Dr Ravi Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, digitalLEARNING magazine and Founder Publisher and CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd
While the ‘Make in India’ initiative of Government of India is inviting global participation in the manufacturing space, adding another dimension to the initiative is ‘Educate in India’ that will shape the future of the Indian education sector.
Reviving and changing focus on the Foreign Education Institutions Bill, Modi Government is now showing keen interest on the setting up of the foreign universities in the country. According to a proposal shared with the ministries of external affairs and human resource development, and NITI Aayog, foreign universities along with good quality Indian institutions will attract students and promote India as a hub in Asia for quality higher education and thus increase India’s export of education services.
While the biggest push for the ‘Educate in India’ campaign is the passage to the Foreign Education Institutions Bill, what is also required is the much-needed improvement in digital infra to offer online courses. With the development of this infrastructure, delivery of distance education will also get the much-needed push and support. India’s geographical location makes it an ideal and viable education location for Asian students.
As stalwarts deliberate and discuss the pros and cons of the move, another burning issue in the education segment that we have tried to capture in the current issue has been the Choice-Based Credit System, or CBCS in shorthand. University Grants Commission’s (UGC) plan to introduce CBCS across every Indian university from the coming academic session has met with a lot of resistance from all quarters. Varsities across the country may not be able to defy the directive owing to their funding needs that are fulfilled by the UGC. In a recent move Delhi University approved the implementation of the CBCS from the upcoming session, ending the confusion among the students seeking admission to undergraduate courses.
CBCS claims to provide students with various choices on the courses they want to pursue, skills they want to pick up, and the pace at which they want to learn these and are divided into core, elective or foundation.
While the intentions are noble, the implementation of these policies is often the tripping point. The abrupt ending to the much-debated Four-Year Undergraduate Programme piloted by Delhi University, not much different from CBCS, highlights the lack of effective planning before implementation, which is the need of the hour for the Indian education segment.
This issue tries to bring together a cross-section of stakeholders in the education sector, sharing their ideas, vision and initiatives that are driving a change and shaping the future.
Guruprasad K. Rao
Director-Technology and Operations,
Imaginarium believes 3D printers fuel
limitless creativity among students
With the growing importance of the technology in education sector, 3D printing technology is fueling limitless creativity among students. Bhawna Satsangi of Elets News Network (ENN) talks to industry experts about the importance of 3D printing in education
To enrich teaching across STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and design subjects, there are innovative ways of using 3D printers as a technology to help teach complex subjects in a much easier way. No doubt, schools are still in the early stage of adoption of this innovative technology, but 3D printer is the exciting opportunities to explore and has the ability to revolutionize the education sector in a holistic manner.
Guruprasad K. Rao Director-Technology and Operations, Imaginarium believes 3D printers fuel limitless creativity among students
The technology not only provides teachers with three dimensional visual aids to use in the classroom in illustrating the methods but also makes it easy for them to seize the interest of the students compared to just showing the pictorial representations of the objects.
“3D printers can be used in home, office, lab and there are also required in classrooms today. We are seeing the usage of 3D printers for technical courses. The technology helps in evaluating the ideas, and can design quickly whatever students conceive through practice. The usage improves creativity and innovation. 3D Printing can also be used by Medical students,” informs Prasad Rodagi, Founder Director, Altem Technologies.
3D printing technology is turning out to be an effective means for classrooms, where students are undertaking real world learning experiences, be better prepared for tomorrow’s challenges. It nurtures creativity, satisfies intellectual curiosity and inspires students to invent, design and engineer. It encourages new ideas, help them bring it to life, and create objects that model the innovations with high accuracy, fine detail and moving parts.
