With regard to Scheduled Tribes, 171 such schools under the Scheme of grant-in-aid to voluntary organizations working for Scheduled Tribes, and 135 educational complexes under the Scheme of strengthening education among ST girls in low literacy districts, are running through Non Governmental Organizaitons/State Society, during 2009-10.

The objective behind the award is to commemorate the spirit and drive of Dr. Nina Saxena, who personified technical excellence. The fourth edition will continue the tradition of rewarding pioneering innovations for betterment of society.

Professor Madhusudan Chakraborty, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur said, “I am happy to be associated with this award instituted in commemoration of Nina, a brilliant scientist remembered for her stellar intellectual achievements and technological excellence. The award celebrates the spirit of innovation and encourages the brightest minds in India to work towards a technology advanced India.”

Added Professor Amit Patra, Dean of Alumni Affairs and International Relations, IIT Kharagpur, “We believe that this first of its kind award in Technology Excellence in India continues to recognize the ground breaking talent in technology innovations across India year after year.”

The Award will be given out to the most deserving technologist who has done breakthrough technical work. The nominations will be adjudged on the basis of the following dimensions and in the following order of importance:

– Innovation above and beyond well known results
– Novel application of a well known result
– Societal improvement
– Benefit to India
– Application of Technology to underdeveloped areas and causes

A distinguished committee is being formed by IIT Kharagpur to adjudge the nominations for this award. The award committee is chaired by Director of IIT Kharagpur and is comprised of Deans and selected faculty members of IIT Kharagpur and well known alumnus, based in India and in the US.

In a bid to encourage and promote technical innovation, IIT Kharagpur in mid 2006 announced the Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award. The award commemorates the spirit and memory of its illustrious alumna Dr.Nina Saxena, B.Tech (Hons), ECE 1992, who passed away tragically in 2005. Open to all technologists who are Indian citizens, the award was announced at the IIT Foundation Day on August 18, 2006. The 1st Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award was given to a team from Central Institute of medicinal and Aromatic Plants for pioneering work in Anti -malarial treatment. The 2nd award was given to a team from NEERI, Nagpur for pioneering work in an indigenous water purification system suitable for portable water supply. The third award was presented to Department of Mechanical engineering, IIT Mumbai and Department of Textile Technology, IIT New Delhi on their pioneering work for Tube -Tube heat exchanges and plasma reaction technology for functionalisation of textiles substrates.

The award is funded through an endowment of the Nina Saxena Memorial fund that has been collected through IIT Foundation (a nonprofit organization and a US 501© organization).The intent of the fund is to perpetuate excellence despite all odds. The charter of the funds is to provide facilities, mechanisms and opportunities to enable individuals to ride above expectations and better serve society.

The data reflect fast-rising interest in MBA and other graduate management education programs around the world over the past several years. Global GMAT testing volume reached an all-time high of 265,613 during testing year 2009, a five-year increase of 32 percent. The number of tests taken by Europeans rose 30 percent between 2005 and 2009, to 23,224. Thousands of business schools around the world use the GMAT as a key part of the admissions process.

The GMAT testing population is also becoming more international. Tests taken by non-U.S. citizens accounted for more than half of all GMAT exams taken worldwide during testing year 2009, the first time this has occurred since the GMAT’s creation more than 50 years ago. GMAT testing years run from July 1 through the following June 30.

“Earning a business school degree provides a critical edge in today’s complex and challenging economy, and more and more Europeans are recognizing that high-quality management education is available in their own back yard,” said Julia Tyler, executive vice president of member services and school marketing for GMAC, the international nonprofit association of leading business schools that owns the GMAT.

Trends in where GMAT test takers send their scores are also shifting. Almost 10 percent of the 801,504 GMAT score reports sent globally in testing year 2009 went to programs located in 10 European countries, led by the United Kingdom and France. That group of countries garnered 6.9 percent of the 567,004 GMAT score reports sent worldwide five years ago.

A key factor in the rising popularity of Europe’s business schools has been increasing interest in those schools by Europeans themselves, GMAC researchers found. European citizens are sending a significantly smaller share of their GMAT score reports to the United States while simultaneously sending more score reports to programs in Europe. British, French, Dutch and Spanish business schools have benefited the most from this trend.

The most popular European programs among European citizens who took the GMAT in testing year 2009 were the MBA programs at INSEAD, London Business School and IESE Business School; the full complement of programs at the London School of Economics and Political Science; and the master’s in international business program at Maastricht University.

“Within an international context of increasing homogeneity in higher education, the Australian Government’s attempts to recognise and nurture diversity are making international policy makers take note,” he said.

Professor Van Vught believes economically successful countries must have a diverse higher education system, citing benefits such as greater social mobility, the ability to better meet diverse labour market demands and increased institutional effectiveness.

