Monster.com launches Aspire and hosts career drive
Monster.com has launched Aspire, a recruiting solutions platform that allows candidates to take assessment tests to prove job readiness for a host of industry functions. The platform will also be the gateway to register for all Monster organised Virtual Career Fairs. Visit www.monsterindia.com/aspire for details. Monster is also hosting Aspire VCF, a career drive for young professionals to be held on November 9, 10, and 11, to form an effective campus connection and provide placement support to entry-level talent. Registrations are open till November 11 and those interested can register at www.monsterindia.com/aspire/career-fair.html
OUP releases report on digital education
Oxford University Press (OUP) recently published a new global report exploring the digital divide in education, following the shift to digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report — which can be accessed at https://oup.foleon.com/report/digital-divide/cover/ — captures the views of 1,557 school and English language teachers from 92 countries on the digital divide, including the barriers to effective teaching and learning, and the impact of the divide on learners’ development. Based on the insights gathered, the report puts forward recommendations for policymakers and educators to future-proof the education system and narrow a divide that unfairly disadvantages millions of learners all over the world. The report will be discussed in more depth at The Forum For Educators, an upcoming event that brings together educators from around the world to connect and share ideas on how to improve learning for the future. Register for the event at https://events.oup.com/series/forum-for-educators-learning/series_summit
Doctors on Call webinar by SGU School of Medicine
St. George’s University (SGU) School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies, invites aspiring medical students to a ‘Doctors on Call’ webinar on November 9, at 8.30 PM IST. Hosted by Dr. Sukanya Vartak, a psychiatry resident in New York and Dr. Chloe Moses, a resident at Rochford Mental Health Hospital in the U.K., the webinar offers a chance to speak to practising doctors and graduates of SGU School of Medicine. The webinar will be held on Zoom and those interested can join through the link https://bit.ly/SGU_9Nov
Education in Ireland fair
Education in Ireland, a Government of Ireland brand under the authority of the Minister for Education and Skills, hosted a virtual education showcase for Indian and Sri Lankan students to learn more about Ireland and have their concerns about the higher education scenario in Ireland resolved. The fair had over 3,000 registrations and 45 representatives from 20 Higher Education Institutions and various government and visa officials help students understand the procedures and requirements for their transition to becoming an international student in Ireland. The event captured over 1,500 chat-based interactions between students and Irish representatives. Education in Ireland is planning to return with a pan India physical fair early next year.
IIIT-Delhi hosts workshop
Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) organised a free workshop on “Leading Self to Excellence” under the aegis of the AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) programme. The session was conducted by Dr. Anuj Grover, Associate Dean, IRD at IIIT-Delhi and around 200 participants from across the country participate in the five-day intensive workshop. IIIT-Delhi will host two more workshops by Dr. Shobha Sundar Ram, and Dr. Sumit Darak shortly. Those interested can register at https://www.aicte-india.org/atal
VMC student secures AIR 8 in MNS exam
Bhumika Dalal, a student of Vidyamandir Classes, New Delhi, got an All India Rank 8 in the Military Nursing Services (MNS) exam. The Directorate General of Medical Services (Army) announced the results for the Indian Army B. Sc Nursing programme recently. Bhumika has been selected for B.Sc Nursing Course 2021 at the College of Nursing, Army Hospital(R&R) Delhi.
Sasmit Patra is Distinguished Professor at MDI
Sasmit Patra (Ph.D.), Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha, has been appointed as Distinguished Professor at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gururam. An academic by profession, Patra has taught courses in the areas of organisational behaviour and human resource management and also has experience of working in industry. Trained as a lawyer, he has a pro bono law practice. As media coordinator of the Biju Janata Dal, he has handled the IT and digital platforms for his party.
At the National Junior Athletics Championship
Arjun, a Class 9 student of Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi, bagged the bronze medal in the Boys U-16 Javelin Throw event at 36th National Junior Athletics Championship held in Assam. Arjun has won several gold medals at different state-level meets and is currently ranked in the top 8 in the U-16 Boys category.
ABWA students host Pride Week
The students of Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA) successfully conducted a ‘ Pride Week’ programme to raise awareness about creating an inclusive atmosphere, The focus was on “Building Allyship” and students created a video around 'Why is it important to spread awareness about LGBTQIA+ community' and amplified it on social media. They also shared various posters and videos on social media and hosted art competitions, workshops, discussions and other activities.
IIT-M’s Robert Bosch centre to launch Industrial Consortium
Indian Institute of Technology Madras Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (RBCDSAI) is launching the ‘RBCDSAI Industrial Consortium’ to provide information resources support on cutting-edge technologies to industries working on Artificial Intelligence. The consortium will enable members to learn about the scientific developments and latest trends in AI and Data Science through broad-based interaction with the Centre and its faculty members and access to the events and workshops organised by RBCDSAI. The consortium membership will also facilitate enhanced interaction with the research ecosystem and help develop a specialised workforce that can benefit member companies. It will also act as a forum that leverages synergistic capabilities of the eventual users, solution providers, solution platform developers and academicians.
