India and Iran collaboration in skill development
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) recently signed an MoU with the Technical and Vocational Training Organization (TVTO), Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare, Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for collaborations in skill development between India and Iran.
Under this MoU, the two countries will be able to initiate work in the skills space and will be able to share existing working models and experiences, thus facilitate exchange and learning from best-practices in training, entrepreneurship and skills development. The MoU will felicitate and promote sharing the quality and experience in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) of both countries. Kourosh Parand, Deputy Minister & President TVTO accompanied by a eleven member strong Iranian delegation also discussed the future opportunities. He said “We are delighted to be here in India and partner with NSDC. Our partnership will be focused towards undertaking an innovative approach for addressing skills shortage in both the countries, and will have credible long term solutions for young people entering the workforce”. NSDC will support TVTO in establishing a competency based vocational education and training system besides sector skills councils in Construction, Agriculture, Handicrafts and Carpets, Textiles, Apparels, Capital Goods (for engineering trades), Automotive, IT-ITeS, Healthcare, Hydrocarbons, Security, Plumbing, Electronics, Mining, Telecom, Aviation and Aerospace, Food Processing, Hospitality etc. This would be based on NSDC experience in terms of establishing the requisite institutional architecture in which the three main stakeholders Industry, Government agencies and skill training providers, both private and public can come together in a common platform for skill development
Indian designer Wins Laureate Education’s Here for Good Award
A graduate from Pearl Academy, Kanika Sood, 26, was chosen from a global pool of nominees to win the Here for Good Award, which honors Laureate students, graduates and faculty who have created or are leading projects that drive social and economic progress in their countries.
Kanika has been featured in the book on these global achievers for her venture NIEV Foundation, a NGO which provides venues for rural Indian residents. Kanika is the founder of NIEV foundation, a Himachal, India NIEV Foundation, which provides venues for rural Indian residents-particularly women- to sell handicrafts at fair prices. NIEV also promotes organic farming and ecotourism, and so far has reached nearly 200 Himalayan villages.
Born and brought up in the lap of Himalayas, Kanika was taught that the proper role for young women was to get married early and find a nice job. Breaking the rules, this dynamic and socially responsible next generation Indian chose to take a different route. She opened a bank account, with hardly any money, to set up NIEV Needful Initiatives for Environment.
This conscious entrepreneur is focused and aspires to make profit by doing something better for the society. Kanika has earned acknowledgement at the prestigious Laureate’s global platform because of her work for the betterment of the society.
Since 2012, Laureate’s Here For Good initiative has identified and supported Laureate students and graduates who have created projects that drive social and economic progress in their countries. This year, the initiative was expanded to include Laureate faculty. “Kanika’s project is very inspiring as it helps empower the women involved by helping create new income sources that can uplift their families. She is a great role model at Pearl Academy where students are inspired to experience the world in different ways, make their own discoveries, think for themselves and discover their true potential. ” said Sharad Mehra, CEO, Pearl Academy.
‘Digital Marketing for Entrepreneurs: Tactical or Strategic’
Indian School of Entrepreneurship (iSE) on July 12 organized a panel discussion on ‘Digital Marketing for Entrepreneurs: Tactical or Strategic’ as part of the ‘Art of Start’ series specially designed by iSE to support entrepreneurs in their endeavor to start a venture and manage successfully. India being third largest internet using country, and 86% Indian web users visiting social networking site, has a huge impact on how businesses strategize for Indian market. Panel included successful entrepreneurs like- Mayank Agarwal, co-founder of successful startups ‘Upwardly Mobile Pvt. Ltd.’ and ‘RxVault.in’; Prasanna Singh, COO & Publisher, Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Limited and themobileindian.com, a portal providing news, reviews and comparison of handsets, applications and games; and Ankit Bhatia, an entrepreneur and Founder at FrogIdeas who is a global brand strategy and digital marketing expert. Dr Harshwardhan Mishra, founder Indian School of Entrepreneurship was also present on this occasion.
