IIM Bangalore placements 2011: ICICI, Deloitte, McKinsey largest recruiters

IIM Bangalore placements 2011: ICICI, Deloitte, McKinsey largest recruiters

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore completed final placements for its PGP batch of 2009-11 with 461 offers from 135 companies. ICICI Bank recruited the most with 19 offers followed by Deloitte Consulting and McKinsey & Co who made 17 and 12 offers respectively.
The PGP 2009-11 batch strength was 348, of which 16 students deferred their placements with the stated intentions of starting their own businesses.
Total number of students 348
Opt-outs 16
Students who appeared for placements 332
Number of companies that made offers 135
Total number of offers 461
Average offers per student 1.39
Final placements 230
Lateral offers 147
PPOs 84
Domestic offers 387
International offers 74
Finance and consulting companies recruited the largest number of students.

The top 5 recruiters left with almost one-fifth of the batch.
Top 5 Recruiters Offers Made Offers Accepted
ICICI Bank 19 19
Deloitte Consulting 17 14
McKinsey & Co. 12 11
Yes Bank 11 11
Infosys Consulting 12 7
Finance
Investment banking roles contributed to 20% of the offers while Private Equity, Venture Capital, Private & Wholesale Banking, Treasury, M&A and others contributed to the remaining 16% offers from Finance. Goldman Sachs made 7 offers across investment banking and securities divisions. Barclays Capital, Citi Global, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Global, BofA-Merill Lynch, Morgan Stanley made offers in the investment banking division for Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore locations. UBS recruited students for three desks across Asia-Pacific locations. A Europe-based Bank offered an associate position in the Netherlands. Olam International offered Commodities Derivatives Trading profile to five students for the Singapore location. Companies that had recruited by making pre-placement-offers were Barclays Capital (Hong Kong), Citi Group, Deutsche Bank (London), HSBC Global, JP Morgan, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild and Standard Chartered Global across New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore locations. Morgan Stanley (Hong Kong) offered an associate position to one student. Private Equity firm Blackstone Group recruited one student for their Real Estate Fund. Chrys Capital and o3 Capital too recruited from IIM Bangalore. A venture capital fund picked up one student.
Other recruiters from the finance sector were American Express, Anand Rathi, Allegro Advisors, Avendus Capital, Axis Bank, BNP Paribas, Capital One, Citi Bank, Edelweiss, HSBC, ICICI Prudential, India Infoline, JM Financial, Kotak Wealth, Standard Chartered and Yes Bank.
Consulting
AT Kearney (9 offers), Boston Consulting Group (7 offers), Bain & Co (7 offers) and McKinsey & Co (12 offers based out of India, Sydney and Brussels) were the largest recruiters. Arthur D Little and Oliver Wyman made offers for New York, London and Dubai locations. Some of the other consulting firms that recruited at IIMB were Accenture, Alvarez & Marsal, Booz & Co, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, EXL Services, Infosys Consulting, KPMG, PwC, and Siemens Management Consulting.
Sales & Marketing
Hindustan Unilever (5 offers) and Procter & Gamble (9 offers) were the largest sales/marketing recruiters and offered positions for marketing profiles in India and Singapore. Some of the other recruiters from this sector were Aircel, Airtel, Asian Paints, Aviva, BMGI, Britannia, Diageo, ITC, Johnson & Johnson, Marico, Nokia, Philips and Videocon. Myntra offered the role of Executive Assistant to the Founder while Comviva recruited one student for the role of Chief of Staff.
General Management & others
Around 7% of the offers came from the General Management sector while the remaining 6% of the offers came in the form of Operations & Product Management roles. Aditya Birla Group made offers to 7 students. Some of the other major recruiters in this sector were Essar, Hinduja, Mahindra & Mahindra, Lodha group, Reliance Industries and Tata Administrative Services. Ingersoll Rand offered the ‘Entrepreneurial Management Programme” to 3 students at IIM Bangalore. Narayana Hrudayalaya, a multispecialty hospital, visited campus for the second consecutive year and offered Vice President positions to four students. Global e-Procure recruited three students for supply chain consulting profile.
HCL, Intelenet, McAfee, Microsoft and NetApp offered Product Management profiles. Some of the other firms that participated in the recruitment process were Amazon, Heidrick & Struggles, DPDHL (Singapore), Google, ITW, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, MTS, SunEdison, TVS Logistics and ZS Associates.
Overseas placements
A total of 74 international offers were made, of which 54 were accepted. The most number of international offers came for jobs based out of Singapore, Hong Kong and London, primarily from Finance companies.


Lateral placements
Those with more than 22 months of fulltime work experience were eligible to participate in lateral placement process. More than 50 companies visited IIM Bangalore as part of the lateral recruitment programme. The total number of offers made during lateral placements was 147 out of which 73 offers were eventually accepted. Management consulting was the biggest recruiter with close to 55% offers coming from this sector. Deloitte Consulting with 13 offers and Infosys Consulting with 12 offers were the biggest recruiters in this sector. Other major recruiters were Accenture Management Consulting, Ernst & Young, PwC, Heidrick & Struggles (Singapore), Cognizant, Wipro, ZS Associates, Siemens Management Consulting and DPDHL (Singapore). Around 15% of the offers were General Management profiles. Aditya Birla Group was the biggest recruiter with 7 offers. Some of the other recruiters from this sector were the Hinduja Group, Adani Group, Reliance Industries, Schneider Electric and Mphasis. Close to 10% of the offers came from the finance sector. Yes Bank made a total of 7 offers across Investment Banking, Risk Management, M&A and Treasury. Private equity fund ChrysCapital recruited 2 students for associate positions. The biggest highlight was a Europe-based bank (name undisclosed) which recruited an IIM Bangalore student for an associate position based out of Netherlands. Rest of the offers came from Sales & Marketing, Operations and Product Management sectors. Some of the firms from these sectors were Philips, Microsoft, McAfee, Google, HCL, InfoEdge, Indus Valley Partners, SunEdison, MTS, Mindtree, Unisys, Infotech, Jindal Steel, Intelenet, NetApp and Technopak.
Acceptance of offers
The ratio of offers accepted to offers made was the lowest during lateral placements. Whereas more than 87% of offers made during the final placements were accepted.


With 65% of the lateral jobs comprising Consulting and Finance offers and acceptance rates for consulting and finance PPOs being as high as 80%, it is clear that recruitment decisions for the most plum finance and consulting jobs are preordained in favour of people with work experience, strong academics or both. Those getting PPOs from these companies would have gotten a summer internship largely on the basis of their pre-MBA profiles.



Another interesting statistic shared by IIM Bangalore shows that acceptance ratios for different types of offers have been falling since the economy improved after the 2008 recession. While in 2009 students accepted whatever offers that came their way, students are now becoming pickier.
This year, IIM Bangalore students have rejected the maximum proportion of overseas offers in 5 years. The interest in PPOs too has fallen by a third since 2009 and nearly two-third of students who interned in sales and marketing, general management and operations profiles have rejected their PPOs in favour of a likely better offer during final or lateral placements.
It is likely that b-schools in the same grade too would be following similar trends.


Salary data for IIM Bangalore placements is unavailable as the institute has maintained a no-salary-disclosure policy since 2006.

