Aakash Educational, a Delhi-based ed-tech company is all set to acquire a 66% stake in ed-tech platform Meritnation. Currently, it is held by Info Edge (India) Ltd.
This is the first acquisition deal for Aakash after it has lifted up investments from private equity firm Blackstone in October 2019.
Aakash Chaudhry, CEO, Aakash Educational said that “The acquisition will help the company to accelerate progress in the digital side of the business. Additionally, Chaudhry believes that Meritnation will help Aakash in strengthening offline offerings of Aakash across the classroom centres.
“We are continuing to evaluate several acquisition opportunities in the ed-tech space as part of our digital growth strategy, so that we can make our well-crafted student performance journey more productive,” he added.
Noida-based InfoEdge has invested around Rs 150 cr in Meritnation and has been an investor in Meritnation since 2008 and had invested last in 2017.
In India’s ed-tech space, Meritnation competes with the likes of Byju’s, ExtraMarks, EduIsFun, among others. Recently, Eduisfun had raised $28 Mn (INR 200 Cr) from angel investors such as HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, actor Amitabh Bachchan, Ogilvy Group chief creative officer Piyush Pandey and PwC partner – assurance Russel Parera.
In 2007, Merination was founded by Pavan Chauhan and Ritesh Hemrajani, an alumnus from IIM Bangalore. This online platform offers online video courses for K-12 students across various educational boards like CBSE, ICSE and State Boards such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
With an aim to promote value education in the society, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said that his government would appoint a committee with former DGPs and spiritual gurus to ensure that educational institutions are imparting moral education.
Rao has expressed the government’s commitment for providing value based education in schools from the upcoming academic year.
“Unfortunately, criminality is on increase in the present-day society. In some incidents, humans behave like wild animals. There is an urgent need to stop the spread of criminality,” he said.
“We will start teaching proper lessons, which will pave way for a better society, and this will start from the coming academic year,” said the CM according to an official press release.
Rao said there was nothing wrong in taking tough action for the purpose of protecting good in society. As per him, the police is in the state are discharging social responsibilities without confining themselves to maintenance of law and order.
Talking about changing the society, Rao wants to change the condition of the Dalits who are still found to be among the poor in various parts of the country,
Commenting on the same, he said, “The Telangana government is supporting the efforts of the secretary to Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society R S Praveen Kumar in educating and uplifting the Dalits.”
Online registration for NEET UG 2020 will end today. Interested applicants can fill the online application form for NTA NEET 2020 on the official website, ntaneet.nic.in. The NEET UG 2020 will be conducted on May 3.
The NEET UG 2020 shall be conducted in 11 languages, including English and Hindi. As per the previous notice, the NEET UG online registration process was extended to January 6, 2020, from December 31, 2019.
NEET 2020 registration process: Here’s how to apply
Log on ntaneet.nic.in, the official website for NTA NEET 2020
On the homepage, click on the link which says, “NEET (UG) – 2020” registrations
Make your login account by entering all the required details
Upload all the required documents and pay the application fees
Click on submit button
NEET UG 2020 Fees to be paid by the applicants:
General/Unreserved: 1,500
General-EWS/ OBC-NCL: 1,400
SC/ST/PwD/Transgender: Rs 800
NEET UG 2020: Important things to remember:
Photographs, signature, left-hand thumb impression, and class 10th certificate requirements
The scanned image of the passport size photograph of the candidate should be in JPG/JPEG format and Image size should be between 10Kb to 200Kb
The scanned image of the signature of the candidate should be in JPG/JPEG format and Image size should be between 4Kb to 30Kb
The scanned image of left-hand thumb impression of the candidate should be in JPG format and Image size should be between 10Kb to 50Kb” The Scanned image of Class 10th Certificate of the candidate should be in JPG format and Image size should be between 100Kb to 300Kb
The scanned image of the postcard size photograph of the candidate should be in JPG format and Image size should be between 50Kb to 300Kb.
The National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (UG) 2020 (NEET (UG) – 2020) will be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to MBBS/BDS Courses and other undergraduate medical courses in approved /recognised Medical/Dental and other Colleges in India including the Institutions established under an Act of Parliament i.e. AIIMS and JIPMER Puducherry.
