Single entrance test for MBBS from 2011

Single entrance test for MBBS from 2011

NEW DELHI: In a landmark decision, the Medical Council of India has decided to hold only one common entrance test in the country for over 31,000 MBBS seats and over 11,000 MD seats in all government and other medical colleges in the country.
The decision in this regard taken by the Medical Council of India has been accepted by the Union Health Ministry and has been conveyed to the Supreme Court on Friday bringing huge relief to lakhs of aspiring doctors.
Under the new system, there will be just one entrance test each for MBBS and MD courses offered by all the 271 medical colleges, 138 government-run and 133 under private management institutes which together account for 31,000 MBBS seats and over 11,000 MD seats.
Earlier, students wanting to take up pursue medical courses had to appear in several entrance tests and face stiff hurdles like clash of entrance exam dates and long journeys to distant places for counselling for allotment of seats.
It may be mentioned that Simran Jain, an MBBS aspirant had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the court’s intervention for creation of a single window system for admissions.
The apex court had expressed its concern over the sorry state of affairs of some private medical colleges and their admission process had come for some serious scrutiny in the apex court.
In 2009, the Court had even asked the then Director General of Health Services to look into allegations of malpractices in admissions into some Government medical colleges in various states. (Agencies)
Source: The Shillong Times

Source Link: http://www.neinews.com/single-entrance-test-for-mbbs-from-2011.html

NID students showcase futuristic designs at jewellery week

NID students showcase futuristic designs at jewellery week


Mumbai, Aug 15: Students of the National Institute of Design (NID), the only institute participating in the India International Jewellery Week (IIJW), presented a unique and futuristic jewellery collection which left the spectators enthralled on the inaugural day today.
The edgy and funky collection, called New Adorn, was put together by five students - Swati Agarwal, Chetan Sharma, Avantika Kumar, sanjeev Gupta and Gauri Pandey - of the Lifestyle Accessory Design department of the NID, which is a premier institute in the field of design education and research.
"We always associate jewellery with precious and non-precious gems but the fact is that the beauty of the jewellery piece lies in the beauty of the material, whatever it may be. The whole focus of our collection was to make use of unusual and different materials to make jewellery designs," Pandey told IANS.
Models sashayed the ramp in black outfits wearing uncommon and experimental designs for neck pieces, waist chains, rings and earrings among other pieces. Few models also sported jewellery pieces at places which are not usually adorned
"We are have tried to make designs which are not typical. When we were working on the designs, we realised that there are so many other places in the body that you can adorn with a piece of jewellery. So we created designs by discovering new geographies of adorning the body," Pandey added.
The students also stressed on the fact that their designs are eco- and nature friendly.
"We also tried to make the designs eco-friendly and close to the nature by using integrating recycled cans and cold drink bottle crowns since we felt that that will be the basis of designs in the future," said Agarwal, another student of the team.
The team also said that their collection revisited cultural aspects of Indian traditions to explore alternative techniques and materials to lend a bold, alluring and exhuberant appeal to their work.
IIJW is India's first-ever jewellery week and will run till Thursday at the Hotel Grand Hyatt, Santa Cruz.
The extravaganza will showcase the collections of 30 designers, including Farah Khan Ali, Varun D. Jani, Bina Goenka and Rhea Nasta. Well-known jewellery brands like Mirari, Gitanjali, Amrapali, Tanishq and Ganjam are also participating. (IANS)

Source Link: http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/education-news/college,-campus/nid-students-showcase-futuristic-designs-at-jewellery-week-60276.html

Navi Mumbai to host 4th Asian Science Camp

Navi Mumbai to host 4th Asian Science Camp


Navi Mumbai, Aug 15: Navi Mumbai will be the first Indian city to host the Asian Science Camp starting on Tuesday.
The three-day camp, which will be held in Navi Mumbai's Vashi township, has been earlier hosted by Taiwan in 2007, Indonesia in 2008 and Japan in 2009.
"Eleven world renowned scientists from India and abroad, including Nobel laureates Richard R. Ernst from Switzerland and Makoto Kobayashi from Japan will be the speakers at the camp," said H.C. Pradhan, director of the the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education.
Over 200 science students and 30 teachers from 20 Asian countries will be participating in the 4th edition of the camp.
The Asian Science Camp aims to enlighten talented science students through discussions and dialogue with top scholars of the world. The programme comprises plenary sessions, round table discussions, student-master dialogue, creative poster competition, social events and excursions.
M. Barma, director of TIFR's School of Natural Sciences; C.N.R. Rao, chair of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and R. Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to government of India will lead the discussions at the camp.
Jainendra Jain from the Pennsylvania State University, Paul Matsudaira from the Singapore National University, Martin Poliakoff from the University of Nottingham and T.V. Ramakrishnan from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore are also among the dignitaries who will lead the discussions.
The camp is being funded jointly by the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Atomic Energy.(IANS)

Source Link: http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/education-news/educational-programmes/navi-mumbai-to-host-4th-asian-science-camp-60259.html

National seminar on cinema held at Asian School of Media Studies

National seminar on cinema held at Asian School of Media Studies

The changing trends in Indian Cinema must be brought to lime light through seminars at film schools

“INDIA IS the largest film producing country in the world. More than 900 films are produced in 28 languages .There are 13000 theaters in the country and 10 million people watch cinema every day. We sell 3 billion tickets every year, largest in the World” , stated Sandeep Marwah, President of Marwah Studios and Director of Asian School of Media Studies (ASMS) in his the opening statement at National Seminar on Cinema at Noida Film City.

“We are proud film makers of this country, we have given some of the finest films to the nation even without the availability of any extra ordinary techniques earlier” said Ketan Mehta popularly known for his films like Bhavni Bhavai, Holi, Mirch Masala, Hero Hiralal, Maya Memsahab, Sardar, Aar Ya Paar, Mangal Pandey, Rang Rasiya etc.while inaugurating the seminar at ASMS.

” The changes in Indian Cinema can be condensed to the changes in techniques, the contents and the presentation ”, Mehta added.

Writer, Director Shakeel Shamsi of Sahara emphasised on the requirements of the good subjects and scripts. “The changing perception of masses and their expectations plays a vital role in finalizing the subject” he added. R.K.Singh, Dean, ASMS conducted the program.

Others who spoke and covered the different subjects on cinema were Gurbir Grewal, Dy Director AAFT known for films Mannat and Coffee House, A.S.Bedi writer of feature film Silsala, Ashok Tyagi Dean, Cinema and popularly known for his films Bharat Bhagya Vidhata, Return of Jewel Thief, Ardh Satya, Satha Se Uthta Admi, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai, Surkhiyan etc.

Rahul Sehgal, Dr. Om Gupta, Deepti Pant also spoke about the various facets of cinema. Later, Sandeep Marwah honoured Ketan Mehta with the life membership of International Film And Television Club of ASMS. The seminar ended with a question and answer session by the media students from all over India and abroad.


Source Link: http://www.merinews.com/article/national-seminar-on-cinema-held-at-asian-school-of-media-studies/15828686.shtml

IMT benefits from EU academic program

IMT benefits from EU academic program

Students and faculty of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad – a signatory to the European Union (EU)’ s educational programme Erasmus Mundus – have started reaping the fruits in form of scholarships.
Erasmus Mundus is the global avatar of the Erasmus programme, supported by the EU that encourages academic collaborations between prominent universities and academic institutions by providing better mobility for students and professors. It also provides scholarships for graduate and post graduate students.



As part of the agreement, six management students from IMT have been awarded scholarships to pursue an academic term for five months at Erasmus partner institutions. A research scholar from IMT got a scholarship to pursue further research in a joint doctoral degree for one year. Ten students from universities across Europe have been selected to pursue academic terms at IMT. “Four students have already arrived and have integrated themselves with the academic rigour and culture at IMT. The International Relations team at IMT believes this exchange will prove to be a great learning experience for the students and will help in improving IMT’s international standing further,” said Jayanthi Ranjan, chairperson, international relations, IMT Ghaziabad.
Ranjan said four faculty members of IMT have been awarded scholarships to pursue post doctoral research at various partner universities. Four more faculty members were also selected for Academic Staff Exchange.
Going ahead, the institute is in the process of negotiations for providing international internships and placements to students. “With this kind of long-term international exposure in the field of business and management, the students of IMT stand a better chance to obtaining international placements as well,” she added.
IMT has signed five independent bilateral agreements to explore further opportunities for other international academic exchange programmes. Talks are on with four more institutions. IMT along with its partners are also in the process of establishing joint-degree programmes at the post graduate and post doctoral levels.


Source Link: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/imt-benefitseu-academic-programme/404651/

IITs, IIMs to dump grades? - India - The Times of...

IITs, IIMs to dump grades? - India - The Times of...

Each institute, autonomous in nature, has its own grading system. Most IITs[56] award a cumulative performance index (CPI) on a scale of one to 10 but IIT-Kanpur does not award odd-number grades. And, among the IIMs, those in Ahmedabad[57] and Bangalore[58] award a CGPA on a scale of one to four — like American universities — but IIM-Calcutta grades its students on a range of one to nine points.
This, according to PSUs, creates a lot of confusion and hence the move to ask for a more conventional ...


Source Link: http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IITs-IIMs-to-dump-grades/articleshow/6316744.cms

ICFAI plans to invest Rs 400 cr to set up 8 universities in 2 years

ICFAI plans to invest Rs 400 cr to set up 8 universities in 2 years

MUMBAI: THE ICFAI Group, known for its chain of B-schools, is planning to set up eight universities in as many states in the next two years with an investment of Rs400 crore, says a senior official. It has received the necessary approvals from the governments of Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, said SK Sharma, director, planning and coordination, ICFAI.

