Top 10 Engineering Colleges Orissa: October 2011

Monday, 31 October 2011

Top 10 engineering colleges in Bhubaneswar, Orissa 2011

1) University College of Engineering - RANK 1
Burla, Orissa. Ph:                         +91- 663-2430211
UCE under Biju Patnaik University of technology is the top rated college in Orissa providing undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes in engineering. Teaching mode and handling practicals are of high standards in the college.
Useful links: http://www.uceburla.ac.in
2) Institute of Technical Education & Research – RANK 2
SOA University, Bhubaneswar. Ph:                         +91-674- 2350181
ITER is the part if Siksha O’ Anusandhan University approved by UGC. The institute is dedicated to provide high quality education and is also known for their management system.
Useful links: http://iter.ac.in
3) College of Engineering & Technology (CET) - RANK 3
Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Ph:                         +91-674-2384110
CET possesses well equipped laboratory facilities and campus for students to deliver maximum outcome. Training sessions within the course curriculum is the most notable advantage for the aspirants.
Useful links: http://www.cetindia.org
4) Silicon Institute of Technology - RANK 4
Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Ph:                         + 91-674-2725448
This private institute is counted as top among private institutes in Orissa and one among the top list. They are destined to flourish this as centre for excellence in the field of engineering and technology.
Useful links: http://www.silicon.ac.in
5) CV Raman College of Engineering - RANK 5
Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Ph:                         +91-674-2460693
The college offers undergraduate programmes in various branches of engineering and technology. The placement cell is highly effective in creating opportunities for students.
Useful links: http://cvraman.org
6) National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) - RANK 6
Berhampur, Orissa. Ph:                         +91-680-2492421
This private institute provides best conditions for the growth of engineers and technologists. The industrial training and consultancy services help students to improve their future standards.
Useful links: http://www.nist.edu/
7) Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology - RANK 7
Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Ph:                         + 91-674-2725113
Top quality infrastructure and lab facilities in KIIT made it one among the top colleges offering engineering and technology courses. Eminent professors and lecturers deliver informative sessions and ideas for healthy discussions among students.
Useful links: http://www.kiit.ac.in
8 ) Aryan Institute of Engineering and Technology - RANK 8
BARAKUDA, PANCHAGAON, KHURDA, Orissa. Phone:                        +91- 09776209535
The institute is affiliated to Biju Patnaik university of technology and B.Tech and lateral entry B.Tech courses. They are also conducting supplimentary coaching classes for better carrier options of students.
Useful links: http://www.aryan.ac.in
9) Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology (IGIT) - RANK 9
Sarang, Orissa. Ph:                         + 91-6760-240371
Eminent instructors and high tech lab facilities in IGIT made it as one of the prime choice among aspirants in engineering and technology field. They offers bachelor and degree courses in the subject.
Useful links: http://www.igitsarang.ac.in
10) Orissa Engineering College (OEC) - RANK 10
Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Ph:                         +91-674-2541340
The college, affiliated to B.P. University, stands for quality education to nurture talents for the society. They hope to create professionals with responsibility and dedication.
Useful links: http://www.oec.ac.in

CDC to invest $50m in India's poorest states

After coming under fire for focusing on financial gains, the government's development finance arm hopes its backing for an Indian venture fund will blaze a trail for the private sector
In June, Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, gave a good kicking to the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), the government's development finance arm with a remit to invest in places where others fear to venture.
Wholly owned by the Department for International Development (DfID), the CDC was told to slash bonuses for its top executives, become a "development-maximising, not a profit-maximising, enterprise", and start investing directly in projects rather than indirectly through fund managers.
Set up in 1948 to promote economic development in Britain's colonies, the CDC is the government's main vehicle for supporting the private sector in developing countries. It has been criticised for focusing too much on financial gains, and last year it emerged that CDC executives had racked up huge expenses.
In March the Commons international development committee (IDC)recommended splitting the CDC in two, with one part left to continue private equity investments, which make "impressive financial returns", and the other taking more direct action on the corporation's poverty alleviation brief.
DfID did not go along with the committee's recommendation, but Mitchell's strictures about "development-maximising" appear to be getting through.
As part of DfID's focus on the poorest people in India, the CDC – which is sitting on top of £2.8bn of assets (technically, taxpayers' money) – will invest $50m in an Indian venture fund founded by a former investment banker. Narayanan Shadagopan, formerly of Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Scotland, set up Pragati to look for investments in India's eight poorest states.
Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and West Bengal are home to some 421 million people who are defined as "multi-dimensionally poor" by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Index, more than the 26 poorest African countries combined (410 million). This is the flipside of India's economic success story, complete with its first Formula One, and where the collective net worth of the country's 100 wealthiest individuals stands at $241bn (admittedly down from $300bn in 2010), according to India Today.
Typically, private equity is looking at investment returns of 20% so Pragati will be aiming for these kinds of returns although Anubha Shrivastava, the CDC's managing director, Asia, is more cautious.
"Not all stories will be success stories," she said at the CDC's office on Victoria Street, not far from DfID, reflecting the arm's length relationship between the two. "By anchoring this venture, we are not so much focusing on financial returns as kickstarting of a process of reform of the business ecosystem."
The CDC joined forces with Shadagopan as he too was interested in investing in India's poorest states. His name came up as CDC officials talked to chambers of commerce, lawyers and accountants who form a useful network for contacts.
Shrivastava said: "He was looking at some poor states and had the right ideas for the first poorest state fund in india. We helped him to hone his fund strategy, interviewed his team and suggested skills they would need. It's a sizeable investment for us and we're hopeful others will come in."
Pragati is venturing into difficult territory. Investors have shied away from India's poorest states, where the unskilled population, lack of finance and poor infrastructure have proved strong deterrents. A lack of a proper regulatory framework and corruption do not help either. Moreover, investments in such regions often fail because of poor access to markets and weak infrastructure. While fully aware of the pitfalls, Shrivastava still believes good returns can be made in such unpromising environments.
"We are saying to investors 'come on guys, there are commercial opportunities and it's not diffcult as you think it is,'" she said.
Shrivastava said the CDC had thought long and hard about putting $50m into Pragati, but believes there are enough projects to absorb the funds. After contributions from other investors, she estimates the fund will have between $80m to $100m for projects in infrastructure, health, manufacturing and education. Pragati will make investments in the range of $5m to $15m.
The investment is sorely needed. Historically, the eight poorest states have been neglected by Indian and foreign investors, in what the CDC describes as a market failure. The CDC will be keeping a close eye on Pragati, especially in its first few deals, as its success will be crucial to attract other investors.
Possible deals include one with a company in Madhya Pradesh that manufactures products for municipal waste management. The company is looking for an investment to expand, while a railway equipment company in Uttar Pradesh hopes to introduce a new design that could reduce fuel consumption by as much as 30% in diesel engines.
"It's very much a hands-on process to begin with," said Shrivastava, who visits Delhi every month. "The first few deals need to be structured properly so they resonate with other investors."
Mitchell, a former investment banker at Lazard's and a vocal supporter of the private sector in development, says Britain will transform its development relationship with India over the next few years.
"These kind of investments from CDC will bring our new vision to life," he said. "There is still desperate poverty in India – for instance, in Madhya Pradesh half of all young children are malnourished. Providing much-needed capital to promising small businesses in states like this can help people escape poverty, providing jobs and security and boosting economic growth."