“Australia, like all other Western industrialised nations, simply can’t afford to have a large number of research-intensive, internationally competitive institutions. Instead, it will flourish with a range of institutions focusing on various areas of strength, such as regional engagement and learning and teaching.

“I am encouraged to see new policy initiatives being discussed here in Australia that have the potential to support this kind of diversity. If mission-based compacts, for example, become related to performance in a wide-range of areas (not just research), with corresponding financial incentives for each type of institution, they could become a very powerful vehicle to encourage true diversity,” he said.

Professor Van Vught warns of two major challenges Australia faces in developing a truly diverse higher education system.

“Governments shy away from creating different funding conditions for different categories of institution because they are wary of making a negative impact on institutional autonomy. However, acknowledging the various areas of specialty within the system and funding these accordingly would be a huge step towards supporting a truly diverse, healthy higher education system,” he says.

The second challenge was that senior managers in Universities must be able to honestly appraise their institution’s strengths and weaknesses, and be realistic about its abilities.

Frans Van Vught finished an 8 year term as President and Rector Magnificus of the Twente University of Technology in the Netherlands in 2005. He was the founding director of the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) and is currently one of the European Commission’s top advisors on innovation, higher education and research.

Software developed by IBM Research and the universities will be made available as open source, and other materials developed will be made publicly available, in order to allow governments and businesses around the world to take advantage of the technology. As the world’s infrastructure becomes increasingly digital and governments around the world provide information and services via Web sites, it’s critical that the Internet be accessible to all people, including those who are illiterate, blind, deaf, or elderly. The aim of the collaborative research is to help make this possible.

The new research partnership is part of the IBM’s Open Collaborative Research (OCR) program, an initiative to foster innovation through university-industry research collaboration. NID is the second institution in India to participate in the Open Collaborative Research program, while RCAST is the first university affiliated research institute in Japan.

“This collaborative research program will result in critical insights to the accessibility requirements of the elderly and people with little or no education in developing nations,” said Dr. Manish Gupta, Director, IBM Research – India and Chief Technologist, IBM India/SA. “With mobile phones becoming ubiquitous, these technologies will make key information sources accessible and relevant to a vast population.”

Mobile phones have had phenomenal penetration globally. Low cost of ownership and a simple user interface contribute to the success of mobile phones with the less literate. However, apart from basic voice communication, illiterate populations are not able to exploit the benefits of information and services available to Internet users. IBM Research – India and NID will identify the communication needs and preferences of the non- and semi-literate population; to not only help them connect but to engage with information through mobile devices.

“By bringing IBM’s deep knowledge in mobile web and NID’s interface design and ethnological expertise, this initiative is aimed to develop inclusive technologies and help the underprivileged improve their lives,” said Dr. Jignesh Khakhar of NID.

IBM researchers in Tokyo and the human information engineering research team of RCAST will place their research focus on Japan’s elderly population where the aging rate is growing at rapid pace, making Japan the world’s most elderly population. With IBM’s accessibility technology expertise and RCAST’s expertise, they will work directly with the elderly to investigate and determine real-life requirements of elderly people when using mobile devices.

In 2009, IBM was recognized with India’s National Award in the category of “Technological Innovation” for best applied research aimed at improving the life of persons with disabilities – India’s highest such award. It recognized the work of IBM Researchers in creating technology for what IBM calls the “Spoken Web.” This voice-enabled technology, developed by IBM Research – India, complements the Internet, and enables people with little or no literacy, or those with visual impairment, to access and share information, perform business transactions, and create social networks using mobile or landline phones. IBM was also recognized with the 2009 Helen Keller Award from India’s National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People. The honor lauded IBM for demonstrating policies and practices that provide equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities. IBM has earned these significant awards for three years in a row.

IBM has a distinguished history in developing accessibility technology. The company developed a Braille printer in 1975 and a talking typewriter for the blind in 1980. More recently, IBM created the Home Page Reader, a browser that narrates Web content. In 2008, IBM earned the Helen Keller Achievement Award in Accessibility from the American Foundation for the Blind.

Commander Perumal, Head of Naval Architecture Department, AMET University, said “The collaborations between AMET University and world leaders in the shipbuilding industry such as AVEVA will ensure that our graduates can look forward to jump-starting their career in shipbuilding, not only in India, but anywhere in the world as AVEVA Marine is widely used in global shipbuilding enterprises.”

Peter Finch, President, AVEVA Asia Pacific, said “India’s prominence as a source of skilled labour in the marine industry is seen in the rise of outsourced marine engineering projects by the world’s leading shipyards. The AVEVA Academic Initiative equips graduates with hands-on skills in using the leading shipbuilding range of solutions preferred by top global shipyards.”

Skills shortages continue to be a challenge in most engineering companies and it will take some time for the recent increases in the number of engineering students at universities and technical colleges to overcome the generation gap that currently exists in the market.

