The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM C) will soon be the only B-school in India to be recognized by two of the world’s top B-school accreditation bodies, Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business (AACSB). Inspection teams from both the accreditation bodies are likely to visit the campus before giving the final stamp of approval. The AMBA team will visit IIM C on January 14-15 and the AACSB is slated to visit the campus in June, 2014.
For greater acceptance of the institute globally, the board of governors of IIM C had decided to try for the two accreditations almost a year back. Consequently, the two bodies were approached for specifications. The required details like curriculum, teaching initiatives, quality of faculty and research, steps that have been taken to bring in foreign students, student feedback on teachers, placement records and employer feedback were furnished. Eventually the teams will be coming to cross-check the details provided and interact with faculty and students at the campus. Getting these accreditation is an attempt by IIM C to position the institute well in the global market and attract more foreign students.
IIM C aims for dual accreditation of global reputation
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The First Ever Live Online Course from an IIT Kharagpur Professor Set to Take-Off
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SPECIAL FEATURE : CYBER SECURITY
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CORPORATE DIARY
Leader of Tomorrow
FEATURE STORY
How Foolproof are Placement Reports?
102 homeopathy colleges to be inspected before February 15
The Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) will inspect 102 homeopathy medical colleges across the country before February 15. The aim is to determine the availability of teachers, equipments, accommodation, training and other facilities at various colleges as specified in Homeopathy regulations. On the basis of the all inspection reports received, CCH will submit its final report and recommendations to the Central Government. Ramjee Singh, the president of CCH, a body that comes under Union Health Ministry, spoke about inspecting the homeopathy medical colleges at a seminar on homeopathy orgainsed by Jawaharlal Nehru Homeopathy Medical College, Ahmedabad Homeopathy Medical College and Rajkot Homeopathy Medical College on January 6, 2014.
Punjab Technical University to set up Institute of Excellence
Punjab Technical University (PTU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) for setting up an Institute of Excellence (IOE) at Chandigarh. IOE intends to raise funds via grants and donation to finance scholarships for needy students.
IOE expects to be self-financed for operating expenses. It will focus on high quality technical education and grant degrees in streams like Bio-Engineering, Bio-Informatics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Network & Digital Technology, Robotic Engineering and Technology & Information Management. Till IOE attains the authority to grant degrees, PTU shall do the same. Students can choose to transfer to UCSC to complete their undergraduate or graduate education and get a degree from UCSC provided they meet UCSC’s admission and other criteria in place at that time.
UCSC shall provide free teaching curriculum, methodology and test or exams similar to its current material at US. It also intends to encourage its faculty to travel to India to teach courses besides training and hiring faculty for IOE. UCSC will also cooperate in remote live video instructions by its faculty as and when required.
Colleges provide data for All-India Survey on Higher Education
202 colleges affiliated to the Shivaji University, Kolhapur (SUK) have filed academic and administrative details for the ongoing All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE).The programme initiated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, aims to create a database of the large, diverse system of Higher education in the country.
The AISHE for the academic years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are both currently under way, with different deadlines across the country. The survey focuses on enrollment at various levels, human resources, infrastructure, income and expenditure of all types of institutions engaged in higher education, offering courses on arts, science, agriculture, teachers’ education, management engineering, medical and nursing. The ministry has started collecting data for the academic year 2010-2011from last year. About 227 colleges filled information under the programme in 2013. According to the SUK officials, the data and information will be used in making important policy decisions and research for development in higher education section in the country. The non-sharing of details will not attract major action but it will certainly create difference between regular and updated colleges and irregular ones. The irregular colleges might also miss out on some opportunities and benefits of various assistance schemes of the central government.
RTE and states’ efforts improve school attendance
Right to Education Act (RTE) and the state governments priority to school education has resulted in immense growth in the attendance of teachers and students in state government schools in the country. There has been a remarkable improvement in the past six years, between 2006-07 to 2012-13, in the teacher and student attendance in schools.