Nita Ambani joins EIH as additional director

Mumbai: Two nominees of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Monday joined the board of hotel operator EIH Ltd, as the two companies seek to cement their growing business ties.
Nita Ambani, wife of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, and Manoj Modi, a key RIL executive and a close confidant of the chairman, joined the EIH board as additional directors. Renu Sud Karnad, managing director of Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd, and Robert Henry Burns also joined the EIH board as additional directors, the company said in a statement to the stock exchanges.
Burns is a veteran hotelier and the founder of Regent International Hotels, the first Asian-run global hotel chain, according to EIH vice-chairman S.S. Mukherji. Founded in 1970 in Hong Kong, Regent was taken over by the Four Seasons group in 1992. Last year, Burns was named honorary chairman of Regent after it was acquired by Taiwan’s Formosa International Hotels.

Nita Ambani looks after RIL’s interests in education, healthcare and sports, and oversees the group’s philanthropic activities. She is the founder chairperson of the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai and a co-owner of the Mumbai Indians, a cricket team in the Indian Premier League.
“It is an honour for me to be part of EIH,” Nita Ambani told reporters on Monday. “Today was my first meeting as a member of the EIH board.”
The promoters of EIH, which owns and runs hotels under the Oberoi brand, sold a 14.12% stake to RIL a year ago for Rs. 1,021 crore. RIL’s stake in the company has since increased to 14.9% through market purchases.
EIH chairman Prithviraj Singh Oberoi in August said his company and RIL will jointly develop hotels and luxury homes in India and abroad. He called RIL an “important shareholder and a friendly shareholder”.
Himani Singh, an analyst at Elara Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd, the local arm of a foreign brokerage, said the induction of Ambani and Modi on the board was a part of a growing relationship.
“Though there won’t be much impact on operations as they (Ambani and Modi) are coming in as non-executive directors, it is significant in the evolution of EIH’s business dynamics, where RIL may play a greater part,” Singh said.
The stake sale to RIL was widely perceived as a bid by EIH’s promoters to thwart any potential takeover bid from ITC Ltd, which had amassed a 14.98% stake in EIH over 10 years.
EIH had also helped tutor the staff to be employed at Mukesh Ambani’s South Mumbai residence Antilia, billed as the most expensive house in the world.
A rights issue that ensued after the stake sale to RIL, in which EIH raised Rs.1,179 crore, has helped it repay debt and reduce interest costs, helping the company post a profit in the quarter as well as for the half year ended 30 September, versus a loss in the year-ago periods.
Both RIL and ITC subscribed to their portion of the rights issue. The Oberoi family subscribed to the shares renounced by other shareholders as well, thereby raising its holding to 34.5% from 32.31% earlier.
For the six months ended 30 September, interest charges more than halved to Rs. 32.54 crore due to a reduction of debt on the company’s books to the tune of Rs. 1,100 crore, EIH said in a statement.
The company posted a net profit of Rs. 16.59 crore for the quarter ended 30 September, compared with a Rs. 14.97 crore loss in the same period a year ago. Its revenue for the period was Rs. 246.8 crore, 12.07% higher year-on-year.
The profit was significantly aided by one-off exceptional gains on account of sale of property and a tax reversal. In the notes to accounts, EIH said it had sold a property in Orissa for Rs. 7.67 crore and a flat in Mumbai for Rs. 3.48 crore. A tax reversal of Rs. 1.91 crore also was added to the firm’s net profit.
After adjusting for the exceptional items and tax reversal, the company’s net profit was Rs. 3.53 crore.
“If the exceptional gains on account of property sale and tax reversal are discounted, it has been a lacklustre quarter on the operational front,” said Singh.

OPCC observes Indira's death anniversary

Nabarangpur (Orissa), Oct 31 (PTI) Ahead of the notification for a by-poll in Umerkote assembly segment in Nabarangpur district, Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) today launched its campaign here on the occasion of Indira Gandhi's death anniversary. Top leaders including AICC's Orissa in-charge Jagdish Tytler and OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik attended a meeting to mark the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi at Maoist-hit Raigarh area under Umerkote assembly segment. Umerkote seat is lying vacant since BJD MLA Jagabandhu Majhi was killed on September 24. The Election Commission was, however, yet to notify for the by-polls in Umerkote. Recalling Gandhi's special attachment with the tribal population, AICC Secretary incharge of Seva Dal, Mirza Irshad Baig claimed that Indira Gandhi still lives in the hearts of poor tribals. The PCC President, Niranjan Patnaik, said Indira visited Nabarangpur district and addressed the tribal people a day before she was killed. Launching an attack on the ruling BJD government in the state Patnaik said the state was witnessing large-scale corruption and siphoning of central funds in many ways. As the state government was anti-poor, it could not grow under Naveen Patnaik's leadership. Dubbing the BJD government as "corrupt" Tytler said while the poverty had been reduced in other state it had increased in Orissa because of the misusing and corruption in implementing the central schemes. Tytler further alleged that fund released to the state under NREGA for the poor had been siphoned off to which CBI was now investigating. He further blamed that funds allotted for the development of education had also been misusing. PTI COR AAM AMD