Dr Harshwardhan Mishra, founder Indian School of Entrepreneurship said, “We have entered an age of simultaneity. In some way this simultaneity is visible in the instant gratification culture of instant cause and instant results that we all are all too familiar with. In the digital age, the simultaneity of ‘product designing, prototyping, testing, feedbacking’ has set in. The cycle has shortened and speeded. As changes become faster and more significant, we need to get deeper into the minds and hearts of our markets, of the people. Hence marketing in the digital age is more wholesome, more hands on, more challenging and at the same time more rewarding.” iSE plans to organize this series in every corner of NCR to connect with maximum possible entrepreneurs and help build their ventures successfully.
Indian Beauty Therapy contestant selection for WorldSkills 2015
VLCC, in association Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), NSDC and the Beauty and Wellness Sector Skill Council, will be choosing the Indian contestant for the ‘Beauty Therapy’ discipline for the 43rd WorldSkills competition to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in August 2015. As part of the selection process, VLCC, in collaboration with its partner organizations, will be holding the WorldSkills Regional Selections in Mumbai and Delhi between July 07 and July 20. The winners of the Regional Selections across the different centers will be shortlisted for the National Selections which will be held later to decide who would finally be representing the country in the ‘Beauty Therapy’ category at WorldSkills 2015.
VLCC Group Founder & Vice-Chairperson Vandana Luthra said: “we feel the WorldSkills competition provides the best platform to the young men and women of this country to display what they are capable of and also benchmark themselves against their counterparts from the rest of the world. VLCC will also be involved in the training and mentoring of the Indian representative for the skill of Beauty Therapy at the WorldSkills 2015 competition to ensure that the contestant can do the country proud at the event,”
Automation Industry Association (AIA) launches ‘campus connect program’
to nurture competency building for manufacturing competitiveness with engineering colleges
The Automation Industry Association (AIA), India’s apex body of automation technology companies, has launched a national initiative for the education in industrial automation. AIA ‘Campus Connect Program’ offers two levels of engagement at undergraduate and during post graduate engineering studies. The program envisages establishment of “Competency Development Centers (CDC)” for training in the state of art automation technologies for proliferation and promotion of contemporary education in automation. K. Nandakumar, President, AIA said “Over the next two decades, the continuing demographic dividend could add about two percentage points per annum to India’s per capita GDP growth. This depends on the ability of the economy to absorb & productively employ human capital through adoption of appropriate technology and required skill. This is yet another initiative from our end to bridge the gap between the industry and the academia. We thank NSDC for encouraging us in this endeavour.”
The launch ceremony was held at AKG Engineering College, Ghaziabad where a Competency Development Centre was inaugurated by Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO, NSDC & Surendra Prasad, Chairman NBA & former Director IIT Delhi. Dilip Chenoy, NSDC says, “India’s dream of being a world-class industrial competitor is feasible with appropriate automation technologies”
AIA is helping the Partner Institutions to establish state-of-the-art integrated labs that allow the trainees to gain practical experience of working on the key sub-systems that they would actually encounter in the industry. It includes emerging Sensing technologies, Motion control, HMI, SCADA and Actuators. Existing labs can also be hooked up with the new equipment. So far College of Engineering, Pune (COEP); Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology (VESIT), Mumbai; Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College (AKGEC), Ghaziabad and The National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Mysore are the colleges that AIA has tied up with.
NHPC CSR initiatives in J & K
As part of its commitment for the overall development of Jammu & Kashmir, NHPC has adopted seven ITIs for up-gradation in the state at Reasi, Ramban, Kargil, Leh, Kishtwar, Bandipora and Uri. In addition, NHPC would be setting up a Hydro Training Institute at Kangan near Ganderbal, for which an MOU has been signed between NHPC and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC). Under its CSR initiatives, NHPC has already spent Rs. 984 lakh in the State till March, 2014 and a further amount of Rs. 1268 Lakh is proposed to be spent during the current financial year.
2014 Simpson Scholarship winners
Five winners including one from India (Abin Yesudas) have won this year’s Simpson Scholarship which gives a helping hand with expenses to gain the ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Qualification. The winners will have their exam fees, annual student or affiliate fees, and membership admission fees paid for them by the scholarship fund for up to five years, or until ACCA membership is achieved, whichever happens sooner. BPP Learning Media, ACCA’s Platinum Approved Learning Partner (Content), is also providing them with study materials for every ACCA paper they are studying. For the chance to be awarded the scholarship, applicants had to have excelled in the exams they had already sat, and submit a 1000-word essay on how the scholarship would help them achieve their full potential.