India recently celebrated 189th birth anniversary of the country’s first female teacher Savitribai Phule. Born on January 3, 1831, in Satara-Maharasthra, Savitribai Phule, along with her husband, Jyotiba Phule, played an important role in improving women’s rights in India. She is regarded as the mother of Indian feminism.
Savitribai and her husband founded the first Indian girls’ school at Pune in 1848. Furthermore, she worked to abolish discrimination and unfair treatment of people based on caste and gender. Due to her progressive efforts in bringing reforms to the society, she is regarded as an important figure of the social reform movement in Maharashtra.
Savitribai is credited with becoming the Principal of the first girl child school in the country. She didn’t only work for women’s rights but also took effective steps to stop female infanticide. She not only campaigned but also opened an ashram (shelter) for newborn girls.
Savitribai Phule was married to Jyotiba Phule at the age of 9. Her husband Jyotiba Phule was a social worker and writer. When a teacher could not be found to teach the girls, Savitribai herself took the initiative and started teaching-in and managing the school.
They faced a lot of obstacles in their work from the start but Jyotiba and Savitribai did not waver and went on to open many more girl schools. It is said that when Savitribai went to teach girls, people used to throw dirt, mud, cow dung and on the way. She had to carry a spare sari in her bag and after reaching school she used to change the dirty sari.
Savitribai Phule was also a prolific author and poet. She published Kavya Phule in 1854 and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar in 1892, and also a poem entitled “Go, Get Education” in which she encouraged those who are oppressed to free themselves by obtaining an education.
As a result of her experience and work, she became an ardent feminist. She established the Mahila Seva Mandal to raise awareness for issues concerning women’s rights and called for a gathering place free of caste discrimination or differentiation of any kind. She also campaigned against child marriage and was an advocate of widow remarriage.
The results of computer-based Common Admission Test (CAT) 2019 are going to be released in the second week of January 2020, as per the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) CAT’s official website.
Candidates who appeared for the examination can check their scorecards on the official website of IIM CAT – https://iimcat.ac.in. The candidates may also be intimated by SMS.
According to the website, the CAT 2019 score will be valid only till December 31, 2020, after which no queries will be entertained related to the issuance of scorecards. The IIMs conducted CAT 2019 on Sunday, November 24, 2019.
Here are some steps that can be followed to download the CAT 2019 scorecard –
India has become the digital capabilities hub of the world, with around 75 percent of global digital talent present in the country.
We’re continually working towards creating new technologies. It’s an indisputable fact that currently our world runs and will keep running on computers and workstations. With the current technological upgradations taking place around the world, there are two major branches of technology that are growing at a fast pace – Information Technology and Computer Science.
Aravind Kumar Rajendran, CEO, KGiSL Institute of Technology
However, from an academic front, it’s difficult for aspirants to choose between these two booming fields. A layman tends to consider Computer Science and Information Technology as the same. In reality, there exists a substantial distinction between them. Each specialty focuses on specific aspects of the domain, and similarly, the career paths within these three areas also vary considerably.
To help you choose a career path that’s apt for you and your aspirations, here are the major differences between these fields along with the career paths that each has to offer:
Computer Science (CS)
Definition: Designing and developing processes for creating computer programs, applications, or theories and making them usable. Experts in this field are responsible for testing and writing logic-based codes.
The Computer Science domain consists of more tasks and functions related to software as compared to hardware. Computer Science students learn about various subjects related to software and software development. Professionals in this area deal with computing concepts, database systems, programming languages, and program creation. They usually tend to work alone, rather than with a team.
To develop solutions for computer-related queries, individuals usually need to understand a problem from a theoretical point of view and then work on solving the problem through programming. Computer Science comprises of three major categories:
Designing and building software
Developing efficient processes to resolve questions in computing
Creating more reliable ways to utilize computers.
The field pays particular focus on addressing the challenges in the areas of robotics, digital forensics, and computer vision. An important point to note is that Computer Science is mostly math-focused, and while moving from practical CS to theoretical CS, this dependence intensifies.