Pvt engg colleges move SC over vacant seats

BHUBANESWAR: Worried over large scale vacancies in engineering colleges, the Orissa Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to fill up the seats at college level. OPECA in its petition alleged that despite the directive of Orissa High Court, the state government did not take any steps to fill up the seats.
"There is a limit to the callousness of the state government towards technical education. The government is silently sitting over the issue without informing anyone about what steps they are taking about large scale vacant seats. When the government ignored the High Court order, we were forced to move the Supreme Court," said honorary secretary of OPECA, Binod Dash.
Of the total 41,000 engineering seats in 110 technical institutes in Orissa over 24,000 seats are lying vacant this year against the vacancy of 18,000 seats last year. Similarly in MBA and MCA, over 3420 and 2970 seats are lying vacant respectively.
Officials, however, maintained that the state government had urged the AICTE not to approve new technical college or increase seats without the government's recommendation following a high court directive to make a request to AICTE to relax its norm. "The state government has urged the AICTE not to allow more colleges or increase in seats in engineering and diploma courses without state government's recommendations," said industry secretary T Ramachandru.
On the other hand, OPECA said, all these efforts are just an eyewash and futile. "Orissa government every year writes such letter to the AICTE but this is going to be ineffective as usual. The state government has no say in the AICTE nor do they ever pursue any issue with the AICTE. Only writing a letter is not the solution," said Dash.
"After the intervention of the Supreme Court a second round of JEE held to fill up vacant seats for the last couple of years. But this year the state government did not take any step despite it was decided in the Policy Planning Board," Dash added.

PM to visit Orissa twice in Nov, to inagurate INSC

Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Orissa twice during the first week of November to attend the 99th Indian National Science Congress, official sources said.

Prime Minister is scheduled visit the state to inagurate the Indian National Science Congress here on November 3.

"Singh will again come to the state capital on November 7 to take over as the president of the next Science Congress on the concluding day," an official spokesman said after chief secretary B K Patnaik reviewed the preparedness for the mega event here on Monday.
Besides the Prime Minister, about 15,000 delegates including 1500 from abroad including 20 Nobel Laureates were scheduled to attend the Indian National Science Congress to be jointly organised by National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Government of Orissa and KIIT University.

Being held in Orissa after a long interval of 34 years, the Congress would be attended by distinguished scientists, Cabinet Ministers, heads of scientific bodies, top officials and captains of industry.

A new feature of the session would be Children Science Congress and Women Science Congress, sources said. More than 10,000 children are expected to participate in Children Science Congress.

The prestigious UNESCO-Kalinga Award would be presented at the Congress on November 4 which would see quiz competition for students and an exhibition, the official said adding that the Women Science Congress would be conducted on November 5.

A Vigyan Rath would be rolled out from Puri to travel through all the 30 districts of Orissa for spreading awareness about science and technology, he said.

The Congress was expected to give Orissa a forum to seek more central scientific and educational institutions besides providing an opportunity to showcase its potentials in many sectors like tourism, business and industry as well as its rich and multi-faceted culture,organisers said.

Foreign education fair held

A wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by universities across the world were introduced to students and parents at an overseas education fair organised by ISE Education Media India (P) Ltd. here on Sunday.
More than 600 students and parents participated in the event in which 11 overseas education consultants and agents had put up stalls.
The Hindu-EducationPlus was the media partner of the event. The participants were provided information on admission and visa formalities, scholarships, bank loan assistance, and career opportunities. Direct consultants of the University of Aberdeen and Birmingham Graduate School of the U.K. were present at the fair.
The various consultants said that apart from enquiries for traditional courses, students had been showing interest in programmes in forensic accounting, Islamic banking, media studies, petrochemistry, petroleum management, criminology and so on.

Education is only real tool of empowerment: Kapil Sibal

Following is the text of the address by Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development,during the ‘General Policy Debate’ at the 36th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO on 28th October 2011:

“ We are at a critical juncture in history. The past is collapsing and the future uncertain. The shadow of an economic crisis in the developed world lingers. The aspirations of the marginalized and disempowered are on the rise. The centre of gravity of economic activity is shifting. Established global and financial structures are under challenge.

International organisations must recognise and reflect upon the realities of the contemporary world. We need a new vision, a fresh resolve. The ICT revolution has changed the dynamics of conversations and interactions of people within nations and beyond territorial boundaries. Technologies have connected people like never before. We need to re-define our roles and relationships within the global order.

Tomorrow’s youth will catalyse and be at the forefront of the change we badly need. But we need to empower them. We will fail our future generations if we do not create the necessary environment for their self-realisation.

Education is the only real tool of empowerment. Western nations and East Asia reaped the benefits of the demographic dividend. Now the fruits of this dividend are seeded in India, the Middle East and Africa. The youth here represent the powerhouse of the global economy. If we fail them, they will fail us.

We, in this great Assembly, must realize and accept that the nature and idiom of education has changed. Apart from conquering new frontiers of knowledge, we need new knowledge to solve problems. Everyday problems of ordinary people. They are the new aspirants emerging from the ICT revolution.

The solutions we provide them must be accessible and affordable. The idiom of education has changed also because the nature of learning has changed. Information moves across borders freely. It is shared instantaneously. Collaborative knowledge generation will be at the heart of education. Only through shared knowledge will we be able to resolve the challenges that confront the global community.

Added to this is the reality of the increasing hiatus between the rich and the poor, within and between nations; the disconnect between the two sides of the digital divide. The resource rich continue to be poor.

So let us pledge to empower our young. Let us enrich them with the tools needed to protect their future.

Last year, India achieved a historic milestone. We constitutionally protected the right to elementary education by enacting an enabling legislation. We are implementing it with effect from 1st April 2010.

Quality of education, however, continues to remains a concern.

Literacy in the 21st century will carry a different connotation. It will no longer mean knowledge of the three “r’s”, but the ability to connect and comprehend

We have taken the lead in attempting to develop an access device – Aakash (meaning ‘sky”) - that aims to provide a medium for every child to access the digital world and to learn from the vast repositories of knowledge contained therein. Aakash presently costs less than $50 and our endeavour is to further reduce the cost to less than $35. We are going to provide Aakash to every student in higher education and gradually to every child in secondary education. We dedicate this device to the children of the world. We will equip our children with the tools to face the challenges of the 21st century.