The latest figures from the Human Resource Ministry shows that Bihar has made remarkable progress when it comes to school attendance both at primary and upper primary level. The average attendance at primary level in 2006-07 was 42.2% which went up to 63.6% in 2012-13. Similarly in upper primary level it went up to 59.7% from 36.8%. In a place like Jammu and Kashmir which faces regular disruptions, there has been an immense improvement in attendance from 78.5% in 2006-07 to 84.8% in 2012-13 at primary level and in upper primary level attendance went up from 77.5% to 85.5% during the same period. In the overall analysis, nationally the attendance at primary level went up to 76.2% from 68.5% in 2006-2007 while the growth in attendance in upper primary level was marginal from 75.7% in 2006-07 to 77.8% in 2012-13. In overall, the teacher attendance has also seen an improvement from 81.7% to 84.3% at primary level and 81.3% from 80.5% between 2006-07 to 2012-13. But on the contrary, states like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have seen a decline in attendance of teachers both in primary and upper primary level.
Corporate & Rating agencies need to insist on standardization
“There needs to be a better corporate buy-in and insistence for IPRS to make the implementation and declaration uniform across B-Schools” opines R. Shreenath, Director – Corporate & Career Services, Great Lakes Institute of Management. In conversation with Veena Kurup.
Great Lakes Institute of Management has been one among the premiers in implementing the Indian Placement Reporting Standards that was initiated by IIM-Ahmedabad in 2011. Does the system, as ensured in its objective, deliver in bringing transparency among the management institutions in India?
The Indian Placement Reporting Standard (IPRS) is a much needed standardization necessity for all B-Schools to comply with. IPRS is required for bringing in uniform reporting, transparency and reliability, prunes any padding up and provides a true picture for all stakeholders about the reporting patterns.
While IPRS is still getting fine-tuned through the inflow of various insights from participating schools, the same also needs to have buy-in from corporate and ranking agencies. This ultimately can aid in bringing better compliance and enrollment rates for all B-Schools. It helps in bringing a better understanding and uniformity in the placement reporting patterns being followed by the B-Schools.
How favorably has IPRS contributed towards the functioning of your institution?
Great Lakes Institute of Management has been one of the early signatories in accepting and implementing the IPRS system. The standard though has assisted in bringing more transparency in the placement reporting system, the scenario still awaits acceptance among the B-Schools at large. The standardization requires a more mandatory approach from the corporate and rating agencies while participating and reviewing the placement reporting standards.
How has been the acceptance and participating nature by the recruiters towards utilizing IPRS in the recruitment process?
There needs to be a better corporate buy-in and insistence for IPRS to make the implementation and declaration uniform across B-Schools. Unless the corporate start insisting on the standardization, IPRS will remain as a nicety. Presently, the corporate do not even demand or seek if the institution is an IPRS compliant. The corporate play a vital role in the placement and recruiting process, hence they need to uphold this as a mandatory factor while approaching the institutions; this ultimately can result in bringing a honest and transparent approach in the recruitment process.
How do you review the scope for alumni interaction while utilizing IPRS?
Currently there’s a limited participation by the alumni, since the system needs to gain more momentum as a gold standard for reporting. When observed on a larger sphere, IPRS is still utilized by only few institutions across the country and many prefer in following their own placement reporting patterns. There needs to be a more aggressive participation and acceptance of IPRS among the B-Schools and recruiters to enable this standardization initiative in achieving its objective.
Are you comfortable with all the disclosure clauses of IPRS? Can you suggest any possible measures that need to be adopted to make the standard more acceptable among the B-Schools?
The IPRS standards themselves are in line with our own norms, and hence there’s alignment. However, lack of participation may put us in a disadvantageous position with those who are not compliant to IPRS. To this effect, a better corporate acceptance is warranted. Besides, the standardization itself is evolving and we provide necessary inputs to make it more transparent and accurate. Also, there needs to be a strict clause ensuring additional weight-age or benefiting factor associated with the utilization of IPRS for the institutions. This can result towards a wider acceptance of IPRS among the B-Schools across India.
National Digital Literacy Mission: Reforming Livelihood in India’s North-East Region
Active participation from local governing bodies, non-governmental organizations and self-help groups is a necessity in strengthening the grass-root approach, opines Srinivas Tadigadapa, Director – Enterprise Solutions Sales & Marketing Group, Intel South Asia in conversation with Veena Kurup.