In recognition of this, and in addition to its own in-house graduate recruitment schemes, AVEVA will continue to work with educational establishments and government bodies around the world to support initiatives aimed at narrowing the skills gap. In particular, AVEVA will continue to:

a. Work with universities and technical institutes to promote the use of AVEVA products within undergraduate courses and postgraduate research projects;

b. Work with government agencies to re-skill engineers from other disciplines; and

c. Work with engineering bodies to encourage school leavers to pursue careers in engineering.

AVEVA sees this as a vital investment that will bring long-term benefits to the engineering world.

“We generally look to occupy about 25,000 square feet (sq ft) of carpet area for our new campuses, This is a typical model designed by us where in we optimize the utilization of space by use of latest IT and communications tools,” says Ritesh Hada, MD, Unitedworld School of Business, (an initiative by Uniworld Edutech Ltd).

The approximate strength of students in these three new campuses will be approximately 150. These new schools will offer MBA courses designed in a way to emphasize the development of students’ skills and capability to apply management theories and concepts to actual problems in business and industry. Students will be expected to achieve high standards of excellence.

Unitedworld School of Business will also be launching a course on “Strategic Leadership” to contribute towards building future leaders in the corporate community. The program helps the participants to identify the essential underlying qualities in a leader and then identify their own inner potential.

Meanwhile, the new Singapore campus will act as a facility where students from all campuses can visit and get exposure to the South East Asian economies.

Each of our B-schools will be managed by senior and globally networked academicians. Our team of academic resources comes from institutions of world repute like IIMs, Harvard, London School of Economics, IIT, Delhi School of Economics, XLRI, JNU, Indian Statistical Institute etc.

Fees structure in these new B-schools will be around 5 lakh but it may vary slightly between campuses. New features like carrier coaching services and free international business camp in Singapore will be incorporated in all our campuses.

The Unitedworld students will have two distinct advantages during placements. Firstly, the students will be exposed to real-life market situations with innovative efforts like ‘Live content’, branded projects’, etc.

Secondly, their exposure to open economic policies and the concerned training will help the students to engage themselves in their work environment as growth drivers.

Thirdly, the Unitedworld global team has created a three-tier placement approach for its graduates under the leadership of Mr Shim Young-Sup, Director-Placements & Corporate Affairs. Tier-I will help students with zonal placements, Tier-II will work on national placements while Tier-III will provide international career opportunities.

Unitedworld also maintains a dedicated corporate team in each centre to maintain close linkages with the corporate world. The Unitedworld global team and the board members on the industry advisory board actively contribute towards creating both national and global employment opportunities.

The group has been operational in India since 1988 and currently has a total strength of over 2000 employees working in 7 offices and 12 branch offices spread across the country. At present, the group runs the Karnavati school of Dentistry which is located about 6 kms away from Gandhinagar city. The Group also operates the Singapore International School at Dahisar, Mumbai. That’s not all. It also runs the Delhi Public School (DPS) in Bahadurgarh and a similar one in Karnal, Haryana.

Entrepreneurship education is one of several key factors, along with access to finance, government policies, infrastructure, and others, that influence attitudes about entrepreneurship and people’s willingness to start businesses, according to GEM. Interviews with experts in 31 countries around the world found that in almost every country entrepreneurship education and training was inadequate, especially in primary and secondary schools.

In surveys with more than 100,000 individuals, GEM found that 80% of entrepreneurship education and training is provided through formal channels such as primary and secondary level schooling, and through university degree programs. This is significant because most formal training is at the primary and secondary school levels.

“Training at a young age cultivates an entrepreneurial spirit early on, but college-level training is important too, because it validates entrepreneurship as a potential career path,” says report author and Babson Professor Donna Kelley. “Besides skill-building, training increases an individual’s awareness of entrepreneurship and their intent to start a business, and improves perceptions about their ability to do so,” says Kelley.

Sixty percent of individuals engaged in entrepreneurship training acquire it from informal sources, which GEM defines as non credit-bearing courses at a university, local business organization, or government agency, or self-study using books and Internet courses. “Access to informal programs is a good thing too, because entrepreneurs can obtain the specific skill sets they need to achieve their immediate goals,” says Alicia Coduras, from IE Business School in Spain and lead author of the report.

GEM also learned that entrepreneurship training is of most benefit to individuals in wealthier countries where the entrepreneurial environment is rich in conditions that allow new businesses to thrive. “For entrepreneurship training to be productive in low-income countries, it needs to be complemented by beneficial government policies, infrastructure, and other basic requirements,” says Kristie Seawright, GEM Executive Director.

Other GEM findings:

* Across 38 countries, where training in starting a business was measured, only 21% of the adult population had received training.

