ICFAI Students Boycott Classes

Shillong, Oct 26 : Students of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University (ICFAI), Meghalaya on Monday decided to boycott classes and examinations after coming to know that the institution is an autonomous body and “not a Central university as announced earlier”.

“During our admissions we were told that ICFAI is a Central university which is affiliated to ICFAI, Hyderabad but recently we came to know that ICFAI here is just an autonomous university,” a student of the university, Donphang Gallong said.

The university has been witnessing a row of issues for a couple of weeks.

Vice Chancellor of ICFAI Meghalaya Professor YK Bhushan on Monday held a meeting with the agitating students who sought an explanation from him on ICFAI’s status, “non-fulfilment” of assurances on quality and service made by the university, qualification and behaviour of faculties, finalization of new education system, infrastructures and time schedules.

Prof Bhushan admitted that ICFAI Meghalaya is an independent body and that ICFAI, Hyderabad is only promoting and supporting the university here.

“We will take all corrective steps and even identify qualified teachers from outside as demanded by the students,” he said.

Source: The Shillong Times

Only 11 Pass English NET Paper

Only 11 candidates passed the June 2010 National Eligibility Test for English, whose results were announced on October 9. Of these, there are only two recipients of the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF).

Anybody aspiring to teach in colleges and Universities are required to pass the NET, conducted by the University Grants Commission biannually.

The UGC has been trying to make the NET all-pervasive, making it mandatory even for ad-hoc teachers. Junior Research Fellowships are given to NET toppers.

The UGC is yet to release a centre and subject-wise break-up of the data. The Indian Express has used data compiled by NET aspirants, who were students of Delhi University.

Despite repeated attempts, officials at the UGC were not available for comment. Surender Singh, Deputy Secretary and head of the NET Bureau at the UGC, refused to con firm the numbers.

The total number of candidates who took the test is not available. However, comparisons with other subjects confirm the worst fears.

A total of 309 candidates have cleared the Economics NET, and 113 of them got JRFs.
In Political Science, 516 cleared with 248 JRFs. History has 33 JRFs and 64 non-JRF NET qualifications.

English comes behind even subjects like Defence and Strategic Studies, Music, and Museology and Conservation.

Delhi, a centre for which numbers are available, is a case in point. More than 1100 candidates took the English NET in Delhi, of whom only two cleared it. One of them has been awarded the JRF.

That it has a clutch of prestigious institutions reflect in the performance of Delhi as a NET examination centre: 606 of the total 3,242 JRFs have gone to candidates who took the test in Delhi. Jaipur comes a surprising second, far behind with 275 JRFs.

Delhi leads in non-JRF NET too, contributing 486 of a total of 3991 passed. Jaipur is again second, with 278 non-JRF NETs.

Even with such impressive figures, Delhi too fares badly when it comes to English.

"The number of candidates who clear the English NET has been low for some time now, but this is by far the lowest. I think it is time that the UGC accepts that something is wrong with the system — it never manages to get good teachers as evaluators," said Head of the Department of English at the Delhi University, Sumanyu Satpathy.

Delhi University, facing an acute shortage of NET-qualified individuals, had decided to advertise on a national level for subjects like English, Economics and Computer Science recently. With about 75,100 vacancies in English alone, the crisis is set to worsen.

Candidates who took the English NET in June said it was not a difficult paper. "It was my third attempt and I was confident I would qualify. There were no issues with the paper this time — they had simplified it considerably and there were no grammatical and spelling errors unlike previous years," said a candidate who gave the test in Delhi.

Source: Indian Express

Online CAT: Do's And Don'ts

By Sai Kumar

The most pressing question on the minds of students appearing for the examination is ‘How do I tackle the Online CAT?’

The most obvious aspect of the 'Online CAT' that concerns students is the emphasis on the word 'Online' rather than the the word CAT.

Well, the answer is to keep things simple and not to worry about the 'Online' format, instead concentrate on the 'content' of the paper.

