participants included instructors from Western Philippine University, Aklan State College, Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University and Cavite State University, all of which happen to be partners of the iSchools Project. The themes covered in the exams included ICT concepts, computer file management and basic user operations for OpenOffice Writer, Impress, and Calc. There were a total of 5 exam modules, which were administered using laptops loaded with Ubuntu/ Edubuntu operating systems. The ICDL exam will also help provide opportunities and build the ICT capacities of its partner state universities and colleges.
UGC training for turning teachers into managers
Guidelines have been prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on 'Training and Development of Academic Administrators in Higher Education'. The objective of these guidelines is to bring professionalism in the management of universities and colleges. The guidelines direct institutions across the country to develop training models to equip the existing staff with modern managerial tools.
The training will be imparted in four categories namely
Maharashtra first state to come up with PPP school
Maharashtra will be the first state to use PPP model for education, since the Congress-led Democratic Front government has drafted an ambitious public-private partnership plan to set up a network of English-medium 'model schools' for providing 'world-class education'' across the state. There was a steady deterioration detected in the quality of education traced to a resource crunch, lack of availability of competent manpower and inadequate technology. It is now being aimed that with shared capital, professional skills and availability of modern technology ideal schools will be set up under PPP model to bring good quality changes in the K12 education system.
Ratan Tata receives Yale Legend Leadership Award
Ratan Tata, Tata Sons Chairman will be honoured with the Yale School of Management's prestigious 'Legend in Leadership' award in Mumbai later this month. The award will be given at the conference in Mumbai on October 25, in presence of renowned business leaders. Organised by the Yale School of Management, the conference will see the world business leaders discussing 'Leading Global Enterprises across Global Cities: Aspirations, Realities and Alternatives.'
Besides Tata, the participants in the summit include Rajan Mittal of Bharti Airtel, Udayan Sen of Deloitte India, FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra; K.K. Modi of Modi Enterprises; India John Flannery of General Electric India China; Rakesh Mohan former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India; Rajeev Dubey, President of Mahindra & Mahindra, and Shachindra Nath of Religare Enterprises. Past winners of the Yale Legend in Leadership Award include Alan Mulally of the Ford Motor Company, Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase, Robert Iger of The Walt Disney Corporation, and so on.
IBM to create a research lab at Melbourne University
IBM has announced its support for building a new state-of-the-art research facility at Melbourne University in order to help conduct disease research, enhance resources in area of biotechnology and advance knowledge of the environment and agricultural sustainability.
Scheduled to open in the first quarter of next year, the new facility will be the first IBM global research and development laboratory anywhere in the world, and is expected to lead to the creation of around 150 new research jobs over the next five years.
Recruiters in ICT industry face skills shortage
One of the ICT recruitment firms reported that the Australian ICT industry is facing an acute shortage of 2700 computing professionals, adding to a looming skills shortage. In line with the data gathered from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Department Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), national workforce supply fell by 7200 employees in the July to September quarter. Companies were demanding 5200 less workers in the quarter, but a shortfall of 2700 professionals remained in the sector.
According to the findings given in the latest Clarius Skills Index (PDF), it became apparent that a possible oversupply of skills in the previous two quarters had caused the shortfall while Candle executive general manager, Linda Trevor, described that the shortage could have taken place due to the lead up and delays of the Federal Election on 21 August. As a result of the forecast skills shortage, IT managers have been warned not to be complacent about their staff, and advised to respond to staff needs in order to keep them in a competitive environment where loyalty is faltering. Additionally, employers are making efforts in direction to convert their contractual staff into permanent employees to safeguard their business, with a recent survey from Hudson ICT finding hiring confidence in the IT industry has grown to net 44 %, indicating employer's intentions to increase permanent staff levels in the coming quarter.