Intel-led National Digital Literacy Mission was implemented in three distinct locations – desert region of Rajasthan, hills of Tripura and coastal town in Andhra Pradesh. Can you share Intel’s experience in serving these three varied areas?
The National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLN) initiated in 2012, focuses on training the underprivileged and rural citizens by creating awareness about the importance of digital literacy. The core objective of the initiative was to make IT an integral part of the daily livelihood of the masses and we have touched 1.4 million lives till today. The program succeeded in enhancing the educational patterns, income levels, creating new job opportunities, enhancing healthcare facilities etc. The three distinct regions located at Rajasthan, Northern Tripura and Andhra Pradesh were part of the Follow the Fibre (FTF) program. The purpose of this initiative was to drive 100% digital literacy in the first three Panchayats to receive the National Fiber Optic Network (NOFN) connectivity. The Government of India in 2011 approved an initiative for establishing NOFN to provide connectivity to all the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country. Hence, Intel led NDLN focused on building capacity around the FTF approach by creating awareness about the benefits of using broadband connectivity. The initiative received commendable positive responses from the masses, wherein we saw school dropouts returning to classrooms, women coming out of their daily households into regular coaching classes etc.
Can you throw some light on the NDLN project implemented at Naogang Panchayat in Tripura?
Noagang is a Panchayat under Panisagar block of North Tripura – third-smallest state in the country. It is 200 km away state capital Agartala. Bordered by Bangladesh to the north, south and west, and the Indian states of Assam and Mizoram to the east, the Panchayat has a population of 409 families, which is largely dominated by the indigenous communities of Halam and Ranglang tribes. Due to its peculiar location, numerous infrastructure and socio-economic hurdles were aroused while implementing the programme. Amidst all these challenges, we succeeded in achieving the desired result through a planned approach, wherein the major focus was on establishing last-well connectivity and development of right capacities.
What were the major hurdles faced while implementing the NDLN program in Tripura and detail us about the strategies adopted to tackle these challenges?
Erratic power supply and the daily livelihood of the citizens were amongst the major hurdles aroused while implementing the NDLN initiative. However, we focused on adopting a grass-root strategy to introduce our FTF approach in the Northern Tripura region. The training and coaching sessions were scheduled after considering a fleet of influential factors like – availability of electricity, viability and connectivity of transportation networks, daily chore of the masses and their business routines.
Active participation from local governing bodies, non-governmental organizations and self-help groups is a necessity in strengthening the grass-root approach. The active support from local governing bodies supported us in achieving the desired results.
Apart from NDLN, what other programs have been initiated by Intel in India’s north-eastern region?
Intel’s operations have been active in the north-eastern region since 2007, wherein the prime focus has been on transforming education through technology. Intel Teach was one such program which focused towards reforming the educational patterns with the support of technology and covered 410 government schools and trained 12,989 teachers. Intel Learn is other such initiative that was introduced in the state of Assam. Through the program we succeeded in training 591 learners across seven Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya’s of the state. Additionally, we also collaborated with the Assam state government for National Vocational Education for imparting IT as a part of the curriculum.
How has been the response in these north-eastern regions towards such initiatives?
Participation from the masses has been really positive and appreciating. IT and IT enabled services though are increasingly gaining momentum in our country, the penetration of personal computers is less than 10% as against India’s whole population. Hence, Intel focused on educating the masses about the relevancy of the program in their daily livelihood. An initiative aimed towards bridging the digital divide needs to be focused upon nourishing the grass-root sectors, for which customization of training activities is a must. Considering the active participation from the masses and government bodies we will be also expanding our presence to 10 more states involving Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and North-East areas.
“Our aim was to drive 100% digital literacy in the first three Panchayats to receive the National Fiber Optic Network (NOFN) connectivity”
Intel’s 2014 Plan for Enterprise Business
– Expanding footprint on the National Digital Literacy Mission
– Internet of Things (IoT), High Performance Computing & Big Data Growth Drivers
– Education Evolution: Drastic rise to be witnessed in Device Ownership
– To extend flexibility & scalability of x86 ecosystems
– Forecasts acceleration in supercomputers
– Intel to engage in research on enhancing efficiency & scalability of code
Leader of Tomorrow
Solutions should not only be unique but also useful for the customer. It should be the right solution for the existing problem and the customer should feel happy and be benefited by that solution says Subramanian Narayanasamy, Managing Director at TRS Forms and Services (P) Ltd in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).