CAT is more a test of elimination than a test of selection. The successful candidates often attribute their success to their approach -- a poised and calm mind, avoid errors and do not fall into the traps that the exam often surprises you with. This article will address the common errors that students make in the run-up to CAT.

Some of the common errors are as follows:

Error#1: Preparing only for select topics

One of the serious flaws in the approach over the years has been to narrow down the syllabus and prepare only for select topics based on questions that have appeared in the past few years of CAT. CAT has been an extremely unpredictable examination and is known to spring a surprise every year. There is a high probability that topics or areas that have not had much of a weightage in recent years might make a comeback. Therefore it is in the best interest of students to prepare for all topics.

Error#2: Speculating on the composition of the paper

CAT is known to ask questions from a wide assortment of test areas and therefore there is no point speculating as to what might happen this year. The IIMs have hinted that there will be 'around' 60 Qs across three sections: Verbal, Quantitative and Logic & Data Interpretation in CAT2010.

Error#3: Overdose of mocks

Most students believe that the best way to prepare is to take as many mocks as possible. Repeated mock tests only highlight the same weaknesses and if students are not analysing their mistakes and rectifying them, then there will not be any major improvement in their performance. Therefore, a thorough analysis of every mock test will yield far better results than taking a large number of such tests.

Error#4: Missing out on items to be carried to the examination centre

This year, students should carry their Admit Card, the CAT Voucher, a Valid Photo identity (any among Driver's License, Passport, PAN Card, Voter ID, College ID, Employee Identification Card or a notarised affidavit with photo, signature, date of birth and residential address) and a valid document as proof in case the student belongs to the SC/ST categories.

Error#5: Blind guessing

It is has been observed in 'experimental' conditions that blind guessing almost always leads to a negative/low score, therefore avoid blind-guessing and marking answers indiscriminately. However, if you are able to eliminate two/three choices (out of the four or five) on proper reasoning, then, it is not advisable to leave out the question even if you do not know how to solve it.

Error#6: Unequal distribution of time across sections

The IIMs calls only those students who manage to clear the cut-offs in each section of CAT and also the overall cut-off. To meet this objective it is imperative that you spend equal amounts of time across all three sections to give yourself enough opportunity to clear the cut-off in every section.

Error#7: Not having a buffer time

This year the exam will be for 135 minutes and a good time allocation strategy would be 40 minutes across three sections with 15 minutes of buffer time. The buffer is required to cushion against bad performance in any one section or to tackle a section that is exceptionally difficult, or one where the student is not confident of clearing the cut-offs.

Error#8: Targeting a specific number of Qs to clear cut-offs

Targeting a pre-set number of questions to clear the cut-offs is not a great strategy, as the cut-offs are a function of the difficulty level of the section and the paper. Hence, one can decide to attempt a certain number of questions during the exam but not before.

(The author, Sai Kumar, is director of TIME Mumbai, a coaching centre for MBA aspirants)

Source: Business Standard

‘Cooking’ Your Child's Future

Kids love to cook. "Chicken sabzi" with muck and flowers and "maggi noodles" with curly creepers along with soil for spices, they love rattling those toy vessels outdoors.

Then why not bring them to the real kitchen where anything you do, will teach them something priceless for life? Get to know why it is important for your child to spend time with you in the kitchen.

A class conducted at a youth recreation cente in Shenyang, China, taught kids how to make cake.

The highlight of a kid's diet today is fast food and soft drinks. Along with this being an unhealthy trend, you cannot avoid it either when brands bring the junk to your door-step. By letting your child watch you in the kitchen, you are instilling an idea of homeliness and good health that will help his/her sound upbringing.

Kids being taught how to spread cream over the cake.

Cooking gives them a sense of contribution towards the family along with a feeling of accomplishment of a task or doing something very important, which kids long for. It also boosts their confidence.

A girl gives final touches to her cake in class.

The kids remember these times forever. They'll have stories to tell in school, later in college and will eventually pass this sense of bonding to their families.

An instructor helps the children decorate their cakes.