Visual Aids: provides teachers with 3 dimensional visual aids in illustrating a concept
Seizes Interest: help teachers to maintain the interest of the students rather showing the pictorial representations of the objects
Hands-on experience: 3D printer usage encourages hands-on learning. Students will be equipped to produce 3 dimensional mini models
Interactive sessions: Its usage increases interactive class activities. A biology student can study cross sections of heart
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“Through project-based learning enabled by 3D printers, students will be equipped with a solid foundation on 3D printing in addition to enriching their design and engineering knowledge. It fuels limitless creativity where students get to see, hold and test their ideas in real space. Tomorrow’s engineers, designers and problem solvers deserve every tool available to build a brilliant future,” believes Rajiv Bajaj, General Manager, India, Stratasys AP.
“3D printing has literally given wings to a student’s imagination. Design whatever you want, however you want it, create a 3D model (through CAD) and set to print. Everyday we are witnessing the various ways these students are able to experiment with their imagination. Internet is flooded with examples,” says, Raja Sekhar Upputuri, Co-Founder, Think3D
Benefits galore
There’s been a paradigm shift from 2D to 3D globally, and India is catching up fast with global trends. They are envisioning the future by forming a befitting ecosystem in 3D printing.
“3D printing will fuel limitless creativity, by allowing students to hold, see, and test their ideas in real space. That said, 3D printers won’t just give them a jump start on tomorrow’s challenges, but will also expose them to the varied solutions they might have for a given challenge,” tells Guru prasad K. Rao, Director-Technology and Operation, Imaginarium.
The technology is suited to project works, where learning arises naturally as part of a research. It will benefit teachers to focus on teaching concepts in-depth like the Physics and Maths teachers engaged with the use of the printers to promote thinking, reasoning and understanding of their subject.
The usage of 3D printing at school level allows teachers from other STEM areas to see how their subject could make use of the technology. Not only this, it also helps to improve students’ learning and brain development. This technology encourages creativity and technical skills of students, develop interest in art and design aesthetics, foster students’ personality and confidence. “Novabeans provides comprehensive 3D printing training courses to students, professionals, architects, managers, doctors, engineers, designers, hobbyists, teachers, learners and anyone who want to learn and enhance their CV and professional skills and find potential business opportunity in new industry. We are helping schools and colleges to adopt technologies in a most cost effective manner, so that the educational institutions are able to provide a platform to enhance learning and shape student’s future,” says Gaurav Loyalka, Co-founder, Novabeans.
Also with the increasing number of manufacturing companies adopting 3D printing for benefits beyond just prototyping, like concept modelling, advanced prototyping, final production parts, to name a few and the convergence of manufacturing and innovation in education, 3D printing is becoming more crucial to curriculums. “It equips the students, especially the future designers and engineers, for careers being reshaped by 3D printing like medical, consumer goods, research & development, automotive, electronics among various others,” feels Bajaj.
Best quality printers
3D printing has been evolving very rapidly in last couple of years. The printers are getting more advanced, quicker and even making use of several materials to make 3D printed materials. 3D printing is a disruptive technology and will see a huge impact on manufacturing, logistics, education and healthcare.
3D printing has literally given wings to a student’s imagination. Design whatever you want, however you want it, create a 3D model (through CAD) and set to print. Everyday we are witnessing the various ways these students are able to experiment with their imagination. Internet is flooded with examples
However, a 3D printer is still not ready to self-re-create, therefore, the most widely and cost-effective 3D printing process is called Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), many call it differently, but fundamentally it allows plastics and plastics-related material to be heated up and a filament extrudes thin layer of plastics to build a model layer by layer.
“We offer complementary 3D printing technologies designed for a range of applications, striving to be a powerful partner in the product development department, in classrooms and labs and on the production floor. FDM Technology is the only professional 3D printing technology that uses production-grade thermoplastics, so, parts are unrivaled in mechanical, thermal and chemical strength. While our PolyJet technology is a powerful additive manufacturing method that produces smooth, accurate prototypes, parts and tooling too produce thin walls and complex geometries using the widest range of materials,” informs Bajaj.
