IIM Bangalore’s NSRCEL incubates eight startups

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September 19, 2017

IIM Bangalore’s N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) has selected eight startups under the social ventures programme for incubation over the next 18 months.

The early-stage organisations were inducted on September 15, 2017, in the presence of IIMB faculty, mentors and NSRCEL members. The premier management institute has launched the social ventures incubator – NSRCEL – in April this year, to nurture early stage non-profit organizations.

“A review system will be in place for periodic intervention to monitor your progress. We need to get into a far more frequent Q&A mode. There will be many speaker sessions and workshops to engage you in high gear. Access to online platforms will help boost interaction with a larger community. To make you successful is our own test as well,” said Rajiv Sawhney, Chief Operating Officer, NSRCEL.

To support early stage NGOs that are offered little or no technical assistance for fund raising, legal issues and operational challenges, the NSRCEL Social was set up at IIM Bangalore, said a statement from the management institute.

NSRCEL Social is among the first social incubators of the country established exclusively for non-profit organisations. The centre aims to help in creating a pool of high-performing organisations that can create large-scale social impact.

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation supports the social ventures incubation programme. The selected ventures will also be provided financial support of Rs 18 lakh along with incubation period of 18 months.

EduGorilla – Collaborative platform to guide individuals

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Akash

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September 19, 2017

EduGorilla is an online one stop education community that helps students in finding right Institute, answers to their queries, read reviews and download study material, says Rohit Manglik, CEO, EduGorilla, in an interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

EduGorilla being one stop community for students has partnered with colleges, universities and corporate across the globe. How do you think, it will benefit the Indian learners?

In 21st Century, growth cannot be measured in isolation but how well an entity can integrate with existing products. It’s the same case with EduGorilla, we are fostering a dialogue between stakeholders of Indian education landscape by bringing them on a common platform, them. We also offer a range of products that aid students to choose a career, college or course, they should pursue. Through our portal, learners will be able to get wide horizon of choices and can use their cognitive abilities to make informed decisions regarding their career.

Which education segments do EduGorilla majorly focus on and what are your product offerings in these segments?

EduGorilla is a one-stop solution for students from Class six to PhD level. Our product offerings include:

Free study material: EduGorilla currently offers around 30,000 free study materials for students preparing for entrance examinations (a total of 195) such as CAT, UPSC,CA,IIT JEE, GRE.

Directory Listing: Over 56,000 coaching institutes across 52 cities of India are included in the directory listing which is the largest in India. It covers educational preparation centres almost at every corner of the country.

Questions and Answers: EduGorilla hosts a diverse community of students, subject matter experts, professionals, counsellors, and faculty from Schools, Colleges and Universities. It helps individuals with their career needs and queries. A “Reputation” feature has been embedded so that those seeking answers to their career–related queries can be helped to decide with confidence.

Articles: EduGorilla portal currently hosts over 5000 articles on various courses, coaching institutes, competitive examinations and trends in the educations sector to help students make informed decisions.

How the technology has a positive impact on education and how it can enhance the level of education in rural areas?

Though EdTech has only 1.8 per cent contribution in $100 billion worth of education sector in India, it is gradually expanding its wings and students are gradually adopting the trend. One of the major advantages of adoption of technology in education is that knowledge can be acquired on just a click of mouse even for a student belonging to remote areas of the country. e-learning creates extended classroom communities for discussions and virtual classrooms for interaction between students and teachers. The evolution of Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology with its benefits such as competitive cost, multicast capability, universal coverage and low cost and simple installation, can play an instrumental role in bridging the education gap in rural areas. Technology can be used to enable e-learning which also ensures a unique personalised experience to all students. In a conventional education model, this is only possible when a highly skilled tutor offers one-to-one tutorials. Thus technology offers tremendous scope especially in underdeveloped and developing countries, as it has the potential to raise a level of education, literacy and economic development.