LPU student athletes in Pro Kabbadi League
Five student-athletes from Lovely Professional University (LPU) have been selected for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8. These include Surinder Singh, Sagar, Rakesh Sangroya, Mitu Sharma and Jaideep Dahiya. The Pro Kabaddi League’s new season is scheduled to start from December 22, 2021 in Bengaluru, Karnataka. LPU’s students have joined teams such as Telugu Titans, Tamil Thalaivaas, Gujarat Giants and Haryana Steelers.
BOSSE Skikkim celebrates first Foundation Day
The Board of Open Schooling and Skill Education (BOSSE), Sikkim, celebrated its first foundation day recently. To mark this occasion, a National Conference on “NEP 2020! Towards India Centred Holistic Inclusive Quality School Education” was held. The event was inaugurated with a welcome address by Dr. Kuldeep Agarwal, Vice Chairperson, BOSSE, Sikkim and followed by an inaugural address by Dr. Subhas Sarkar, MoS Education, Government of India, who was the Chief Guest.
mPokket offers digital scholarship
mPokket invites applications for its digital scholarship that aims to help students manage financial challenges during these troubled times. Open to all college students across India, the programme plans to reach 5000 students over the next 12 months. Students have to upload proof of their latest college mark sheet, tuition fee statement and any other past scholarship certificate (if applicable). The student’s faculty member will need to upload a recommendation letter on his/her behalf. After verification, the scholarship amount will be deposited in the students’ bank account. They will also receive a digital scholarship certificate.
IIT-Jodhpur to offer B.Tech in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur will offer a B.Tech in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering that will will open career paths not only in conventional areas but also in interdisciplinary ones such as Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Energy, Environment, Transportation, etc.), Digital twins and asset management, and Application of AI & ML, IoT, and Cyber-Physical Systems in built-in infrastructure, among others. The programme will have dedicated core and elective courses that allow students to earn a specialisation in either ‘Smart infrastructure’ or ‘Environmental engineering’ in addition to the regular B.Tech. The programme focuses on Engineering design, product development, training in intellectual property and entrepreneurship and students will have to undertake multidisciplinary projects in smart infrastructure and sustainable development.
Investments in edtech
In a strategic investment round, 21 angel investors from the Indian startup ecosystem participated and invested an undisclosed amount in Masai School , the career-focused alternative education start-up. With this, the company has effectively added 21 more partners to its mission and aims to have its new partners as a strong sounding board to help build a more robust student curriculum, which aligns with the industry needs. The July to September placement season also saw companies such as Ajio, Meesho, No Broker, HomeLane, WhiteHat Jr, Cuemath, Koo App and others recruiting students from the platform. The company recorded 100% placements with the maximum number of graduates (about 70%) coming from Tier II and III cities and towns. Further, 44% came from non-Computer Science backgrounds.
Healthcare edtech startup Virohan received additional $1.3 mn in funding from its existing investors such as Keiretsu Forum, Priya Shah (General Partner at Theia Ventures), Better Capital, Vikas Gambhir (Partner - Grant Thornton) and Joydeep Battacharya (Partner - Bain & Co), before the Series B raise. Virohan plans to utilizse these funds to expand to new geographies across India, develop newer training programmes, content in vernacular languages and develop new features to further increase learning outcomes for students.
Online business school Stoa School has roped in the founders of start-ups such as Zerodha, CRED, Udemy, Myntra, Redbus and Zivame as its backers. The initial investment of $1.5Mn will help the online B-School scale up its capacity to serve more learners, introduce new programmes as well as build tech for running its online-first campus.
unlu announces first cohort
unlu, an immersive learning platform in creative education, recently announced the launch of its first cohort of aspiring singers. Its flagship cohort programme helps aspiring creators learn from top industry experts and celebrity instructors and collaborate with other creators. The cohort comprises a 50-member batch who will get access to India’s largest curated community of singers, lyricists, composers, and producers and will include 100+ hours of structured learning and 12-16 weeks of curated content with lifetime community access.
MAHE to hold marathon in February
Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), in association with Udupi district Amateur Athletic Association, has decided to hold the fifth edition of Manipal Marathon (MM 2022) on February 13, 2022. The announcement was made in the presence of Raghupathi Bhat, MLA of Udupi and President, Udupi district Amateur Athletic Association; Dr. H.S. Ballal, Pro-Chancellor, MAHE; Dr. Narayana Sabhahit, Registrar of MAHE; S.P. Kar, Director, PR, Media and Social Media Cell, MAHE; and Dr. Vinod Nayak, Secretary, Sports Council, MAHE. COVID protocols as defined by Government and various regulators will be strictly implemented during the marathon.
