Urban governance by IGNOU
New course in rehabilitation psychology and urban governance to create skilled manpower and train professionals have been designed and are soon to be implemented by the Indira Gandhi National Open University. The Post Graduate Diploma in Urban Governance, being launched in collaboration with Mumbai's All India Institute of Local Self Government, will upgrade the skills and knowledge of candidates employed in various urban local bodies and NGOs.
The post graduate diploma in rehabilitation psychology will train students to help people cope up with disability and its effects. It is expected to be beneficial for both field psychologists and fresh graduates willing to pursue a career in psychology.
Oracle partners with ICT Academy
A MoU has been signed between The Oracle Academy and ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu (ICTACT), to support over 400 colleges in Tamil Nadu through the Oracle Academy program. The Oracle Academy is a training program that provides global education institutions with software, curriculum, support, and certification resources that faculty can integrate into their classrooms. All the technical support, software, access to curriculum and faculty professional development to institutions enrolled in the Oracle Academy's Computer Science programmes is to be provided by The Oracle Academy, to benefit 250,000 students across the state within three years.
Currently, more than one million students in 91 countries are enrolled in the Oracle Academy program. In India, currently over 58,000 students from over 350 educational institutions benefit from the Oracle Academy program.
Abu Dabi schools get ADEC recommended International School Infrastructure Standards
A plan has been developed for facilitating development in schools by Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) that includes the construction of new world-class schools and the renovation of existing facilities. This summer, seven schools located in Abu Dhabi and one located in Al Ain, will undergo major infrastructural work. It was reported that H.E Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of ADEC mentioned that schools now created will have classrooms beyond traditional structures and are learning communities that are to have beneficial social, educational and sports activities.
It was explained by Engineer Hamad Al Dhaheri, ADEC's Facilities Management Division Manager, that the project will be managed by Musanada to ensure timely implementation in accordance with the best specifications.
Rolta Partners CBSE to educate students on Geospatial Technologies
Rolta announced that it has signed a formal MOU with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as the Resource Partner, for providing Geospatial Technology Vocation Course, for XI & XII standard students. Under this MOU Rolta will provide technical assistance, develop and create the curriculum, and also impart advanced training to CBSE teachers across the country. As part of the curriculum for Standards XI and XII, Rolta will provide Rolta Geomatica – one of the worlds best Geospatial Technologies. By undergoing the vocational course on Geospatial technologies, and especially using a product that is in use by thousands of professionals in over 135 countries around the world, Indian students will be able to acquire better understanding of the practical aspect of Geospatial Technologies, while teaching them real-life applications for overcoming real-world challenges.
Potentially there are about 11,000 CBSE schools who may want to introduce this course and Rolta is pleased to commit 11,000 software licenses of Rolta Geomatica. This is a potential donation of INR165 Crores at current license costs, and Rolta will work together with CBSE to provide this at almost no cost. Today, India needs a large number of professionals who are adept at understanding and harnessing Geospatial Technology for successfully designing and implementing nation building programs. This new Vocational Training course in Geospatial Technology is an initiative of the Human Resource Development ministry under the able leadership of Honble Minister Shri Kapil Sibal and the Government of India as a part of its vision for education sector and to provide employment for a large number of youth in the country.
K.K. Singh, Chairman and CEO of Rolta Group of Industries said, 'We are honored and privileged to be a part of the vision for educational reforms in India. By being an integral part of Geospatial Technology Vocational training for CBSE, I am certain that Rolta Geomatica platform will empower students to learn various aspects of Geospatial Technology. I am sure this initiative will go a long way in building up a critical mass that is required for the nation, enabling the country to rise up above the rest.'
FCS Software Solutions inaugurated its International Development Center
FCS Software Solutions Ltd, leading provider of IT services, formally inaugurated its International Development Center in India. Hon'ble Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, Shri Kantilal Bhuria, inaugurated the state-of-the-art center, which is spread over 25,000 sq feet in the Noida Special Economic Zone to cater to growing global demand. FCS Managing Director Dalip Kumar explained the importance of this IDC. He said, 'by migrating our client's expensive licensed software applications to high quality, highly secure Open Source solutions and technology we reduce their IT spending drastically. Not only this we also end up moving our clients from low availability applications environment to cloud computing linked hosted high availability SaaS application environment. What it also does is that it brings down our client's IT infrastructure budgets because our services are migrating them to fully hosted solutions from our global data center partner network.
World is in a transition phase as the computing power of hand held devices sharply increase more and more corporate users will move from a desktop associated environment to anywhere anytime work culture. We firmly believe that the next wave of productivity enhancement will come from mobile application. The center will house the company's first Center of Excellence in Mobile Technologies.' The facility will initially have 200 people and will grow to 400 people when fully functional. This facility has secure connectivity to company's global network and data center partner network with a host of advanced service offerings. Currently, FCS already has delivery centers in Noida , Gurgaon, Chandigarh and Dehra Dun that are built on company owned properties.
ETS Announces the Winners of the 2010 TOEFL Scholarship Program in India
Educational Testing Service (ETS) Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Walt MacDonald announced the winners of the 2010 TOEFL Scholarship Program in India at a press conference today. Established in August 2009, the scholarship program recognizes academic excellence by TOEFL test takers throughout India. ETS, the creator of the TOEFL test, honored seven high-performing Indian students, awarding US$50,000 for postgraduate study in 2010-2011. Three US$10,000 and four US$5,000 academic scholarships were awarded to students who were accepted at a college or university in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. The scholarship winners were from diverse regions of the country including Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Solapur. Of the seven TOEFL scholarship winners, three will be attending universities in the U.K., three will be studying in the U.S., and one will be pursuing academic study in Canada.