I also believe that the nature of delivery of educational services in higher education is changing rapidly. It may be too early to write the epitaph for the classroom, but the classrooms of the 21st century will be different from those that served us in the past. The content of pedagogy too would be radically altered. The silos that fragmented knowledge have already started collapsing. Customized learning across cultures will be the dominant theme of higher education. We need to open up the university as a learning space, embrace collaborative knowledge production, and break down the walls between institutions. The university as a physical entity may no longer remain the unit of learning space.

The 20th century witnessed an era of confrontation. The world stood divided. Let the 21st century usher in an era of collaboration. That will help unite the world. That is the change we desire. That is the change we want to see. Let UNESCO be at the forefront of that change. I have no doubt that the Director-General under her able leadership will endeavour to position UNESCO in a way that will help us all realize the aspirations of future generations. Under her leadership, UNESCO is seen to be not only caring and compassionate but also professional, efficient and responsive. I wish to thank the Director-General for her harmonious, constructive and comprehensive approach to all issues.

I wish the delegates to this Conference fruitful consultations in the days ahead. Let us usher in a new era of partnerships in education, science and culture – the three pillars of a collaborative 21st century.”

Bengal Church to educate youth in “sensitive areas”

Catholic bishops and Religious of West Bengal have decided to promote education among youths living in the eastern Indian state’s “sensitive areas.”

A four-day joint meeting of the prelates with priests and nuns that ended on October 28 decided to open four high schools and two technical schools in the eastern Indian state’s Maoist-affected areas and tea estates.

The regional unit of Conference of Religious India (CRI) and the state’s bishops would soon meet to work out the formalities, Sister Gracy Sunder, an organizer of the meet, told ucanews.com.

The Holy Cross of Chavanod nun, who is CRI’s regional president, recalled that a similar meet last year had decided to study the plight of tribal people in Midnapore district because of Maoist infiltration and those living in tea estates at the foothills of Darjeeling.

That meet had formed two teams to study the problems and propose suggestions.

Some 75 people, including six bishops, attended the latest meeting at Our Lady of Happy Voyage Basilica, Bandel, 45 kilometers east of Kolkata, the state capital, that discussed the theme, “Working towards justice, peace and reconciliation/ harmony in the context of struggle of our people in West Bengal and Sikkim.”

Claretian Father Michael Pandian, who coordinated the committee to study the problems in Maoist areas, said people there need qualitative higher education to stop the youth joining the ultras. He wants the Church to train the young in leadership skills through its educational institutions.

Father Pandian also noted that many people suffer from lack of medicare facilities and malnutrition.

The joint forum of bishops and Religious has gone ahead with schools with hostels even if it does not get government aid.

Jesuit Father Joe Victor, who coordinated the other study, noted that many people have lost jobs because of the closure of tea estates. The Midnapore district has some 360 tea estates.

He wants the Church to educate the workers about their rights, while continuing with its pastoral, educational and healthcare works.

Most workers in these estates are tribal and Nepali people.

The joint forum has decided to open an office with full time staff to coordinate Church intervention in the area.

Winner at birth, real race looms

Lucknow, Oct. 31: The favourite failed to deliver and a dark horse ran off with the crown. The race for seven billionth today proved as intense and pitiless as any battle for No. 1.

Pinky Pawar of Sunhaida near Meerut, marked out in advance as would-be mother of the world’s seven billionth baby, waited in a labour room from midnight but the pangs never arrived.

The world, and India, wouldn’t wait. As the clock ticked to 7.20am, a girl born to a farmer’s wife 400km away at Mall village, 42km from Lucknow, was declared the planet’s “seven billionth baby”.

Mother Vineeta Devi, 23, and father Ajay Kumar, 28, have named her Nargis.

“She weighs 3kg and cried like any healthy baby,” a doctor gushed as crackers burst and dancing broke out at the Mall community health centre.

Partying ended and a pall descended on Sunhaida. Doctors at the local primary health centre, basking in the media spotlight since anointing Pinky a few days ago, acknowledged they had probably miscalculated her delivery date.

Still, Nargis’s is far from an undisputed title. Of the about five lakh babies born around the world today, several were declared No. 7 Billion by their parents, governments or the local media.

The Philippines staked its claim early with Danica May Camacho, born just after midnight at Manila’s Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital. Soon, Peter Bashir Yansaneh of London, Cin of Colorado, Pyotr of Kaliningrad and many others joined the list of contenders.

In truth, as the United Nations says, it’s impossible to know the exact day, time and place the seven billionth baby would be born. Still, it was the UN that provoked the race, first by symbolically declaring a Bosnian baby as the six billionth 12 years ago and then, last month, saying the world population would turn seven billion on October 31.

Then someone decided the place would be Uttar Pradesh because of its high birth rate, prompting health workers and NGOs to rush to the state, choose this or that village, and start monitoring women expected to give birth today.

Nargis owes her good luck to Plan International, a UK-based child welfare group that had chosen Mall and built a massive campaign around the event.

A Mall community health centre physician, Dr Ved Prakash, said four male babies had been born between midnight and 7am today at the hospital “but were not considered to be in the reckoning”.

Plan had said it wanted the seven billionth baby to be a girl child, under attack in Uttar Pradesh from many fronts.

“Since it’s a matter of symbolic recognition, we are greeting Nargis as the seven billionth baby though we know this kind of celebration may be taking place elsewhere,” said Neelam Singh, member of Plan and its partner Vatsalya, an Indian group working for the girl child.

This afternoon, as Nargis smiled in her mother’s lap, her father Ajay seemed a little bewildered by the “seven billion” hype.

“How many crores make seven billion?” the school dropout asked the swarming media crowd, before adding: “I don’t know but I am happy to be the father of my daughter.”

Some of the doctors appeared more media savvy, even milking the “coincidence of two sevens” — seven billion and the delivery time of 7.20am.

Nargis was also lucky that Lucknow’s Queen Mary Hospital, which has one of the best-equipped maternity wards in the city, didn’t join the race although 14 children were born there today before 7am.