For the beginners, Rao suggests, “All desktop printers based on FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) technology are good for beginners to learn, teach, and play. Once you’re fluent with their usage, you can try moving onto other technologies, mostly used for industrial purposes such as SLA, SLS, PJP, MJM etc.”
Market dynamics
Indian printing industry is growing at a rate of 20 per cent per annum and the current annual turnover of the industry is 50,000 crore. The market has made significant advances in developed countries like US and is poised to grow in India strongly. According to 6Wresearch, India 3D Printer Market is projected to cross $79 million by 2021. The report says, automotive application accounted for majority of the revenue share in India while the educational and medical applications are witnessing higher growth too. Other niche applications like arts and crafts, interior decoration, fashion accessories, footwear designs, jewelry designs, animation & gaming, customised footwear designs, furniture and modeling have potential as well.
It is clear that 3D printing is in its early stage of adaption in India. Most of the3D printers are in technical learning, mechanical, engineering and manufacturing field. “In India, 3D printer market is one of the emerging markets, where demand is primarily exhibited from Tier-I cities. India accounts for major potential growth for domestic manufacturers, local assemblers and distributors due to increasing use of rapid prototyping and 3D modeling across various industry sectors,” explains Loyalka.
Amongst all 3D printing technologies, FDM technology-based 3D printers dominate the overall market. Low cost and ease of availability of these printers have given them a major share in the market revenues. SLA – Resin printer will pick as the price will start to go down.
The education market is best suited for 3D print technology as a way to better engage students. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India drive has pushed the demand for 3D printers among the institutes and every production center needs one to refine their products and designs further.
The Microsoft’s Windows 8 will also support 3D printing, which is an excellent sign for the emerging 3D printing economy and Microsoft’s support could signal the rapid move propelling 3D printers into mainstream educational environments.
Adoption
No doubt the market for 3D printers is poised to grow in India, but currently the adoption is still at an early stage when compared to other parts of the world. “In India, we expect automotive, defence, education, aerospace, medical, dental, industrial machinery, R&D and manufacturing to be the largest implementers of 3D printing. Creating physical prototypes of products help companies evaluate and validate the product designs physically, testing them for fit, form and ergonomics. Designing errors can be detected early and addressed immediately, reducing the cost and time of design reiterations, considerably,” opines Bajaj.
“We believe educational institutes (secondary education to Higher studies) wherein top 200 schools and colleges would be having some kind of 3D printing set up in next 1-2 years. Now, most of the top 10-20 technical institutes would be having dedicated 3D printing set up for students and faculty for research purpose. Apart from the education, we see significant adaptation to come from medical, manufacturing of electronics, bio technology, precision engineering, robotics and also from construction Industry,” believes Chandan Mishra, Co- Founder, 3Digiprints.
“The key to the success of adaptation of 3D printing is content. The content will come once we have a culture of making things in simple terms to create and design. This is the most significant part of the success of 3D printers involvement in India. This would mean that we have encouraged students, professionals and others to start making 3D designs in computers. This is a huge impetus to the manufacturing growth. Once we have achieved this benchmark of designing in India, we will see a huge growth of 3D printing technology in most of the mainstream Industries,” says Mishra.
The technology is becoming more attractive for the educators who acknowledge its usage in the field of designing, computer, mathematics, technology and crafting skills. This multifaceted technology will help students to be ahead of the technological curve as the industry of 3D printing grows.
Factors affecting success
Unlike its utilities, the real success of the 3D printers depends upon the adoptions in the market and the real customers.
Rigid opaque blue motor is ideal for assembly of electronic components
For this, awareness and understanding plays a major role. But there are other factors contributing to make it an effective technology for the education sector. The whopping cost of the 3D printer, evolution of materials’ research, non availability of skilled manpower for imparting training and knowledge, time consuming, lack of DIY culture are few of the factors affecting the success of 3D printers in India.
“Technologies with simple and robust design, readily available materials, 3D content, price, and technical support are the factors affecting the success of 3D printers. Also, there are a few factors that could greatly fuel the demand for 3D printers in the Indian manufacturing market. Some of those include training centres for faculty, and a good governmental policy to promote them,” shares Rao.