How do you feel about getting the ET Now award?
Great, elated, thrilled. In our 15 years of existence this is the first recognized award. There were more than 1 lakh nominations this year for the 14 verticals. We come under the ITES vertical. The team of juries who did the final selection are Jambavans in the industry. The fact the selection was done in 3 rounds and finally selected after the jury round gives a pride in winning this award. I personally consider this as recognition for our innovative products and solutions offered to our customers. This encourages us to work more and more on innovative solutions.
How do you define TRS?
TRS is a specialist in automated data capturing and document security.
You have mentioned that TRS is a specialist in data capturing and document security. Are they two different areas of specialization?
Yes. First one is related to capturing data from different sources using automated technology process. This will be very useful in high volume data capture. Secoone is securing any document using our security mark. This means we do not give importance to the physical document but concentrate on securing the variable data and make it tamper proof. The document may be issued as physical document or electronic document. In both cases our security mark can be used to secure the total document.
Please explain on your successful key products that have brought you this award.
First is our Automatic Dummy Numbering System which I can say is the game changer for TRS. This is mainly for the subjective exam answer sheets to remove the identity of the student by allocating an alternate number. Every Indian university follows this procedure manually. Now our automatic process includes numbering, scanning, and result preparation. We also sell this solution as product. Second and the recent one is eSekure which is basically for document security and verification. This product is for all verticals like education, corporate, government etc.
| Accolades |
1. “When we are with TRS we feel we are in safe hands” – TRB Chennai2. “If the requirement is customised technology based solution then it is possible only by TRS” – Professional Institute 3. “For an exam process to be fair, fast and accurate we need the help of technology. In our case we have TRS who is offering technology based solutions and we have processed 5 million answer booklets in record time and the results are out” – Ex Vice Chancellor of Kanpur university. 4.“After introducing TRS solution we are able to publish the results in 25 days which usually takes 6 months and also with discrepancy” – Ex Vice Chancellor of Bangalore University. |
What is your geographical spread for these products?
We have customers pan-India and currently we are concentrating in the Indian Market. However, with our on-line products including eSekure and On Screen Marking (OSM) we are looking for offshore market as well. Requirement for products like eSekure is global and we are confident of making it a success in those markets as well.
Can you name some of your key clients for these products?
Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Company Secretaries, Institute of Cost Accounts, Bangalore University, JIPMER, Sri Venkateswara University to name a few.
Can you mention a few Indicators of success in your business?
We feel that we are succeeding when :
• Our services result in faster and accurate declaration of exam results, especially when the numbers of candidates are increasing exponentially.
• A leading professional body in the country does a national level search and finds that we are the only company who is providing such unique service.
• Reputation of our customers is protected with our products and the same has been acknowledged positively through repeat orders.
What are your plans to sustain the growth levels of your business?
To sustain the growth levels in our business we plan to diversify market, diversify geography and increase market penetration.
What do you think are the unique aspects of your innovative solutions?
The unique aspects are:
• Automatic Dummy numbering scanner is a 3 in 1 scanner where numbering, scanning and data capturing take place simultaneously. This has the feature of printing randomly generated numbers or predefined numbers which are student specific. This scanner is designed and developed by TRS and the same has been registered for patent.
• eSekure mark holds the variable data in any document in an encrypted format which makes it 100% tamper proof. Verification of eSekure is simple and secure. It does not access any database or servers of the clients. Hence eSekure is impossible to counterfeit, but easy to verify.
“Currently we are concentrating in the Indian Market. With our on-line products including eSekure and On Screen Marking we are looking for off-shore market as well”
What is the impact that your innovative solutions have had on the main stakeholders?
The main stakeholders in our business can be listed as universities, student community and team TRS. For the universities our solutions help in bringing out accurate results on time even though the volume is increasing. eSekure helps in securing their mark sheets and certificates. This not only gives credibility to the institution but also protects their reputation. For the student community getting the accurate results on time is a big relief. Helps them to apply for higher studies or work without any delay. eSekure sees to it that non-deserving candidate does not take away the opportunity by using a tampered document. Such innovations help TRS to employ around 150 plus employees in 3 offices and provide them a good working environment and create prosperity.