Full Story: Economic Times
Related Topics :

Source Link: http://newspolitan.com/forum/art/india/bangalore/HE2DENRVG3AVISKD

Coast Guard with Maritime University offers international level course

Coast Guard with Maritime University offers international level course

The Coast Guard has joined hands with a Maritime University in Chennai to offer an international level course focusing on oil spill assessment and shoreline clean-up exercise to train officials in tackling such disasters.
The Coast Guard and the private AMET University recently entered into an agreement to offer the International Maritime Organisation Level-II Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Co-operation (OPRC) programme for senior and middle level managers of oil firms and ports.
The course offers intensive training sessions conforming to the IMO guidelines and would cover oil spill assessment, combat techniques, planning waste management, legislation compensations and applicable claims and shoreline clean-up exercises.


Source Link: http://www.minglebox.com/article/news/Coast-Guard-with-Maritime-University-offers-international-level-course/data-0001-fdbffe842a6b33bb012a6b6d43242237

B-schools turn to villages for lessons in CSR

B-schools turn to villages for lessons in CSR

At the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L), students pursuing the two-year master’s in business administration (MBA) programme will soon be reading up case studies about the Maoist rebellion and tribal displacement caused by large industrial projects.
The business school (B-school) also plans to adopt a village so students can interact with its residents, learn about their problems and help solve them.
“While our students will teach the villagers, they will learn the challenges they face in solving real-life situations, from sanitation to the family budget,” says Sushil Kumar, an IIM-L professor.
Kumar is in charge of teaching a newly introduced subject to students called “society, governance and management”.
It’s one of the initiatives taken by top B-schools to coax students to move beyond the examination of capitalism and corporate profitability and think of concepts such as the common good and social equity, from the problems of urban slum-dwellers to those of displaced tribals.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become something of a buzz phrase as companies realize they need to be perceived as good citizens, rather than as pure money-making machines, especially following the economic crisis that led to the worldwide slump.
Shaking off the consequent bad rap that executives got has led to several initiatives, including a rethink by management schools, which are seeking to broaden the minds of those most likely to run such firms one day.
“We are devising case studies on these issues to make our students aware of realities in India,” says Kumar. “They need to be socially conscious and ethical apart from learning regular managerial acumen.”
Kumar says many IIM students tend to be from the affluent upper classes and need to get a reality check by learning how the vast majority of the poor live.
The move is in line with the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s emphasis in recent years on inclusive growth and the aam aadmi (common man) that will ensure the under-privileged reap a fair share of the benefits of India’s rapid economic growth.
B-schools have realized that a sustainable economy needs a moral component and corporate success needs acceptance from the people at large, says Narayanan Ramaswamy, executive director (education) at consulting firm KPMG.
At the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, on Delhi’s outskirts, director B.S. Sahay says managers need to understand the social fabric of the country.
The institute has introduced a new subject called business ethics and will teach students CSR, he says.
The trend is a relatively recent one in the B-schools of India where the stress traditionally has been on corporate and management practices.
At the end of the last academic session, India had 1,940 management institutes, where a total of 179,561 students were enrolled.
At the top of the heap are the elite IIMs, of which there are nine, with four more to be added in the next two years. At least 240,000 aspirants sat for the common admission test for around 2,600 seats across the IIM system in each of the past two years.
IIM, Kozhikode director Debashis Chatterjee says his institute has administered an oath on values to the new batch of 330 students. The new batch has been counselled not to take up jobs with companies that neglect CSR.
Chatterjee says it is also trying to identify a few villages where students can do an internship with support from non-profit groups active there.
Inclusive education is the goal. Top management schools such as IIMs have a responsibility to promote a sustainable society and their students should be aware of issues such as social equity, climate change and their impact, apart from rural life, that other institutes tend to overlook, he says.
IIM, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), India’s most prestigious B-school, has been offering a “rural immersion” subject for the last two years, requiring groups of students to travel to the villages to learn about life there, says Abraham Koshy, chairman of IIM-A’s flagship postgraduate programme.
“The shift is from class to mass-based learning and we at IIM-A will give a lot of focus to it from now on. At a time when India is turning into a global economic power, management schools have to produce managers who can think of the aam aadmi,” Koshy says.
The Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business is working on issues pertinent to ordinary people, dean Ajit Rangnekar says. “From affordable housing to viable healthcare delivery mechanism, we will come out with solutions. We are now working with the Andhra (Pradesh) government on sick industries.”
At the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, the new batch has been told that managerial decisions in corporate boardrooms “should be able to help the housewife who battles inflation or the employee facing a job cut”, director P.T. Joseph says.



Source Link: http://www.livemint.com/2010/08/15203226/Bschools-turn-to-villages-for.html?atype=tp

An Indian University Finds Success Recruiting in the U.S.

An Indian University Finds Success Recruiting in the U.S.


Returning expats say they are drawn by research opportunities on the young campus
The reality of Sanjib Gupta's return to small-town India sank in while he was taking a driving lesson.
In the car with a young trainee and her mother, Mr. Gupta was fumbling with the stick shift until the instructor proudly announced that his student was a "foreign returned" professor at the new Indian Institute of Technology down the road.
There was a brief silence. "Are you married?" the girl's mother inquired.
"I was dumbstruck," says the 36-year-old Mr. Gupta, who had spent the previous 18 years in the United States, where such Bollywood-style marriage inquiries are rare.
Despite the occasional culture shock, Mr. Gupta, who had been a research scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, can think of no place he'd rather be than this provincial backwater. As a new branch of the Indian Institutes of Technology, known here as IIT's, the Ropar campus offers flexibility, freedom, and a surprising chance to do cutting-edge work, he says.
New research "is taking off here," Mr. Gupta says. "So you can actually set up your own lab and make an actual contribution, which is kind of hard in the U.S."
He's not alone in his appraisal. Ropar is one of the few higher-education institutions in India that have had success in recruiting foreign faculty members, particularly expat academics like Mr. Gupta. Many are returning for what they believe are better job opportunities than they could find in the West.
Ropar has tapped alumni networks abroad and marketed its advantages as a flexible new player in a mostly hidebound system.
Thirty-three of the 44 faculty members at the institute have done some, if not all, of their university studies and postdoctoral work abroad. Their median age is 33.
In earlier days, the IIT and other Indian universities relied on the appeal of reuniting with family for their recruiting strategies abroad. But now, with research financing either declining or stagnant in many developed nations, India's growth has become a selling point.
The publish-or-perish mentality of the U.S. academic job market has also made the developing world's research institutions more appealing, particularly those like Ropar, where, for now at least, the emphasis is more on pure research than on publications.
Making a Difference
Salaries aren't a big concern for these young researchers, who earn as little as $1,100 a month despite their high-profile credentials. With housing so inexpensive, and tenure and job security nearly a given in a faculty-starved nation, they are able to focus on India's promising future—and gain a stake in creating it from the foundation up.
The country's economy is growing by more than 7 percent a year, and the government is investing heavily in research. In this frontier environment, a new idea can make an immediate difference, professors say.
"In the U.S. or Canada, you are going to have a limited impact on society," says Mr. Gupta, who received his doctorate in physics from Clemson University.
These new returnees, some of whom have worked in industry, are not particularly interested higher-paying private-sector jobs.
"I worked at IBM Research one summer," recalls Ashish Ahuja, 31, who got his master's degree in computer sciences from the University of Texas at Austin and worked at an e-commerce start-up for seven years before joining Ropar's computer-science department as a visiting scientist. "There was a lot of pressure to produce patents, and that can turn off a lot of people in research."
His colleague Naga Devarapalli, 30, an assistant professor in the electrical-engineering department, agrees. "The key difference between academic research and industry research is freedom," says Mr. Devarapalli, who earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico.
Ropar's leaders have worked to cultivate an atmosphere of openness and innovation. Just three years old, the institute has started a number of doctoral programs and has research projects under way in more than two dozen areas, including bioinformatics and quantum optics.
Although somewhat limited by government rules, the public institute makes an effort to offer seed grants of $25,000, money for conference travel, and laboratory space to new hires.
"I and my colleagues are making all efforts to create complete academic freedom," says M.K. Surappa, director of the Ropar campus. India "is no longer the country of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It is vastly different now, and there is ample opportunity to grow professionally."
The institute encourages its professors to forge links with industry to ensure that engineering students are learning the skills needed to secure good jobs.
Mr. Surappa says he also encourages faculty members to engage in outside consulting work, something he did successfully while working as professor in the department of materials engineering at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, the city formerly known as Bangalore. Mr. Surappa is on a leave of absence from that institute.
"We are trying to provide the ambience for them to earn more money through projects and consultancies." he says.
Mollifying Critics
Ropar's success has flown in the face of conventional wisdom.
Critics argued that the Indian government's decision in 2008 to open eight additional branches of the Indian Institutes of Technology would exacerbate faculty-recruitment problems and hurt the reputations of the cherished older IIT campuses.
Even before the new institutes opened, the original seven IIT's had faculty shortages of 20 to 25 percent. Their engineers and computer scientists were eagerly recruited by top graduate schools in the United States.
But now some skeptics have changed their minds.
"I think Surappa has done a very good job, and we should congratulate him," says P.V. Indiresan, former head of the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, who was among the fiercest critics of the government's decision to expand the IIT system.
So how did Ropar do it? To get the word out, administrators relied on their established network of IIT contacts and alumni, including holdting events in the United States to explain the opportunities available at the new campuses in India.
Once they found a candidate they wanted, they figured out ways to cut through India's notorious red tape.
For example, Ropar's new hires often start in a "visiting position" to avoid the lengthy selection process involved in hiring permanent faculty members.
Then the institute works on converting them into permanent faculty members.
"We have to take a bit of a risk," says B.K. Dhindaw, dean of academics and research, who spearheads the recruitment process. "We call it proactive, and we pushed that approach,"
Academic observers expect that its young faculty members and their global experience will give Ropar an edge.
"The systems abroad in good universities are much better than in India, and Ropar's students should benefit by the kind of exposure their teachers have had," says Premchand Palety, founder of the Centre for Forecasting and Research, which ranks universities in India.
Many of Ropar's foreign faculty hires say they preferred to join a new IIT rather than an older, more prestigious one.
"I can see a lot more flexibility and freedom here in terms of research and teaching," says Himanshu Tyagi, 31, a graduate of IIT Delhi, who received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University and has worked for Siemens AG in India and in Germany. "Here even young faculty can play a role in developing curriculum, and almost everyone has exposure from abroad, so we are very dynamic."
'It Is a Passion'
Students seem to notice the enthusiasm as well. At IIT Delhi, where some Ropar-bound students spent their first year while the new campus was being developed, teaching seemed like "more of a job" for professors, says Anmol Singh, a third-year electrical-engineering student. "Here it is a passion."
Students say their professors have also played a significant role in restructuring courses. For example, last year's freshmen in mechanical engineering were introduced to computer-aided design, while seniors who started at the Delhi campus weren't.
"The faculty here are much younger than Delhi's, and they are ready to experiment," says Ishan Chhabra, a third-year computer-science student. "They are ready with bleeding-edge research, and they take it and expose undergraduates to it. In an older institute, only Ph.D. students would be introduced to it."
Ropar's facilities are still housed at a temporary campus, the former premises of a women's polytechnic college. And being in a small town, employees lack access to not just the amenities of the West but also those of big Indian cities.
Life here is far from easy for academics used to living overseas. There are no huge supermarkets, no good restaurants or bars to socialize in, buffaloes run rampant near the canal that is next to the campus, and the nearest small city is two hours away. The narrow potholed road leading to the campus seems like a road to nowhere.
"Everybody would be lying if they say we aren't complaining every day of the week about something or the other, but to catch someplace which is absolutely new is a totally different experience," says Anu Vaidyanathan, 30, a visiting faculty member in the computer-science department. "All of us appreciate that we don't have anybody that's pulling us up every day saying, 'Do this, don't do that.'"
Ropar's culture "of actually listening to the younger faculty" members also matters a lot for Mr. Gupta. who has received approval to set up an interdisciplinary high-performance-computer laboratory for joint projects among physics, mathematics, materials-science, and mechanical-engineering professors.
While things look rosy now, the issue of faculty retention already looms large on the minds of top officials. The best way to overcome that challenge might come from the young professors themselves, who are raring to make Ropar a contender.
"I think once we establish ourselves," says Ms. Vaidyanathan, "Ropar will be a better choice than the other IIT's."