Careers in Computer Science (CS)
Computer Science (CS) is a quickly expanding field and is expected to see substantial increases in employment opportunities. Careers in the computer science field for candidates with a Bachelor’s degree include Software Engineer, Programmer Analyst, Software Developer, Cognitive Software Developer, etc.
Individuals with a Master’s degree can take up job roles such as Computer Scientist, Mobile Applications Developer, Software Developer Engineer (SDE), UNIX System Administrator and more.
After completing a Ph.D. in this field, candidates can pursue career opportunities like Associate/Assistant Professor in The Computer Science Department, Senior Software Engineer, Data Scientist, Software Manager, Principal Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence Scientist, among others.
Information Technology (IT)
Definition: The applications of computer programs and networks that help solve business intricacies and processes. Most professionals in the IT industry interact with other individuals, whether in-person, via email, or over the phone. Their ultimate goal is assisting others in solving technological problems.
Information Technology (IT) is a moniker to information systems or systems administration. The IT field usually deals with programs that are created to assist in organizing and analyzing data. The area comprises of five major components: software, hardware, network, database, and people. IT professionals are usually proficient in using technologies pertaining to a particular field.
Essential skills required before proceeding into the field include coding, information technology security and safety, analytics, social media, online collaboration, basic picture editing, and managing information on online platforms.
Information Technology (IT) encompasses all the technologies a business uses and how they utilize them. This includes aspects of hardware, software, cloud computing, and computing. Those working in the IT domain find themselves working together with some or all of these components and often communicate directly with the people they’re aiding.
Careers in Information Technology (IT)
At each level, from local stores to multinational corporations, businesses are in dire need of Information Technology solutions and professionals. The IT sector in India expanded at a CAGR of 10.71% to US$ 167 billion in FY18 from US$ 74 billion in FY10. It is estimated that the size of the industry will grow to US$ 350 billion by 2025. In the coming years, job opportunities in the IT sector are expected to rise faster than the average growth of other industries. Depending on your level of education, a degree in IT can present a satisfying career arc.
If an individual holds a Bachelor’s degree, they become eligible for diverse job profiles such as a Software Developer, IT Technology Consultant, Computer Forensic Analyst, IT Business Analyst, Computer Network Architect. Those who have completed their Master’s degree, benefit with more varied job options such as IT Acquisition Specialist, Director Of IT, HIM Analyst/Systems Engineer, and IT Tech Support. If you’re armed with a Ph.D., then you can also choose to work as a Senior Systems Engineer, Senior Software Engineer, Meteorologist, Information Systems Engineer, Analytics Manager, and more.
To sum it up, with constantly growing digital capabilities in India, there will always be room for individuals having a knack for learning more about computers and their varied fields. When it comes to choosing between Computer Science and IT, you really can’t go wrong because both fields lead to a thriving career profile in advancing industries.
NEET PG Admit Card for entrance examination 2020 has been released by National Board of Examination (NBC). Candidates can check for details on its official website nbe.edu.in.
Candidates who have registered successfully for the NEET PG examination can download the admit card on its official website nbe.edu.in.
According to an official statement, “Candidates are required to paste their latest photograph in the prescribed space in the Admit Card and report to the examination centre within prescribed time along with documents as mentioned in the Admit Card and Information Bulletin.”
There is a popular notion that employees need up-skilling because of the coming of disruptive technologies like AI and ML in the market. But in reality, most employers are looking for soft skills as a priority, writes Debajyoti Mohanty of Elets News Network (ENN).
T he future of work demands that organizations invest in creating a culture where creativity thrives, collaboration is facilitated, communication is encouraged, and the employee is made to feel content with his work. The current trend requires this cultural shift to be driven top-down with the effective involvement of employees.
The HR can perform this role by leveraging its learning and development (L&D) capabilities. L&D is a crucial component of HR, but the dynamic nature of this component makes it prone to redundancy, if not upgraded well. In recent times, employees have emphasised more on L&D than their employers. With this development, it has become imperative to find new ways to fulfil this demand. And by doing so, HR has a good opportunity to improve their existing L&D infrastructure.