Patience on your part plays a very important role. If they are taught things in a way that they'll understand, they develop a sense of pride towards who is helping them. The respect towards the person goes up and affection sets in, to stay for life.

Parents cheer as their kids are at their best.

Kids love to eat what they make. So if you manage to help them make something healthy while having some fun, they are sure to understand the importance of health better.

A boy tries to draw a face on his freshly made cake.

It is unbelievable how much kids learn about math, chemistry, geography and creativity through cooking. A simple thing like adding mustard seeds to hot oil, and much more, registers a reaction in their heads that could make chemistry as a subject interesting to understand!

Children smear cream on their cakes at the class.

An increasing number of youngsters, today, leave home for educational purposes, or otherwise, to settle far away from home. Not knowing how to cook, even if it is the basics, can leave him/her stranded hungry due to an unforeseen shutdown of stores. The act of self-sustainance is a wise idea you can equip your child with from the beginning.

A boy decorates his cake with pink ears.

Colourful things is all they like. Small cooking exercises with the family or friends can give them some of their most memorable days of childhood. It is one of the best ways to help them express and enjoy their creations.

Source: India Syndicate

Best Indian B-School Survey 2010

The definitive benchmarking guide

The most definitive survey of Indian business schools is out.

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

The Business Standard Best Business Schools Survey 2010 shows that the country's top business schools are the Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad and Kolkata, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in New Delhi, Institute of Management Technology at Ghaziabad, Management Development Institute at Gurgaon, National Institute of Industrial Engineering in Mumbai and Xavier Labour Relation Institute at Jamshedpur.

Indian Institute of Managament, Kolkata

There are several business school surveys done every year. But these are all perception surveys and are limited to the top schools. So they touch upon a small part of the universe. This also runs the danger of excluding the actual information about the business schools. Such perception-based surveys have another risk - they assume that respondents (aspirants, students and executives from companies) are well-informed about all the institutes. This might not always be true.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi

The Business Standard survey, in contrast, is not based on perceptions but on rigorous analysis of everything that goes into making a business school. All business schools are rated on five parameters: Intellectual capital, admissions & placements, infrastructure, industry interface and governance. Each of these can be measured objectively. There is hence no scope for subjectivity or any bias. Of course, each of the five parameters has a different weight which is decided by an expert committee. The survey does not rank the institutes but puts them in seven hierarchical categories: Super League, A1, A2, A3, A4, B1 and B2.

Management Development Institute, Gurgaon

The Super League:

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi

Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad

Management Development Institute, Gurgaon

National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai

Xavier Labour Relation Institute at Jamshedpur

National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai

There are close to 2,000 business schools in India, more than anywhere else in the world. This poses serious problems for the key stakeholders - aspiring students as well as employers. Take aspiring students first. How do they choose the right business school? How are two schools different from each other? The task is not easy for companies either who hire from these business schools. It is not easy to screen each and every student thoroughly. In this scenario, the reputation of the business school becomes all important. This is a gap that the Business Standard survey plugs. The survey is open to business schools all over India. The eligibility criterion is that they should be approved by the All India Council for Technical Education or the government or a university.

Also, at least two batches of students should have passed out of the institute. This is to assess the placements that happen at the campus. Questionnaires are sent out to the business schools. The responses are tabulated and double-checked by IMRB. Inflated claims and discrepancies are thus weeded out. As many as 50 of these business schools were visited by IMRB executives to verify the information they had submitted. This includes all those institutes that showed huge variation in scores between 2009 and 2010.

For the latest survey, questionnaires were sent to more than 1,500 business schools. Out of these, 255 sent their entries within the time limit.

Source: Business Standard

Indian Student Enrolment in Oz Halves

Melbourne, Sep 2 : Attacks on Indian students in Australia may have hit their enrolment into varsities here, with new figures showing a slump by almost half.

Turmoil in Australia's international education sector, legislative changes and the global financial crisis are also among the factors for the sharp fall in the intake in the foreign student enrolment, according to a media report.