Tips to help you ace IIT-JEE

Tips to help you ace IIT-JEE


The syllabus of Class 11 & 12 contributes about 45% and 55% of IIT-JEE question papers respectively. When you are preparing all the chapters of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, stress may be given, in particular, on the following topics.
Mathematics: Quadratic Equat-ions & Expressions, Complex Numbers, Probability, Vectors, Matrices in Algebra; Circle, Parabola, Hyperbola in Coordinate Geometry; Functions, Limits, Continuity and Differentiability, Application of Derivatives, Definite Integral in Calculus.
Physics: Mechanics, Fluids, Heat & Thermodynamics, Waves and Sound, Capacitors & Electrostatics, Magnetics, Electromagnetic Induction, Optics and Modern Physics.
Chemistry: Qualitative Analysis, Coordination Chemistry & Chemical Bonding in Inorganic Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Chemical Equilibrium in Physical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry complete as a topic.
Planning is the key The way to prepare and deal with the study pressure is proper planning and its implementation.
* Divide the time available on the three subjects.
* Further detail out the chapter-wise, topic-wise time schedule.
* Make summary notes/points to remember of all the concepts topic/chapter-wise and flag the questions with twist, intermingling of concepts requiring analytical skills. This will help in quick revision, a couple of days before or even on the eve of the examination.
The right approach
Students, who have to simultaneously prepare for XII board and IIT-JEE, should start concentrating on Class XII and corresponding IIT-JEE chapters around 21 days before board examination. However, the flame should be kept burning even for Class XI chapters by way of revision till start of board examinations. After the board examinations, focused and concentrated revision of both Class XI & XII subjects will have to be undertaken.
The right approach for those appearing first time or second (last) time is to stick to one source and not to refer to multitude of books/study material available in the market. For example it is sufficient to go through study-packages, IIT-JEE Archives, Review-packages, Work-books, Grand Masters Package/Equivalent, AITS/AIITS series etc., supplied by FIITJEE if the student is enrolled in any of its programmes. To reap benefits, the students, throughout preparation period, should remain focused with a positive attitude to study with utmost concentration. It is quality of time spent and not the quantity alone. A short break of 5 to 10 minutes every one to one-and-a-half hours of serious study is advisable. Total relaxation during the break will supposedly charge the batteries for another intensive spell of serious study.
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Pattern of papers
There will be two three-hour combined papers (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) to test the aptitude, comprehension and analytical ability of the students. Expected pattern in 2010 is a suitable mix of various types under 2006 to 2009 (view table below).
Importance of practice sessions
To keep focused for better results, the student should strictly follow a well-planned time schedule. During practice sessions speed in working out the questions should be developed. This is a natural byproduct if the student has attempted questions from basic principles in the initial stages. However, it is never too late to practise it. This strategy of solving questions from fundamentals will induce in the student a parallel thinking process so very necessary to increase and master analytical skills with conceptual understanding. The proof of pudding is in the eating. Progress made must be checked by solving Quizzes/Mock Test Papers on a regular basis. The student should aim at 100% hit rate i.e. all attempted questions are correct. This will ensure a competitive edge over others who will be left behind due to negative marking. Speed and accuracy will also allow finishing the papers ahead of time, leaving some time for revision.
Keep mind and body fit
Asanas, Pranayama and Meditation (in that order) every day in the morning and/or evening will help to develop inner calm and power of concentration needed for success. This will ultimately be of immense help on the D-day. Minimum 5 to 6 hours of sleep daily is necessary to keep the mind and body fit.
Smart tip: Understand application of concepts and analytical skills vis-à-vis mechanical/ blind application of formulae/theory.
Facing the exam
The strategy in the examination hall will be to keep cool, to have faith and to harness the examination temperament built during planned preparation. It is advisable to reach the examination centre at least 20 minutes early. A few deep breaths will ward off nervousness. Instructions given in the question papers should be read and followed very carefully. The student should not spend more than 45 minutes on any of the subjects in the first attempt.
He should fix priorities after a concentrated quick reading of the paper and start answering with the question he knows best and move progressively to ones in ascending order of difficulty. Questions with no negative marks must be attempted. The 45-minute cycle should be repeated for the other two subjects. Thereafter the student should come back to the three sections for attempting left out questions, conceptually with well-reasoned logic and for over all revision during the last 45 minutes. Even if some segment/section appears to be tough, one should keep cool since it is the relative performance which will count and hence the student should put-in his best.
Remain positive
IIT-JEE exam tests understanding in application of concepts and analytical skills vis-à-vis mechanical/blind application of formulae/theory. Temporary set-backs or poor performance during practice in some Quiz or Mock Test Paper should not discourage and the student should march onwards with greater and greater will and determination. The success in the IIT-JEE examination is directly proportional to the number of problems solved independently
and preferably by more than one method. To raise the bar and to develop muscles, the weight is to be lifted by the student himself.

TeamLease Services raises Rs 100 cr for expansion

TeamLease Services raises Rs 100 cr for expansion


Staffing and education firm TeamLease Services today announced that it has raised Rs 100 crore from ICICI Venture and Gaja Capital Partners to fund vocational education expansion.


TeamLease Services, focused on the organised temporary staffing market since 2003, entered vocational education by acquiring the Indian Institute of Job Training (IIJT) in 2010.

IIJT operates over 150 centres that deliver classroom and satellite training in five domains--finance and accounting, IT infrastructure, sales and marketing, retail and English and soft skills.

TeamLease Services said it has also begun work on TeamLease University that will offer associate degree programs in the same domains and will start operations later this year after regulatory and legislative approvals.

The company is also actively engaged with various State governments through Public Private Partnerships (PPP). It runs the only PPP Employment Exchange and one of largest PPP tribal training programs in the country.

"Innovating in India's people supply chain requires operating at the intersection of jobs and skills since companies are looking for trained candidates and candidates are looking for jobs. This fund raise allows us to create a corridor between certificates, diplomas, associate degrees and jobs," TeamLease Services, managing director Ashok Reddy said.

The capital raised will be deployed for the vocational education initiative--a rollout of IIJT centres, national satellite delivery capabilities, building a corporate training business, acquiring a footprint in new domains more suitable for students directly after Class 10 and the TeamLease University project.

Mr Vishakha Mulye, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Venture, said, the education and staffing sector in India is "poised for an exciting future" as there is clear recognition within the Government as well as the private sector about the need to address gaps in the people supply chain, up-skilling of workforce and quality training.

The National Skill Mission has set a target of making 500 million people employable by 2020.

'RTE Act implementation is challenging'

'RTE Act implementation is challenging'


The challenge in RTE implementation is changing the mindsets of teachers, parents and the school managements. While during their BA and B Ed teachers are taught that every child wants to learn, once the teachers come to class, their attitude changes. Nandakumar, project officer, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan talks to DNA regarding the RTE Act.
It’s been one year since the RTE act has been enforced, how is the state faring on its implementation?
Since we already have eight years of experience in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, implementing RTE in Mahararashtra, so that every child goes to school, is not very difficult. We have already identified the problem areas and are working towards their solutions. Through School mapping we have realized that we need to create 904 new schools so that all children can be educated. There is no lack of funds. And luckily, due to our SSA experience, most of the infrastructure is already in place. Also, as the census report indicates, the number of children in the country is reducing as people are planning smaller families, so enrollment of students is also not a problem.
What are the challenges faced while implementation of RTE act in the state?
The real challenge in RTE implementation is changing the mindsets of teachers, parents and the school managements. While during their BA and B Ed teachers are taught that every child wants to learn, once the teachers come to class, their attitude changes. They think that all children are not capable of learning and so some children will fail. This attitude needs to be changed.
That is what RTE is attempting to do. We need to engrain in them that every child can learn. Commiting mistakes in learning are their birthright. Schools do not have a right to stop their learning if they do these mistakes. They cannot detain children. Instead, through remedial coaching, schools need to bring these children up to speed. Unfortunately, many schools have not understood the spirit behind this policy. So it is being misused.
What kind of training is being given to the teachers so that they can teach students who have never been to school?
Responsibilities of the teachers have increased. Under RTE, teachers have to teach students who might not even know Marathi. They might be only literate in their native language. So teachers will have to take special efforts to learn ‘one more language’ so that they can reach such students. For instance, teachers in Maharashtra only understand Marathi, so they are unable to communicate with tribal children. They will not even bother to learn their language.
So we have been giving them training on two levels. Motivational training so that they develop a positive attitude and we are training them to increase their skills, creativity , so that they can introduce innovative techniques of teaching that can relate to multiple intelligences in the classrooms.

Road to IIT: Meet Anand Kumar, brain behind Super 30

Road to IIT: Meet Anand Kumar, brain behind Super 30

Educator Anand Kumar could not attend Cambridge University due to financial constraints. Today, he coaches deserving students for IIT-JEE.
HIS father, a post office clerk in Bihar, couldn't afford private schooling for his children. So, Anand Kumar studied at a Hindi medium government school where, at an early age, he fell in love with mathematics. During graduation, he submitted papers on Numbers Theory that were published in UK's Mathematical Spectrum and The Mathematical Gazette.
He was accepted by Cambridge University and was close to realising his dream of becoming a mathematician, when his father suddenly passed away. The household income dwindled and Kumar and his mother made papad, which he sold door-to-door in the evenings, while writing mathematical theories in the daytime.
Then one day, a well-wisher suggested Kumar teach maths. In 1995, at the age of 22, he rented a classroom for Rs. 500 a month and started teaching. In one year's time, the strength of his classroom went from 2 to 36. Today, his study centre Ramanujan School of Mathematics is renowned, the world over. In a frank interview with Sumita Vaid Dixit, he talks (in chaste Hindi) about Indian education, revolution and his dream.
Q. Why did you start Super 30?
A. Within three years we had nearly 500 students. Although the fee was nominal - Rs. 1,500 a year - some poor students could not pay. Once, a boy came to me and said that he wanted to study but could only pay after his father, a poor farmer, had harvested potatoes. In Bihar, we call it 'aloo ukharna'.
I didn't want to take away the boy's only hope of changing his life because he couldn't pay. That's when I decided that I will form a group of 30 bright students, all from poor families, provide them with board and lodging and prepare them for IIT. This group was called Super 30. My brother Pranav Kumar, a violinist by profession, manages the institute, while my mother cooks for the students.
In the last seven years, 182 students out of 210 have made it to different IITs of the country. And for the last two years, all thirty students of Super 30 have made it to IIT. Parents of some students are bricklayers some work as domestic help. Now many of our students are working in Europe and the US.
Q. What is it about your teaching methods that help students get through to IIT?
A. This success is a combination of three factors. My students have junoon (passion), a fire in them to achieve. Two, our teaching approach is different. I use multimedia slides to make a little story with characters to explain maths concepts. Three, we take tests every day. Well, in a nutshell, we teach our students the how and why! That's all.
Q. But how do you run the place with the little fee you charge the other students?
A. I didn't start the place to make money. There are many coaching institutes in Patna for the rich, but none for the poor. NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) come to me with offers of help, but I wanted to prove that much can be achieved with fewer resources.
Q. Have you been able to prove that?
A. I think I have. There are far too many students coming to us, more than what we can take. And this has annoyed many coaching institutes. As you would know, many of the institutes here are run by criminals. I have received death threats one of my non-teaching staff was stabbed, once they even tried to blow me away with a crude bomb, but I escaped unhurt. I move around with two security guards armed with machines guns.
Q. Does the sight of security guards scare away children or parents?
A. (laughs) Children in Bihar are familiar with the criminal activities here. It doesn't scare them.
Q. Don't you get scared your life may be at stake?
A. I am doing this for society. Yes, mobility is restricted and I get frustrated at times, but it's okay. I get my strength from these kids. But over the past few years, the crime rate has come down and the police support me. Besides, if I get scared how will the others join me in creating a revolution?
Q. What kind of revolution?
A. Making education accessible to every poor child in India. I wish the kids I have taught, come back to their hometowns and do something for their people, their village. At times, it hurts to see that some forget about giving back to the society.
But there's another kind of kranti (revolution) taking place. Earlier when a peon used to work at an IAS officer's residence, he hoped that when his own son became a peon, the officer would treat him well. Today, the peon who works at the IAS officer's house wants his son to become an IAS officer, not a peon. That's kranti! We mustn't forget the sacrifice and hardships parents go through just to make sure their children live better lives, their children go to schools.
Q. Would the HRD minister's proposals bring about a change?
A. Kapil Sibalji thinks that by changing the syllabus or introducing a grading system, education will improve. The system will not change like this. Change will come when teachers have the passion to teach. 'Jab unme junoon hoga'!For that teachers should be paid well. It's ironical that while parents want their children to have great teachers, they don't want their children to become teachers!
The policymakers' idea of education is limited to Delhi and the NCR region. They have no clue of the positions of schools in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh many schools don't have roofs here.
And suggesting 80 per cent as cut-off marks for the IIT entrance exam is ridiculous. You cannot apply this to local boards or to students in villages. There cannot to be true development until the villages of India are also a part of the development process. 'Bharat ki atman gaon mein bassi hain' (the spirit of this nation resides in the villages).
Q. Then what's the way forward?
A. We need two syllabi: one for students with an ordinary intellect and one for students with extraordinary intellect. There are those who can do very well in jobs and there are those who can excel in research, and the first six years of schooling are good enough to evaluate a student's potential. This method is followed by China and Russia.
Do you know that China has topped 15 times in the past 22 years in the International Mathematical Olympiad? In times to come the top researches and scientists will come from China.
So we have to think of novel ways of encouraging our students to get into research. Why hasn't India produced Nobel winners in a long time? The ones that have are those who left this country to pursue their research elsewhere.
Q. And, what are your future plans?
A. I want to extent my programme to students of Class 5 and 6 as many gifted children fade away before they reach class 10. Many out of school to sell vegetables or work at tea stalls. I want to catch them young.
So, now I'm thinking of setting up a chain of free schools across the country, with free board and lodging facilities, where children can study from Class 5 to up to Class 12 and where they are prepared not just for IIT but Olympiad tests in mathematics, physics and chemistry.
Q. But your dream of going to Cambridge still remains unfulfilled?
A. When those eyes full of hope look at me, the respect and pleasure I get seeing my students being placed in large organisations makes me forget about it. But I do keep travelling to the US to give lectures my papers get published in international magazines. I am happy.