It is clear that the use of 3D printers will not instantly change the teaching system, course and lesson plan unless it is being fully adopted by the education sector. Teachers require rigorous training and time to make it more effective for students and schools need time to integrate the technology into the curriculum. An innovative use of the 3D printer is the need of the hour. Encouraging and supporting teachers to use this new technology will help disseminating knowledge to students.
Accessibility of the machine in a school and pupil motivation to use it is another factor.
Despite being encountered with several factors, today, 3D printers can not only handle materials ranging from titanium to human cartilage, but also produce fully functional components, including complex mechanisms, batteries, transistors, and LEDs.
Make in India campaign which started in 2014 is anticipated to drive the future growth of the market. India will give more emphasis on local manufacturing, 3D printing will become mainstream. India has remained predominately a service economy. But this can change due to the advancement of 3D printing. The technology will certainly help bringing manufacturing jobs back to India. If government is serious about ‘Make in India’ they should proactively promote 3D printing industry.
Subhas Chandra Goel Director General, Haryana Technical Education department
Subhas Chandra Goel Director General, Haryana Technical Education department
The Haryana Technical Education department has taken various steps towards implementation of IT in the day to day working. As many as 650 technical institutions of the department are being successfully monitored and consulted for various activities through online softwares, says Subhas Chandra Goel, Director General, Haryana Technical Education department to Gautam Debroy of Elets News Network (ENN)
How do you define the term of Technical Education?
‘Minimum Government Maximum Governance’ is the need of the hour. In order to achieve the benchmark set forth by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the focus on the quality of technical education will have to be taken into account. While digitising the government functioning and at the same time minimising the physical interface, the use of information technology becomes explicitly important. It is there then comes the role of technical education.
Technical education is the supreme component of human resource development with infinite potential for supplementing greater values to products and services and for improving the quality of life of the people. The department of technical education provides technically trained manpower in various fields of engineering and technology encompassing diploma, post diploma, degree and post-degree level courses conducted through technical institutions and thereby meeting the requirements of industries, departments and organisations.
What is the way out to have proper and accurate technical education system?
The Universities of Science and Technology will have to be given a free hand for the establishment of ‘Centre of Excellence’ so that the bench mark goal set up by the Prime Minister could be achieved. The Centre of Excellence is supposed to deliver the best so as to replicate the same in the industry and thus be useful to the society. In my personal opinion, the government should provide an edge to the institutions involved in the research and development activities and optimum utilisation of ICT. In other words, when we use the information technology we are also contributing to the environment and balancing the ecology
How is eGovernance working in Haryana?
With the fast pace of technological change, it is becoming important for the government to review existing structure of secretariat, hierarchies, policies and procedures. The entire paradigm of the secretariat will necessarily be different from what is at present. Consequently, a large scale retooling and restructuring in the secretariat will be called for. Secretariat and governance will inevitably be very different from what is today. Digital government will entail flatter organisational hierarchies and more personalised delivery of citizens’ services.
The ‘Electronic Governance’ in the secretariat aims at the IT driven system of governance that works better, costs less and is capable of servicing the decisionmaking machinery and citizens’ needs as never before. An urgent need was felt to have a central mechanism, like Secretariat for Information Technology (SIT), so that the electronic feedback system is operationalised.
How is your department using IT?
The Haryana Technical Education department has taken various steps towards implementation of IT in the day to day working. We have granted ‘Golden Icon Award’ for implementing paperless online off campus admissions to various admission seekers approximately 1.5 lakh every year for various disciplines all across the State. We started this in 2007 as a pilot project and since then we have not only been successfully making admissions in various technical education, but have also provided assistance to various other State Technical Education departments to replicate our online off campus admission system.
In which other sectors you are utilising online system?