'It is a great honor to personally award and celebrate the outstanding achievements of the seven scholarship winners,' commented MacDonald. 'The TOEFL Scholarship Program in India stems from ETS's mission to promote equity and excellence in education. We hope that the scholarship program inspires other students in India to strive for academic excellence and pursue their educational goals.' Over 300 competitive applications were received for the 2010 TOEFL Scholarship program. The scholarship winners demonstrated an outstanding ability to communicate in English, effective leadership skills, and well-rounded balancing of strong academics and extra-curricular activities, such as community service. The ETS Scholarship and Recognition Programs (SRP) group, which annually administers millions of dollars in new and renewable awards in the United States and abroad, was involved in the coordination of the TOEFL Scholarship Program in India.
Toonz Academy ties up with Bharathiar University to offer BSc Animation
Toonz Academy Trivandrum, division of the award winning Toonz Animation studio based in Technopark, has entered in to an agreement with Bharathiar University, Coimbatore that entitles Toonz Academy to offer BSc (Animation) degree course of the university from academic year 2010-11. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed between Dr P Thirumanavalan, Registrar of the university and Mr RK Nair, President, Toonz Academy.
Apart from BSc (Animation) the MOU also covers Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Arts and Animation, Diploma in Digital Arts and Animation and many certificate programs. The curriculum for these courses, designed and developed by Toonz, and the infrastructure at the Academy has been approved by the university. Students undergoing these programs at Toonz Academy will get degrees and diplomas of the university, on successful completion of the course requirements.
'With this tie up with a State University we are giving the students the twin advantages of an industry designed and endorsed curriculum delivered in a studio environment and a formal degree from the university. It will now be easier for students to find jobs in the booming animation and multimedia industry and also pursue higher studies in India and abroad' said RK Nair. Toonz Academy will start taking admissions for the BSc(Animation) degree course for the academic year 2010-11 from 19th July 2010.
NBA and Mahindra partner to launch community five on five recreational basketball league
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Mahindra Group, one of India's largest and most respected companies, on March 9, 2009 announced a partnership to launch a new multi-city community-based recreational basketball league. The new league for boys and girls ages 14 and up will tip off in Bangalore, Ludhiana and Mumbai in collaboration with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). Mahindra will be the title partner of the new recreational league, Mahindra NBA Challenge, which will run for seven weeks annually in two divisions: youth ages 14-17 and adult 18+. The BFI will work with the NBA to implement and oversee league operations across all markets. The Mahindra NBA Challenge will provide basketball enthusiasts and newcomers to the game the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game and apply their skills in a fun, competitive environment. 'We at Mahindra & Mahindra are delighted to join hands with NBA for the development of Basketball in India. It is our on going endeavour to promote and help build a strong foundation for basketball. Mahindra NBA Challenge is a small step in this direction to help engage the youth at the grassroots and create awareness about the sport,' said Sriram Ramachandran, Sr. General Manager, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
After the great success in Mumbai the Mahindra NBA Challenge moves to Bangalore. Play will begin on July 17 when participating teams tip off at the Kanteerava Stadium courts in Bangalore. Individuals and teams interested in registering can visit www.nba.com/India/Mahindra. The Challenge will be structured as round-robin play with teams playing one game a week over a seven-week season. League champions will be decided in a weekend-long postseason knock-out tournament at the conclusion of the regular season in each city. 'Mahindra is the perfect partner for the creation of a new recreational basketball league for Indian fans,' said NBA Commissioner David Stern. 'The BFI, Mahindra and the NBA share a long-term commitment to growing the game in India and to using the values of our game to make a positive, lasting impact in Indian communities.' 'Basketball continues to grow in popularity across India and now youngsters in Bangalore, Ludhiana and Mumbai will have the opportunity to play in an organized league and further develop their skills,' said Harish Sharma, Secretary General of BFI. 'The launch by Basketball Federation of India and the NBA of the Mahindra NBA Challenge is very exciting and will help accelerate the basketball development of Indian youngsters.'
Indian trio among education experts to address Global Summit
A trio of Indian education experts are among an elite list set to address a global education summit in Bahrain this October, it was announced today. Kailash Satyarthi, President of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE); Kiran Bir Sethi, Founder of the Riverside School in Ahmedabad; and Sudhir Ghodke, Director of Educational Initiatives (EI), will join speakers from Harvard University, the European Commission, 10 Downing Street and Microsoft at the Education Project 2010. The second occasion of the annual event, initiated by His Royal Highness Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain and Chairman of the Kingdom's Economic Development Board (EDB), runs from 8-10 October.
Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the EDB which is organising the event, said, 'Education is the single most important factor in bringing stability, productivity and prosperity to all societies. Our goal in Bahrain in establishing the Education Project was to bring together an international community of educators. To have such experts from India on board, to offer their expertise in identifying practical solutions to address the gap in the global education system, will help to ensure a platform from which to further inspire positive change.'
Despite increased government spending, education outcomes worldwide have declined over time. The Education Project was established to share best practice and create a practical approach that educators can follow to make a difference. Hundreds of professionals from 36 countries joined together last year. In October, leading figures from academia, business and politics will again take the stage; Satyarthi, Sethi and Ghodke will offer valuable insight. Satyarthi's life and work has been the subject of much international acclaim. Synonymous with the crusade against child slavery, he played an important role in linking the fight against child labour with efforts for achieving the Dakar goals of 'Education for All'. He has previously addressed the UN General Assembly, UNESCO's High Level Group on Education and the biggest international congregations of teachers and students. Today he leads GCE's campaign for the mobilisation of global resources for basic education.