In 2008-09, 65,503 Indian passport holders were granted Australian student visas across all education sectors. But in 2009-10, the number fell to just 29,721. Overall, 50,540 fewer international students were granted visas to study in Australia in 2009-10 compared with 2008-09.

According to 'The Age' today, global student visa numbers dropped over 16 per cent last financial year. It was also said that the new figures were result was also due to student security issues putting pressure on student numbers.

Stephen Connelly, president of International Education Association of Australia, said the drop was not surprising but very worrying.

"There is so much goodwill we generate from having international students in our country, and we are absolutely shooting ourselves in the foot at the moment," he said, adding the government and opposition had sent negative messages to potential students during the federal election campaign and work had to begin on improving Australia's reputation.

If the problems were not tackled quickly, Connelly said, there would be a further significant drop in student numbers. "Applications being received by agents would indicate that the numbers will go down even further. There's a lot more pain in store, I would say," he added.

However, he played down the significance of student security issues, which flared up in Victoria last year following a series of allegedly racist attacks on Indian students. "[Student security] would be lower down on the list of reasons than the difficulties of getting a visa and the lack of differentiation among providers," Connelly said.

National Union of Students president Carla Drakeford said the drop in numbers was very concerning.

"International student decline is dangerous for the university sector - not only because it creates a hole in university funding, but also because of the innate value international students bring to our community and higher education sector," Drakeford said.

Source:Agencies

Reaching-out Therapy

By Anuradha Mascarenhas

A sense of desperation was beginning to grip twenty four-year-old Khlangor Nongkhlaw when, two years after graduating in economics from the North Eastern Hill University in Shillong, he failed to land a job. He was ninth of the ten children his parents had and Khlangor sorely needed a job to support his family.

So when he saw an ad for a six-month course in ayurvedic therapy to be held in Bangalore through the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), he promptly applied. Six months later, on July 29, Khlangor and 22 other youths from the Northeast received their course certificates at the Institute of Ayurvedic and Integrated Medicine (IAIM) in Bangalore. Even before that, Khlangor had landed himself a job at a Bangalore hospital.

To help students from the Northeast with employment opportunities, IGNOU has also set up a new institute of vocational training in Shillong, says Dr Debjani Roy, Director of the Indigenous Knowledge and Technology section of the institute.

“Initially, this job-oriented ayurvedic course was drafted keeping in mind the unemployment problem in those states and was meant for students from the Northeast. But now, we have decided to open it up for everyone. Students weren’t charged anything for the course. The first batch of students from Meghalaya and Assam got their certificates on July 29 and most of them have got jobs in ayurvedic hospitals and wellness centres in Bangalore.” says Roy.

The North Eastern Council has decided to sponsor the next batch of 17 students from the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Also, the government’s Department of AYUSH has urged that panchkarma therapy should be introduced at all district hospitals in the country.

Twenty two-year-old Palmo Lama, a political science graduate from Shillong, says she took up the course because she wanted to learn something new. “I wish the course was for more than six months,” says Palmo, who wants to work in Bangalore for a while before returning to Shillong.

Renewal Ksoo, a class XII student from Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, says she took up the course because she wanted a “job in the city” “They taught us yoga, nursing and panchkarma treatment for people suffering from low back pain or rheumatic complaints,” she says.

Dr Bhushan Patwardhan, director of IAIM who was formerly director of School of Health Science at the University of Pune, says an experienced team of doctors, yoga teachers and therapists trained the students.

Course coordinator Dr Sheetal Arangady says students for the course were selected by a board in Shillong. The minimum qualification needed was class X and students had to be in the age group of 18-25 years.

Bihar’s Famed Coaching Institute Now in Assam

By Syed Zarir Hussain

Guwahati, Jul 11 : The famed Super 30, a coaching institute in Patna which prepares 30 poor students for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance exam free of cost, opened shop in Assam Sunday.

“We are proud and very happy to announce the formal inauguration of Super 30 chapter in Assam. Super 30 achieved iconic stature because of its success rate,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS after the launch of the Guwahati chapter of the institute.