As many as 650 technical institutions of my department are being successfully monitored and consulted for various activities through online softwares viz-a-viz (i) Adhar enabled biometric attendance system. (ii) MIS system for monitoring various activities (iii) e-salary system for disbursement of salary to the staff (iv) e-procurement (v) online financial monitoring and budgeting (vi) online generation of mark sheets to the diploma students.
I am of the opinion that the use of IT not only enthuse confidence amongst the stakeholders but it provides transparency, accountability, speedy disposal, record keeping and also increases the satisfaction level.
To create a bond between teachers, students and parents to find out the pain areas, CLink, a cloud-based solution by LearnOn Technology Solutions provide a platform that can be integrated into the existing pedagogy, freeing up teachers time so they can spend more time in preparing learning strategies for students
Give us the brief of the various reasons behind starting LearOn Technology Solutions.
As parents, we always wanted to be more engaged in our children’s education than what the schools were able to provide. We realised that while most teachers wanted to really provide individual attention to students they were loaded with a lot of mundane and administrative work that didn’t quite add any value to the students or teachers.
Classroom sizes were also another issue because with the limited time the teacher had in the classroom it was simply impossible to identify concept understanding for every student in the classroom itself.
While the technology available today did provide a lot of content for the teacher to use in the classroom, there was no way to identify learning levels and customise and distribute content based on those learning levels without changing the way the classroom was taught.
Therefore, we have developed CLink a cloud-based learning platform that can be seamlessly integrated into the existing pedagogy, automating a lot of the administrative work freeing up teachers time so they can spend more time preparing learning strategies and plans based on each student’s learning level.
The product is supported by powerful analytics that will allow teachers, students, parents and management to understand various facets of a child’s learning. Teachers can now start to identify the specific needs of every student through CLink, strengthening the bond between the teacher and the student.
What are the various difficulties encountered in doing business on ground level?
The schools we spoke to were all very much interested in implementing our product however, a major concern in getting schools to move to cloud-based platforms are the availability of reliable internet connections in general.
What is the market size of the services offered by you in India at present?
Experts have pegged the Indian education market to be 5.9 trillion in 2014-15 and growing fast.
What are the major benefits for organisations adopting your solutions?
CLink benefits all stakeholders involved in the learning process. Teachers can easily identify learning gaps in the classrooms, distribute customised study material based on specific learning levels. The automated assessment evaluations will free up a lot of teacher time and they can focus on developing learning strategies and holistic development of students.
Students will be more engaged because they will start receiving study material catered to their personal learning levels, no more heavy school bags since all the books can now be accessed from the tablet or the laptop, students will start taking ownership of their learning as reports will help them understand their strengths and areas of improvement.
Parents can continuously engaged in their child’s learning and development through the automated reports, letting them know what was taught in class, what their child’s learning levels are and how they have been progressing. Class diaries will be a thing of the past as teachers and parents can easily communicate through the notifications module. Parents can come better prepared for discussions with teachers with regards to their child’s overall development.
For management CLink creates a platform to share best practices among teachers, over time the school will create a knowledge database of notes and question banks that will be of immense value for the teachers and students in the future. CLink facilitates to create a more engaged teacher-student-parent community which will bode well for the brand of the school. Implementing CLink will provide an opportunity to explore increasing class sizes without impacting quality because a lot of the teacher time will now be free.
What is the Vision of your company for next two years?
Our Vision is to revolutionise the way technology is used in the classrooms by ensuring educators are equipped with solutions that allow them to provide the individual attention that every child deserves. In the next two years, we aim to implement CLink in 100+ schools in at least 50+ countries globally.
How you can differentiate your services from competitors?
CLink is a cloud-based platform that will work on any device (laptop, tablet or a desktop). Unlike existing services, Clink does not require students to purchase a new device to use the product. We are encouraging schools to allow students to bring their own device.
We believe that teaching methodologies followed by different schools are unique, therefore, CLink provides an open platform allowing teachers to easily create their own content and reuse existing content available at the school. Our Analytics will lead the path of making the methodologies even better since now the decisions can be based on data.
