IIM-Ahmedabad's first-year PGP batch completed its placement process much ahead of its schedule time. In this placement session, more than 130 companies participated in three different clusters of placement.

There were many recruiters who were willing to recruit students, but because of early completion companies that were planning to visit campus as part of fourth cluster canceled their schedule as there were no more students to participate in the session.

Amith J M, a member of Student Placement Committee, mentioned that the process completed early because students find interesting offers of their choices in the companies that participated the first three clusters.

The committee was not ready to disclose the names of participating firms that were slotted for cluster four or whether all 383 students from the present batch participated in the placement process.

On the other side, second-year PGP student said the early recruitment of the first-year students for the summer internships is 'encouraging' for the upcoming final placements for their batch. They also mentioned that summer placement had completed ahead of the time in all IIMs too.

According to the recent placement reports, 366 students from IIM Kozhikode within 25 days, whereas IIM Calcutta managed to place 466 students in just four days, while IIM-Lucknow students get placed in 453 students being picked up in five days.

At IIMA's third cluster, firms from e-commerce sector visited in significant number. Students who got recruited by these companies will intern in respective companies for about two months during their summer vacations in 2013.

Some of big names from the financial sector such as Axis bank, HDFC and World Bank participated in the placement process and recruited students. FMCG and consulting firms were also participants in the process.

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USA has been a melting pot for students interested in higher education outside their country. A degree from USA has always been an expensive dream for students coming from developing countries like ours. Still Indian students are responsible for major chunk of international student population at any US University.

Education and Immigration policies which have been part of US president's election campaign may bring in certain favorable changes for student community as well as skilled workers keen to settle down in US.

For USA nationals increase in the Federal Pell Grant awards for undergraduate students and "Pay as you Earn Plan" for repayment of loans have been heartily welcomed.

For international student community, students can eye on the cuts in the tuition fees rise year on year. His plans are ambitious as he is looking for a 50% reduction in the rate at which tuition fees rises on yearly basis. He is also all set to increase the employment opportunities for College graduates. Favoring international student community, there has been an increase to the number of fields of eligibility for 29 months OPT program.

This will surely encourage many potential candidates to narrow down on US education.

In addition to the education policies, Immigration policies would undergo a major reform addressing illegal immigration and retention of skilled workers. Skilled workers who are committed to contribute to American society would not face much trouble to become a permanent resident.

Although US President's plans are pretty ambitious but till now he has been able to keep up to his promises and is known to be a student friendly President.

Coming financial year will give us a clear picture on Mr. Obama's credibility as a student friendly President.

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In last decade, Canada has noticed a remarkable increase of almost 75% in the numbers of international students coming to country. Since 2008, the number of students coming to Canada has recorded a good jump of nearly 220%.

This report was published by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE). The numbers of students enrolled in Canadian colleges/universities are 23,000 which is just one third of the actual number of students from China. Presently, 67,000 students from China are enrolled in Canadian universities.

Mathai, director of Delhi-based MM Advisory Services, which consults on international recruitment strategies in India, and the former director of the Canada Education Centre India, stated that earlier Indian students preferred to study in Canadian colleges as compared to USA and UK because of high cost associated with getting education. But the economic changes and stronger position of Canadian dollar has changed the situation.

But Mathai also pointed other incentives that continued to attract students from India. The colleges should highlight points such as wide range of research opportunities and employment, the relative ease in transitioning to permanent resident status, a high quality of living and social and political structure of the country. He said, "The absence of a clear national brand, which is present among Canada's competitors, leaves participants wondering who the sponsor of the communications is."

The competition is really high to attract students from India, as other market players are using various measures to get the best benefits by attracting Indian students. So while making strategies colleges should ensure that they are using right strategies.

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Delhi University is not only popular among India students but it is equally famous among foreign students too. To live up its reputation and maintain its position it makes endless efforts. This time Delhi University has come up with a new concept to make studies more interesting and increase the participation of students. DU is thinking to launch a new college that will run on wheels or you can call it 'College-on-Wheels'.

The university is working on this out of box idea to establish a college on a train, which will travel across the country to make students aware of new concepts and enable them to learn theories through practical experience and live exposure. To realise this concept the university is in talks with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to release a train. The train will be especially customised to create a well-equipped mobile college.

According to the plan, all the enrolled students will stay and study on the train for a semester. The duration of the semester has not yet decided but it will be from three to six months. DU official think that the 'college-on-wheels' will increase the importance the four year meta-university undergraduate degree about to be started from next academic year.

Prof. Dinesh Singh, DU vice-chancellor, said, "We are working on launching a regular college on a train which we will take on a longterm lease from IRCTC. People are quite receptive to such innovative ideas. I hope the college-train should be running in a couple of years, though we would want it to be launched in the next session itself."