“We are not playing up any of the 14 children as the seven billionth baby because, for us, all children are blessed and need to be taken care of,” said Dr Anju Agarwal, a senior gynaecologist at the hospital.

Plan, however, was marking the day to draw global attention to India’s seven million “missing” girls, that is, victims of female foeticide. The sex ratio in the state is 898, compared with 933 in the country.

In a country set to overtake China as the world’s most populous in 15 to 20 years, Nargis will be facing many challenges, such as getting nutritious food, clean drinking water, medical care and education.

With the world’s population nearly quadrupling in the past 100 years, basics like food and water are under more strain than ever, say experts, and providing for an additional 2-3 billion people in the next 50 years is a serious worry.

On the other hand, in the richer nations, fertility rates have nose-dived, causing an imbalance between the working population and retirees who need expensive social safety nets.

“It is difficult to decide whether the birth of the seven billionth child is a moment of extreme joy or extreme worry, although we care for all children... we are physicians, after all,” Dr Agarwal of Queen Mary Hospital said.

Plan’s India chief, Bhagshree Dengle, has announced the group would support Nargis’s upbringing and education, and that of six other girls born in Lucknow today, for — you guessed it — seven years.

Doubts on UK visa? Visit this exhibition

MUMBAI: To give aspiring students more clarity on the new visa rules, the British Council will set up a stall by the United Kingdom Border Agency(UKBA) in its annual exhibition conducted across the country. The UKBA has recently changed visa rules for students applying for higher studies in their country. The most important change introduced that would affect a majority of students is discontinuing the post-study work visa from April 2012.
The Education UK exhibition, which is scheduled to be held on November 15 in Mumbai, will have more than 100 representatives from over 80 UK institutions. It will travel to six cities in India after starting from Delhi. More than 7,000 students are expected to visit the exhibitions across the country. Sunit Koli, head of education UK (west India), said, "We want to make the exhibition this year as a one-stop-shop where all queries from students would be answered. Usually, we have a one-hour session on students' visas, which is also a feature this year. However, in that session, it is not possible to get all queries answered. So, we are having a separate stall by the UKBA. A visa officer will be present to clarify all doubts."
A key point in this year's exhibition is to make students understand which policies would be applicable to them and what requirements they need to fulfill to seek a visa under the tier-4 category (students-general). Under the tightened visa rules, the UK government has banned 1,900 banks, most of them co-operative, whose financial statements will not be accepted for students' visa purpose.

MBA grads to get new syllabus in Tamil Nadu

Management grads across the state may soon get to study a new curriculum with special thrust on innovation research, if the recommendations of the top management institutes and business leaders are anything to go by.

And to put this agenda in place, about 5-6 centres of excellence in management education may come up in the city initially across various universities and autonomous colleges, with Anna University taking the lead.

A national workshop by the IIM-Ahmedabad Alumni Association (IIM-AAA) and Anna University along with IIMs of Ahmedabad and Kolkata deliberated on redesigning the current MBA curriculum in India so as to infuse innovation and creativity into the syllabus.

“The very fact that competing institutions like various IIMs and other business schools have come together is indicative of the need and the seriousness attached to the need to change our curriculum,” said Prof. Shekhar Chowdhuri, Director, IIM-Calcutta.

The redesigned curriculum is being drafted based on the recommendations of Harvard Professor Srikant Datar’s book ‘Rethinking the MBA; Management Education at a crossroad’.

The Chennai seminar is the fourth in the series and will be followed by another in January in Coimbatore.

After this, all deliberations will be consolidated to outline a common revamped curriculum in line with industry needs. The revamped syllabus may come in place by end of 2012 or early 2013.

The time is ripe for redesigning Indian management education as growing uncertainties across the business spectrum call for newer skill sets, said Mannar Jawahar, Vice-chancellor of Anna University.

“Creativity and innovation is not only from a student’s perspective but also that of educational institutions,” he opined.

With new emerging business models in retail, logistics and services sector, there is no point in harping our education syllabus around the good-old manufacturing sector and market research, said S. Muralidharan, President, IIM-AAA Chennai chapter.

LPU opens 155 Distance Education study centres across India

Professional University launched its Distance Education Study Programmes across the country.LPU Distance Education study centerLPU Distance Education study center

Jalandhar: Directorate of Open and Distance Learning (DODL) of Lovely Professional University launched its Distance Education Study Programmes across the country. LPU, the largest University of India has opened a total number of 155 study centres for distance learning programmes in India which includes Punjab, New Delhi & NCR, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir. These centres are aimed to provide both academic as well as administrative support to students. LPU has opened two study centres in Jalandhar also.

Commenting on this development, Chancellor, Ashok Mittal, LPU said, “Distance Education courses are an efficient way for the students to enhance learning and to expand access to higher education,” He further added that “By opening the LPU Study Centres for Distance Learning, we are ensuring that an innovative pedagogy is developed to help students get education which is flexible, economical, convenient and effective by all means.”

Under LPU DE, students are provided with Study Material, Contact Classes and various Online Resources to facilitate, rather make easy, student learning. With the help of LPU’s online software – Learning Management Solutions (LMS), students will be able to see their assignments, study material, fees deposited, and curriculum and also they can give their mock test online.

LPU DE programmes are recognized by the Distance Education Council (DEC), an apex body for the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system in India, and Joint Committee of UGC-AICTE-DEC for running Distance Education Programmes. The recognized Distance Education programmes are considered equivalent to their corresponding Regular programmes and are valid for Employment and Higher Studies.

No more engineering colleges: States to AICTE

MUMBAI: Two decades ago, just a percentage of aspiring Indian engineers found a seat in a tech school. Now, supply seems to have outstripped demand, with lakhs of engineering seats in Indian colleges going abegging.

State governments now want the country's regulatory body to reject fresh proposals for starting any more engineering colleges.

"We have received letters from the Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Chhattisgarh governments telling us not to clear proposals for engineering institutes," said S S Mantha, chairman, All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the umbrella body for professional education in the country.

Maharashtra, too, said sources, is firming up its pitch to AICTE after waking up to the fact that the number of vacant seats in engineering colleges has risen dramatically over the last three years.