What are the ways of engaging the customers with you? Any special case study can you share?
Our training team regularly meets with teachers and the school management to help them understand the information from the various reports and how to maximise the product features to improve the learning experience for students. These sessions also provide feedback that we use to enhance product features.
What are the major stakeholders and sectors you are focusing on?
We are currently focusing on the K-12 segment.
What are the various initiatives taken by your organisation to emerge as a market leader?
We are constantly looking at ways to add features to the product that will make it easier for teachers and students to use. This is done through discussions with teachers and school management.
JMR Infotech was brought in as a key stakeholder in LearnOn to leverage their global footprint, they have clientele in 50 + countries and a direct presence in 22+ countries. With such an extensive sales coverage, we will be able to take this solution globally in a short span of time.
NIIT, provider of skills and talent development, has entered into a partnership with BSCA Akademik Pariwisata Denspar in Indonesia to offer multiple new-age career opportunities under the mastermind series, a programme designed to help students in the country to acquire skill sets for global career opportunities.
Under this partnership, NIIT will provide content, impart training for lecturers and conduct examinations towards the successful completion of the programmes. The Mastermind Programmes can be pursued along with graduation, thus allowing students to get a benefit of dual certification.
The programme has industry relevant curriculum mapped to international certification. The students are exposed to diverse technologies leading to better job opportunities. Not only the students, but also the Universities get an edge over the educational institutions. NIIT helps the Universities to design programmes mapped to the industry standards.
NIIT has been present in Indonesia for over 17 years and has made a contribution towards ICT education in the country. Sanjay Tickoo, Vice President & Head of Business Operations, International Education Business, NIIT Ltd, said, “We believe that our partnership with BSCA Akademik Pariwisata Denpasar will give a much-needed impetus, to introduce programs which will prepare Indonesian students towards challenging global career opportunities. The revolutionary Mastermind series provides flexibility to students to choose from a range of careers as per their interests and career goals. This partnership is a step towards our skill development mission in Indonesia.”
Mastermind Series opens up exciting exit profiles like-Database Developer, Web Application Developer in Java & NET, Desktop Technician support, Network Technician, Windows server administration, Database administration etc.
On the inauguration of KV Shaala Darpan programme of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan in Delhi, Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said that the programme will arite a new definition of e-governance, good governance, and digital India.
She further added, “This programme will be a step forward in the direction of fulfilling the vision of Digital India for our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Elaborating upon the details she said, “With the launch of KV Shaala Darpan, parents will get entire information at a unified platform about their children in respect of the attendance status, performance, health challenges and entire academic record from Ist to XIIth standard. Students will have facilities of e-tutorials and learning aids to enrich their knowledge. She made an appeal to the parents not to put unnecessary pressure on the children while availing the facility of getting instant information under this system.”
Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Upendra Kushwaha said that KV Shaala Darpan programme will work in the direction of bringing transparency in administration and governance. This programme will ensure saving of money, time and paper. He further appealed to parents to devote maximum time to their children in the interest of their complete development.
A documentary film was also shown on the occasion with focus on the KV Shaala Darpan project and how it will enhance school’s overall academic delivery systems and serve as a platform to deliver service to students, parents, teachers, alumni and the school management. The project will link all 1100 Kendriya Vidyalayas.
For the aspirants of learning fashion technology, JD Institute of Fashion Technology has opened admission to courses in B.Sc in Fashion and Apparel Design.
The duration of the course is 3 years and the total seats are 100. The eligibility of the admission is that the applicant should secure minimum 45 per cent in 10+2 from a recognised school or institution in any discipline.
The selection procedure comprises of an entrance exam and a situation test which assess the candidate’s aptitude for art and design.
The application forms are available at all the branches of JD Institute of Fashion Technology across India or they can be downloaded from the JD Institute website. The last date for submission of the application form is 25th June.