Penn State students rally for reduction of state education cuts

Penn State students rally for reduction of state education cuts


Penn State Altoona sophomore Kimberly Isaac likes it here and has gotten "the hang" of her print journalism major.
But her parents in Queens, N.Y., are struggling with the responsibility to pay her $30,000 a year college costs, even as they pay off her big sister's Penn State loans. So Isaac fears the big tuition hike that must follow if the state follows through on Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed 50 percent cut in higher education funding.
Isaac was among 75 Altoona College students - 500 altogether from Penn State - at the university's annual Capitol Day rally Tuesday in Harrisburg, urging lawmakers to back off the radical cuts.
"It would be a big step" - one she'd be reluctant to take - if she had to go to a smaller school closer to home, Isaac said after the rally.
Her parents are willing to do more, "but there's only so much they can do," she said.
"Everybody fears the worst," said Paige Blawas of Latrobe, president of the Altoona Student Government Association.
Blawas worries she'll need a serious job to supplement the minimal one she now holds during the school year, and that extra effort might diminish her college experience and even her grades.
Her family is middle class, not "well-off" - as one speaker she heard Tuesday presumed to label most of the students, she said.
Her dad has a small business installing stair lifts, her mom helps him part-time and her brother is starting college in the fall.
And the family income isn't guaranteed: "It's all about sales," she said. "And if [my dad] has a bad month."
Ben Clark, SGA vice president, worries that friends may need to leave Penn State or that he'll find at reunions 20 years from now they're still paying off student loans.
He also wonders about increasing numbers of students in his classes due to faculty cuts and even the possibility of closures of outreach campuses, a possibility university officials are examining.
It would seem that Altoona should be safe, being large and close to University Park, making it an easy transition for juniors to the main campus, he said.
But that very proximity might make it easier to close, because this area of the state is already served by the main campus, and because closing a large satellite campus would lop a large part of the overall costs all at once, he conceded.
Still, the situation may not be as dire as it seems, Blawas said, after speaking to aides of state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland.
"They said a lot that was reassuring," Blawas said. "They made it seem as though it wouldn't be as big a cut as expected."
Likewise, Clark was pleasantly surprised.
He went expecting to feel alienated, with non-receptive lawmakers.
Instead, he found them "engaging," and hoping to work out something that would "not hit [us] as hard as originally proposed."
It probably helped that his father, Dan, was a state representative for Juniata, Mifflin, Snyder and Perry counties from 1988 to 2002.
Clark talked with state Reps. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, and Bill Adolph, R-Delaware, the latter of which he'd known as a child, through his father.
Clark and the others he encountered Tuesday are "good kids," Geist said.
As for the students' hopes of a smaller cut, "the budget is far from being done," he said.
He thinks Corbett's $27.3 billion total "will hold," but that the items within that budget are "a moving target."
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.

Pell Knell

Pell Knell
Even if Obama wins on education funding, students will lose.
In February, Republicans unveiled a plan to cut funding for Pell grants by 25 percent and slash the maximum award by $845—changes that would knock funding to below 2008 levels and, according to education experts I spoke to, devastate students who rely on the program for support. The White House responded by offering a preemptive compromise, asking for more modest cuts in an attempt to claim the political center and maintain the maximum grant at $5,500: It called for reductions of $100 billion over ten years, through the elimination of a rule that allows summer students to qualify for additional Pell grants and the elimination interest subsidies for graduate students. "Cuts like these are never easy,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, “but in the current fiscal climate they are the responsible thing to do, and the only way to ensure that we can make the investments we need to secure our future."
This may or may not succeed politically. As the White House plays a game of budgetary Uncle with House Republicans this week, President Obama will at best receive what he has asked for, and at worst acquiesce to drastic cuts that would render its slogan of “Winning the Future” utterly hollow. Yet the fact is that even if Obama wins and manages to preserve most Pell funding, students will lose: With cash-strapped states dramatically reducing the amount of support they provide for higher education, the total pool of funds looks to be shrinking precipitously, and anything short of a serious increase in federal support to fill the gap will curtail the dreams of thousands upon thousands of young Americans.
There is no aggregate figure available totaling all state-level reductions since the beginning of the financial crisis, but we do know that 43 states have made cuts to higher education since 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Many of these reductions are gut-wrenching: In Michigan, where state financial aid plummeted by $135 million—or over 60 percent—in the FY2011 budget. Missouri’s FY2011 budget will cut need-based aid by about 60 percent. In Iowa, spending on public universities dropped 20 percent, or $141 million, in the last two years.
In a budget bind, state legislators have long known they can hack at post-secondary education more than other services, because tuition hikes usually cover the funding gap. “It’s basically a way of raising taxes without getting dinged for it,” says Kevin Carey, a researcher Education Sector, a think tank. Sure enough, tuition at Florida’s eleven public universities has increased by 32 percent in the past two years, while the vaunted University of California has also hiked its tuition by 32 percent since the middle of the 2009–2010 school year. Many others have followed suit.
Indeed, with soaring education costs, the maximum Pell grant does less to help students afford college than it did in 1990. (It currently covers just 34 percent of tuition, fees, room, and board at public four-year colleges, according to the College Board, compared to 45 percent two decades ago.) In these conditions, there is an urgent need for more federal help for disadvantaged students—not less. The administration hopes to tie the maximum Pell grant to the Consumer Price Index between 2013 and 2017, which would amount to an estimated $425 bump, but at this point, that’s simply a wish-list item to be determined largely by future Congresses. (Paul Ryan, who will probably still chair the House Budget Committee during negotiations over spending for 2013, has just announced that he supports dramatic cuts.)
And reductions in education funding have real consequences. According to Sara Goldrick-Rab, who has seen the effects of Pell grants first-hand as Co-Director of the Wisconsin Scholars Longitudinal Study—which tracked 3,000 Pell grant recipients for the past three years—grants like these often make the difference between a college education and dropping out. “I have kids in my study who have parents taking on two or three jobs. I also have kids who are taking on two or three jobs. They are skipping breakfast,” she said. “And they’re getting a Pell, and taking away the Pell is going to make continuing in college impossible.”

NIMS-INTELLECTURE-2011 SYMPOSIUM was concluded successfully by active participation

NIMS-INTELLECTURE-2011 SYMPOSIUM was concluded successfully by active participation


Netaji Subhash Institute of Management Sciences believes that faculty is the principal driver of change through their direct involvement in every aspect of the Institute: Academics, Governance, Research, and Consultancy. To further empower them in knowledge, NIMS initiated the concept of Intellecture-Faculty Seminar Forum. It aims at enhancing the academic and intellectual environment in the Institution by providing faculty members with enough opportunities to pursue research and also to participate in seminars / conferences / workshops. The first major event under this forum, NIMS-INTELLECTURE-2011 SYMPOSIUM, Innovative Management Strategies, took place on the 30th of March, 2011, Wednesday in the NIMS campus.Eminent guests from the corporate and the academic arena graced the occasion and manifolded the intellectual worthiness of this event. Prof Steve Rawlinson, President, JRE group of institutions at Raffles Education Corporation/Educomp,India was the chief guest. Dr K.L Chawla , PGP Chairperson , Fore School of Management was the Guest of Honour. Prof K. V Krishnamurthy was invited as a special guest. Along with Dr D.K. Batra, Director, NIMS and Prof. P.C. Chhabra, Head Academics, NIMS, everyone shared their wisdom with the participants and audience. Through the day’s events, presentations were held under three different sessions which were chaired by eminent corporate guests who evaluated the presentations on various parameters.Dr. Tarun Panwar, CEO , Indian Retail School; Dr Ravikesh Srivastava , Dean, Galgotias Business School chaired the sessions along with the Chief guest, Professor Steve and the special guest Prof. Krishnamurthy.The symposium was concluded successfully by a valedictory speech by Mr A.K. Puri, Director General, ITS Group.