AICTE records show that India produced 4.01 lakh engineers in 2003-04, of which 35% were computer engineers. In 2004-05, 1,355 engineering colleges admitted 4.6 lakh students, of which 31% were computer engineers. The number of graduates rose to 5.2 lakh in 2005-06. In five years, the capacity in technology colleges has more than trebled.

India is now home to 3,393 engineering colleges that have 14.85 lakhs seats available. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have about 70% tech institutes. When admissions closed this year, AICTE estimated that nearly two lakh seats were unfilled.

This glut in engineering seats has had experts worried. This year, AICTE relaxed entry norms for tech schools, hoping there would be a rush of students. But despite lowering the minimum score required to join an engineering college, there weren't enough students to fill all seats on offer.

"Seats are going vacant in rural parts of various states. There are no takers for specific engineering programmes, but the core engineering courses of civil, mechanical and electrical still have takers," Mantha added.

AICTE has told state governments to pass on copies of perspective plans of all universities, so that the growth of colleges can be mapped and controlled.

Plus II exam pattern set to change

BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to change the Plus II examination pattern from 2013 with more focus on objective type questions. Seventy per cent questions will be objective types requiring short answers such as yes or no, multiple choices or single word answers. Only 30 per cent questions will be subjective requiring long answers.
"The move would increase percentage scores of students from Orissa. The general perception is that they are scoring low because of our subjective questions and are at a disadvantageous position at an all India level," said Jasobanta Behera, controller of examinations, Council of Higher Secondary Education, (CHSE), Orissa.
At present, 40 per cent questions in Plus II are subjective type. The change will not be applicable to students appearing the examination nextyear. "We wanted to convey about the change to students from the time they are taking admission in Plus II. Students who took admission this year will appear the examination in 2013," Behera said. Behera said other minute details of the changed pattern such as model questions and duration of examinations would be worked out and notified soon.
The proposed change is in a series of reforms at Plus II level. In a related development, the government has decided to make the syllabus more like that of Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE). At least 80 per cent of the syllabus will be CBSE-type from next year.
Since the Union government has been planning to hold common entrance for medical and engineering entrances in future, CBSE-type syllabus will create a level-playing field for students from Orissa while competing at the all-India level, Behera said.
Behera said it is a matter of concern that number of students taking admission in Plus II and those passing the Plus II examination are not increasing the way it should. While over five lakh students appear for Class X examination, it becomes half by the time students reach Plus II. Various initiatives are aimed at increasing number of students passing Plus II, he said.
Students welcomed the government decision to change the exam pattern. "All entrance examinations are objective type. Making Plus II exam on a similar pattern would ease the burden," said Asmit Sahoo, a Plus II first year science student.

Fixing India's broken education system

It isn't just N R Narayana Murthy who feels that the Indian education system is decaying. When he articulated his disappointment at the declining quality of engineers graduating from the Indian Institutes of Technology earlier this month, he was only saying what the rest of us are thinking.

And if the IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management are presenting lower quality engineers and managers, can you imagine what must be happening at local-level colleges in tier-III towns and cities, the underbelly of modern, shining India?

Young at 125

LUCKNOW: Isabella Thoburn College started as a one-room school with six girls on April 18, 1870. After an year, the college was shifted to Lal Bagh which was the house of the treasurer of the last Nawab of Oudh. It was then the students strength began to increase. By 1876, there were 65 boarders and 51 day scholars on roll in the school. With the demand for higher education growing in the city, the college was named asLucknow Women's College which began functioning on July 12, 1886 with Fine Arts classes affiliated to Calcutta University. In 1984, the college was affiliated to Allahabad University.

The college is the outcome of the dedication, struggles and initiatives of Isabella Thoburn, an American Missionary who was among the first missionaries sponsored by the Women's Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church to India. Though facing the challenges of social taboos, conservative parental attitudes, and epidemics, there was nothing that could dent Thoburn's unflinching determination - to bring education to women of India and empower them.

After 31 challenging years, Thoburn died of cholera in 1901. Hence, the college was named in her memory, IT College, as it is known today. In 1923, the college moved from Lal Bagh to Chand Bagh, its present site. Large modern buildings with proper classrooms, laboratories, hostels, library has been the hallmark of the college, which attracts students in large numbers.

Over the years, the college had made steady contribution in the field of education and upliftment and education of women in India. The college holds the distinction of being the first Women Christian College in Asia.

India Challenged to Provide Jobs, Education to Young Population

As the world hits the 7 billion population mark, much attention is focused on India, which will surpass China to become the world’s most populous country in less than two decades.

The population growth will mean a nation full of working-age youth, which economists say could allow the already booming economy to maintain momentum. But educating this next generation, keeping it healthy and employed also could be a steep challenge.

Thirty-year-old Ravinder Pande works as a chauffeur for a businessman in New Delhi earning $200 a month. He has migrated to the Indian capital from neighboring Uttar Pradesh state, which the United Nations believes will be home to the world’s 7 billionth baby, born on October 31st.

Pande said he made virtually no money working on the small farm he owned and could not find any other work close to his village.

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Top 10 engineering colleges in Bhubaneswar, Orissa 2011

‘Orphan’ girls rescued from TN

For parents in Humla, a remote district in mid-western Nepal, Dala Bahadur Phadera was something of an angel. Worried about their children’s future during the civil war, they found Phadera’s proposal to send them to Kathmandu for safety and a good education a blessing in difficult
Hundreds of parents paid him to take away their boys and girls lest the Maoists enlist them. But Phadera dumped most boys in rundown orphanages in Nepal and sent the girls to Tamil Nadu.
These girls were taken to the Michael Job Centre in Coimbatore, run by PP Job, an evangelist from Kerala.
In a September 7 operation, the Esther Benjamins Trust (EBT), a UK-registered children’s charity, rescued 23 Nepali girls from the centre. Forty-six Indian girls, mostly from North India and Orissa, have also been rescued since then.
These girls were allegedly given Christian names and presented as “Christian orphans” to attract financial sponsors from around the world.
“They were certainly not Christian and for the most part their parents were alive and well,” said Philip Holmes of EBT, who was involved in the rescue.
Following the raid, the TN government has cancelled the orphanage’s licence. However, Job, the head of the centre, is unavailable for comment.
D Rajan, chairman, child welfare committee, Coimbatore and Nilgiris district, said Job had already explained in writing that the “girls were accepted by him into the orphanage without verifying the antecedents”.
Job, who lives in New Delhi, has also reportedly admitted that they were not orphans.
Most of the girls have been reunited with their families, while some remain under the care of EBT and other organisations. “Phadera told our parents that we were being taken to Kathmandu, but he took us to Coimbatore instead. We had no idea where we were going,” said one of the Nepali girls rescued from the centre.
Surprisingly, Nepal has not initiated any action against those involved in sending the girls to Coimbatore. In addition, a section of the Nepalese media has blamed EBT for curtailing the girls’ education.
Parents of some rescued girls have also asked Nepal’s ministry of women, children and social welfare to investigate the rescue operation. The whereabouts of Phadera, who brought the girls to India, are unknown.