Source Link: http://chronicle.com/article/An-Indian-University-Finds/123888/

An Indian University Finds Success Recruiting in the U.S.

An Indian University Finds Success Recruiting in the U.S.


Returning expats say they are drawn by research opportunities on the young campus
The reality of Sanjib Gupta's return to small-town India sank in while he was taking a driving lesson.
In the car with a young trainee and her mother, Mr. Gupta was fumbling with the stick shift until the instructor proudly announced that his student was a "foreign returned" professor at the new Indian Institute of Technology down the road.
There was a brief silence. "Are you married?" the girl's mother inquired.
"I was dumbstruck," says the 36-year-old Mr. Gupta, who had spent the previous 18 years in the United States, where such Bollywood-style marriage inquiries are rare.
Despite the occasional culture shock, Mr. Gupta, who had been a research scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, can think of no place he'd rather be than this provincial backwater. As a new branch of the Indian Institutes of Technology, known here as IIT's, the Ropar campus offers flexibility, freedom, and a surprising chance to do cutting-edge work, he says.
New research "is taking off here," Mr. Gupta says. "So you can actually set up your own lab and make an actual contribution, which is kind of hard in the U.S."
He's not alone in his appraisal. Ropar is one of the few higher-education institutions in India that have had success in recruiting foreign faculty members, particularly expat academics like Mr. Gupta. Many are returning for what they believe are better job opportunities than they could find in the West.
Ropar has tapped alumni networks abroad and marketed its advantages as a flexible new player in a mostly hidebound system.
Thirty-three of the 44 faculty members at the institute have done some, if not all, of their university studies and postdoctoral work abroad. Their median age is 33.
In earlier days, the IIT and other Indian universities relied on the appeal of reuniting with family for their recruiting strategies abroad. But now, with research financing either declining or stagnant in many developed nations, India's growth has become a selling point.
The publish-or-perish mentality of the U.S. academic job market has also made the developing world's research institutions more appealing, particularly those like Ropar, where, for now at least, the emphasis is more on pure research than on publications.
Making a Difference
Salaries aren't a big concern for these young researchers, who earn as little as $1,100 a month despite their high-profile credentials. With housing so inexpensive, and tenure and job security nearly a given in a faculty-starved nation, they are able to focus on India's promising future—and gain a stake in creating it from the foundation up.
The country's economy is growing by more than 7 percent a year, and the government is investing heavily in research. In this frontier environment, a new idea can make an immediate difference, professors say.
"In the U.S. or Canada, you are going to have a limited impact on society," says Mr. Gupta, who received his doctorate in physics from Clemson University.
These new returnees, some of whom have worked in industry, are not particularly interested higher-paying private-sector jobs.
"I worked at IBM Research one summer," recalls Ashish Ahuja, 31, who got his master's degree in computer sciences from the University of Texas at Austin and worked at an e-commerce start-up for seven years before joining Ropar's computer-science department as a visiting scientist. "There was a lot of pressure to produce patents, and that can turn off a lot of people in research."
His colleague Naga Devarapalli, 30, an assistant professor in the electrical-engineering department, agrees. "The key difference between academic research and industry research is freedom," says Mr. Devarapalli, who earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico.
Ropar's leaders have worked to cultivate an atmosphere of openness and innovation. Just three years old, the institute has started a number of doctoral programs and has research projects under way in more than two dozen areas, including bioinformatics and quantum optics.
Although somewhat limited by government rules, the public institute makes an effort to offer seed grants of $25,000, money for conference travel, and laboratory space to new hires.
"I and my colleagues are making all efforts to create complete academic freedom," says M.K. Surappa, director of the Ropar campus. India "is no longer the country of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It is vastly different now, and there is ample opportunity to grow professionally."
The institute encourages its professors to forge links with industry to ensure that engineering students are learning the skills needed to secure good jobs.
Mr. Surappa says he also encourages faculty members to engage in outside consulting work, something he did successfully while working as professor in the department of materials engineering at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, the city formerly known as Bangalore. Mr. Surappa is on a leave of absence from that institute.
"We are trying to provide the ambience for them to earn more money through projects and consultancies." he says.
Mollifying Critics
Ropar's success has flown in the face of conventional wisdom.
Critics argued that the Indian government's decision in 2008 to open eight additional branches of the Indian Institutes of Technology would exacerbate faculty-recruitment problems and hurt the reputations of the cherished older IIT campuses.
Even before the new institutes opened, the original seven IIT's had faculty shortages of 20 to 25 percent. Their engineers and computer scientists were eagerly recruited by top graduate schools in the United States.
But now some skeptics have changed their minds.
"I think Surappa has done a very good job, and we should congratulate him," says P.V. Indiresan, former head of the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, who was among the fiercest critics of the government's decision to expand the IIT system.
So how did Ropar do it? To get the word out, administrators relied on their established network of IIT contacts and alumni, including holdting events in the United States to explain the opportunities available at the new campuses in India.
Once they found a candidate they wanted, they figured out ways to cut through India's notorious red tape.
For example, Ropar's new hires often start in a "visiting position" to avoid the lengthy selection process involved in hiring permanent faculty members.
Then the institute works on converting them into permanent faculty members.
"We have to take a bit of a risk," says B.K. Dhindaw, dean of academics and research, who spearheads the recruitment process. "We call it proactive, and we pushed that approach,"
Academic observers expect that its young faculty members and their global experience will give Ropar an edge.
"The systems abroad in good universities are much better than in India, and Ropar's students should benefit by the kind of exposure their teachers have had," says Premchand Palety, founder of the Centre for Forecasting and Research, which ranks universities in India.
Many of Ropar's foreign faculty hires say they preferred to join a new IIT rather than an older, more prestigious one.
"I can see a lot more flexibility and freedom here in terms of research and teaching," says Himanshu Tyagi, 31, a graduate of IIT Delhi, who received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University and has worked for Siemens AG in India and in Germany. "Here even young faculty can play a role in developing curriculum, and almost everyone has exposure from abroad, so we are very dynamic."
'It Is a Passion'
Students seem to notice the enthusiasm as well. At IIT Delhi, where some Ropar-bound students spent their first year while the new campus was being developed, teaching seemed like "more of a job" for professors, says Anmol Singh, a third-year electrical-engineering student. "Here it is a passion."
Students say their professors have also played a significant role in restructuring courses. For example, last year's freshmen in mechanical engineering were introduced to computer-aided design, while seniors who started at the Delhi campus weren't.
"The faculty here are much younger than Delhi's, and they are ready to experiment," says Ishan Chhabra, a third-year computer-science student. "They are ready with bleeding-edge research, and they take it and expose undergraduates to it. In an older institute, only Ph.D. students would be introduced to it."
Ropar's facilities are still housed at a temporary campus, the former premises of a women's polytechnic college. And being in a small town, employees lack access to not just the amenities of the West but also those of big Indian cities.
Life here is far from easy for academics used to living overseas. There are no huge supermarkets, no good restaurants or bars to socialize in, buffaloes run rampant near the canal that is next to the campus, and the nearest small city is two hours away. The narrow potholed road leading to the campus seems like a road to nowhere.
"Everybody would be lying if they say we aren't complaining every day of the week about something or the other, but to catch someplace which is absolutely new is a totally different experience," says Anu Vaidyanathan, 30, a visiting faculty member in the computer-science department. "All of us appreciate that we don't have anybody that's pulling us up every day saying, 'Do this, don't do that.'"
Ropar's culture "of actually listening to the younger faculty" members also matters a lot for Mr. Gupta. who has received approval to set up an interdisciplinary high-performance-computer laboratory for joint projects among physics, mathematics, materials-science, and mechanical-engineering professors.
While things look rosy now, the issue of faculty retention already looms large on the minds of top officials. The best way to overcome that challenge might come from the young professors themselves, who are raring to make Ropar a contender.
"I think once we establish ourselves," says Ms. Vaidyanathan, "Ropar will be a better choice than the other IIT's."