Various colleges and corporates from across Delhi participated in the NIMS Intellecture 2011 Symposium with a lot of innovative management strategies to share. Professors from nine colleges and institutes across Delhi & NCR , namely , Lady Irwin college, Delhi University; Bhartiya Vidyapeeth; Bhagwan Parshuram Institute of Technology; Guru Nanak Institute of Management(GNIM); ICFAI , Delhi ; JIMS Rohini; ITS Ghaziabad; Delhi institute of Advanced studies(DIAS) participated in the event. Research Papers and live case studies were presented in diverse areas like Sustainable Development, Branding, Work Life conflict, Event marketing ,Intrapreneurship, Employee Engagement,Total Quality Management to name a few. The first two winners namely Ms Babita Mehra from GNIM and Ms Amrinder Kaur from NIMS were rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 5000/- each. The following 11 best presentations were awarded a honorarium of Rs 1000/- each along with an opportunity to get their paper published in the special issue of the widely circulated monthly magazine of NIMS “SPOTLIGHT”.

The first international symposium organised by NIMS was certainly a benchmark in its journey of becoming a world class business school, the success of which was proved by the active participation and the involvement of one and all, inspite of the strong desire to witness the much awaited India Pakistan World Cup Semi Final.

Mumbai University yet to declare engineering exam results

Mumbai University yet to declare engineering exam results


The Mumbai University has failed to declare the results of the exams for first and final year engineering students that was conducted in December, in the stipulated time. The university, by law, is supposed to announce the results within 45 days of the exams. Students who have been awaiting the results, will have practically no time to go in for re-evaluation with the next exams scheduled to begin from May 15.
First year students are awaiting the results of the first semester exams, while final year students are expecting the fifth semester exam results. One of the students, on condition of anonymity, said, “The university promised to declare the results much in advance this year, but has failed to keep the promise. If we have failed in any exam, and will have to appear for the allowed to keep term (ATKT) exams, we will not have any time to get our papers evaluated again. The process for re-evaluation itself is longer with the university.”
The Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena (MNVS) approached the controller of examination, Vilas Shinde, on Tuesday, demanding early announcement of the results. “The university decentralised the paper evaluation process and announced the BCom October exam results in a record time of 12 days. However, the process doesn’t seem to have worked for the other subjects. October exams for TYBCom were only for the repeater candidates, where there are fewer numbers of students. Engineering students are more in number,” said Sainath Durge, from MNVS.
University officials have announced that the results will be out in 10-15days. The university has also introduced an optical mark reader (OMR) for data feeding this year, which will help them reduce the time consumed for evaluation by a week. However, the system too has seemed to fail with fewer numbers of approved teachers participating in the evaluation process.
Vilas Shinde, the controller of examination, said, “The examiners have not reported for evaluation duty. Stringent action will be taken against such teachers. I am trying to get data of teachers who have not reported to work. Their details will be given to college and the colleges will have to take action against them. In the final year, only subjects like computers, information technology, electronics and telecommunication, the results are awaited. Results for the rest of the subjects are out.”

MCI plans to send doctors back to lecture halls

MCI plans to send doctors back to lecture halls



New Delhi: According to new rules that will be announced by the Medical Council of India (MCI) today, doctors in India might be sent back to lecture halls to study again soon.

The MCI has planned to make it compulsory for all doctors to attend 30 hours of Continuing Medical Education (CME) after every five years, failing which, the council might suspend their registration to practice medicine.

The MCI will announce the maiden national guidelines on CME Credit Hours at the council's ethical committee meeting on Tuesday.

Papers published in "indexed national/international" medical journals will allow the authors and co-authors to CME Credit Hours. Also, doctors who are pursuing postgraduate courses such as diploma, MD, MS, DNB and DM from reputed/recognized institutions in India will receive four credit hours per year for the duration of their course.

Additional credit hours will be awarded to the doctors for participating in departmental and institutional activities such as mortality conferences, journal club meetings, etc.

The council's new rules also say that any medical associations or organizations that are caught issuing fake certificates to doctors that claim they had attended conferences will be barred.

Doctors will also be allowed to attend international conferences and will be issued CME Credit Hours only after they have submitted attendance proof.

A CME organized by a medical drug or equipment company for the promotion of its product will not be considered by the council. Also, CMEs organized by individual nursing homes, hospitals etc for the purpose of marketing will not be given any credit.

JK Lakshmipat Univ: Admissions on for MBA 2011-13 batch

JK Lakshmipat Univ: Admissions on for MBA 2011-13 batch


The B-school is conducting the admission process for the two year full time residential MBA program for the academic year 2011-13
The last date to apply is Saturday, June 4, 2011. The session will commence from July 2011.
The admissions to the Institute of Management, J K Lakshmipat University, Jaipur, is currently on. The B-school is conducting the admission process for the two year full time residential MBA program for the academic year 2011-13. The number of seats for the program is 140 and the total fees is Rs. 7,90,000.
Selection Process
The candidates are shortlisted on the basis of the scores of CAT, MAT, XAT, JMET or any other equivalent State level MBA entrance exam. Those who have not appeared for any of these tests will have to take JKLU-MET to be held on Sunday, June 12, 2011.
After the candidates are shortlisted on the basis of the exam scores, the GD PI processes will be conducted by the Institute of Management, J K Lakshmipat University.
The last date to apply for the admissions is Saturday, June 4, 2011. The session will commence from July 2011.
Talking about the USP of the MBA program of J K Lakshmipat University, Dr. Upinder Dhar, Director, J K Lashmipat University mentions, “With highly experienced and qualified faculty members from the leading B-schools of the country and abroad, the university offers great promise to the future professionals.”
The institute is located in Jaipur, which according to Dr. Dhar is one of the fastest growing cities. “Apart from having a rich cultural heritage, the city is well connected to other parts of the country.”
Scholarships will be offered to 10 meritorious students of Rs. 30, 000 each. Apart from this, 14 Merit cum Means Scholarships of Rs. 50, 000 each will be given to the eligible students every year.

Institutes offer skills training to youth in Naxal affected areas

Institutes offer skills training to youth in Naxal affected areas

In the summer of 2010, the International Association for Human Values (IAHV - part of Art of Living Foundation, a not-for-profit, educational and humanitarian voluntary organisation), initiated a three-month project to train young militants from Manipur in Pune. The ministry of home affairs had roped in IAHV when these militants offered to surrender.
The militants were trained in soft skills and vocational modules in cell phone, airconditioner and refrigerator repair, computer skills and electrical works. The outcome: 80 militants, including women, are now employed in companies across Pune.