Singh added, "We would like to have the train for 50 years. But we will probably fix the lease period at 20 years. This college is going to be a great learning experience." The train will cost DU at least Rs. 50 crore for one time-lease. The DU is planning to develop it on the save pattern of usual colleges equipped with classrooms, labs, common rooms, library and accommodation on board. He said, "It will have internet facility, reading rooms, a good stock of books with, of course, enough security on board. The train will have space for 800 to 1,000 students."

This mobile college will apply open door policy for each student. It will allow foreign students and students from other universities to take admission in this programme.

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Indian business schools are expanding themselves and attracting more and more students from overseas. Now Indian B-Schools have been allowed to admit students on the basis of globally recognized graduate management aptitude test (GMAT). This initiative will help these schools to attract more students from foreign countries.

Almost 4,000 foreign students are presently getting education across all disciplines of higher education in India every year, as per government data. But business schools want to increase the number of students to make classrooms more diverse. It will also help to improve their global raking, presence and gain international accreditations.

The 13 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the country's premier schools, decided to take some measures to attract more international students. Last month the HRD ministry also gave them formal permission to improve their brand image to international level so that more foreign students can join them.

Now the institutes will enroll students on the basis of GMAT score, which is recognized and accepted in more than 110 countries. Now it will be easier for India's 3000-plus business schools to attract more international students.

H.Chaturvedi, director of Birla Institute of Management and Technology said, "We all know the credibility of GMAT. Our schools' diversity index is poor, and this works as a stumbling block whenever we apply for international accreditation. This will now be taken care of."

The decision is part of the HRD ministry-controlled regulator All India Council for Technical Education's (AICTE) efforts to simplify the admission process for business schools.

Many business schools earlier used to conduct their own entrance test to admit student, to make admission process more transparent. This year AICTE announced to stop this practice and asked all B-Schools to select students on the basis of the common admission test (CAT) conducted by the IIMs, management aptitude test conducted by the All India Management Association, Xavier Aptitude Test conducted by XLRI, Jamshedpur; the joint management entrance test (JMET) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs); and a national test conducted by the AICTE.

The IITs do away with JMET in August and decided to use CAT as their basis for admission to management courses. The Graduate Management Aptitude Council, which conducts GMAT, welcomed the step. "The government accepting us as one of the exams for admitting students in recognized business schools in India will help the sector get foreign students. This is a sweet crucial step in the direction of internationalising management colleges," said Ashish Bhardwaj, the council's regional director for South Asia.

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Mr. Kapil Sibal's meeting with IIT directors on June 30, discussed progress of New IITs. It also saw the minister assuring the directors that a special cell would be set up in the ministry to facilitate entry of foreign faculty in IITs. The meeting also discussed the need to create, subject to ministry's approval, an international pool of faculty for IITs. The matter will be discussed in a separate meeting of IIT directors.

To deal with faculty shortage, IIT directors have been told to double PhD intake and prepare a list of students who were awarded PhD degrees this year. The list may be exchanged with directors of other IITs who can consider them for appointment as faculty.

The number of foreign students enrolled in US Colleges and universities has noticed a growth for the second year too in row. In this figure the highest numbers of students are from China and followed by India.

In year 2011-12 academic year, the number of international students increase 5.7 percent to a record high of 764,494. The top countries which contributed in this list were China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada. Indian and Chinese students collectively contributed 38.5% of all international students.

International students contributed nearly $22.7 billion to the US economy in the form of tuition, accommodation and board, other local spending as per the date published by the 2012 Open Door on International Education Exchange report released by the Institute of International Education.

USA Today also reports that generally international students pay higher fee as compared to domestic students. Nearly, two-thirds use personal and family funds to support their studies. This revenue helps these colleges to offer financial aids and scholarships to their domestic students.

Colleges and universities pay special attention to attract more students from Asia, mainly from China. Over 70 percent of the surveyed institutions indicated they have taken special measures to ensure that number of foreign students does not decrease in their campuses.

Ann Stock, the State Department's assistant secretary for educational and cultural affairs, said, "International education creates strong, lasting relationships between the U.S. and emerging leaders worldwide. Students return home with new perspectives and a global skill set that will allow them to build more prosperous, stable societies."

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The Indian Institute of Technology has become one of the most preferred IITs in the country this year. What is surprising to know that old and reputed IITs are still facing a problem in filling all the seats. Even after all the rounds of counselling are over, IITs are finding it difficult to find competent students to fill their seats. On the other hand, IIT-Hyderabad, which started functioning just three years back, has achieved a status with not a single seat left unfilled of its 140 seats. In fact, it has given admission to two more students owing to the great demand this year.