Alan Hatfield, director-learning at ACCA, said: Candidates for the scholarship are decided on based on their understanding of ACCA’s core values of opportunity, diversity and integrity. They also have to show they would put this into practice as an ACCA student. Innovation in accounting and advancing the profession were also key to the success of the applicants.”
LORE INDIA FOUNDATION’S National Scholarship Program worth Rs 55 million for School Students
Lore India Foundation Scholarship Trust on July 14 announced the launch of a pioneering scholarship program that will identify, assess, reward and mentor the brightest young minds in India. The program is open to school students from classes X, XI and XII from across India and is the nation’s largest scholarship program and national benchmarking initiative. More than 100 of the most brilliant students will be identified through a scientifically evolved Learning Aptitude Test (LAT), designed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with the help of acclaimed education scientists. Qualifying students will receive cash scholarships from a generous corpus of Rs. 55 million and also benefit from valuable mentoring and coaching provided by renowned academicians. Once selected, the Scholars will undergo a comprehensive interest schedule/psychometric analysis to gain insights that will allow experts to provide them effective guidance in their educational careers.
Administered in English and Hindi, the LAT will assess the candidate’s aptitude and not the extent of knowledge in subjects. The emphasis will be on analytical and logical reasoning, reading comprehension and puzzles. The key differentiator between this and other scholarships is that, here, the quality of education a student has received so far does not become an overriding factor in identifying the brightest candidate. LAT, in fact, is designed to provide a level playing field for students to compete irrespective of their socio-economic status, geography or educational background. The focus in on the child’s merit and merit alone.
In order to avail of this opportunity, students will have to apply online on. Registrations open on July 14, 2014.
First UC Berkeley Executive Management Program
Northwest Executive Education has announced the launch of The Berkeley Executive Program in Management (EPM), in collaboration with UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education at the Haas School of Business. The Berkeley EPM is a distinguished general management program that prepares Senior Professionals for the next level of leadership within their organizations and the broader industry. Berkeley EPM is a 1-year program and begins in November 2014 in India, continuing then with in class modules at UC Berkeley in California and will actively leverage the online infrastructure and learning capabilities being developed today.
Mohit Jain, Co-founder, Northwest Executive Education, speaking about the program said, “ Our experience of working closely with top ranked business schools across the globe and several participants in India have reinforced facts that executives have to upgrade skills, to be on par with global counterparts. We assist in bringing international programsat an accessible price.”
New feature added to the GMAT® exam
Test takers will now be able to see their unofficial scores (Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Total) before deciding to accept or cancel their scores. The score reporting feature is available to all test takers and will take effect at approximately 600 test centers around the world that administer the GMAT exam beginning on Friday, June 27, 2014. “The new score reporting feature gives test takers more certainty and control in the testing process and in how their scores are reported to schools. GMAC is committed to helping schools and students connect, and we believe this change, by making the testing experience easier, will be a part of strengthening those connections,” said Ashok Sarathy, GMAC vice president, product management. Analytical Writing Assessment scores are unaffected by the change. They are not included on unofficial score reports available immediately but are reported on official score reports delivered within 20 days.
Dr Bibek Banerjee on Asia Pacific Advisory Council
In view of the growing importance of Indian MBA education on the global stage, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has invited Dr Bibek Banerjee, Director IMT Ghaziabad, to serve on its Asia-Pacific Advisory Council (APAC).
Ethanol production incentivized, Area under Horticultural Crops Goes up
The Central Government, with a view to increase production of ethanol is providing soft loans up to 40% of the project cost to the sugar mills from Sugar Development Fund (SDF) for setting up ethanol projects. Production of alcohol or ethanol is linked to the production of molasses which is a by-product during production of sugar. Under Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme, the Central Government has already decided 5% blending at all India level, which can go up to 10% in a State.
The area under fruit farming increased from 67.05 lakh ha. in the year 2011-12 to 71.36 lakh ha. in the year 2013-14. Similarly, the area under vegetables increased from 89.89 lakh ha. in the year 2011-12 to 96.09 lakh ha. in the year 2013-14. The increasing trend in horticultural crops indicates that these crops are becoming more popular. The area under oilseeds varies from 260 to 275 lakh ha.