Indian academic speaks on quality of education

Indian academic speaks on quality of education


CONTINUOUS assessment of quality of education imparted to schoolchildren on an annual basis creates ripples and stimulates people to think and find solutions to achieve the desired result, says a leading Indian academic.
Dr Madhav Chavan, the president of PRATHAM Education Foundation, India held a meeting with education reporters as he arrived here on Sunday to participate in the national launch of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan 2010.
Dr Chavan said PRATHAM had launched its sixth ASER India report on Jan 14 that assessed quality of education being imparted to schoolchildren.
He said there was a common feature that people keep criticising a lack of qualitative education in schools but nobody had ever tried to see what was wrong inside the classrooms. This concept led to the conduct of ASER India to measure and identify how much was wrong inside a classroom or a school.
Underlining the factors leading to low learning outcomes of students, he said, there was no continuity of policies in India and most students were first-generation learners and they had no support or literate environment at homes.
Dr Chavan said the South Asia Forum for Education Development (SAFED) and Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) had decided to replicate the learning outcomes concept and instead of re-inventing the wheel they adopted ASER India tools with certain changes.
He said ASER was assessing students’ learning outcomes at their homes, which was altogether different from conventional assessments in schools. He said another feature of this assessment survey was that citizens were involved to do the survey because ultimately it was also the accountability of public money spending.
Stating that assessment done by citizens themselves is considered more authentic than government’s data, he stressed that this learning outcome assessment initiative could be replicated in any country. Since the ASER India was holding survey, he said, the student enrolment ratio had risen from 92.6 per cent to 96.4 per cent.
He said the ASER India had assessed over 700,000 students (3-16 years age group) in households in 580 districts across India. In each district, he said, 30 villages were selected and 20 households in each village.
Dr Chavan also told reporters that the government was offering mid-day meals to the students in public schools up to Class-VIII because many children in India come to schools without having meals. He said malnutrition was a big issue and it was necessary to provide students hot cooked food in schools. He said the government provided all the required food material and had hired cooks.
He said there could be no magic solution to improve students’ learning but it needed to be ensured that the teachers should attend their classes regularly and impart education in a manner that their students could learn.
About curriculum, he said, it was generally misunderstood as textbooks. “Curriculum is much more than textbooks and refers that what a child is supposed to learn. Textbooks are just an aid,” he said. “There is no need to centralise the curriculum,” he said.
THE Pakistan Caucus at the Harvard Kennedy School, a student body working to promote the country’s image among the international students studying at Harvard University, visited the Lahore University of Management Sciences this past week.
The 10-member students’ delegation held a dialogue with the Provost of LUMS, Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, regarding public policy issues in Pakistan.The students also interacted with the deans, faculty and the LUMS student society members and discussed how the educationists and students from both countries could collaborate to reform the education system.
A presentation on the Flood Maps, which was a recent initiative taken by Dr Sohaib Khan, was given to show that how the LUMS community was conforming to social responsibility. The purpose of the trip was to give the visitors a sense of the vibrant civil society in Pakistan and how the educationists and students at LUMS were exploring new avenues to engage in collaboration to bridge the gap between the two countries.
The six-member ‘Pakistan Caucus’ students’ delegation of Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA, also visited the Punjab Education Foundation. PEF’s Managing Director Mohiuddin Wani briefed the delegation on the foundation’s initiatives for the cause of providing quality education opportunities to children belonging to poor strata of society.
THE University of Engineering and Technology’s Teaching Staff Association (TSA) body for 2011 was elected unopposed last week as all contesting candidates withdrew their nomination papers.
The new elected office-bearers are: Prof Dr Muhammad Zafar Noon (president), Prof Dr Akhlaq Ahmad (vice president), Dr Muhammad Shoaib (vice president), Muhammad Burhan Sharif (secretary general), Muhammad Shoaib (joint secretary), Farhan Faisal Sheikh (social secretary) and Muhammad Amjad (treasurer).
The executive members are Dr Khurshid Aslam Bhatti, Malik Akhtar Hussain, Muhammad Arshad, Muhammad Farooq, Rakhshanda Naveed, Shaker Mahmood and Tanveer Qasim.
THE Aitchison College last week won the All-Punjab Quiz Competition 2011 hosted by the Ravians Quiz Society at Bokhari Auditorium. The contest was participated in by delegates from 19 educational institutions from across the province.
The Military College, Jhelum bagged second position and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences third position.
Chief guest Nasira Javed Iqbal lauded the students for their knowledge, saying hard work and sincerity would pay in future.
THE Lahore College for Women University won the Persian essay-writing competition and obtained second position in verse recitation competition under the auspices of the Iranian Cultural Centre, Lahore.
As many as 16 institutions including the Punjab University, the Government College University and the Kinnaird College participated in the competition.
LCWU lecturer Faleeha Kazmi says varsity’s student Maria Umar won the trophy and cash prize in the essay competition. Fiza Batool and Kainaat Azhar were awarded with certificates and cash prizes for their second position in verse recitation.
Chief guest Iqbal Salahuddin, the grandson of Allama Iqbal, presented prizes. Iranian Cultural Centre, Lahore, Director-General Abbas Ali Famoori said Persian was the common asset of Pakistan and Iran.

IMI Opens New Windows of Opportunity in the Eastern Region

IMI Opens New Windows of Opportunity in the Eastern Region

Good news is in store for B-school aspirants from Eastern India. With two new International Management Institute (IMI) campuses ready for admissions in Bhubaneswar, Orissa and Kolkata, West Bengal? students from the Eastern region will be able to rece

Good news is in store for B-school aspirants from Eastern India. With two new International Management Institute (IMI) campuses ready for admissions in Bhubaneswar, Orissa and Kolkata, West Bengal? students from the Eastern region will be able to receive international-quality management education ? virtually at their door steps and will not have to travel to other parts of the country in search of quality education. All this is in keeping with IMI?s aspiration to scale new heights as one of the top-notch business school in the Asia-Pacific region.

The current move is expected to offset the huge imbalance in the demand and supply of quality management education in the eastern belt. As things stand today, most good b-schools are concentrated in north and west India. But if you look east, there?s nothing in Orissa apart from XIM Bhubaneswar. Similarly in Kolkata, there?s nothing of the stature of IIM Calcutta. Slightly northwards, there?s XLRI Jamshedpur which is top quality. But that?s about it. As a result there exists a wide gap which these two institutions expect to fulfill.

Brand IMI is one of the foremost management institutions of India, promoted by the Rs 17000 crore RPG Group having diverse business interests. IMI?s vision is to be recognized as world-class business school, achieving excellence in management education and research through continuous competency building.

IMI?s journey towards excellence began with the establishment of the first campus in New Delhi in collaboration with IMI Geneva (now IMD, Lausanne) in 1981. Over the last 30 odd years IMI has made a mark for itself among the leading management institutions. It is indeed a matter of pride for the IMI family that IMI Delhi is ranked 14 overall (including IIMs) and 3rd in intellectual capital among India?s Best B-school survey published by Business World (June 28, 2010). Today IMI is India?s first corporate sponsored Business School with sponsorship from corporate houses like RPG Enterprises, Williamson Magor, Nestle, ITC, Tata Chemicals, BOC, etc.

IMIs USP lies in its industry-oriented curriculum and international standard curricula developed in collaboration with reputed academic institutions like International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, and Manchester Business School, U.K. IMI Delhi?s educational programs have been recognized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India. In addition, IMI Delhi has also received national level accreditation from NBA (National Board of Accreditation) and international level accreditation from SAQS (South Asia Quality Systems). The management programmes of IMI are designed to enable young professionals to develop both intellectual as well as perceptive skills as future managers. The underlying philosophy behind this revolves around the notion that world-class business leaders are not mass-produced; they are customized and developed in an atmosphere conducive to learning and knowledge creation.

As the new feathers in IMI?s cap - IMI Bhubaneswar and IMI Kolkata will be offering best international-standard management education. Both the institutes would be offering PGDM programs based on Industry-oriented curriculum. The overall aim is to groom students for immediate employability as well as develop cutting-edge course curriculum and specialized research programmes and other activities of the Institute in collaboration with Industry partners. Both the institutions would like to be known as international-level centres of excellence in learning ? focusing on teaching and research in the field of management in sync with the fast changing interconnected world.

Both IMI Kolkata & IMI Bhubaneswar campuses are ready. And if all goes well the IMI authorities expect to be in a position to run regular PGDM programme from July 2011 after formal approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is expected in May 2011. Meanwhile applications have started pouring in from prospective candidates.

IMI Kolkata, located in Alipore, a posh locality in the city, which is the largest metropolis of Eastern India, plans to collaborate with top business schools of the world. It has already entered into an arrangement with the Oxford Institute of Retail Management (OXIRM), which is a part of the Said Business School, Oxford University, for joint research in the sphere of retail management.

IMI Bhubaneswar, located in one of the fastest growing metropolis of Eastern India, with its 16 acre Campus, promises to write its own saga of excellence. It has by far the largest campus in the IMI family. The IMI Kolkata campus has an area of 3 acres. The IMI Delhi campus also has an area of 3 acres.

Both the campuses have world-class facilities that stimulate interactive learning with separate academic and residential blocks. The academic block features lecture theatres, faculty offices, administrative offices, meeting rooms and auditoriums that can house up to 300 students. The residential blocks are equipped with wi-fi and can accommodate about 400 students in the campus.

Both IMI-B and IMI-K have completed recruitment of the first batch of faculty members.

Once selected, finances should not be a problem for the IMI students as tie-ups for bank loans will be available.

Each of the new IMIs will have independent directors with the board of governors having a number of common members including the Chairman, Mr. Sanjiv Goenka. In terms of governance, these schools will be independent b-schools.

About International Management Institute

International Management Institute (IMI) is one of the most reputed and fastest growing brands in the business school segment in the Asia-Pacific region. Its mission is to develop outstanding managerial talent capable of providing enlightened and effective leadership as well as further the advancement of knowledge in the field of management by undertaking relevant research programmes and to collaborate with counterpart institutions, industry and government in the development and application of new knowledge for the benefit of society.

IMI Areas of Strength:

-- India?s first corporate sponsored Business School with sponsorship from corporate houses like RPG Enterprises, Williamson Magor, Nestle, ITC, Tata Chemicals, BOC, etc.
-- Recognized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India.
-- Received national level accreditation from NBA (National Board of Accreditation) and international level accreditation from SAQS (South Asia Quality Systems).
-- Empanelled by the Ministry of External Affairs, GOI, for special Technical Cooperation Programme under which the Institute gets executive MBA students on a GOI scholarship from various developing countries across the world for its 15 months Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management.
-- IMI Delhi is ranked 14 overall (including IIMs) and 3rd in intellectual capital among India?s Best B-school survey published by Business World (June 28, 2010).

IIMs against new government reforms

IIMs against new government reforms


The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) faculty, unconvinced by the government's assurances, has decided to make public their concerns over a series of reforms that had been proposed by the government.

The IIMs are concerned that the proposed reforms will lead the privatization of the IIMs.

On Monday, IIM-Calcutta published a detailed criticism of the government's proposed reforms on its official website. This had been done only 48 hours after Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal had clarified that the reforms would not involve privatization of the prestigious management institutes.

It had been recommended by a panel of the HRD ministry under Maruti Chairman R.C. Bhargava that industrial houses can gain seats in the managing society of an IIM for five years in exchange for a donation of Rs.20 crore.

Individuals and alumni too can gain seats on the IIM societies by giving donations worth Rs.5 crore under the proposals of the panel.

However, it is being argued by the faculty that if the recommendations of the Bhargava panel are implemented, it might lead to the reigns of the IIMs being placed in the hands of private donors.

