EDUCATION NEWS – JANUARY 2009

Tuesday, January 06th 2009
Rasna's new B School
The food and beverage major 'Rasna' has planned to open a foreign university here in India. Rasna group promoters have planned to join hands with the US-based state university, University of North Texas (UNT).UNT has around 33,500 students and is the largest university in Dallas-Fort Worth area. It was set up in 1890.The Khambattas who are the group promoters have planned an investment of Rs 50 crore for the project which will come up over 25 acres off SG Highway near Ahmedabad.

Friday, January 09th 2009
CAT results to be out today
The fate of almost 2.76 lakh students who appeared for the Common Admission Test on November 16 2008 will be known today. The CAT results will be available on the website: http://results.catiim.in the students can access their results by entering the test registration number and the date of birth or CAT application number. The CAT scores are accepted across the seven IIMs and also 118 non-IIMs. The short listed candidates will then have to appear for the next level of the selection process i.e. the group discussion and the personal interview. 

Sunday, January 11th 2009
Scholarships for studying abroad cut
Students with dreams of studying abroad are finding it more difficult to give shape to their dreams now, as reduced scholarships and shrinking job markets are forcing students to reconsider options abroad. Scholarships from foreign universities mostly come from varsity endowment. Most US universities have seen a slump in the endowment value due to the economic meltdown and the collapse of the stock market.

Thursday, January 15th 2009
Infy and Cambridge sign a 3 year MoU
Cambridge University and Indian IT major Infosys have signed an MoU for collaborative research initiatives. The research would focus on areas of engineering, management and business, architecture and pharma. The three year MoU was signed by Infosys board chairman Mr. Narayan Murthy and Cambridge University Vice Chancellor, Alison Richard. Cambridge University, which completes 800 years of existence in 2009, also has tie-ups with the Tata group on similar lines.

Saturday, January 17th 2009
UGC to consider 'four year B Sc' proposal
The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Delhi University (DU) have promised to consider a proposal to start a Bachelor's in Science (B Sc) course which would have a duration of four years based on the international model. Students passing out of such a course would be able to enroll for a dual Masters in Science (M Sc) and PhD programme.

Monday, January 19th 2009
More reserved category aspirants to the IITs this year
The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) which will be held in April has had 3.95 lakh applications this year, out of which around 40% of the candidates belong to the reserved categories. Starting this year the seven old IITs will have 18% of the seats reserved for OBC candidates whereas the eight new IITs will set aside 27% of the seats. According to media reports, the competition is tough for the OBC candidates belonging to the non-creamy layer as more than 90,000 students will compete for the 1,245 seats at the IITs.

Monday, January 19th 2009
IIM B declared winners at the zonal ET citi Grand Masters
The zonal round of the ET Citi Grand Masters, a national B School competition was won by the team from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM B). Gourav Chattopadhyay and Arvind Sharma PGP students from IIM B formed the winning team. The zonal winners will compete with the other four zones (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad) at the grand finale on January 22 in Mumbai. The quiz was conducted by Andrew Scolt from Derek O'Brein and Associates. The participants were quizzed on various business strategies and concepts. 

Friday, January 23rd 2009
AICTE approved MBA's to have a uniform calendar
The All India Council for Technical Education has laid down fresh guidelines for all colleges and universities that are admitting students for the Masters in Business Administration(MBA) programme to streamline management education. Starting with the academic year 2009-10 all institutions have been directed not to admit students to the MBA programmes beyond the 14th of August and also commence teaching by August 16th. According to the guidelines only institutions who have been running approved full-time management courses for three years are allowed to offer part-time MBA or PGDM programmes. Also, in order to offer executive MBA/executive PGDM programme, institutions need to fulfill all the norms for offering full-time MBA/PGDM programme.

Friday, January 23rd 2009
IGNOU to hike fees by 20%
In order to meet the revision of pay scale for teachers, the Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) has decided to hike its course fees by 20%. This is expected to affect at least 20 lakh students across the nation. The academic council of the varsity has proposed this move. The decision is still pending, subject to the clearance of the council's board of management.

Monday, January 26th 2009
MBA intake at the BU not in line with admission norms?
There seems to be some confusion regarding the student intake at Bangalore University's School of Management studies, which is located on the University campus. The Management school has reportedly admitted 94 students this year as opposed to 60 which is the sanctioned intake for its MBA course. Students are admitted by the Central PG Admission Committee (CPAC) on merit through the Post-Graduate Common Entrance Test conducted by Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU).According to a syndicate member the supernumerary quota does not exist for courses such as MBA, MCA and self financing courses. The Management School claims to have admitted 30 students under the supernumerary quota and the payment category for its MBA course which is a clear violation of the admission norms set by the CPAC.

Monday, January 26th 2009
Tech talent to find enterprise options
The Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) which is a part of the Manipal University has been selected by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India to be part of the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) programme. The programme aims to encourage entrepreneurs to start companies to which all resources would be provided at a nominal cost for a period of five years and once the venture becomes self sustainable, it exits the TBI programme. The major areas of TBI locally are healthcare IT, wireless sensor networks, nanotechnology, renewable energy and energy conservation systems. 

Friday, January 30th 2009
IIM C offers distance programme for CAs ,ICWAs and CSs
IIM C will offer a distance programme meant for Chartered accountants, Cost accountants and company secretaries which is of the duration of 18 months. The programme is called General Management Programme for Accounting Professionals (GMPAP). The programme will be offered in association with HughesNet Global an on line education portal. Candidates can apply for the course without a CAT score. The classes will be offered on Monday & Tuesday from 06.45-09.45 pm Candidates need to fill in an on line application form and send it to the address mentioned on the website. The duly filled application form needs to be enclosed with a DD of Rs 2,000/- .Other documents such as the CA/ICWA/CS certificates, proof of current employment and statement of purpose. The last date for submission of forms is the 15th of February 2009.For more information log on to www.iimcal.ac.in