“We are lucky to have them in our state. It is going to benefit students from the whole of the northeast,” he added.

Like in the past, this year too, all 30 of its students in Super 30 Patna centre cleared the IIT entrance test, the dream of many young Indians.

The 10-month-long fully residential programme is being sponsored by India’s premier exploration firm Oil India Limited (OIL).

“Thirty young IIT aspirants, all from economically backward families in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, will be part of the first batch and they were selected on the basis of a written test followed by an oral interview and group discussion,” OIL chairman-cum-managing director N.M. Bora said.

Super 30 mentor and former police officer Abhayanand headed the interview panel along with other team members of the institute.

“This will be the first of its kind institute in the northeast and we are confident of achieving the same success rate like our Patna centre,” Abhayanand said.

Super 30 is a highly ambitious and innovative educational programme running under the banner of “Ramanujan School of Mathematics”.

It hunts for 30 meritorious talents from among the economically backward sections of the society and shapes them for India’s most prestigious institution – the IIT. In the last seven years, it has produced hundreds of IIT graduates from extremely poor background.

“We had students from families of brick kiln workers, rickshaw pullers, landless farmers, roadside vendors and the likes. Today, most of them are doing well in life,” Abhayanand said.

Northeast Students Find Helping Hands in Campus

By Tenzin Nyima

New Delhi, Jun 11 : Ngamgoulem Kipgen, a DU applicant from Manipur, feels lost in Delhi. The 19-year-old has applied for a the Geography (Honours) course but is finding it difficult to adjust in a new place.

"I come from a small town in Manipur and this sudden exposure in an unfamiliar city is tough to handle," she said.

But students like Kipgen have help at hand as many of them from Northeastern states such as Manipur and Nagaland have formed organizations to help students during the admission process.

The Nagaland Student Union, Delhi  (NSUD), which is among the largest organizations in Delhi for Northeastern  students, comprises more than 14,000  members. It helps students fill application forms and also helps them fight discrimination and is functional throughout the year.

Students from the Northeastern states often complain of discrimination and abuse. "I have many friends who were refused accommodations in PGs as they hail from the Northeast.

Landlords often pass snide remarks on the character of girls," said Chupalemba Chang (22), a DU graduate.

"Last year, 39 cases of abuse, molestation and rape of people belonging to Northeastern states were recorded. The number keeps increasing each year," said Madhu Chandra, spokesperson, Northeastern Support Centre and Helpline.

Besides these, there are other groups such as the Kuki Student Organisation with 700 members in Delhi that also supports students financially.

Mizoram Education Minister Inaugurates National Workshop

Aizawl, Jun 10 : Pu Lalsawta, Higher and Technical Education Minister today inaugurated the UGC sponsored national workshop on "Research Methodology and Preparation of Proposal" organized by Govt. Hrangbana College, Aizawl in collaboration with Department of Education, Mizoram University.

Speaking at the function Pu Lalsawta said that the sole purpose of research is not to add prefix or suffix to one's name, but to learn and impart knowledge which is indispensible for Mizoram.

Saying that there is a vast difference between literacy and education, he expressed the Govt's desire to improve education right from the primary level to the top level in the University.

He said that in order to gain quality education, Mizoram must welcome experts from within and outside the state irrespective of which state they belong to or which language they speak.

The inauguration function was presided over by Pu K. Liantuala, Principal Hrangbana College and Prof. R.P.Vadhera, Dean, School of Education & Humanities, Mizoram University gave the keynote address.

Director of Higher and Technical Education, Professors, Asst. Professors, Research Scholars and students were present at the inauguration of this workshop which will last for three days.

College Students to Get Free Access to E-Books

New Delhi, Jun 9 : College students across India will now get free access to e-journals and e-books from all over the world with the human resource development ministry subscribing to them.

Over 2,000 journals have been subscribed to by the ministry under the project titled N-List (National Library and Information Services Infrastructure for Scholarly Content). These will be provided to students in various colleges free of cost.