* Training appears to have the greatest effect on early-stage entrepreneurial activity in wealthier, innovation-driven countries with favorable institutional frameworks.

* The highest levels of training were found in Finland and Chile, countries with government initiatives aimed at stimulating and preparing individuals to start businesses.

* Men are more likely than women to seek training.

* Younger individuals are more likely to have received training in starting a business, reflecting a recent rise in entrepreneurship education in many countries’ formal educational systems.

Top models from the Indian fashion industry, Miss India-Universe 2009 Ekta Chowdhry, Amanpreet Wahi, Barkha Kaul, sashayed the ramp wearing stylish silhouettes designed by the students of Manav Rachna International University. The breath taking sequences were choreographed by Kaushik Ghosh, a name to reckon with numerous national and international fashion shows.

Ms. Leena Singh, leading fashion designer and guest of honor at the show, stated “The theme has been beautifully adapted from the craftiness of black magic practitioners. This collection represents the mystery and the power that is associated with magic. The creativity and the professionalism displayed by the students in their very first year of college will help them achieve great laurels in their career in the fashion industry. It is evident that the faculty and management have been very focused towards helping students hone their skills by providing them with such opportunities to showcase their creations to the industry.”

Other guests included leading fashion designers from the likes of Charu Parashar, Arpan vohra, Cosmetologist Bharti Taneja, Ace shooter Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore and many personalities from the fashion and lifestyle fraternity.

“We have immense faith in our students and faculty. Our approach at Manav Rachna has always been to build a firm foundation for our students and initiatives like these help students gain the required exposure and experience in the course field. These events give students hands on experience of working under the guidance of experienced models and top designers from the industry. We aim at boosting their confidence and passion to work hard in this competitive industry”, said Brig (R) S.N. Setia, Dean, FIS, MRIU.

This unique three year programme is in collaboration with the ” University of Central Lancashire, UK”, and is designed to harness the hidden potential of the student in order to make them successful professionals in the field of fashion design. The course emphasizes on the implementation of knowledge acquired in classrooms to develop a better understanding of the domain. Programme Delivery is measured by way of developing students into professionals in the early stage of the course by organizing regular interactions and brain storming sessions with design industry legends. Students are equipped with the entire design tool kit, study material and Laptops at the time of admission to facilitate a smooth process of learning. The curriculum which is a blend of international curriculum and teaching pedagogy in Indian environment helps students to understand the industry from a global and far sighted perspective.

Neelam Shrivastava, Programme Director, FIS, MRIU said “Our students are attentive to what is fashionable or will be fashionable tomorrow. They are receptive to the stimuli communicated by top world fashion designers and are sensitive to the phenomena that attracts the younger generations. This collection showcases a range inspired from ambiguity and the mysteries associated with black magic.”

Various aspects of management like strategy formulation, brand building, marketing skills, financial planning etc were upheld by students through the competition events. In the B-Plan Contest, innovative business ideas were put forward by students and management concepts were illustrated in Role Play contest. Contests for Logo Designing, Ad- Designing and Tag Line Making saw students exhibiting their creative skills in brand management, whereas events on Creative Marketing, Simulation and Strategy Formulation highlighted the core attributes of management sciences. There were contests in shape of Case Analysis, Debate and Information Analysis; wherein the contesting groups deliberated their views on a given business problem. The essay competition showed the grasp of competing students on burning issues of management world. In face painting competition, students highlighted issues of global relevance through painted looks. Many other events were organized, emphasizing the various facets of management practices.

Apart from the contests, there were a number of stalls featuring customer services, fun games, eatables etc. The cultural program in the evening was a major attraction for both the days, as artists enthralled the audience with a splendid display of Indian and Western art forms. Ali Hader, a participant from a Meerut based college told that he got a great exposure through the fest and interactions with the students and teachers of other institutions added immensely to the radiance of his personality. He stated that such practical oriented programs should be organized with a higher frequency with mutual arrangements and common understanding among various B-Schools of the country and , later on with International Universities also.

At the award presentation ceremony, Shri Ashok Mittal, Chancellor-LPU stressed the need of smart and able managers to take the country to higher levels of growth and prosperity. He said, The world over, the business managers are determining the course of development helping in eradicating poverty, unemployment and corruption. They have a major role to play, as time progresses. The managers of today, are bound to be the leaders of tomorrow. In the backdrop of this reality, the management students of today need to gear up for their extended roles of tomorrow. Among others present at the fest were Dr. Vijay Gupta (VC -LPU), Mrs. Rashmi Mittal (Executive Dean-LPU), Er. HR Singla (Director General-LPU) and Dr. Sanjay Modi (Senior Dean, LSB). The epilogue of the Fest witnessed a great evening of rhyme and rhythm through applauding performances of cultural activities by the students of LPU to make it a real Le Mélange.