IIM-C board chairman against privatisation

IIM-C board chairman against privatisation

KOLKATA: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta ( IIMC) is against the privatisation of IIMs but welcomes corporate contributions to generate resources for new IIMs, the institute's board of governors' chairman Ajit Balakrishnan said on Saturday evening. He was speaking on the sidelines of the institute's 46th convocation.
"We favour corporate contributions for new IIMs as they may not be in a position to generate resources adequately in the initial years," said Balakrishnan. "But privatisation is a no-no." A few days ago, Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal had ruled out privatisation of IIMs at IIM Bangalore's convocation, amid speculation on the issue after a proposal by a committee constituted by the HRD ministry.

IIMA study says MBAs need to look beyond mgmt

IIMA study says MBAs need to look beyond mgmt


Do you think studying at a top management college enables you to learn handling financial crisis in a real life situation? While your college authorities may claim so, a study by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) has concluded that in order to make an MBA graduate competent to handle real life crises, a typical MBA programme needs to integrate insights from other disciplines also.
'Finance Teaching and Research after the Global Financial Crisis,' the study conducted by the IIMA, suggests that to teach students to handle or avert financial crisis, an MBA programme needs to integrate insights from disciplines like sociology, evolutionary biology, neurosciences, financial history and the multidisciplinary field of networks theory.
IIM-A Prof Jayant Varma, who undertook the study, observed that typical MBA programmes have failed to keep pace with the developments in finance theories in the last decade or more. Therefore, they need to be more comprehensive now.
"Finance theory itself is constantly evolving and needs to draw on insights from several other disciplines to enrich itself. Behavioural finance has succeeded in integrating several models from psychology into mainstream finance, but the global crisis has demonstrated that many phenomena have their roots in sociological factors," Prof Varma said.
Professor Varma says that apart from sociology, finance must learn from evolutionary biology, neurosciences, financial history and the multidisciplinary field of network theory. "Above all, the increasingly complex world of finance needs more sophisticated mathematical models and statistical tools," he adds.
The professor insists that financial history should be made part of the MBA programme where history of around 100 years is taught. "Financial history provides vital inputs in econometric procedures. Since high quality data do not usually go back to more than a few decades, we cannot fit econometric models directly to centuries of data," he says.
"However," Prof Varma adds, "it is not sensible to limit the estimation process to only the limited sample duration that is available. We need to favour robust models that are qualitatively consistent with decades if not centuries of historical experience. Such models should not only provide a good fit to the high quality data of the recent past, but also allow us to extrapolate far beyond recent experience."
The study states that a lot needs to be changed in finance teaching and finance theory is also due for some changes.Many ideas that are well understood within certain subfields in finance need to be better assimilated into mainstream models. For example, many concepts in market microstructure must become part of the core tool kit of finance, suggests the paper.

IIM Calcutta faculty rejects proposal to restructure IIMs

IIM Calcutta faculty rejects proposal to restructure IIMs


The faculty of IIM-C has expressed their angst on 'IIM Governance' and 'Faculty & Research at the IIMs' reports that were submitted to the HRD Ministry
On March 31, 2011, Mr. Kapil Sibal speaking at IIM-B had clarified that the reforms were not aimed at privatization.

The faculty of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) has expressed their angst on ‘IIM Governance’ and ‘Faculty and Research at the IIMs’ reports that were submitted to the HRD Ministry in October 2010.
The IIM-C faculty have gone public with their thoughts on the reports submitted by HRD ministry panel under Maruti Chairman RC Bhargava. The ‘Position Paper’ prepared by the IIM-C faculty has been published on the IIM-C official site: http://www.iimcal.ac.in/IIMC-Restructuring-Position-Paper.pdf
“Not convinced by government assurances, the IIM faculty decided to take their concerns on the series of proposed reforms to the public,” said a faculty member who did not wish to be named.
There are concerns that the reforms would effectively lead to the privatisation of the IIMs. On March 31, 2011, Mr. Kapil Sibal speaking at IIM-B had clarified that the reforms were not aimed at privatization.
The faculty have totally rejected the proposals that are part of the two reports. The faculty have been irked especially by the following proposals that: Allow firms, individuals to pay donations and earn seats on IIM managing societies; Stipulates each faculty member teaches a minimum of 160 hrs.
An HRD ministry panel under Maruti Chairman RC Bhargava has recommended that industrial houses gain seats in the managing society of an IIM for five years in exchange for a donation of Rs20 crore. Individuals and alumni can also gain seats on the societies for donations worth Rs5 crore under the panel proposals.
But faculty are arguing that the Bhargava panel’s recommendation may place the reins of the IIMs in the hands of the private donors. “The proposed process of enlightened ownership would destroy the reputation built by IIMs over the last fifty years,” the faculty document argues.
The faculty claims that in the backdrop of the recommendations, the Bhargava Committee shows a clear bias for a unicameral system of governance that empowers the board and the director to control the institute.
The faculty have also been irked as MHRD, Bhargava and Balakrishnan committees made no attempt to include the IIM faculty in their deliberations.
The Position Paper by the IIM-C faculty summarises its concerns in the following manner:

“We are concerned that the current set of proposals is impelled by a faulty logic of control and endangers our academic freedom that has been carefully created through years of practice. Instead, we urge the government to be driven by processes that create and foster scholarship. There is enough learning to emerge from our past experiences and from practices in institutions of academic excellence across the world. With a more democratic, inclusive, and dialogical approach on current and future challenges, we can together move forward to truly make IIMs world class institutions.”

The teachers have in their ‘position paper’ also proposed alternative reforms. The IIM Calcutta faculty protest will heat up the battle over the future roadmap for the IIMs.

Hoping for a bright future

Hoping for a bright future


The jubilant smiles on the faces of the final-year students of St. Joseph's College of Engineering were in anticipation of a bright future as they received their placement orders on Tuesday.
A total of 839 students got the orders at ‘Conquista '11', a programme organised in the college. Cognizant, Wipro, HCL and L&T were among the bulk recruiters. All the offers were through the campus recruitment process of the college.
“This is a dream offer I have in hand, after going through a rigorous screening process. I am placed with a top-notch company that will provide opportunities to bring out the best in me,” said Bina Ratna Devavaran, an Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) student who was selected by Wipro.
Speaking on the occasion, Ramkumar.R, vice-president, corporate marketing of Cognizant, said: “At a juncture when India is poised for economic growth and emerging as an important destination for business, it is a great opportunity for individuals to enter the corporate world.”
On the need for organisations to join social networking sites, he said “The present generation places little distinction between the physical and virtual world. It is also important for the corporate sector to recognise this and provide tools and gadgets for social computing to make the employees more productive.”
R. Srinivas, Assistant General Manager, Ashok Leyland, emphasised the importance of process orientation and time management for students to adapt to the corporate world after college.
St. Joseph's College of Engineering director B. Babu Manoharan and principal Jolly Abraham were present. Many of the students also received awards for their performance in academics and sports.

Harvard Business Publishing to distribute IIM Bangalore Cases

Harvard Business Publishing to distribute IIM Bangalore Cases

Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) announced on April 5, 2011, the signing of a Distribution Agreement
As a consequence, Harvard Business Publishing will distribute a collection of teaching cases developed by the faculty of IIM Bangalore for an initial period of three years.
Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) announced on April 5, 2011, the signing of a Distribution Agreement, the first of its kind between HBP and a top league B-School in India.
As a consequence, Harvard Business Publishing will distribute a collection of teaching cases developed by the faculty of IIM Bangalore for an initial period of three years. IIMB joins a select group of business schools such as the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and the Darden School of Business that also distribute their cases through HBP.
On the occasion of the signing of the distribution agreement, Professor Pankaj Chandra, Director, IIMB said, “The partnership with Harvard Business Publishing is a significant milestone in the Institute’s journey to achieve its long-term vision of establishing itself as a global centre of management research and education. The occasion marks the recognition of the relevant and in-depth research being carried out by faculty at IIMB. We have consciously invested in research-based publication, and this agreement will add impetus to our efforts in this area.”
Vinay Hebbar, Managing Director of Harvard Business Publishing in India said, “We are pleased to offer cases from a leading Indian b-school, like IIM-Bangalore, to our community of educators globally. This is consistent with Harvard Business Publishing’s endeavour to source quality content, ideas, and research from India and bring it to our audiences in India and worldwide.”
Maureen Betses, Vice-President of Higher Education for HBP in Boston, said, “For quite some time we have hoped to distribute a collection of cases from a renowned Indian business school. The IIMB cases are a great addition to our catalog and will be popular with educators who come to us for high-quality course materials.”
HBP will immediately start by distributing 12 cases and their associated Teaching Notes, which have been developed by the IIMB faculty. IIMB plans to add 24 new cases to the IIMB case collection every year.
Professor U Dinesh Kumar, Chairperson, Research and Publications, IIMB said, ”IIMB has worked closely with Harvard Business Publishing for over a year now, and our cases meet the exacting standards set by them. HBP and IIMB will continue to work together to further improve the quality and style of the cases that we are developing. IIMB will be happy to share its experience and knowledge with the Indian academic fraternity and to contribute to the development of India-based cases and teaching aids.”