Source Link: http://chronicle.com/article/An-Indian-University-Finds/123888/

A companion for IIT-Bombay PG students

A companion for IIT-Bombay PG students

Be it academic problems or the problem of settling down in a new environment; language barrier or feeling of homesickness; career guidance and counseling, IIT-Bombay’s “student companion programme” will take care of it all. This student-oriented guidance initiative has been specifically designed to cater to the needs of post-graduate (Masters and doctoral) students.
“It will give students a platform to get help in formal as well as informal ways, and will simultaneously target overall development of students. Besides mentorship, seniors will monitor the performance of academically weaker juniors and explore all options to bring them to the next higher level,” VSK Murthy Balijepalli, general secretary of academic affairs, post-graduate programmes, IIT-Bombay, said.
The companion programme will be monitored by the office of the dean of academic programmes. “Students coming from varied backgrounds are exposed to a new and rigorous system. Additionally, all PG students have to undertake compulsory teaching assistantship duties. Hence, adjusting is not always easy. It makes the first six months very critical. So, if PG students have a companion to interact with and discuss their problems on a one-on-one-basis, it will be of immense help,” professor S Biswas, dean of academic programmes, said.
The aim of the programme is to detect problems and solve them at an early stage. A student companion, who has been a part of the IIT system for some time, can help new PG students with focused academic inputs. It could be helping with an academic backlog, or showing ways to settle down and get the best out of the IIT system.
“For instance, choosing the right courses is crucial. A student companion can guide the students and help them select courses based on their strength,” said Biswas.
There is also an online discussion forum where students can post their queries. “It will not only help the new students, but also the senior students, and will ultimately improve the research output of the institute due to the formation of inter-disciplinary research groups,” Balijepalli said.


Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_a-companion-for-iit-bombay-pg-students_1423935

Forensic Science: A Discipline For Curious Minds

Forensic Science: A Discipline For Curious Minds


Forensic science is an exciting discipline for those with an analytical bent of mind. It is an upcoming program in India in the recent times. There are many colleges and universities in India, which offer forensic science education giving ample opportunities to youngsters for polishing their analytical skills.
Forensic Science mainly deals with scientific investigation of any crime. This program is fascinating and challenging for those, who love adventures in life. Forensic science is a laboratory-based discipline through which students learn to probe into the intricacies of any crime and apply their knowledge of scientific principles to investigate the crime.

Gujarat Forensic Science University (GFSU) is a renowned University, which offers super specialized postgraduate program coupled with one-year dissertation. The total intake of students will be 35. The university is also planning to offer a certificate program in criminology and forensic science.

Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science is one of the oldest institutes, which offers post graduate program in forensic science. From this academic year, students will have to crack a common entrance test to get admission for forensic program in this institute.

Eligibility:

• Candidate should be a Graduate in Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany, Biochemistry, Microbiology, B.Pharm, BDS or Applied sciences.
• Candidate with first division will be preferred.

Career Opportunities in Forensic Science:
After pursuing Forensic program, there are a lot of good career opportunities for students:
• Students can get hired in the fields of forensic pathology or medicine, forensic anthropology, forensic psychology, forensic dentistry, clinical forensic medicine, forensic entomology, forensic chemist, forensic linguists and dactyloscopy (science of fingerprinting).
• Forensic Science students can also get jobs in hospitals, laboratories and even corporate as document experts.
• Students can be a part of anti-terrorist operations, mass disaster management, cyber crime investigation, protection of human rights, environment, consumer and intellectual property rights.
• Students who start their career as lab assistants or technicians can easily earn Rs. 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month and those who get a job in academics can get a perk of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per month.
List of Institutes, which offer Forensic Program:
1. Faculty of Law, University of Pune (www.unipune.ac.in)
2. Department of Biochemistry, Osmania University (www.osmania.ac.in)
3. Department of Forensic Science, Punjabi University (www.punjabiuniversity.ac.in)

Management for Women- A Program For Potential Women Entrepreneurs

Management for Women- A Program For Potential Women Entrepreneurs


Article Summary: Management for Women is a program run by most of the top B-Schools, for encouraging women entrepreneurship.
Many popular business schools have commenced Management program for women. It is not possible for every one to establish one’s own business and run successfully, especially if business is set up by a woman. Top Business Schools in India have started management programs with an aim to enable women in fulfilling their dreams. And, the good part is that some institutes are not charging any fee for this program.
Recently, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad (www.isb.edu) has introduced management program for women, who run their own businesses. The course is approved by Goldman Sachs, USA. Mr. Deepak Chandra, Director of ISB, said, “The purpose of the course is to empower women. We focus on helping budding entrepreneurs with their projects.”
This program provides fundamental information about aspects such as setting up of businesses & other related issues. There is no fee being charged for this program. This program is useful for women, who are not economically sound and who do not have money for pursuing management programs.
Ms. Jayanti Verma, one of the successful students, who is now the Director of Retail Interface Pvt. Ltd, said that earlier she did not know anything about the management and marketing. But after pursuing management program, she is able to understand the marketing techniques and now she is running her business successfully. She said, “The course turned out to be an eye-opener for me.”
Management program is conducted in four phases, and until now 180 students have been trained through this program. Candidates, who want to pursue this program should have a graduate degree and they will have to clear the personal interview round also.
ISB has recently launched management program for women, whereas IIM-Bangalore has been offering same program since long time. IIM-Bangalore (IIM-B) offers six weeks certificate program. This certificate program is offered by N.S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (www.nsrcel.org). This program has been designed to encourage and empower women to become entrepreneurs by establishing their own identities in the business field. Mostly students want to start the training process when the course gets completed. The trainers guide the students to come up with their own business ideas. When a student’s business plan gets approved, the centre provides practical experience and helps the student to enroll for her business.

M.Sc. in Virology - A Specialized Degree Program for Developing Vaccines

M.Sc. in Virology - A Specialized Degree Program for Developing Vaccines

Article summary: M.Sc. in Virology is a program to educate students about the development of vaccinations for the cure of diseases like Swine Flu.

Since scores of people get adversely affected by harmful viral diseases, it’s important to find and develop some vaccines. Last year, Swine flu had killed many people across the world and the whole virologist community of the world had put in its best possible endeavors to develop some vaccines against this dreadful disease. At that point of time, the role of virologist was appreciated.
Since many years, there is a constant increase in the number of viral diseases and due to this, the demand of conducting research in the field of developing vaccines has increased manifold. In this attempt to educate students, many renowned institutes have commenced program in Virology. The Manipal Centre for Virus Research (www.manipal.edu) is offering Masters of Science in Clinical Virology with limited seats. The course has been designed to provide the diagnostic and research knowledge & practical exposire.
Earlier, students used to go abroad to pursue these kind of programs and establish their careers there. Dr. G. Arunkumar, Head, Manipal Centre for Virus Research, says, “With the introduction of this course, the rate of such students is expected to go down.”
To pursue M.Sc. in Virology, candidates should have Bachelor’s degree Life Sciences, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Biochemistry or Zoology and MBBS graduates can also apply to this program. After pursuing virology program, students can explore the subject in detail and gain deep knowledge about diseases and other things like Culture Cell Biology, Bioinformatics, Applied Epidemiology, Entomology and Advanced Immunology. This program brings forth a plethora of opportunities to students. Candidates can get placements in reputed organizations and earn up to Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 per month.

There are other institutes in India like National Institute of Virology in Pune (www.icmr.nic.in) and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in Delhi, which offer M.Sc Virology, a super-specialized degree program. Only 20 seats are available for the program. To pursue the program, students should have done MBBS or B.Sc in Life Sciences or Biotechnology with 60 %. They will have to clear the entrance exam also.