There are total 7,536 B. Tech seats vacant in all 15 IITs of the country this year. Even after completion of all the counselling rounds, just 7,316 seats were filled. There are still 220 seats are vacant.

On the other hand, seats are going vacant in various prominent IITs that were established some decades ago, such as IIT-Kharagpur as it has 55 seats vacant. IIT-Madras has 17 seats vacant and IIT-Roorkee still has 63 seats vacant, which is the maximum number of seats vacant for any IIT. IIT-Hyderabad is the only institute among the eight new IITs that were established by the Centre in 2008.

Presently, IIT Hyderabad is one of the largest of the new IITs with total number of students 762, which includes M.Tech, Ph.D and M.Sc. (physics/chemistry). Prof Uday B.Desai, director, IIT-H, said, "Invention and innovation have been the top priority of IIT-H since its inception. I think this has attracted students."

According to Prof Desai, in its first year, almost 60% students were from Andhra Pradesh, and the remaining seats were filled by the students from other states. But, from the second year the trend has changed. Almost 70 per cent of the students are now from other parts of the country. He also mentioned that the IIT-H has developed as a 'national campus'. He said, "We want to maintain the excellent teaching standards. IIT-H is the only IIT among the new ones to launch M.Tech, Ph.D and M.Sc courses along with B.Tech."

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Nearly 10,000 Indian students who have completed their medical education from foreign universities are unemployed or under-employed. The reason behind this unemployment is these aspirants failed to clear the screening test conducted by the Medical Council of India (MCI). The test is mandatory for all students to take who have completed their medical education. These graduates are thinking to approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Parliament to demand that the test to be scrapped.

Dr. Ameer Jahan Chief Patron of All India Foreign Medical Graduates Association, said each students had spend between Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 lakh to get their degree from foreign university. He said, "They spend half of what it would cost at a private college here. Their course is nearly seven years long compared to the five-and-half-year medical course here. Every time they fail the screening test, they get delayed by six months and get depressed."

Since 2002, students who have completed their medical degree from a foreign university have to appear for a screening test which is conducted by MCI, the regulatory authority for medical education. Those students who clear the screening test, conducted by National Board of Examinations, gets certification from the state medical council which allows them to do a year-long internship in a medical university or hospital in the state. Till now, the highest passing percentage has been 50% in 2005. The passing percentage varied year by year in 2003 it was as minimal as 9% and last year it was 27%.

A senior MCI official said they would not scrap or remove the test. The official said, "Medicine, unlike other courses, cannot be taken lightly. Doctors deal with lives. We want to convince ourselves that every doctor is adequately trained." Every year the screening test is conducted in the month of March or September.

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There were colourful balloons, excitement was at all time high and the atmosphere buzzed with peals of laughter! The NCC cadets of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-K) participated in the hot air ballooning event conducted on the IIT airstrip recently with great fervour.

Describing this event as a precursor to kindle a passion in the youth to opt for adventure activities in the future, Lt Col Anil Kumar, Commanding Officer of the NCC Unit of IIT-Kanpur, said: "An activity like hot air ballooning instils a sense of resilience in the NCC cadets apart from ingraining qualities of self-confidence, tenacity, camaraderie and spirit of adventure."

This adventure activity was conducted under the aegis of the UP Adventure Sport Foundation. The event saw a huge participation by both IIT students and NCC cadets. While many cadets described this event as an exhilarating one, students got a rejuvenating break from their busy schedules.

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BITS, Pilani invites applications for new admissions to session 2009-10 starting in December 2009 for Work-Integrated Learning Programmes.

1. Integrated First Degree Programme: B.S. Engineering Technology (ET)
Duration: 6 Semesters

Input requirements: Employed professionals holding a Technical Diploma or an undergraduate degree such as B.Sc with minimum two year relevalt experience in Engineering Industries.

2. Higher Degree Programmes: A) M.S. Manufacturing Management (MM) ; B) M.S. Software Systems (SS)

Duration 4 Semesters

Input requirements: Employed professionals holding an Integrated First Degree of BITS or equivalent such as BE/M.Sc with minimum one year relevant experience in Engineering Industries (for MM) and IT Industries (for SS).

Application Process: Application form and programme details can be downloaded from "Bits". Duly completed application form along with DD ( processiong fee) of Rs.1000/- drawn in favour of 'Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani' payable at Pilani should be sent to "Dean, WILPD , Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - 333031, Rajasthan - India

Last date for receipt of completed applications is 30th October 2009.