Govt sticks to HEC devolution plan

Govt sticks to HEC devolution plan


ISLAMABAD: The government has refused to listen to the increasing voices against devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the 18th amendment, although the institution had played a major role in improving university education over the last one decade.
Since the announcement of the HEC`s devolution plan by the Chairman, Parliamentary Commission on the Implementation of 18th amendment, Senator Raza Rabbani in the last week of March, the academicians have largely been opposing the decision.
Besides protest demonstrations by the HEC scholars and students of local universities against the government decision, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also joined the chorus, asking the ruling PPP to take back its earlier verdict on the future of the commission.
According to the HEC officials, the status of the commission which is an autonomous body is very much protected under the 18th amendment in its fourth schedule. Officials of the HEC say key provisions covered under the federal legislative list of the new amendment have direct link to the higher education sector of the country. Hence the HEC could not be devolved to provinces as announced by Senator Rabbani.
These key provisions are: (a) all regulatory authorities established under a federal law (b) national planning and national economic coordination of scientific and technological research (c) legal, medical and other professions (d) standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions (e) inter-provincial matters and coordination.
Whereas, according to Rabbani, under the 18th amendment, HEC stands dissolved to the provinces and it is a just matter of a formal issuance of the notification to this effect.
He said the HEC act would be revisited and reframed in the aftermath of the 18th amendment.
The 18th amendment has given the eight-member implementation commission the powers to issue orders, undertake proceedings and make amendments to regulations, enactments, notifications, rules or orders as may be necessary.
According to Senator Rabbani, a separate commission would be constituted under the cabinet division to look after verifications of degrees with no role of whatsoever as a funding agency, like the HEC had been doing in the past.
Talking to Dawn, HEC`s top bosses said when first news about the HEC`s devolution under the new amendment broke, they had a detailed discussion with the authorities concerned who assured that the commission would not be disturbed.
They said, of late, when they came to know about the implementation commission`s final decision on the status of the HEC, they had another meeting with Mr Raza Rabbani led commission and again briefed them about perils that would entail for university education in the country following HEC removal from the national scene.
However, they said, despite best efforts, they failed to convince Senator Rabbani led commission about the importance of the HEC in improving the level of university`s education.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Ahsan Iqbal, chief spokesperson for the PML-N termed the decision of devolving the HEC as an irreparable loss to the university education and research in the country. “It the federal government does not take back its decision, people will perceive it a revengeful act by the ruling party against the commission for taking an independent stand on the issue of verification of lawmakers` degrees”, said Mr Iqbal.
Mr Iqbal, who was also member of the 27-member parliamentary committee which recommended 18th Amendment, said the PML-N had submitted a dissent note on the issue of devolution of education ministry to the provinces. He said in all federations of the world, education remained a centralized department therefore the government should reconsider its decision of HEC`s devolution.
In the Senate on Tuesday, opposition leader, Senator Wasim Sajjad of the PML-Q while moving a bill for the amendment to bring back education ministry under the federal control, said every wrong could be rectified. “If we have made a mistake in devolving education ministry to the provinces, it can definitely be rectified,” said Senator Sajjad.

Educational Testing Service launches customer support centre for TOEFL test takers

Educational Testing Service launches customer support centre for TOEFL test takers


Kolkata, Apr 5: Educational Testing Service (ETS) has announced a new toll-free customer support centre to serve TOEFL test takers in India.

The TOEFL India Customer Support Centre offers guidance and timely information for students regarding the TOEFL test.

The new centre is accessible by phone toll-free directly from India at 000-800-100-3780.

In addition, student inquiries can be sent via e-mail to TOEFLsupport4India@ets.org.

The centre is available to assist students with identifying test preparation materials, locating test centers, obtaining their score reports, ordering additional score reports and other pre or post administration inquiries.

''We are pleased to announce the TOEFL India Customer Support Center to support the growing number of TOEFL test takers,'' Executive Director of the TOEFL Programme Teresa Sanchez-Lazer said.

''The customer support centre is a resource uniquely designed to assist and support Indian students during the TOEFL testing process.

India continues to be in the top five countries with the highest number of TOEFL test takers.

''We are committed to developing new resources, such as the customer support center, to make the process easier and more efficient for students in India,'' she added.

The TOEFL test is the most-widely accepted English language assessment in the world, recognised by more than 7,500 colleges and Universities in more than 130 countries.

Globally, the TOEFL test is available at more than 4,500 testing sites in more than 165 countries.

To date, more than 25 million students around the globe have taken the TOEFL test.

EDI grads promise Swayam to give back to society

EDI grads promise Swayam to give back to society


During the 12th convocation celebrations at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), as students got ready to bid adieu to their institution and faculty, Ashish Kumar Jha, a graduating student himself, set the ball rolling for his social enterprise, Swayam.
Jha from Madhubani district, Bihar, chose this grand occasion to get his very own social enterprise inaugurated by deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India, Dr KC Chakrabarty, RM Malla, president of EDI & chairman of IDBI and Dinesh Awasthi, director of EDI.
"Although I have been brought up in Delhi, I have always wanted to give back to my home town and hence I started this venture, Swayam, which deals in hand-made cards, corporate gifting and handicrafts. I started this venture with an approximate budget of Rs4 lakh and intend to break even within 6 months," Jha explained.
Jha further said, "I have also designed products for Indian youth - calledTanishtha. My products will display a lot of Madhubani work while my friends and other students from NIFT would be assisting me with the overall design of the products."
Jha also aims to export these products. According to him, most exporters are unaware about the changing patterns of handicrafts and therefore he intends to educate the exporters on the pattern change.
Students of Post Graduate Diploma in Management - Business Entrepreneurship (PGDMBE) and Post Graduate Diploma in Management of NGOs received their diplomas from Dr Chakrabarty and Malla.
In all 74 students were awarded diplomas, of which 58 were from PGDMBE, 31 from New Enterprise Creation, 17 from Family Business Management, 10 from Services Management and 16 from Management of NGOs.
However, while all of these students had opted for an entrepreneurship course, 14 have opted for placements in companies in order to have a feel of the corporate sector before venturing into their own businesses. Ramkrishna Mistry, placement cell officer and faculty at EDI said, "The highest package offered was by an international firm, of UAE 5000 dinars per annum, which turns out to be around Rs7 lakh per annum and the average salary offered was approximately Rs3 lakh."

Dr. Nirupam Bajpai shares mantras for sustainable development

Dr. Nirupam Bajpai shares mantras for sustainable development

Dr. Bajpai is Senior Development Advisor & Director, SAP, Center on Globalization & Sustainable Development, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
The days of American glory are now behind. The seeds of this downfall were sown in 1980 with President Ronald Reagan's idea of Reaganomics: Dr. Nirupam Bajpai

Dr. Nirupam Bajpai, Senior Development Advisor & Director, South Asian Program, Center on Globalization & Sustainable Development, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, USA, was at BIMTECH on 3rd April 2011, to interact with the students and faculty on the theme “India and China in the Global Economy”.
Dr. Bajpai began his discourse with some broad but insightful remarks on Indians and India’s development story. “Solution is there for all problems; what is missing is action on ground. Indians are not good team players, especially in public policy. There is a lack of attention to rural sector. If the policy is not right, the investment will not be right,” said Dr. Bajpai.
Since 2004, Dr. Bajpai has been an economic advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and many of his Cabinet ministers. He has also been an economic advisor to the former Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and several of his Cabinet ministers.
According to him, the ideas that he takes to the Prime Minister and his Ministers, are the outcome of his learnings from villages and the rural sector.
In his global overview, he began by commenting that the US economy was on a decline and there was no revival in sight. He remarked, “The days of American glory are now behind. The seeds of this downfall were sown in 1980 with President Ronald Reagan’s idea of Reaganomics, which propagated privatization and deregulations. The subsequent presidents- George Bush, Sr. (1988-92), Bill Clinton (1992-2000), George Bush, Jr. (2000-08), also did not focus much on economy.”
US economy is not in good shape, opined Dr. Bajpai, and with the rising of China and India, it is becoming worse for them.
Touching upon China, Dr. Bajpai informed that there were only two countries in the world that began with economic reforms without any preceding economic crisis- China and South Korea. Agricultural reforms were initiated in China in 1978; but, did not work for the lack of a clear political ideology. However, one smart move of locating SEZs in the coastal areas, where nobody would, normally, prefer to live owing to very tough condition, made China the “world factory” manufacturing even furniture for US homes. As a result, it not only witnessed an export-led double-digit economic growth rate, but also became engine of global economy. At the same time, China faces two major challenges: political reforms and climate change, according to Dr. Bajpai.

Talking about Sub-Saharan Africa, countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, Dr. Bajpai remarked that they were very poor, and 45-50 years behind India in development. It is like India was before Green revolution. More than 400 (out of every 1,000) women die during child birth. They depend on the rest of the world for practically everything.

“It is a very sad story. The world has not paid enough attention and much more is required than what is being done,” said Dr. Bajpai.

Coming back to India, Dr. Bajpai referred to the 1991 initiative to open up the economy taken by the then Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, which led to a surge in growth, especially in IT and Telecom. He also stated the following three as the main challenges facing the country today:
1. How to sustain the high growth rate for the next 25 years;
2. How to ensure that the growth was inclusive- benefiting the bottom 20%; e.g., there is a need for 16m jobs p.a., but we are doing only 2m. The private sector must be given the right climate to create jobs. But, the difficulty could be because the labor laws were under State governments; and
3. Planning and managing climate change.
Further, Dr. Bajpai referred to Public Health and Education as the two most critical areas needing proper attention and timely action. According to him, “We have neglected Public Health. There are hardly any schools, except for Dr. Shreenath Reddy’s Public Health Foundation of India. Similarly, enough attention has not been paid to primary education in India but education cess of 2% is one definite action.”
According to Dr. Bajpai, what was needed was “political awakening”. In the next one decade or so, “action on the ground” would make all the difference. Growth in the next 35-40 years would help emerge a different India, wherein the social side would be very important. Investment in clean water and immunization would be saving spending on Public Health with lesser number of Public Health Centres required.