What are the challenges that EduGorilla faces when it comes to aligning modern day technology and meeting student expectations?

One of the major challenges faced by EduGorilla is the slow adaptability of technology by stakeholders in the education sector. Though stakeholders in the education sector are technology literate yet they are reluctant to adopt technology. Another challenge is to reach out to rural areas which are confronted with problems of erratic power supply and low internet penetration.

Digital India and Skill India are two most ambitious projects of the Government of India, what are your plans to skill the students and digitise the education system?

EduGorilla doesn’t skill the students directly but acts as a bridge between knowledge seekers and providers. We firmly believe that classroom and e-learning learning should complement each other rather than replace each other to improve the whole ecosystem.

What are EduGorilla’s plans for upcoming years in the education space?

Currently, we are working to launch a set of free psychometric tests on our portal. It will be a big change in the education sector as conventional players charge hefty amount for such offerings. In long–run, we foresee ourselves impacting the career of over 10 lakh students in India through our product offerings.

JEE Advanced 2018 likely to be conducted online on May 20

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September 18, 2017

Post-Graduation Institute Of Medical Science Conducts Entrance Exams For MBBS Courses — ROHTAK, INDIA - JULY 1: Post-graduation institute of medical science conducted the entrance exams for MBBS courses in PGI campus on July 1, 2012 in Rohtak, India. Students while taking exams at a exam centre. (Photo by Manoj Dhaka / Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The Indian Institute of Technology – Kanpur will conduct the Joint Entrance Exam (Advanced) 2018 on May 20.

Till last year, the JEE Advanced was conducted in Pen and Paper based mode but from this year, the exam is likely to to be held through online mode or Computer Based test (CBT) from next year onwards.

Last month IIT-Madras Director and Chairman Joint Admission Board 2017, Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi said, “It has been decided that the JEE (Advanced) will be conducted in online mode from 2018 onwards.”

In order to avoid the confusion among students about JEE Advanced 2018, the board revealed that the final decision may come soon for the mode of the exam.

JEE (Advanced) is the second stage of the exam conducted for admission to undergraduate courses (BTech/BE) at IITs across the country. It is conducted by any zonal IIT in rotation each year. JEE Main is the preliminary stage of it, which is conducted for the admission to NITs, IIITs, and Central and State government funded institutions. JEE (Mains) is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

IIT Kharagpur students received over 200 pre-placements offers

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September 14, 2017

IIT Kharagpur students have received over 200 Pre-Placement Offers (PPOs) by top notch MNCs. The placement season at the institute will begin on 1 December, 2017.

Renowned MNCs like Goldman Sachs, Samsung, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Adobe Systems, Wipro, each of them has offered more than 10 PPOs to students, stated IIT Kharagpur spokesperson. The large number of placement offerings are being received by students as a result of summer internships taken up by the students.

“This is an encouraging sign for us that companies recognise our students’ hard work and motivation during the internship”, Professor in-charge of the IIT-KGP Career Development Centre Prof Debasis Deb said.

According to Deb, factors such as wide choices in course curriculum available through flexible academic programmes, dedicated and experienced faculty members and a strong network of alumni is the reason of high demand of students among the MNCs.

Also, pre-final year students of the IIT-KGP has received more than 200 internship offers for the summer of 2018, the spokesperson said.

Swachhta Rankings 2017: Javadekar to announce for higher education institutions

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Akash

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September 14, 2017

Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar has announced the Swachhta Ranking 2017 for Higher Education Institutes.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education) Dr Satyapal Singh also attended the programme. Around 3500 institutes participated in the rankings of which 174 were shortlisted. 25 out of the 174 shortlisted higher education institutes have been selected for the top rankings.

The ranking are assigned to the institute under the categories such as cleanliness standards, cleaning systems, waste disposal methods, greenery in the institute campus, and campus accessibility.