Address:
Work Integrated Learning Programmes,

Faculty Division - III ,

Birla Institute of Technology & Science,

PILANI-333031, Rajasthan

Phone No: 01596-242210/245073 Ext: 216

Fax No: 01596 - 244183

Email: dlp-admission@dlpd.bits-pilani.ac.in

BITS, Pilani invites applications for new admissions to session 2009-10 starting in December 2009 for Work-Integrated Learning Programmes.

1. Integrated First Degree Programme: B.S. Engineering Technology (ET)

Duration: 6 Semesters

Input requirements: Employed professionals holding a Technical Diploma or an undergraduate degree such as B.Sc with minimum two year relevalt experience in Engineering Industries.

2. Higher Degree Programmes: A) M.S. Manufacturing Management (MM) ; B) M.S. Software Systems (SS)

Duration 4 Semesters

Input requirements: Employed professionals holding an Integrated First Degree of BITS or equivalent such as BE/M.Sc with minimum one year relevant experience in Engineering Industries (for MM) and IT Industries (for SS).

Application Process: Application form and programme details can be downloaded from "Bits". Duly completed application form along with DD ( processiong fee) of Rs.1000/- drawn in favour of 'Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani' payable at Pilani should be sent to "Dean, WILPD , Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - 333031,
Rajasthan - India

Last date for receipt of completed applications is 30th October 2009.

Address:
Work Integrated Learning Programmes,

Faculty Division - III ,

Birla Institute of Technology & Science,

PILANI-333031, Rajasthan

Phone No: 01596-242210/245073 Ext: 216

Fax No: 01596 - 244183

Email: dlp-admission@dlpd.bits-pilani.ac.in

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Six months after the British Medical Association lashed homeopathy as witchcraft with no scientific basis, IIT scientists have said the sweet white pills work on the principle of nanotechnology.

In a latest research conducted by IIT, which is published in the latest issue of Homeopathy, a peer-reviewed journal from medical publishing firm Elsevier, it was said that Homeopathic pills contain naturally occurring metals such as gold, copper and iron retain their potency even when diluted to a nanometre or one-billionth of a metre.

These results were found after students of IIT-B chemical engineering department bought homeopathic pills from nearby shops, prepared highly diluted solutions and checked these under powerful electron microscopes to find nanoparticles of the original metal.

The research says that homeopathy has been a mystery for modern medicine. Its practitioners maintained that homeopathic pills got more potent on dilution, but they could never explain the mechanism scientifically enough for the modern scientist.

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Delhi University (DU) is making all efforts to make get a place among world class universities, towards this DU would soon offer research porgrammes. An official informed that after Meta University courses, the Cluster Innovation Centre in Delhi University (DU) would soon offer these courses to students.

Union Human Resource Development Ministry will fund the design innovative center in the university. Four such institutes will be established in IIT-Delhi, IIT-Guwahati, IIT-Bombay and IISC-Bangalore.

The DU centre will get digital fabrication, media and graphics, modelling and stimulation laboratories. The main purpose of these laboratories will be focus on developing computer-aided design, graphic image development and concept generation in areas such as advertising, urban infrastructure, electronics and mass communication.

Once the signing of memorandum will be done with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the university will soon get a centre for excellence under the Cluster Innovation Centre.

Madan Chaturvedi, director of the Cluster Innovation Centre, said, "A major component of the centre for excellence will be that DRDO scientist could become adjunct faculty at the university. They will be able to become sole supervisors of MPhil and PhD students."

A third research facility, called Centre for Cryosphere studies, will received funding from the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Chaturvedi said, said, "Undergraduate research needs to be encouraged and to take it beyond the current level, it is necessary to have advanced research centre on campus."

He also mentioned that Delhi University is thinking to get people with expertise in varied fields to visit the campus, take lecture and interact with students. He also said, "These guest professors can be Nobel Laureates, honorary professors, visiting, adjunct and emeritus professors."

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The Indian Institute of Information Technology, Delhi, whose first batch has passed out in 2012 noticed an impressive 98% placement. Most of the students got placement in leading companies with an average pay package of Rs. 10 lakh per annum.

While inaugurating the new campus of IIIT, Delhi at Okhla, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said she was happy with the way the institute, which was established as a State university, has turned up. She also mentioned that the intake of the students in different batches was expected to double on completion of the second phase of its campus construction at Okhla campus.

Ms. Dikshit said, presently there were 410 students studying in B.Tech courses, in M.Tech 110, and 40 students in Ph.D courses and the number of students is going to double in the next three years.

She also said that the government was very much interest to develop the Institute as a world class centre for the information and technology and allied science by offering the best education to students to make them industry ready.

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