In the QA session, quite a few questions were asked by the students. One after the other, the questions kept coming in a buzz. These questions ranged from implementation of the existing public policies to how students could make a difference in the management of the public and social sector. One of the questions pointed out that how despite having the adequate resources; the objective of public health professionals was still not being fulfilled. Dr Bajpai gave a comprehensive answer how the problem was not resources but the actual utilization of these resources. He also explained with references to the ‘barefoot doctors’ of China. Finally, according to Dr. Bajpai, what India needs the most at the moment is “collective thinking”, “political will’ and “performance orientation”.

Distance MBA: Bridging the gap (Part 1)

Distance MBA: Bridging the gap (Part 1)

Are you a working professional devoid of an MBA? Do you feel low for not earning enough green bucks at the end of every month? Here is how we help you to get closer to your MBA dream, by providing a detailed review of distance MBA.

WHAT IF you are a busy working professional who just cannot afford to attend the daily classes in brick and mortar classrooms? Then quality Distance MBA is what you can rely upon.

We have explored in depth the various facets of Distance MBA in this three part series. Here is the first one, bringing to you an overview of the basic elements encompassed by distance MBA, and that how it is different from a regular MBA, including the views of the experts whom we exclusively interviewed.

What is Distance MBA?

Imparting the essentials of management without the physical boundaries of a classroom, at a time feasible to the schedule of the students is the basic concept behind the correspondence MBA. “Distance Learning in MBA lends flexibility and convenience to the distance MBA takers. They get an option to learn online while doing their jobs.” says Anand Sudarshan, MD & CEO, Sikkim Manipal University-Distance Education.

For Whom?

At the same time, it’s a well known fact that without learning the basic concepts behind management and mastering the skills of decision making, financial analysis, interpersonal relationships etc. associated with it, their career will grow at a turtle pace.

Also, distance MBA proves to be a boon for those who cannot find access to the B School campuses for their own reasons.

Generally, the ones opting for MBA through Distance Learning are those who are already working with an organization and want MBA to enhance their efficiency.

Distance Learning MBA vs. Regular MBA

Distance Learning MBA degree differs from a regular MBA in that it is earned through a college or university with a distance learning format. Students who enroll in an online degree program do not attend classes at a brick and mortar school; rather, they receive assignments through an interactive web-based portal and complete required work as per their own convenience.

Though compared to regular MBA, the enrollment ratio in Distance MBA lags much behind. “In India the inclination towards distance learning is still low as distance learning is in growth phase in India. Though it is growing at the rate of 30 per cent per annum,” states Dr. Kamal Singh. Director, AIMA-CDL.

As far as the course curriculum of Distance MBA is concerned; the institutions offering distance education claim it to be at par with that of regular MBA.

Advantage Distance MBA

Regular MBA candidates might scorn at the idea of distance MBA education, but such MBA has its own set of target students. The USP of distance education MBA lies in the fact that it provides job-oriented knowledge that can be immediately practiced as one works alongside. Distance MBA allows you to enjoy the comfort of learning from your home, at a time which is most convenient for you and doesn’t interfere with your busy work schedule.

“One of the major advantages of distance learning programs offered by us is an AICTE approved PGDM/PGDITM degree. Students may take the course anywhere in India with wide network of study centers. They get well-recognized degree at comfortable fee structure,” tells Dr. Singh of AIMA – CME.

Hence, distance education proves to be an icing on the cake for those who are already working professionals, as adding an MBA degree can enhance their skills multifold and also guarantee a thicker pay package.

In our next article, we will extend our research to the different key players offering distance MBA, and compare the programs and pedagogy offered by them. So, stay tuned.

Aus education industry witnesses drop in foreign students

Aus education industry witnesses drop in foreign students


Australian instititions have witnessed a 30 per cent drop in enrolment by Indian students while total admissions by overseas students decreased by 2.5 per cent during February this year as compared to the same period last year.
Melbourne, Apr 6 (PTI) Australian instititions have witnessed a 30 per cent drop in enrolment by Indian students while total admissions by overseas students decreased by 2.5 per cent during February this year as compared to the same period last year.
According to latest figures, released by Australian Education International, enrolments by Indian students across all sectors dropped 30.3 per cent during February this year but China recorded an increase of over eight per cent. Total enrollments from India stood at 45,904 this February against 65,960 last year's.
India is the second biggest market for international education, with a 12.3 per cent share, behind China on 30.5 per cent of overall education sector Down Under.
The sharp fall has been noticed as compared to the average February growth rates for enrolments since 2002 of 10 per cent per year, hitting the Australia's billion dollar international education industry. The biggest drop was witnessed in vocational courses - cooking and hairdressing - with a 21.5 per cent fall.
The sector raised concern over the rising Australian dollar which would further slump the market. The rising dollar combined with high costs of living in capital cities would make it more difficult to persuade potential students to choose Australia, Simon Marginson of Centre for Study of Higher Education at Melbourne University was qouted as saying by ''The Age''.
"Because of the cost of living and housing you would find there would be places in Australia that are more expensive than the US," he said. The change in visa rules by Federal government last year is a bigger problem than the rising dollar, Marginson said, but that the two combined would cause a lot of potential students to look elsewhere.
China, one of Australia''s largest source markets for international students, would look to places such as the US and Canada if problems surrounding visa processing were not fixed, he said.
"The US has a prestige advantage and if the cost trend is working against us and the US retains its prestige advantage, then that makes things difficult for us." Universities Australia chief Glenn Withers expects the slump to continue through 2011 and into the future
. He said the problem had been caused by visa changes, the rising dollar, aggressive competition in the international student market and image problems including the recent attacks on international students.

AKGIM Ghaziabad offering merit scholarships of Rs. 5 Lakh

AKGIM Ghaziabad offering merit scholarships of Rs. 5 Lakh

Ajay Kumar Garg Institute of Management, Ghaziabad, which offers PGDM program, is conducting admission process for the academic year 2011-13.
The number of seats in Ajay Kumar Garg Institute of Management, Ghaziabad is 120. The fee for the institute is Rs. 5 Lakh.

Ajay Kumar Garg Institute of Management, Ghaziabad, which offers PGDM program, is conducting admission process for the academic year 2011-13.
The program is AICTE approved. The last date to apply is May 15, 2011.
The candidates will be shortlisted on the basis of the scores of CAT, MAT or XAT. The shortlisted candidates will have to appear for Group Discussion and Personal Interview processes.
The number of seats in Ajay Kumar Garg Institute of Management, Ghaziabad is 120. The fee for the institute is Rs. 5 Lakh. The last date to apply for Admission 2011 is May 15, 2011. The session will commence from July 2011.
Talking about the unique feature of the MBA institute, Dr. Rajiv R Thakur, Director, Ajay Kumar Garg Institute of Management said, “The USP of our institute is practice-oriented learning, contextual to business as well as the society. Curriculum design, pedagogy, activity orientation, and a closer industry interface.”
Based on the merit of the students, the students of AKGIM are given scholarships of Rs. 5 Lakh under the CSR initiative of the institute. The MBA institute also facilitates loans for the students with local branches of Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India.
“This is perhaps one and only scholarship of its kind offered by any institute in India. The students have to register themselves free of cost on AKGIM website www.akgim.edu.in and submit certain information based on which the merit list shall be drawn up. All the details regarding, parameters, scores, registration are available on the website,” said Dr. Thakur.
Dr. Thakur also mentioned that in order to promote merit and quality intake, AKGIM also offers scholarships up to Rs. 1 Lakh for B. Tech and non-B.Tech students joining the PGDM program of AKGIM.
The B-School is located in Ghaziabad and it has its own advantage. “The B-school has all the advantages associated with Delhi NCR, namely, industrial hubs like Ghaziabad, NOIDA, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Meerut, Moradabad, Hapur and beyond, high quality industry practitioners and eminent faculty pool, melting point for students from across the country, a bigger and vibrant market exposure, Govt. and PSUs,” said Dr. Thakur.
AKGIM is a relatively new MBA institute which was established in 2008. For the first two batches, the placements were 100 per cent.
For the MBA aspirants, who would like to take admission in AKGIM Ghaziabad, Dr. Thakur said, “The institute would insist the aspirants to visit AKGIM campus and talk to faculty, students and staff for the real picture to understand.”

AICTE notification: EPSI meet on legal strategy, 8 April

AICTE notification: EPSI meet on legal strategy, 8 April


The Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) is organizing a meeting of the Chairmen and Directors of PGDM Institutions of the country on April 8 in Delhi
It is expected that the Supreme Court will hear the matter again by mid-May after considering both the responses of AICTE & the B-schools.

The Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) is organizing a meeting of the Chairmen and Directors of PGDM Institutions of the country on Friday, April 8, 2011 in New Delhi.
The meeting is being held in the background of the verdict given by honourable Supreme Court on 17 March 2011 on the AICTE notification. The court had granted interim stay to the B-schools against the notification by AICTE.
It is expected that the Supreme Court will hear the matter again by mid-May after considering both the responses of AICTE & the B-schools.
The meeting, being convened by EPSI, will debate and build consensus on the legal strategy and brainstorm on the ‘Vision 2020’ document for the PGDM institutions of the country. Additionally the meeting also has on its agenda the task of preparing the blue print of the ‘Code of Conduct for PGDM Institutions’.
The meeting will be presided by Padma Shri Dr. Pritam Singh.
Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, Alternate President, EPSI and Director, BIMTECH Greater Noida told MBAUniverse.com, “In view of ongoing litigation at Hon’ble Supreme Court, all PGDM institutions need to join hands to put maximum efforts to get the final verdict in our favour on admission, fee, board’s constitution and all other matters related to the autonomy engaged by PGDM institutions during the last so many decades.”