Other than institute, The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also released a list of top 5 districts for outstanding co-ordination with the higher education institutes in the district under the Clean India Movement. These five districts are: Medak, Telangana; Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh; Ajmer, Rajasthan; Warangal (Urban), Telangana; Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Earlier in September, MHRD had announced “Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar” earlier in September. Over 2,60,000 schools from across the country had voluntarily participated in the competition.

IIM Bangalore to open India-Japan Study Centre

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September 14, 2017

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore on Thursday will inaugurate the India-Japan Study Centre in its campus.

The Centre aims to strengthen economic and educational ties through teaching, research, and policy outreach efforts.

“The India-Japan Study Centre will act as a platform for intellectual gathering. Scholars, students, government agencies and industry leaders of the two countries will come together to promote bilateral understanding and research,” said Krishna Sundar D, IIMB Production and Operations faculty and Chair of the India-Japan Study Centre.

IIMB director G Raghuram said the India-Japan Study Centre will play a vital role in promoting cooperation and educational ties between the two countries. “There is a lot to learn from Japan on infrastructure and technology fronts management. And we can offer them insights of India’s startup culture.”

According to reports, IIMB is planning to offer dual degree programs in association with Hitotsubashi University and other universities in Japan. The institution is also planning to offer customised electives and immersion programmes for exchange students of the partnering universities. Moreover, An Executive General Management Program (EGMP) for executives in Japanese companies in India may also be offered.

Dr Abdulla Al Karam: Spectrum of education should diversify as per future need

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September 13, 2017

Technology is embracing all aspects of the society and its interface is diversifying industry needs and skill sets at a major level, according to Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

In order to make it relevant for future jobs, Dr Abdulla feels there is need to make education futuristic.

Last year, while addressing a session at the World Education Summit, Dubai, organised by Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, Dr Abdulla quoted the facts and the figures from a report called “Future of Jobs”- published by the World Economic Forum, he said, “By the year 2020, regular feature of our daily life would be self-driving cars, computers. Our devices would start communicating with each other. So your refrigerator will communicate with your phone and when you will be near the super market it will remind you to refill your groceries.”

“Advanced robotics, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are not too far away from now and in fact a lot of decision making and analytical skill that we have learnt to develop at school will be done by machines for us,” he added.

Dr Abdulla said it opens up a “new opportunity in the job market and this is the most important part of the report that says 65 per cent of children who are going to primary schools today will end up working in jobs that don’t exist now”.

“65 out of 100 kids will be working in jobs that we have actually no idea about,” he added.

“This report identifies the top skills the schools need to implement and the top three of them are problem-solving, critical thinking and last but the most important creativity,” he explained.

Explaining the importance of human connect, he said, “In an age where we have computers and machines to manage almost all our aspects of life, the skill we would need the most is about connecting closely to each other to experience of just being human,”

Mentioning about the motive of KHDA and the role of happiness in imparting education, he said, “When we are talking about education it is important to think about the happiness of kids. We do care about attainment and the numbers but building characters of our students is also pivotal for us.”

“Our recent survey shows 85 per cent of children in Dubai are happy. This includes students from all the curriculums across Dubai,” he added.

“Learning from an initiative being executed in Singapore, schools in Dubai are training their students to plant saplings in the school garden and grow their own vegetables. This is how we are establishing a relationship between them and the soil,” Dr Abdulla added.

UGC invites applications from institutes seeking ‘Institutions of Eminence’ status

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September 13, 2017

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is now accepting applications from varsities and institutes seeking the “Institutions of Eminence” status.

It is a part the flagship project of Ministry of Human Resource Development for internationalisation of Indian campuses and creating world class universities. The project envisions establishment of 20 world-class institutions, including 10 public and the rest private.

The application window will remain open for three months.

Kewal Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of HRD said, “By March-April 2018, 20 institutions – 10 each from public and private category will be according the status of “Institutions of Eminence” with a mandate to achieve world- class status over a period of 10 years.”