Web developing Programming, Website Coordination, Content Development

Web developing
Programming, Website Coordination, Content Development


In human history, very few things have changed the way we live as Internet has done. So much so that the modern era has come to be called the era of Internet. The websites on the internet provide information about almost everything in the universe –from the price of food items to theories in rocket technology. If you are internet savvy and have a technical bent of mind, along with creativity and imagination, a career in Web Developing would be a great choice for you. In this field, you will have to upload information in a lucid and comprehensive manner, in cyber space. You will the opportunity to give shape to your creative ideas by designing aesthetically appealing websites. Great pat packages are assured in this industry as the Information Technology sector is one of the best performing sector of the economy.
A website is a set of interconnected web pages i.e., pages on the Internet, which are prepared and maintained as a storehouse of information by any particular individual, organization or group. Web Developing is the activity of designing, building, supporting and maintaining websites.
A website marks the presence of an individual, an organization or a group on the World Wide Web. The web pages of ant particular website, which are documents coded in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), are always connected to each other, and sometimes to pages of other websites. A website is generally dedicated to some particular topic or purpose and usually has a homepage that acts as an introduction to the contents and objectives of the website.
A website is hosted on a server by its owner or at an ISP (Internet Service Provider). Generally, a website has to stay on the server along with many other websites. However, a website may also reside on a server created exclusively for it or may reside on multiple dedicated servers. In order to qualify as a website, the web server has to be available on the internet, round the clock. A website can be accessed by using a software programme called website browser which is also known as HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol).
Websites are of two types- Static website and Dynamic website. The contents of a Static website do not change frequently and such a website is maintained manually by a professional or a team of professionals by the use of editing software. A Dynamic website, on the other hand, is one whose information changes very frequently. When a request for a certain page is sent to a web server, the page is automatically generated by the software, in direct response to the page request.
Due to the stupendous growth in Information Technology, there has been a huge increase in the number of website on the World Wide Web. The design, development and maintenance of these websites are the work of a large number of trained professionals working in different areas of Web Development.
A number of activities and functions comprise Web Development. These include the designing, building, supporting and maintaining f websites. Broadly the work in Web Development is divide into three areas- programming, design and graphics, and other activity like website coordination and content development. Web Developers, Webmasters and others are involved in the area of programming. The design and graphics section is handled by Graphic Designers, Visualisers and others. Websites Coordinators and Content Developers work in the management of the Web Developing team and in providing content on the site, respectively. Professionals involved in the areas of programming and database administration have work which overlaps with each other. Designers and Content/ Developers of the website do not have overlapping work profiles. But in the development of a website as a whole, all professionals have to work in close coordination with each other.
Developing of websites has two distinct aspects-technical and creative. Of these two, the creative side comes first. It involves visualization and conceptualization, after this phase is complete, there comes the technical part. The technical part is about converting the layouts into HTML and giving effects with the help of Java Script and AJAX. A web developer’s work involves surfing the Internet to check out other website for gathering inputs. In the same way, he can also bank on his own creativity to make a template. Once the client approves the template, the technical work gets started.
A lot of programming is required to develop and run a website smoothly. Web Developers are the professionals who are into the job of programming. A Web Developer selects the hardware to be used in the website as well as the software needed for the smooth and hassle-free functioning of the website. A Web Developer also decides upon the design that is most suitable and fit for the website as well as the navigation technique that requires to be very user=friendly. The Web Developer has to take care of these factors, since these factors are responsible in determining the familiarity of users with the website, thereby ensuring that they return to the same website. Thus, the Web Developer, in a long way, determines the kind of business done by an organization through its website.
The better a website is programmed, the greater its functionality is for the users. As a programmer, a Web Developer has to prepare multiple applications by the usage of both front-end (Visual Basic Script, JAVA, etc.) and back-end (MS-SOL, ACCESS, etc.) tools. In addition, a Web Developer has the responsibility of gauging the volume of traffic in the website, as also understanding as to how the traffic uses its time while surfing the website. A Web Developer does this by the help of data base and reporting tools.
The website comes under the total responsibility of the webmaster, after it has been designed and built. The structure and content of a website has to be restructured, refined and updated from time to time. This work is done by a Webmaster. It has always to be made sure that a website caters to the needs of various groups of people. The Webmasters studies the feed backs of various users apart from analyzing the statistics available on Internet usage from time to time. Changes are brought about in the website based upon these studies. A Webmaster has to be aware of the latest software tools that would enable the website to maintain it at par with technology.
Any website has to be visually attractive and aesthetically appealing. In order to provide information to users in a lucid manner, numerous pictorial and graphic representations of data have to be provided in the website. These aspects of Web Development are taken care of by the Graphic Designer. A Graphic Designer is responsible for the aesthetic appeal of the website. This is done by choosing appropriate designs, graphic Designer provides an accurate picture of the aims and objectives of the company as well as the products and services offered by the company. A Graphic Designer has to be aware of the latest software packages in the Graphic Designing and their usage in order to give the state of the art look to the website.
The job of a Website Coordinator or a project Manager is to oversee the effective functioning of all the aspects in Website Development. A Website Coordinator/Project Manager ensures that projects are completed with in the deadline. A thorough understanding of technology is required in this job but a project manager/Website Coordinator does not do the technical work. The Project manger/Website Coordinator also need not know the functions of the latest software but knowledge about the tools used to build the website id absolutely necessary. A Project Manager’s job is more in the nature of managerial tasks. A Project Manager has to coordinate the team of technicians, keep in touch with the client and coordinate the front-ends and back-end operations. A Project Manager /Website Coordinator has to ensure that the website truly portrays the objectives of the organization and helps in enhancing its business prospects. A job as Project Manager/ Website Coordinator requires good communication techniques, interpersonal skills and organizational capabilities.
Content of a website is its most important part. Writing and editing the matter on the website is the job of the Content Developer. Content Developers provide the matter on a website in an interesting and convincing manner that lends quality and grace to the website. The success of a website depends on the qualitative and informative matter on the website. Hence, the job of a Content Developer is very important in Web Development.

Eligibility
Successful completion of 10+2 or its equivalent examination is the minimum eligibility criteria to require two-year or three-year courses in IT skills. Some courses can also be opted for directly after the completion of the matriculation examination. Completion of graduation is the minimum eligibility criteria to avail of one to two-tear long courses in IT skills. Graduation is the minimum educational qualification to avail of specialized courses like Web Designing, Programming, etc.

Aptitude
Creativity and imagination are very essential in order to build visually attractive and operationally functional websites. A technical bent of mind is required in order to do the coding for the programmes. Programming is a brain-numbing task and one needs to be hardworking and meditative enough to do the task of programming. A Graphic Designer has to be creative and imaginative in order to build visually attractive and aesthetically appealing websites. In order to work as a Project Manager/Website Coordinator, one must have good management skills, good interpersonal skills and sound organizational capabilities. Creativity and imagination, couples with the flair for writing and conveying information in a lucid manner, is required in order to work as a Content Developer. One should be able to tell a story in a sensible manner and form in order to do well as a Content Developer.
To excel in this profession, one requires to possess a high level of imagination and the willingness to experiment and learn. On top of that, one should have the capability to understand the brief clarity, come up with original creative solutions and bring them alive on the web. The capacity to think analytically proves to be a great advantage. Aspirants will do better to imbibe a sense of team spirit, most of the time, web developing is not a solitary process. Ability to sit long hours in front of the computer and an ego-less and fun-loving attitude will take one places in this profession.

Courses
To become a web designer, one needs to learn about the web, HTML, Photoshop, software like Dreamweaver and Flash, CSS (cascading style sheet, for managing content formatting ), and at least one programming language such as ASP, ASP.NET or PHP. Various courses in different areas of Web Development are offered in institutes and colleges across the country. One can avail of two to three-year courses imparting comprehensive IT skills after the completion of the 10+2 level of education. One to two-tear long courses in specialized areas of Web Development, like programming, web Designing etc., are available for Graduates, in many institutes across the country. Intensive, high-end course in networking or programming are available for Engineering in many institutes. Courses in Graphic Designing as also in computer programming languages like JAVA, etc., are available in small and big institutes across the country. A one-year Diploma programme in media technologies is offered by SAE Technology College which is based in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and has branches across several big cities like Mumbai, Bangaluru and New Delhi. Apart from Web Designing and Web Programming, the course curriculum includes other modules like advanced multimedia studies, 3D audio and video for multimedia. At a course fee of Rs. 1.6 lakh, modules like animation, online publishing, digital imaging and graphics are included.
A Diploma in Digital Web Authoring is offered by the NIIT. This course includes web animation, integration of audio and video films, creation off splash screen and interactive banners. Other modules like image editing, layout designing and web page structuring, file uploading and downloading, website testing and publishing through publishing servers are also included in the course. Various online courses in different aspects of Web Developing are also available on the Internet. One can avail of these courses, right from the comfort of one’s own home.

Prospects
The modern age is the age of Information Technology. Any company worth its salt has to ensure its presence on the World Wide Web by virtue of its own website. Apart from companied, several governmental departments, non-governmental organizations, voluntary organizations, miscellaneous groups and even individuals have website to their names. As many as 80 millions websites are to be found on the World Wide Web presently, according to one calculation. A vast pool of trained professionals is required to maintain and update these websites apart from building new websites.
In emerging technological hubs like India, the field of web developing has become an era with multiple avenues. Developing and managing websites required people with varied skill sets and experience. Developing and managing websites normally requires system administrators who manage the servers and the computer network. It also needs content developers who prepares or edit content; animators for developing attractive animation s that run on website; and quality control specialists to help meet various quality parameters such as browser and system compatibility, technology issues, link errors, load testing, etc.
Largely, advertising agencies, web solution firms and web portals employ trained professionals in Web Developing on contractual basis. These professionals work on the project as long as it lasts. According to NASSCOM (National; Association of Software and Service Companies), the number of qualified web professionals is constantly on the rise. This is a clear sign of the high demand for qualified Web Designers. Hence, a professionally trained Web Developer will find ample job opportunities with attractive salaries in this field.
A lot of companies, based outside India, also develop their website in India due to the availability of highly qualified technical personnel at comparatively lower salaries. Nowadays, a large number of big companies outsource web developing to freelancers. So, a developer can work from home as well. He/she can create his/her own profile on certain websites to draw more orders. With such huge amount of work being outsourced to India and newer concepts being worked upon, like interactive websites, web banners, multimedia presentations and animated e-cards, newer skills are required of Web Developers. Moreover, one will also be able to earn a lot in this industry, as the sector is one of the few booming sectors of the economy.

Remuneration
One will get a handsome salary in this industry, even as a starter, which may be in the vicinity of about Rs. 50,000 per month, if one is professionally qualified in any area of Web Development. As a free-lancer for various Web Developing Companies, one will get handsome compensations for the work done. The salary goes on increasing, as one gains experience in his field. With constant increase in the number of websites developed, the average salary for a Web Developer is sure to increase in near future.