'It is a part of the ICT (information and communication technology) initiatives of the government. The resources include more than 2,100 e-journals and 51,000 e-books,' a ministry official told IANS.

The scheme covers premier technical institutions like IITs, IISc, IISERs and NITs along with 6,000 government and government aided colleges across the country. Private institutions are also eligible for membership on the payment of a fee.

'We have already covered over 1,200 colleges across the country. They have been given the logins and passwords,' the official said.

Government colleges have to pay Rs.5,000 as annual membership fee while private colleges will have to pay an annual subscription of Rs.46,000. The facility will, however, be free for the students.

'For the colleges getting financial aid from the UGC, the expenditure will be met by the HRD ministry,' the official said.

The e-resources include publications from American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, Annual Reviews, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Royal Society of Chemistry and Tata McGraw Hill, along with major Indian journals and publications.

Success Without a Degree

For the average person, a college degree is a career essential, but some of the world's most famous, rich and powerful people, from TV chefs and fashion designers to presidents and comedians, attained great success without one. Let's see who took a pass on the sheepskin.

Rachael Ray

Rachael Ray is one of the most recognizable names in TV's food court, yet she never received any formal training. While working at a shop in Albany, New York, in her twenties, she gave cooking lessons that eventually landed her the Food Network show "30-Minute Meals" in 2001. Today, she has several cooking shows, a daytime talk show and her own magazine.

Simon Cowell

"American Idol" judge and British music executive Simon Cowell earns an estimated $36 million per season (how much per minute?). Not bad for dropping out of college.

Coco Chanel

Known for her menswear-inspired designs and a signature look still popular today, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel created a fashion empire despite never obtaining a college degree.

Michael J. Fox

"Back to the Future" star and Parkinson's disease advocate Michael J. Fox didn't even make it through high school. He dropped out at age 18 and moved from Vancouver, Canada, to Los Angeles to focus on his acting career.

Walt Disney

At age 16, Walt Disney, screenwriter, animator and media mogul, dropped out of high school to join the army but was rejected because of his young age. After several attempts to become a newspaper cartoonist, he finally got it right when he co-founded Walt Disney Productions and created some of the world's most recognized characters in pop culture.

Tracy Morgan

Comedian and "30 Rock" star Tracy Morgan, who married his high school sweetheart (since separated), dropped out of high school but went on to enjoy seven seasons on "Saturday Night Live" and has starred in several new movies.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is the CEO and co-founder of Apple, and even though he dropped out of Reed College after just six months, his net worth is estimated at $5.5 billion.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Not having a college degree hasn't stopped three-time Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio from becoming a Hollywood icon and donating some of his earnings to worthy causes.

Kate Winslet

Though the Oscar-winner attended a performing arts high school in England where she received professional training, Kate Winslet never went to college.

Helen Mirren

A celebrated actress and sex symbol, Helen Mirren enrolled in a teachers college at her parents' request, but her time there was brief after her successful audition at North London's National Youth Theatre.

Henry Ford

Founder of Ford Motor Company in 1903, Henry Ford experimented with mechanics in his youth at a Detroit machine shop, but he never made it to college. He is credited with establishing the modern-day assembly line.

Katherine McPhee

Katharine McPhee, singer and "American Idol" runner-up in Season 5, attended the Boston Conservatory for three semesters majoring in musical theater before dropping out on the advice of her manager to pursue a TV career.

Bill Gates

Microsoft visionary and co-founder Bill Gates is a Harvard University dropout but is one of the richest and most successful people in the world. Forbes estimates his net worth at $53 billion and climbing.

Drew Barrymore

Born into a famous family, successful actress and producer Drew Barrymore never completed high school.

President Harry S. Truman

The 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman is one of the few presidents who did not attend college.

Jim Carrey

Funnyman and successful actor Jim Carrey hasn't needed a degree of any kind to help him rise to the top in Hollywood.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder of the social networking giant Facebook, now-26-year-old Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard after starting the site in his dorm room in 2004. Forbes estimated his net worth in 2008 to be $1.5 billion (photos).