The institutions which can apply are divided into three categories – government educational institutions, private higher educational institutions and sponsoring organisation for setting up of private institutions.

The HRD Ministry will set up an expert committee to process the applications. The process of shortlisting the institutions is likely to be completed by March-April 2018.

The “Institutions of Eminence” are proposed to have greater autonomy compared to other higher education institutions.

According to reports, the government will invest Rs 10,000 crore in 10 public higher education institutions. The investment will be done over a period of 10 years, which is over and above the regular grants.

Develop Startup Culture, VTU tells its Engineering colleges

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Akash

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September 11, 2017

Engineering colleges, affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belgaum, are advised to follow best practices especially in incubating startup culture like renowned institutions like IIMs do.

Prof Karisiddappa, vice chancellor of VTU, has given a piece of advise to principals of engineering colleges affiliated to the university recently and also asked them to provide better resources and needful information to students and even help with necessary funds for eligible initiatives.

Colleges have also been asked to conduct monthly meetings with student startups and submit a report to the varsity. It is mandatory for all affiliated engineering colleges to initiate these measures.

VTU is one of the largest technological Universities in India with 19 years of Tradition of excellence in Engineering and Technical Education, Research and Innovations. It came into existence in 1998 to cater the needs of Indian industries for trained technical manpower with practical experience and sound theoretical knowledge.

The University has very successfully achieved the tremendous task of bringing various colleges affiliated earlier to different Universities, with different syllabi, different procedures and different traditions under one umbrella. The university having 202 affiliated colleges, 1 constituent college and 17 Autonomous colleges with undergraduate courses in 35 disciplines, PG programme in 94 disciplines and Ph.D and M.Sc (Engg.) with research programmes in 592 departments, over 4 lakhs Engineering students study in the various institutes affiliated to the University.

On infrastructure, Prof Karisiddappa suggested e-lounges with comfortable seating for students, computer or laptop facilities and high speed Wi-Fi. This space will not be limited to students of that particular college in which it is built. Students from different colleges should be encouraged to brainstorm in these e-lounges.

However, apart from funding, even proving required infrastructure and teaching guides to nurture young startups will require hefty investment from colleges.

“It is the responsibility of colleges to provide the necessary infrastructure and financial assistance so that startups in colleges work like a mini-industry,” the VC said.

The VTU has also signed MoUs with international institutions such as Bosch Rexroth AG-Germany, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of California, T&R Consulting Pvt Ltd. Australia and corporate houses such as Autodesk, Deshpande Foundation-Startup Center, India Electronics and semiconductor Association, IBM India Ltd, Bengaluru, Intel Asia. Bengaluru, Ingersoll-Rand (India) Ltd. Bengaluru, ISRO, United Telecoms Ltd, Bengaluru, Infosys, Honeywell, Wipro, RGUHS, Air force test pilot School, Karnataka State Bio Fuel Development Board, Karnataka State Pollution Board, Construction Industry Development Council. New Delhi, International Institute of Industrial Safety Management College.

CGWB, IISc Bengaluru joins hands for development of ground water model

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September 9, 2017

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR, has inked an Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore for ‘Development of ground water flow models and preparation of aquifer management plans for parts of Karnataka’.

This mathematical model is being developed as a part of the aquifer mapping and management programme.

“It will render better understanding of existing ground water scenarios, predicting response of ground water system to various stress conditions expected to arise in the future,” the Ministry of Water Resources said, adding that it would also help develop effective management plans incorporating different demand and supply side interventions.

The study will cover an area of 48000 sqr.kms comprising Chikballapur and Kolar districts and parts of Bagalkot, Bangalore Rural, Belgaum, Bellary, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Gadag, Gulbarga and Yadgir districts.

The study has to be completed within a year. IISc will present an inception report and a final comprehensive report.

The ministry further said the inception report will include detailed work plan and timelines specific to the study area keeping in view the objectives, scope, methodology, timeline and deliverables outlined in the agreement.

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