Visva Bharati reduces fee hike by 50 percent

Visva Bharati reduces fee hike by 50 percent


Kolkata, August 1: Bowing down to the students' demands, the authorities of Visva Bharati on Saturday night decided to decrease the hiked tuition fees by 50 percent.
The university, set up by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan, had been experiencing unrest for long as the students were on an indefinite agitation to protest the hike.
University spokesperson Amitabha Chowdhury said: "We have decided to cut down the students' fees by 50 percent after discussing it with the students' representatives".
"The admission fees will also be reduced for the internal students (who are already studying in the university). However, the external students will have to pay their fees on the basis of newly implemented rate. The students have also expressed their satisfaction over the authorities' decision and we are expecting that normalcy will be restored soon," he added
Terming it a "victory for the students", student leader, Anupam Hazra said the authorities have also assured to reconsider the tuition fees for the external students during next month.
"If the authorities do not think for the external students, then we would launch a greater movement," he warned.
The varsity faced the students' ire after it decided to hike fees in June this year. The students' unions called indefinite shut down in phases to protest the move. (IANS)

Source Link: http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/education-news/university/visva-bharati-reduces-fee-hike-by-50-percent-58422.html

Virtual lessons for budding entrepreneurs at SP Jain Institute

Virtual lessons for budding entrepreneurs at SP Jain Institute

To give its Start Your Business (SYB) programme a national footprint and to ensure that it reaches out to more people across the country, the SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, will deliver lectures and train participants via video-conferencing beginning this year.
“Many people from outside Mumbai and Maharashtra have been showing keen interest in the programme. Hence, we have decided to go national,” said professor M Suresh Rao, chairperson, SP Jain Centre for Entrepreneurship.
The first five days of training will be residential at SP Jain’s Mumbai campus where students/participants will be taught various aspects of entrepreneurship.
Around 40 sessions will be conducted at the campus and will include facets like understanding the mindset of an entrepreneur, evaluation of ideas and developing one’s business idea into an opportunity.
“While on campus, the participants will get to interact and network with venture capitalists and established entrepreneurs. They will also have the opportunity to network among themselves,” added Rao.
The remaining 60 sessions will be conducted through video-conferencing where participants, from any part of the country, will connect to a central facility in Mumbai. The sessions will be interactive, two-way and in real-time. The virtual class sessions will involve marketing, financial and legal aspects of a start-up.
The participants will subsequently have to give presentations on their business plan. The entire programme will be spread over six months and the first batch will commence on October 15. The institute plans to take in around 50 students for the first batch.

Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report_virtual-lessons-for-budding-entrepreneurs-at-sp-jain-institute_1416782

Sibal wants concrete expansion of higher education by 2020

Sibal wants concrete expansion of higher education by 2020


Stressing for collaborations in the field of education, human resources development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal said he had set a target of 30% students reaching university level in India by 2020.
The current rate is only 12.4%. Presently, there are 500 universities and about 25,000 colleges in the country. There is a need of another 800 universities and 35,000-40,000 colleges to enable more 46 million children to avail college education.Sibal said while inaugurating the Indo-US summit on higher education organised by the Indo-American Society (ias), "220 million children go to school in India out of which only 14 million reach college. Our economy cannot sustain with such numbers. Out of the numbers which manage to reach the college, only 40 per cent pass 12 standard."

The ministry's aim is to increase the total percentage of students who avail higher education from the existing 12.4% to 30% by 2020.
Sibal said "The country cannot move forward in a fragmented manner in the field of education.Even with the expansion, only 60 million children will be able to go to colleges and universities. What about the rest, we need to empower them. Expansion and inclusion without quality is also of no use," he said.
Sibal said the government will soon introduce a national vocational education framework at the 10+2 level to create more courses which offer employment opportunities.He said the state governments will be asked to identify and devise vocational courses, standards of which will be decided at the national level.


Source Link: http://www.minglebox.com/article/news/Sibal-wants-concrete-expansion-of-higher-education-by-2020/data-0001-fdbffe852a1e7d98012a313c75323335

Paying capacity shouldn't be barrier to higher studies - Sibal

Paying capacity shouldn't be barrier to higher studies - Sibal


Mumbai: Sharing his vision of a society where every child should have the opportunity to go to school and be able to pursue higher studies irrespective of paying capacity, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said illiteracy should not be a barrier to progress.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Indo-American Society, he said, "There are 220 million children whogo to school , out of which 14 million students reach the college level. Currently there is 12.4 percent enrolment, which we want to increase to 30 percent by 2020."

"Basically, if 500 universities are serving 12.4 percent enrolment, in order to reach 30 per cent we need 800 universities. Also, if 25,000 schools are serving this 12.4 percent, we also need another 10,000 schools to reach 30 percent," he added.

"We will encourage the public-private-partnership (PPP) model to a great extent in establishing more schools, colleges and universities," Sibal said.

He also emphasized the need for synergy between academics and vocational training. "This can work better in a decentralized plan. State governments will have to identify the vocational courses that are more useful in that particular state and then synergize it with the academics," he said.

Sibal contended that democracy can flourish in the country only if there is freedom of choice in classrooms.

"Democracy will flourish only if there is democracy in the classroom. Students need to be given more choices in terms of academics and vocational training and a mix of both," he said. IANS


Source Link: http://www.indiaedunews.net/Today/Paying_capacity_shouldn%27t_be_barrier_to_higher_studies_-_Sibal_12198/

Other IIMs also join in

Other IIMs also join in

IIMs are busy updating and revamping the existing curriculum for their two-year flagship post-graduate programme (PGP). They typically conduct a comprehensive review of the syllabus every 3-4 years to incorporate developments and changes in industries and the economy.
IIM Calcutta (IIM-C), for instance, has used feedback from its students and companies to plan and develop new courses. These courses would be implemented from the current academic year. For financial modelling, IIM-C plans to invite faculty from US-based business schools.


IIM Indore, on its part, has rejigged its curriculum. This academic year onwards, all the compulsory courses in PGP will be a part of the first year syllabus while the second year will be more elemental.
The rejig in curriculum is based on the inputs the institute collected from leading business schools abroad. Likewise, IIM Kozhikode intends to have more optional courses and less core courses. The institute plans to implement the revised curriculum from next academic year. IIM Lucknow (IIM-L), on its part, is in the process of updating its syllabus which would reflect reality and would be more issue-oriented. It will also include courses on ethics. From this academic year, it is introducing new courses and topical workshops. IIM-L consults its alumni and faculty to revamp its syllabus.
IIM Bangalore, too, is reviewing its curriculum. It wants its courses help management graduates tackle future business agendas. IIM-A, which revamped its syllabus recently, has introduced the slot system (instead of the term system) to ensure greater flexibility. The institute has also made ethics a compulsory course for the first year students.

Source Link: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/other-iims-also-join-in/403218/

No principals for several Gujarat University-affiliated colleges

No principals for several Gujarat University-affiliated colleges

Even as the executive council of Gujarat University resolves to look into the administrative staff vacancies, many university affiliated colleges are functioning without a fulltime principal. The situation has remained the same for the last couple of years.
While some blame it on lack of right candidates others accuse the state government of delay in filling up the posts.
As per records available, of the 356 colleges affiliated to GU in various disciplines, more than 100 are functioning either with officiating principals or have vacant posts for the last three years.
Executive council member Narhari Amin, who has been raising this issue, said that the university authorities are very particular about rules when it comes to self- financed colleges but don't show the same enthusiasm for grant-in-aid colleges. “When university members inspect self-financed colleges they insist on the colleges maintaining all records but the same is not done for grant- in-aid colleges,” said Amin.
Another executive council member Manish Doshi said that in absence of fulltime administrative staff there is a difficulty inday to day functioning of such colleges as well.For, those who act as officiating principal it becomes difficult to take certain decisions regarding recruitment and finance, he said.
Some members also said that there was a problem getting the right kind of candidate for the post of principal and lecturer. “Going by the UGC guidelines if recruitments are to be made then we encounter problem with qualification and experience,” said a member of the executive council.Members also said that the problem is likely to aggravate as some of the principals are likely to retire within a year or two.
"Replacing them with the most senior person of a college seems to be the best and only option and so the university authorities do not want to make much effort in recruiting outsiders,'' saidone of the executive council members.
GU vice-chancellor Parimal Trivedi, however, said that process of recruitment was a time consuming one as it involved a lot sanctions and permissions, but has alreadyinitiated the process of recruitment for many colleges.

Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report_no-principals-for-several-gujarat-university-affiliated-colleges_1417673

New rule for UK student visa

New rule for UK student visa

From August 12, 2010, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) will implement secure English Language tests for students under Tier 4 (General) of the points-based system. According to UKBA, student visa applicants who are studying courses below degree level, excluding foundation degrees and English Language courses have to take the test. This test must be taken with a UKBA-approved provider before the applicant applies for a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from the education sponsor.

Applicants who are intending to study a foundation degree or at degree level (NQF level 6) and above, or an English Language course, are not required to take the secure English Language test before applying for a visa. Education providers may, however , require students to provide evidence of English Language proficiency to ensure they are capable of following the course for which they have applied.

In an exclusive interview, David Willetts, UK minister for universities and science, allayed student fears, saying the tightening of visa rules is not intended to keep out excellent students from India to study in UK.

“We welcome the brightest of Indian students to come and study in our leading British universities. Indian students pay full fees and, therefore, it is in their interest that they receive quality education from accredited institutions,” said Willetts.