What do you think is the reason for your success story?
For me the reason for success cannot be different for different business. I personally believe in 3 Us – Unique, Useful and United. I always see to that our solutions are unique. I always like to be easily identified in a crowd. Solutions should not only be unique but also useful for the customer. It should be the right solution for the existing problem and the customer should feel happy and be benefited by that solution. Finally achieving success is always a team work. So be united with your team and take them along with you. If our vision for the future includes these three Us then success is guaranteedc
The First Ever Live Online Course from an IIT Kharagpur Professor Set to Take-Off
Prof Somnath Sengupta, Course Coordinator, Certificate Course in Image and Video Communication (CCIVC)
“It is the first ever live online course of its kind. If students’ objective is not to learn the basics alone, but in addition they wish to go a bit advanced – in terms of system design or even cuttingedge research, they will find this course to be a very valuable companion.”
IT Kharagpur has come a long way since its establishment in 1951. The first IIT to come into existence, IIT Kharagpur was not just an educational institute. It was a movement that would in the years to come, give shape to the Indian technical educational scenario and set a benchmark of the pursuit of excellence. Initially established to train scientists and engineers, post-independence, IIT Kharagpur continues to give to the world dexterous graduates and postgraduates as its alumni.
The institute’s first steps into the new age education were through the setup of the CET. Established in 1995, the Centre for Educational Technology (CET) represented IIT Kharagpur’s early recognition of the increasing importance of the role of Technology and Pedagogy in Engineering Education. Continuing its stronghold over seamless adoption and integration of new technology into education, CCVIC, an online certificate course with Live Virtual Classroom has been launched that will run over a period of 4 months starting the first week of February, 2014. The course is being offered in hybrid mode with combination of both onsite and online phases via the WizIQ Online Course Delivery Solution with integrated live virtual classroom.
What is unique about this course?
For the first time, an online course initiated by a Professor from IIT Kharagpur will be across the globe. The aim of the course is to help the learners master the basics as well as advanced insights of image and video communication. This course is believed to be beneficial to engineers who are designers of algorithms or architects of image, video, communication systems, graphics, animation, etc. The learners of the course will be certified by CEC, IIT Kharagpur (Continuing Education Centre, IIT Kharagpur) after the completion of the course.
The course is originally fashioned upon the hybrid model of teaching, which includes both onsite and online classes. The course will span over three phases:
# Phase I: Feb 8 to Feb 9, 2014. (at IIT Kharagpur campus)
# Phase II: Feb 14 to May 10, 2014. (Online classes on WizIQ.com)
# Phase III: May 17, 2014 (Valedictory at IIT Kharagpur Campus)
(If for some reason the students can’t make it to the campus, the whole course will also be available online).
The web-link of the course is: <go.wiziq.com/2qbk>
Even though IIT Kharagpur is familiar with the advantages of online education, this course is in a way a novel venture of its kind because of its Live Virtual Classroom component.
This example will usher an avenue to add value in the education fraternity as it has immense potentiality to be initiated such kind of course by individual faculty or the institute without hassle of managing a long tail of infrastructural paraphernalia.
Here is how:
1. Almost infinitely scalable- This course connects the teacher and the target students, from anywhere on the globe, in real time, thus justifying the very purpose of launching such a course.
2. Does not require download of software – The course works from a web browser(Windows, mac or Linux), iPad and Android tablets, thus eliminating the need to download any videos or cumbersome softwares.
3. Advanced engaging features for a unique teaching and learning experience via a virtual classroom – The platform supporting the certificate course is robust and offers interactive whiteboard, audio/video via VOIP, screen sharing, document view in the classroom, integrated chat, recorded lessons for selfpaced learning, thus enabling a unique teaching as well as learning experience.
To initiate a similar online course, feel free to drop a mail to Kalyan Sarkar, Director, Academic Liaisons, WizIQ.com, at kalyan@wiziq.com or call +91-9216405405 or +91-9897072888.