National Skill Development Corporation signed a MoU with Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, to involve corporate India in the National Skills Agenda.
Mr. Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO, National Skill Development Corporation and Ms. Shukla Wassan, Executive Director, Legal & Company Secretary, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Signed the MOU for a period of five years.
Dilip Chenoy, Managing Director & CEO, NSDC said, “It gives me immense pleasure to see how big corporations like Hindustan Coca-Cola are coming forward and contributing to the skills landscape. This collaboration will help to shape up and uplift the present stature of unskilled workforce as the project completely focusses on employability and economic upliftment of the underserved section of the society. This project will help equip them with skills to enhance their employability and find jobs of their choice or ways of self-employment.”
Shukla Wassan, Executive Director, Legal & Company Secretary, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. said, “We are proud to collaborate with NSDC. With this partnership, we are scaling up our initiative in the space of skill development. This partnership aims at building and enhancing employability potential of youth and women and help getting them integrated into economic mainstream by way of finding employment and entrepreneurial opportunities as may be the case. This partnership will go a long way in achieving the scale.”
The project will operate under two models:
COMMUNITY SKILL BUILDING which will impart skill based training for enhancing self-employability and entrepreneurship among youth in the areas of Carpentry, Mobile Repairing, Tailoring, Horticulture, Beauty Services, Cutting/Tailoring, Construction, Electrician, etc based on Skill gaps and youth aspirations in addition to Digital literacy, IT and Personality development courses.
PRAGATI which will enable in economic empowerment of approximately 15000 women and create earning opportunities for them through training in retail programs. PRAGATI will focus on implementing customized programs to help prospective women entrepreneurs across all targeted areas such as Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Bihar, North East, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh etc.
IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, Dr. Subhash Chandra Khuntia has been appointed as Secretary to the Dept of School Education & Literacy.
Dr Khunita has replaced Vrinda Swaroop at the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. Prior joining the School Education Department he has served as a special secretary and financial advisor in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
He has also served as a part-time Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited till August 3, 2012. Dr. Khunita has also served as a nominee Director of Indian Oil Corporation Limited in his previous roles.
Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay has been appointed as the new Dean of MICA, a management institute in Strategic Marketing and Communication.
Dr. Atish joins from S P Jain Institute of Management & Research, where he was a Professor of Marketing and Deputy Director in-charge of the 2 Year PGDM (MBA). He is one of the young, dynamic, entrepreneurial and well-rounded professionals in the area of management education in general and marketing in particular.
He said, “There are very few management institutions in India which are mission driven, well-differentiated and have a governance structure which is professional, with a global vision. MICA has the advantage of having all three in place. Globally, organisations across industries, today are seeking leaders who are customer-centric and yet can effectively communicate to all stakeholders and not only to customers. MICA is the only institution today which is poised to provide cutting-edge education to build ‘leadership through customer-centricity and communication’. For me, MICA is in alignment with what I believe in.”
He has successfully led the flagship two-year PGDM Program of SPJIMR for over five years. Over those five years, increased enrolment, maintained 100% placements, expanded international student exchange, restructured curriculum, transitioned to the semester system, enhanced alumni engagement, and submitted the program for accreditation by AACSB.
He was instrumental in the launch of ‘Global Fast Track’, where all 240 participants enrolled in the programme undertake advance specialisation courses and projects in partnering top US B-Schools (Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Darden and Purdue).
His current research interest is in the area of ‘Retail Shopper Marketing’. He has studied shopper behaviour in general trade retail covering South East Asia and Latin America. As a researcher and consultant, he has advised the top management of MNCs in the areas of shopper marketing. One of his major consulting assignments was to develop the shopper marketing template for Johnson & Johnson, Asia Pacific.
He has been actively publishing and has presented papers in a number of international conferences and published in various journals of repute. His research on emerging trends in Indian retail resulted in the paper titled “India’s Emerging Retail Systems: Coexistence of Tradition with Modernity” and was published in the Journal of Macro marketing.