Source Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/travel/visa-power/New-rule-for-UK-student-visa-/articleshow/6246584.cms

Mumbai scores low as student hot spot

Mumbai scores low as student hot spot


Mumbai might be the hot destination for professionals of all descriptions, but it falls short while attracting students. Blame it on the prohibitive cost of living or the outsiders’ perception of quality of education here, but the city has some catching up to do with other cities to score in students’ preference.
According to a survey by an education portal, Delhi and Bangalore are the most popular destinations for students willing to study out of their towns. Both the cities are mostly preferred for commerce, engineering, arts and management courses. Mumbai does not top the chart of education destinations for any of these courses.
Minglebox.com’s survey covered 2,000 students across the metros and tier-II and tier-III cities. Nearly 40% of the students were from tier-II and tier-III cities. The respondents were asked about best institutes in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad.
A majority of the students felt that institutes in and around Delhi were the best for courses in arts, commerce and medicine, while institutes in Bangalore were good for management, engineering and science. Institutes in Mumbai did not figure among the top choices for any stream.
In fact, only 8% of the respondents said that Mumbai had good engineering colleges, as opposed to 29% who said institutes in Bangalore were better. Mumbai stood second only for best institutes in arts and commerce. The survey did not include the Indian Institutes of Management and the Indian Institute of Technology.
Kavita Iyer, the CEO of Minglebox, which has a user base of four million, said, “Mumbai may not be the top destination due to various other factors like affordability. Several students - 36% — said that the cost of living in a new city is the major deciding factor.”
Several respondents also stated that lack of information about new courses in colleges also is a problem while choosing colleges.
The survey reveals that 50% of the students are interested in studying out of their town just to experience an independent life. While it was believed earlier that most students moved out for higher education, the survey reveals that more students step out of their towns for undergraduate studies.
Devika Rane, a class XII student and an aspiring engineer, said, “Most of the colleges in our city do not market their courses well. In fact, there are too many problems plaguing institutes in the city like lack of faculty, good infrastructure, poor placements, etc. These days, state-based entrance exams are not very popular.” Rane has her eyes set on the All India Engineering Entrance Exams (AIEEE).
Shailaja Mulay, career counsellor from Mumbai, feels city colleges are as competent as their counterparts in other cities. “The colleges here are overcrowded. Also Delhi and Bangalore have more colleges. There are enough seats available for outside students.”

Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_mumbai-scores-low-as-student-hot-spot_1417649

Ministry approves higher allocation for RTE Act

Ministry approves higher allocation for RTE Act

The HinduAs it stands, the Right to Education Act has several flaws that will prevent its efficacious implementation. Several amendments are called for.
Raised to Rs.2,31,000 crore from Rs.1,71,000; Centre's share increased to 68 per cent
The Centre has revised the financial allocation under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act over the next five years. As against the Rs.1,71,000 crore suggested earlier, the Finance Ministry has now approved an allocation for Rs.2,31,000 crore.
The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) under the Finance Ministry has also agreed to increase the Centre's share effectively to 68 per cent and reduce the State share to 32 per cent for implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which makes elementary education compulsory for children in the age groups of six to 14 years.
The total outlay approved by the EFC includes Rs.24,000 crore allocated to the States by the 13{+t}{+h} Finance Commission. The Centre's share of this amount will be at 65 per cent and that of the States at 35 per cent. However, when the Rs.24,000 crore awarded by the Commission is taken into account, the Centre's share effectively works out to 68 per cent, while that of the States' is 32 per cent.
State governments had been demanding a higher share from the Centre while expressing their inability to implement the Act. The higher allocation of Rs.2,31,000 crore was required on account of the cost of harmonising the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) with RTE norms.
The National University of Educational Planning and Administration initially estimated that the requirement of funds for implementing the RTE Act over five years would be Rs.1,71,000 crore.
The RTE Act requires primary classes to have a pupil-teacher ratio of 1:30 and upper primary classes a ratio of 1:35, against the SSA ratio of 1:40. The Act also has the norm of one classroom per teacher, which increases the number of classrooms and teachers required, and implementing these norms would increase fund requirement.
The EFC gave its seal of approval to providing a one-time grant to help States ensure that all primary schools have five grades — classes one to five — and upper primary, classes six to eight.
Financial support will also be provided for residential schools in thinly populated areas and urban centres, where the focus would be on street children and migrants' children. In sparsely populated areas, support will also be provided for transport systems for students.


Source Link: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article540727.ece

Indo-US higher education summit inaugurated in Mumbai

Indo-US higher education summit inaugurated in Mumbai


Mumbai, July 31: With an aim to increase access and enhance quality of Indo-US higher education, a two-day summit for higher education was inaugurated here today.
The summit is a part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Indo-American Society.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal was the chief guest at the inaugural function.
He spoke about his vision of a nation where every child has the opportunity to go to school and get access to higher studies, irrespective of his or her paying capacity.
"The vision needs to be translated to reality through reform of governance structures, development of education infrastructure and strategic action on programmes - all enveloped in an environment where freedom of choice and thought permeate through the education system," Sibal said.
"We will confront various challenges along the path but the call of the society is loud and clear: that in the movement towards translation of the vision, we will meet squarely the challenges that confront us," he added.
Focused on building bridges in the field of education and culture between India and the US, the summit is expected to have far-reaching results.
"We are hopeful that the summit will have far-reaching results leading to fruitful collaborations between educational institutes and exchange programmes," said V. Rangaraj, Indo-American Society president.
Every year more than one lakh Indian students go to the US to pursue higher education and more than four times the figure do not get a chance to do so.
"The summit, hence, opens the ground for the Indo-American Society to create an ideal framework of government policy, partnerships models and access to networks that will enable interactional education providers to access this untapped demand," Rangaraj added.
Indu Sahani, the sheriff of Mumbai and the convenor of the summit, said: "In recognition of the changing face of modern higher education and to address the challenges faced by educationists, institutions and government alike, the Indo-American Society aims to bring together individuals committed to taking education to its highest pinnacle."
A white paper on the subject 'Higher Education' prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers was also released.
"The key messages of the white paper are that there are immense opportunities for participation of private sector - both domestic and foreign in the field of higher education," said PricewaterhouseCoopers executive director Dhiraj Mathur.
"The government should seek to harness the creativity, energy and capability of the private sector and create synergies," he added.
Also present at the event, among others, were US Consul General Paul Folmsbee, US Minister-Counsellor for Public Affairs from US Embassy at New Delhi Michael Pelletier, former vice chancellor of Mumbai University Vijay Khole, Chairman of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) Shankar Marathe, Maharashtra higher and technical education minister Rajesh Tope and Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav.(IANS)

Source Link: http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/education-news/higher-education/indous-higher-education-summit-inaugurated-in-mumbai-58376.html

IIM-K changes curriculum, hopes it's a 'trendsetter'

IIM-K changes curriculum, hopes it's a 'trendsetter'


It is taking tips from Stanford, Harvard and MIT for the revamp.
The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM-K) is in the process of revamping its curriculum for its two-year flagship post graduate programme (PGP). The process, which will take six months to complete, began a month-and-a-half back.


IIM-K has set up a four-member committee comprising the Deans of a Singapore and Canadian business school besides a faculty member from IIM-K and the director himself to update the new curriculum. The curriculum will include suggestions from global faculty members of the likes of Standford, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The 13-year old institute last updated its curriculum two years ago and plans to incorporate far more realistic topics to tackle future business agenda this time.
“Today’s classrooms are more like a movie theatre where the performer has to create a connection with the audience, unlike earlier when it was like an operation theatre where the doctor would just deliver. In a 90-minute session, we have to capture the students’ imagination instead of just delivering. The current curriculum does not reflect the changing times and needs to be revamped to suit a competitive world,” says Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIM Kozhikode.
The institute intends to design a curriculum that would not only be futuristic but also instill values in students.
“IIM-K will have a trendsetter curriculum. We have included not just the new economic scenario but the new world. So far, businesses were being licensed only by the government, but future businesses will be licensed by the community, society and the environment. Keeping that in mind, the hallmark of the curriculum will be ‘perspective’ building. Students will be much more socially-sensitive and environmentally-committed. It will be more realistic, will create a better sense of responsibility and will deliver value for future businesses which would demand a lot more from the managers of tomorrow,” says Chatterjee.
IIM-K, which claims to have more number of female and underprivileged students than other business schools, will unfold the new curriculum in the 2011-12 academic year. Chatterjee concludes, “We have given a broad perspective to the curriculum. We are working on the details. We need to ask questions like ‘How to capture the imagination of the student of the future’ for the content.”


Source Link: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/iim-k-changes-curriculum-hopes-it%5Cs%5Ctrendsetter%5C/403217/

IIM students challenged by ‘Paa’ director

IIM students challenged by ‘Paa’ director


Renowned for his punch lines ‘Daag achchhe hai’ for a detergent powder and “walk when you talk’’ for a telecom company which rocked the Ad world, advertisement guru R Balakrishnan (popularly known as Balki) was in Lucknow recently to challenge the budding managers at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) there.
Also hailed for directing meaningful films like Cheeni Kam and Paa, Balki challenged the students of the premier management institute.
Addressing the students of IIM-L, he said, “Be my competitor or become my clients.”
The theme for the session where the famed director was addressing was ‘Ad & film making through the management lens’. Balki also shared his views on Indian consumers and how he caters to their needs by various directorial ventures.
He is also the chairperson and chief creative officer (CCO) of a renowned advertising company.
The session gave the students a flavour of how the Indian advertising industry works in general and how Lowe Lintas, with Mr. Balki at the helm, succeeded in producing eye-catching ads. “If an advertisement does not make you interested in the product, then it is just a piece of good filming not a good ad”, he quipped.
He also talked about the change in consumer trends and behaviour and how that leaves an impact on marketers.
Source Link: http://cat.learnhub.com/news/1348-iim-students-challenged-by-%27paa%27-director

IIFT inaugurates African business cell

IIFT inaugurates African business cell


After focusing on the Indian market, the Delhi-based Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is now spreading its wings. The institute recently inaugurated its Africa Business Cell to bring business leaders to India to promote partnerships and encourage entrepreneurship.
“The Africa cell is completely a students’ initiative as for far too long, the world has been overlooking the significance of Africa. To a large extent, the misconceptions surrounding Africa today are similar to the ones that surrounded India in the past,” says K T Chacko, director, IIFT.