Orissa: Koraput District Primary Teachers Union Are on Dharana

Koraput: Several members of the Koraput District Primary Teachers Union have come out in public in a rally to oppose various service related problems while requiring their solution. Now they are picketing in front of Sarba Shikhya Abhijan (DPEP-SSA) office for 12 hours. The material discrepancy and discrimination that has occurred in thetransfer of the teacher’s in koraput district have caused the uproar.

Except above the “misbehavior from the District Project Coordinator (DPC) office to the teachers is rampant” as informed by the District Primary Teachers Union.

It is to be noted that since the beginning of the educational year the teachers transfer matter has been the bone of the content in the teachers circle. Despite of repeated written objection/complaint there has been no reaction from the District Administration. “unless the demand of the picketers are fulfill the strike shall continue” informed the Koraput District Primary Teachers Union. The union has assured that the strike would not impact the day to day education impart. At the moment negotiation continues between the District Primary Teachers Union and the District Administration.

Body count falls short for medical study

BERHAMPUR: Lack of availability of sufficient cadavers has hit the anatomy research and dissention of postgraduate and undergraduate students in all the three government-run medical colleges in the state.
The concept of voluntary body donation has not been popularized in the state, which is one of the reasons of the non-availability of dead bodies for study and research of medical students, anatomists said here on Sunday.
The problem was discussed in the two-day silver jubilee conference of the Orissa state chapter ofAnatomical Society of India (ASI) here. The conference was concluded on Sunday.
"We have suggested to the government to amend the Orissa Anatomy Act 1975 to legalize voluntary body donation for study of students," said ASI president, B K Dutta.
"We get only very few unclaimed bodies for study," he said. As against the requirement of 20 bodies, the availability of cadavers is less than 10 in MKCG Medical College here at present, while the number is much less in two other medical colleges at Cuttack and Burla. Most of these bodies are also of inferior quality, hindering studies, the ASI president said.
"Once the Act is amended, one can pledge to donate one's body after taking one's relatives into confidence. A register would be maintained in medical colleges, listing the donors. After the death of the person, the body can be brought to the colleges for study and research," Dutta said.
Even though anatomists of all three medical colleges of the state have given their suggestions to the director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) for the amendment of the Anatomy Act and to popularize the body donation concept last year, no action has been taken so far, said a senior anatomist.
The state chapter of ASI also urged the government to declare medical colleges in the state as embalming centres to preserve bodies for a short period.

Orissa: Rebuild cyclone shelters and school buildings seek maintenance, after 12 years of super cyclone

Jagatsinghpur: On October 29, Orissa observed 12th anniversary of the 1999 Super Cyclone, arguably the biggest tragedy in the history of the state as well as the country, perhaps as one of the most ravaging natural disaster that mankind has experienced in modern times.
As the state hosted the anniversary certain realties stare us in the face, there is no denying fact that thanks to official apathy and irregularities, several victims of the tragedy are yet to get compensation similarly the reconstruction work in several areas has also been less than satisfactory, government has unable to handle relief distribution, implement housing scheme, restructuring communication system, providing basic necessities to victims in past twelve years an old finger pointing.
Eventually governments lacks post restoration follow up measures as consequence few projects completed successfully have come to dire state draws criticism from public domain, glaring instance any one can find looking cyclone shelter and school buildings constructed aftermath super cyclone 1999 in Jagatsinghpur.
Report said that about all schools in the Jagatsinghpur district were either damaged or razed to the ground in the past devastating super cyclone 1999 most of them have reached rebuilt and repaired. Government agencies, several NGOs and many public undertaking companies had undertaken such new construction and repair works as result thousands of schools were received new faces but situation has arisen due to lack yearly maintenance most of buildings have come dilapidated conditions and unsafe for use ironically government unheeded over the incident in spite of public complaints.

Government authorities are unable to provide adequate funds over the yearly maintenance works, meanwhile the donor NGOs, public companies after completing the construction have been escaped from liability handing over the buildings to the school authorities and pleading bear no risk to provide yearly maintenance cost for future.

Official reports indicate that nearly 801 OBB school buildings have been constructed in Jagatsinghpur district by spending about Rs 16 crore, followed by as many as 972 primary schools, 192 high schools have been constructed and repaired after super cyclone. Besides under cyclone shelter cum school building scheme Paradeep Port trust and Paradeep phosphates limited had undertaken to build 181 school buildings from the Prime minister Relief funds [PMRF] each costing Rs 3.50 Lakh including 30 buildings had built in 4 blocks by National project Construction Corporation under PMRF.

Under chief minister relief fund nearly 8 school buildings and cyclone shelters had constructed at cost Rs 10 Lakh each. Moreover Maharastra government who adopted Jagatsinghpur district after super cyclone has constructed about 52 schools cum cyclone shelters by cost Rs 18 Lakh to 20 Lakh each.
However those public undertaking companies and NGOs had ventured to rebuild school buildings reported as Indian overseas Bank3, TATA Relief 2, CASA 4, Reserve Bank of India 1, RK Mission 1, CMRF phase two 7, LOS 6, HUDCO 10, CYSD 3, RD department 7, Karnatak Govt 1, IRCS 2 and each buildings had cost Rs 15 Lakh to 20 Lakh. Furthermore 17 school buildings had newly constructed under member of parliament local area development funds including all the primary school buildings affected in super cyclone had constructed under Sarva Sikhya Abhuyan [ SSA] scheme.