As per a report, 67% of the surveyed employees wanted re- training and 29% wanted up-skilling or re-training only if they were struggling with a skills gap. Though there has been remarkable increase in the demand for skills concerning AI and automation, soft skills still hold a vital position when it comes to requirements.
There is a popular notion that employees need up-skilling because of the coming of disruptive technologies like AI and ML in the market. But in reality, most employers are looking for soft skills as a priority. Soft skills like adaptability and the ability to work with teams have become necessary. Coming after soft skills on the chart, digital skills were ranked the second most important. Behavioural and creative skills are becoming important because it is impossible to steer through the fast-evolving job market without having critical thinking, a problem- solving attitude, and creativity. Therefore, both soft and digital skills have to be nurtured in order to maintain relevance.
According to a survey, 73% employees think that for a smooth job transition, the employer should provide assistance in building skills, and that it was a major factor deciding their stay at the company. From a 2020 employee’s viewpoint, it is problematic to direct all their education and career growth efforts towards only one organisation. Instead they are keener to gain knowledge and expertise that will help them steer across the industry seamlessly. Therefore, the demand for up-skilling and re-training is for both for better functioning in the present organisation and for adding more value to the employee’s resume.
Unfortunately, there is not much enthusiasm among employers regarding the employee demands for re-training and up-skilling, and also in identifying the skills gap.
The latest challenge for organisations is to make new strategies for their workforce management. It is not just about re-training; it is also about motivating the talent and formulating new approaches to recruiting. To make these strategic changes, the organisations need to consider re-training as a way to level up their organisation’s expertise, instead of looking at it as a way to fill the skills gap. L&D efforts must be directed towards adding value to the organisation, instead of targeting reduction of employee turnover overheads.
A meeting room filled with bored-to-tears employees, is not how re-training works anymore. Many organisations are considering leveraging technology as much as possible for re-training. From the old method of providing self-study modules to connecting with overseas employees for training and exposure, L&D has come a long way forward. It is no longer supposed to be a one-time thing; the frequency has to be matched with the increasing complexity of the organisation and the market. Frequent scheduling of re-training and up-skilling programmes is becoming popular these days.
2020 is expected to be a year for employers to deal with the demands of re-training and up-skilling. The situation also presents an opportunity for the employers to sharpen their competitive advantage. It is hoped that the year will bring on a state of affairs where learning and training will no longer have any time gaps in-between.
NEET UG Exam 2020 application submission has been extended by the National Testing Agency (NTA) to January 6. The registration facility will be open till 11.50 and candidates who have not applied for the exam can do fill and submit their applications now.
NEET Undergraduate exam 2020 will be held on May 3, 2020 in 11 languages including English and Hindi.
Apart from the extension in submission, no further changes in the exam schedule have been made by NTA. Candidates will be allowed to edit their application forms from January 15 to January 31.
During this period, students who will be appearing for the 12th examination in 2020 are eligible to apply. The lower age limit to appear for the examination is 17 years and upper age limit is 25 years.
A relaxation of 5 years has been extended to the candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC-NCL category and PwD candidates appearing for NEET undergraduate exam 2020.
Admission to MBBS courses in AIIMS and JIPMER will also be held through NEET score, from this year. Until 2019, AIIMS and JIPMER had their own entrance exams for MBBS admission.
The application process for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 has been extended by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The registration facility will now remain open till 11:50 pm on January 6. Candidates can visit NTA NEET’s official website https://ntaneet.nic.in for registration.
NEET 2020 will be conducted by NTA on May 3 in a pen and paper-based mode. The admit card will be available from March 27 while the results will come out on June 4. Furthermore, the examination will be held in 11 languages including Hindi and English.
NTA does not appear to have made any changes to the exam schedule, according to which, the candidates would be able to edit their application forms between January 15 and 31.
Students aged between 17 and 15 years (+5 years for SC/ST/OBC-NCL/PwD candidates), and having English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology/Biotechnology as main subjects in Class 12 are eligible to apply.
A valid NEET score is required for admission to MBBS courses countrywide, including AIIMS and JIPMER.