The cell will focus on two activities — to bring African business leaders to Delhi for promoting partnerships and schemes involving India and second, to do live projects in Africa so that students get an opportunity to work there. The major business opportunities in Africa would be in agricultural commodities sourcing and trading, consumer goods, oil and natural gas, automobiles, education and healthcare.
IIFT has also been actively involved with the Ministries of External Affairs and Commerce to set up an African Institute of Foreign Trade in the continent. “Discussions are on and we have given the ministries our inputs on academic linkages and faculties for the African institute that will be set up on the same lines as IIFT. In fact, this will be India’s contribution to Africa,” says Chacko.
The potential is huge. Last year, India called for doubling the India-Africa bilateral trade to the level of $70 billion over a five-year period, continuing the growth trajectory that began in 2000-01, when trade was a mere $3 billion. It shot up to $36 billion in 2007-08. In April 2008, India had announced a duty-free tariff preferential scheme for 49 least developed countries (LDCs) which has benefited 33 African countries.
African leaders have often called for boosting investments in agriculture, mining, power, agro-processing, irrigation, pharmaceuticals, IT, health, retail chain and small- and medium-scale sector for generating employment.


Source Link: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/iift-inaugurates-african-business-cell/403220/

Book says many US universities are waste of money

Book says many US universities are waste of money

NEW YORK: Spending as much as $250,000 on a bachelors degree from world-renowned US universities such as Harvard University and Yale is a waste of money, a new book asserts.

"Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money And Failing Our Kids - And What We Can Do About It," urges parents and students to consider colleges that spend on teaching instead of sports and which encourage faculty to interact with students instead of doing research, taking sabbaticals and sitting on campus committees.

"Undergraduates are being neglected," author Andrew Hacker, who co-wrote the book with Claudia Dreifus, told Reuters in an interview.

"Higher education has become the preserve of professors ... (who) really have lost contact with the main purpose of higher education, which is the education of students."

Hacker and Dreifus are critical of many US universities, noting the cost of a 4-year degree has doubled in real dollars compared to a generation ago. But education, they say, has not become twice as good as many colleges lost their focus.

Many Ivy League professors don't teach undergraduates at all and at many colleges teaching is largely farmed out to low-cost adjunct teachers, Hacker said.

And, he said, many undergraduate degrees are vocational -- from resort management to fashion merchandising -- and vast sums of money have been spent on deluxe dining and dorm facilities and state-of-the-art sports centers. As the number of administrative staff has risen, he said, $1 million annual salaries for college presidents have become common place.

"Bachelor's level vocational education is, I don't want to say a fraud, but close to it," Hacker said.

Source Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/education/Book-says-many-US-universities-are-waste-of-money/articleshow/6239527.cms

At Brazil's Universities, Affirmative Action Faces Crucial Tests

At Brazil's Universities, Affirmative Action Faces Crucial Tests


Even as a court considers abolishing racial quotas, legislators aim to expand their use
When Rio de Janeiro became the first Brazilian state to adopt quotas for Afro-Brazilian students in institutions of higher education, in 2002, black activists hoped that the country was finally coming to terms with the bitter legacy of slavery. But just eight years later, affirmative-action policies—which have since been adopted by scores of other Brazilian universities on behalf of the country's most disadvantaged groups—could be ruled unconstitutional by the country's Federal Supreme Court.
The court, which is to reconvene on August 2, will hear two separate challenges to quotas: one for Afro-Brazilians at the University of Brasilia and the other involving graduates of public high schools at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
The two universities are among the roughly 150 of the country's 2,000 institutions of higher education that have adopted some form of affirmative action since 2002, according to education experts. (The government does not keep figures on how many universities have adopted the policies.) The government's University for All Program, or ProUni, a scholarship program at private universities, has similar quotas for Afro-Brazilians and students from low-income families, among other disadvantaged groups.
The Rev. David Santos,who directs Educafro's efforts to support education for disadvantaged people in Brazil, talks with participants at the start of their preparation for university-entrance exams.
The Rev. David Santos,who directs Educafro's efforts to support education for disadvantaged people in Brazil, talks with participants at the start of their preparation for university-entrance exams.
In return, the universities receive federal tax breaks.
But even as the country's highest court debates the constitutionality of quotas, bills that would further extend their use are being debated in Brazil's National Congress. Affirmative-action policies could become even more widespread with a proposed university-reform bill, several versions of which are pending in the Federal Senate.
The legislation would create the first across-the-board policies for affirmative action at the country's more than 50 federal universities, while setting a precedent for all publicly financed universities. (Only the Congress can determine rules for federal universities.)
An earlier bill, which would establish 50-percent quotas at the federal institutions, to be divided among low-income students, Afro-Brazilians, and other minorities, passed the lower house of Congress in 2008. (The legislators voted anonymously, according to news reports, reflecting the controversial nature of the issue.)
Legislators passed the country's first Racial Equality Statute in July. The new law defines what constitutes racial discrimination and inequality, offers tax breaks to companies that hire more black employees, and makes teaching African and Brazilian black history mandatory in all elementary and middle schools. However, to the frustration of Afro-Brazilian activists, legislators stripped any reference to quotas in higher education or the workplace.
The senators are not expected to vote on the latest affirmative-action bills before the high court makes its ruling.
"If the Supreme Court rules the Rio laws unconstitutional, then our law could also be declared unconstitutional," says José Penaforte, legislative assistant to Sen. Serys Slhessarenko, author of one of the proposals up for debate. "But if the affirmative-action laws implemented in Rio's state universities are ruled legal, then that gives our law backing in the Senate. It might also help some senators get on our side."
A Racial Democracy?
The issue is a controversial one in a nation that likes to think of itself as a racial democracy. Brazil was the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery, in 1888. But unlike the United States and South Africa, Brazil never formalized racial segregation. The country also has a long history of miscegenation.
Ms. Slhessarenko favors racial quotas, while other members of the Senate's Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission, which rules on the admissibility of bills before they can be debated, prefer quotas based on income and social criteria. Her bill proposes that 50 percent of places at federal universities must be reserved for students from public high schools. Half of them must come from families earning less than 1.5 times the minimum wage, while the percentages of students in other half must reflect its state's racial makeup. The current national minimum monthly wage is 510 reais, around $285.
The Senate bills may not come up for votes until after the new Congress convenes, in February. General elections are scheduled for October, when Brazilians will choose a new president, congress members, and state governors, so this year's legislative calendar has been cropped.
None of the three main presidential candidates have mentioned affirmative action in their campaigns, possibly because of the sensitivity of racial debate, analysts say. "They are afraid to be against it because there is a lot of pressure from the black lobby, and no one wants to be accused of being antiblack," says Simon Schwartzman, a researcher at the Institute for Labor and Social Studies, in Rio de Janeiro, who is an expert on higher education. "So they don't talk about it. But when they are pressured, they are for it."
Still, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been a proponent of affirmative action, including the creation of a Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality Policies.
The government's census statistics show that 49.7 percent of Brazilians consider themselves white. Of the rest, 6.9 percent say they are black; 42.6 percent say they are pardo, a Portuguese term for people of mixed African and European descent; and 0.8 percent are categorized as "other," which includes those who claim indigenous or Asian descent.
However, only 2 to 3 percent of students at public universities are black, and a minority are of mixed race, according to Ms. Slhessarenko and the Rev. David Santos, a Roman Catholic friar and executive director of Educafro, a nonprofit that helps prepare minorities for university entrance exams.
From Discrimination to Diversity
Proponents of racial quotas, like Brother Santos, say they are necessary because Afro-Brazilians lag behind in almost every health, social, and education indicator. Getting them into universities, he argues, is the quickest way to begin addressing those distortions.
It is "scandalous" that so few students at public universities are black, Brother Santos says. "Quotas are a symbol of repairing the damage to the black community. We suffered under 388 years of slavery and have been offered no indemnity."
Opponents, meanwhile, argue that quotas constitute a form of reverse racism, and that they fuel racial tensions where none existed before.
Indeed, after the University of Brasilia adopted 20-percent quotas for Afro-Brazilian applicants, in 2004, students set fire to a dormitory building that housed visiting African students.
"There's the assumption that any Afro-Brazilian student there is there on quota," says Pat Somers, an associate professor of higher-education administration at the University of Texas at Austin, who recently visited the university in Brasilia. "Sometimes the other students in the classes will make remarks to them, like, 'You are just taking up a seat.' There is still a lot of controversy."
Ms. Somers, who favors racial and socioeconomic quotas, was invited to testify before the Brazil's Federal Senate in June on the American experience with affirmative-action policies. In the United States, she notes, affirmative action has been phased in over decades, while in Brazil, universities adopted quotas of up to 50 percent virtually overnight.
She adds that American universities have recently shifted their focus from finding ways to compensate for racial discrimination to establishing diversity on their campuses. "In the U.S., to some extent it's based on the sense that African-Americans are doing better," she says. "The more important issue in higher education is that knowledge has changed, and the world that we're preparing students for is a much smaller world, so having this diversity in our universities better prepares our students for what they do after graduation."
As in the United States, though, the debate in Brazil has triggered legal challenges by students who feel they have been wrongly denied admission because of the quota system.
"I am against quotas and especially racial ones," says Flavio Bolsonaro, a state legislator in Rio de Janeiro who has unsuccessfully challenged the state's affirmative-action laws. "These policies are demagogic and misleading, and they don't promote social mobility."
Mr. Bolsonaro and other critics argue that the government should instead concentrate on improving the public-school system. "What we need to do is discuss how to make basic education better," he says. "No government wants to invest seriously in paying teachers decent salaries or building spacious, hygienic areas where children can get proper lessons, because the results won't be apparent for 15 or 20 years. So demagogues prefer to promote quotas instead of attacking the root of the problem."
Ms. Somers, though, argues that racial quotas at Brazilian universities, combined with quotas for minority faculty members and tutoring for minority students, are even more necessary than in the United States, given the short history of affirmative action in Brazil.
"Certainly in Brazil they've made incredible strides," she says. "But I think that they need to have race-based affirmative action for another 10 to 20 years. It depends on the results. What we're all looking for is not just admitting these students, but having them graduate. That's the ultimate test of how the universities are doing."
Marion Lloyd, a Mexico City-based correspondent of The Chronicle, reported from the United States.

Source Link: http://chronicle.com/article/At-Brazils-Universities/123720/