Official records show that after completion of theses school buildings immediately handed over to the school authorities. Orissa State Disaster Management Authority [OSDMA] had deployed to supervise the work and monitor the quality of construction when school authority and local Panchayat representative had ignored to look after the construction.
But after passing of year’s trouble arises to carry smooth maintenance of these school buildings and yearly repairing cost, state government paid no heed to bear the yearly maintenance cost and donors refused to take any further risk towards maintenance and provide any fund. As consequence most of the buildings have affected and few of them have come under unused and unsafe for use.
According to sources in many school cum cyclone shelters even in a light drizzle leads to seepage from the ceiling in some cyclone shelters poor quality of bricks, little cement had used led to substandard construction in some areas.
Two years ago district administration faced an awkward situation when a parliamentary committee visited Jagatsinghpur district to look after the cyclone shelters funded under MP local area development funds after super cyclone, civil officials put in trouble how to show the visiting dignitaries as many of these buildings have come either damage or unsafe for use so collector called an urgent meeting and instructed SSA authority to repair theses buildings forthwith, unfortunately the parliamentary committee visited only 3 cyclone shelters two in Biridi block and one in Jagatsinghpur and returned back Delhi following urgent engagement and sources informed that the visiting committee members had expressed displeasure after looking these buildings and instructed civil administration taking care of these buildings before their next visit likely in December 2011.
According one Sandeep Panda a civil engineer says that each building needs some yearly maintenance expenditure for its smooth longevity and it is described during the project estimate is being made , at least 2 percent can be allotted apart from the project cost for this purpose, in absence of yearly maintenance a building loses its durability, he informs.
On the other hand district school authorities expressed yearly maintenance of school buildings have curtailed by education department after SSA projects launched however SSA funds cannot be diverted for this purpose, informed Nirmal Das , District project coordinator , SSA.

However OSDMA sources said for multi purpose cyclone shelters annually Rs50,000 each have been provided to the registered cyclone shelter management and maintenance committee [ CSMMC] exists in village level as corpus fund for management and maintenance of these buildings but it is not possible to provide yearly funds to each cyclone shelter built after super cyclone towards its yearly maintenance while we are taking care those buildings require urgent renovation and repair.

Examination fees hiked after flood waiver

BHUBANESWAR: Days after the state government announced to waive examination and tuition fees of students in flood-affected districts, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Orissa, announced on Saturday to hike Plus II examination fees by Rs 15 per student. The move sparked wide resentment from students.
On October 2, the government had decided to waive examination fees of Class X and XII students in all the 21 flood-hit districts and not to collect tuition fees of students who were yet to pay. However, the CHSE has decided to increase the examination fees from Rs 150 to Rs 165 for all Class XII students in the state now.
"We are yet to receive any communique from the government about the fee waiver," said CHSE controller of examination Jasobanta Behera, when asked about the hike. He said the council increased the fees "nominally" to meet the differential charges in bringing more transparency in the examination system.
Contrary to the prevalent practice of sending answer sheets from examination centres to evaluation centres, CHSE would henceforth send answer sheets to four identified receiving zones of Sambalpur, Balasore, Berhampur and Bhubaneswar. The receiving zones would send the papers to the evaluation centres through a random pick and choose process. This would mean principals would not be able to figure out the evaluation centres of their colleges. "Earlier, we have instances of principals trying to influence the evaluation centres. The new step will eliminate that chance," Behera said. The process of sending answer sheets via receiving zones would mean an extra cost of around Rs 40 lakh in transit, warranting the fee hike, he said.
On an average, about 2.5 lakh students appear for the Plus II examination in science, arts, commerce and vocational streams in regular and ex-regular categories annually. Going by this data, at the rate of Rs 165 per student, the examination fee is expected to generate a revenue of about Rs 4 crore. The council spends around Rs 2 crore in conducting the examinations.
Student organizations have slammed the fee hike. "It has exposed the double standards in the functioning of the government. The fee hike decision came as a rude shock for students, especially in flood-affected areas. We will protest the move," said Ashok Mishra, president of All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO), Orissa. AIDSO had recently staged a demonstration, seeking complete fee waiver for Class X, XII and Plus III students in flood-affected districts, besides a financial package for the students.

North Carolina varsity to open India office

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill plans to open an office in India, following in the footsteps of Harvard Business School andUniversity of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, as it seeks to increase its engagement with Asia’s third largest economy.
The North Carolina university’s Kenan-Flagler Business School will open an office in India within six months, said James Dean, dean of the 92-year-old business school.
“The emerging economies are vital for us; and when we talk of this, we mean India, China and Brazil,” Dean said during a recent visit to Delhi.
“We will open our India office in one of the big cities of India,” he said, hinting that the office could be in Mumbai or New Delhi. The office will increase the university’s interaction with local companies, help it conduct research, carry out case studies and facilitate faculty and student exchanges. The university does not plan a campus in India immediately.
“At least 10% of our classrooms in the US are filled by Indians; hence, we understand the country and its growing stature,” Dean said in a telephone interview.
Kenan-Flagler admits 300 students every year. The institute has devised an elective on India and its economy as part of its on-campus full-time MBA course. “For the last few years, nearly 50-60 students including some Indians are coming here for exposure trips. They interact with business houses for few weeks. We want to expand this engagement for sure,” Dean said.
Some students also come to India on student exchange programmes with institutes such as the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, for a term that typically stretches for around three months.
Some weeks earlier, Wharton announced it would open an India office in 2012 and engage in executive education, a revenue churner for business schools worldwide. These programmes target professionals and are delivered as either part-time or full-time courses.
Harvard opened its India Research Center (IRC) five years earlier in Mumbai, from where it drives its executive education agenda as well as its research and case study programmes. The Harvard Business Review, the management magazine it publishes, has tied up with the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, to promote its case studies.
Bharat Gulia, senior manager at consulting firm Ernst and Young, said such moves by leading foreign business schools are only logical as India’s economy continues to grow even in the face of a global economic slowdown. “The practical question is where is the opportunity to grow? Professors need consulting and students need exposure. Here, India is a great place,” he said.