Qatar airways partners USIEF
Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, has partnered with United States India Educational Foundation (USIEF) as the official airline partner for the Pre-departure Orientation for students who have applied to US universities for further education. The airline will be participating at the pre-departure orientation sessions which are organized in 7 key cities by USIEF. Over 2000 students are expected to attend the orientation and will get the opportunity to interact with USIEF staff and receive complete information about the education system and culture in the USA. Qatar Airways operates from 12 cities in India.
Global Scale of English (GSE) launched
Pearson Education on July 3 launched its Global Scale of English (GSE) the global standard for scoring English language proficiency. In development for 25 years and tested on over 10,000 students in 130 countries, the GSE will transform how English is assessed, taught and scored. Developed by Pearson English, a division of Pearson, it aims to provide one precise, numeric, universal scale for businesses, governments and academic institutions, as well as for the one billion plus people estimated to be learning English worldwide.
Indian App shortlisted for ImagineCup Apps Competition
Students Jehi Jha and Neha Valecha of Team CodeBlue from TechnoPlanet Labs of Dr OP Bhalla Innovation and Incubation Centre (MRIIC) have made it to the final round of the top the Imagine Cup Apps for Microsoft Office Challenge 2014 for their App ‘Molecule Maker’. The MRIU team was selected out of the 5 semi- finalists across the world and thereby making them the only team to qualify from India. The finalists will meet in Seattle for the Imagine Cup World Finals later this July where they will compete on stage for first and second prizes of $5,000 and $3,000 respectively and will get a chance to get their app published in the Apps for Office Store.The five teams–from China (iGeek), India (Code Blue), Indonesia (Neang Team), China (Ambiless) and Canada (Lake of Timber) have qualified for the semi final round.
Expressing his happiness on the selection of Team India (CodeBlue), Dr. B. S. Gill, Director, Dr OP Bhalla Innovation and Incubation Centre, said, “It took the promising young girls just three days to think up of ‘Molecule Maker’ initiative and go ahead with their written proposal. We at MREI are super excited and hope to see their projects in the Apps for Office Store. ” The Apps for Office Challenge had invited teams of up to four students worldwide to submit short written proposals for their ideas by January 23 2014, which were shortlisted by the Microsoft Office team for the best proposals.
The basic function of Molecule Maker app is to simplify or nullify human effort. With a single click of the mouse, the user would be able to have access to all the molecular diagram.This app would really simplify the work of researchers on PowerPoint. Also it would enhance the study of elements and their compounds.
NMIMS Announces NMAT 2015
SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), India’s leading University has announced NMIMS Management Aptitude Test (NMAT) 2015 registration open for admissions in its School of Business Management for academic session 2015-17. For Admissions NMIMS full-time Management Programs at Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad campus, applicants shall be able to take online NMAT 2015 test in a window period of almost one and a half month from 07th October to 20th December 2014.
The programs that NMAT 2015 covers for admission are 2-year full-time MBA, MBA(HR), & MBA (Pharmaceutical Management) at Mumbai campus and 2-year full-time PGDM at Bengaluru and PGDBM at Hyderabad campuses.
NMAT 2015 will be conducted at 18 centers located at Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Bhillai, Bhopal, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkata and Patna. The last date of registration for NMAT 2015 is 24th September, 2014.
Dell Champs 2014
“Dell Champs 2014” School Program, a 20 city student-outreach program woven around the theme, ‘Education, Empowerment & Entertainment’ for this year has been announced. The “Dell Champs 2014” program features an interactive technology based quiz contest that provides a unique platform for parents to participate with their child and be a partner in their success. The teams comprising of a parent and child studying in class 5th – 7th standard will vie for the title of “Dell Champs” 2014. This grand quiz contest will reveal the geniuses of tomorrow in 400 schools across 20 Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities throughout India and make the winning team a Dell Champ. The competition will be conducted in three levels with the first being the ‘School level’, where interested teams will have a written Preliminary round out of which 6 teams will be chosen and a Final On-stage Round from which 2 teams will be chosen to represent the school in the City Finals. The second round will involve the top 2 school teams to compete in the ‘City level’ contest, and the 20 City level finalists will complete in an online quiz in the ‘National level’. The top four teams will receive All-in-One from Dell while the rest of the sixteen finalists receive trophies from Dell and each of the schools they represent will receive gratifications from Dell.