Learning about maps and movements
Heritage Xperiential Learning School recently completed an expedition for Class 4 students on ‘Maps: Exploration and Movement’ to help them understand their expanding social and physical spaces. The objective was also to help students understand the reasons behind journeys and their impact in shaping the world around us. The students explored reading and creating maps, different kinds of landforms, the concept of migration and how goods and ideas travelled.
NSDC launches Impact Bond for Skilling
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) — in collaboration with a coalition comprising HRH Prince Charles’s British Asian Trust, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, HSBC India, JSW Foundation and Dubai Cares, with FCDO (UK Government) & USAID as technical partners — announced the launch of Impact Bond for Skilling. The coalition has brought together a $14.4 million fund to benefit 50,000 young people in India (60% women and girls) over four years. The aim is to equip them with skills and vocational training and provide access to wage-employment in COVID-19 recovery sectors including retail, apparel, healthcare, and logistics.
FICCI Arise launches white paper on education
FICCI Arise launched a white paper on the need to hold discussions around the means to achieve quality education for all through structural reforms. The report has been authored by Vardan Kabra , Co-founder and Head, Fountainhead School, and Anupam Gupta, CA and an expert in thematic research, and brought forward ideological arguments around the lack of universal access to quality education to all students and what needs to be done to achieve the same.
Sunil Gavaskar on public speaking
LEAD organised its third MasterClass with former Indian international cricketer Sunil Gavaskar talking to over 8 lakh students about the importance of public speaking as a life skill and being an effective communicator. He also shared his views on the correlation between body language and public speaking while offering some exercises to improve speaking skills. He also shared vignettes from his stints as TV commentator and anecdotes on how he developed the confidence to communicate effectively with a large audience.
Ethical hacking in a fun way
Cyber0ids, a team of students from Amrita School of Engineering, Chennai Campus, was ranked 40th among the 680 teams that took part in the Tamil Capture The Flag (CTF) 2021, a cybersecurity competition. The main categories/domains of the Tamil CTF were web exploitation, PWN, reverse engineering, forensics, cryptography, and OSINT. The members were: Sanjai Siddharthan M. (III, B.Tech. Computer Science Engineering), Shraddha Chopra (II, B.Tech., Cyber Security), Dhanvinesh K. (II B.Tech., Cyber Security), Aghilan A. (II B.Tech., Electronics and Communication Engineering), and Jyothika Prakash Nambiar (II B.Tech., Cyber Security). Three teams from Amrita School of Engineering, Chennai Campus, took part in the competition.
Healthians to collaborate with SVSU
Healthians, providers of at-home diagnostic services, in collaboration with Shri Vishwakarma Skill University (SVSU) has announced the launch of the On-The-Job Training programme of selected youth candidates who have enrolled in a dual training and skilling programme of B. Voc. MLT and Public Health/Short Term Programmes offered by the Sri Vishwakarma Skilling University. The partnership aims to provide high-quality vocational training in the healthcare sector; create guaranteed, sustainable, and long-term employment opportunities and fulfil the demand for skilled professionals in the phlebotomy and the diagnostic labs sector.
Deeksha Inter-Campus Extravaganza
The annual Deeksha Inter-Campus Extravaganza (dICE) this year saw unique competitions such as creating ‘Wealth Out of Waste’ and ‘What’s on your mind?’ among others bringing student talents to the forefront. Flute players, Bharatanatyam artists, budding environmentalists, orators and artists, classical and western singers came together on a virtual platform to inspire each other and keep their creative juices flowing through the academic year. About 1600 students have participated till date in the year-long festivities. As social ties are a crucial part of socio-emotional development, the team at Deeksha identified innovative ways to keep the incoming batch of 2021-23 engaged and interactive.
ABEA to collaborate with Aditya Birla Public Schools
Aditya Birla Education Academy announced a collaboration with Aditya Birla Public Schools to upskill 500 secondary and senior secondary school teachers across 54 schools. To encourage their educators, and to augment their skillsets, Aditya Birla Public Schools will help them enhance their skills and develop their core competencies in subjects such as English, Maths, Science, Social Science, Hindi for Secondary teachers and English, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Accountancy and Economics for Senior Secondary teachers.
Achievements at LPU
A team of researchers, led by Dr. Devesh Tiwari of Lovely Professional University, conducted a study on wild Himalayan fig and found that it has medicinal properties to alleviate pain. Known as Bedu in the Kumaon region, the wild Himayalan fig also has many other medicinal benefits. The research was carried out in collaboration with Lovely Professional University, Kumaon University, Ganpat University, Sharda University, Messina University in Italy and Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran. According to the study, extracts from the fig can be used as an ingredient in nutraceutical products with therapeutic values. The details can be found at https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1685
The Global Youth Parliament has selected S.M. Sammam Sakti Ibn Sahadat, third year Mechanical Engineering student of Lovely Professional University, for the ‘Global Youth Leadership Award 2021’ for his contribution towards the education sector. Sammam who is from Bangladesh, is the founder of Education 4 All, a project that is active in more than five countries and works to provide education to underprivileged children and to increase Bangladesh's literacy rate to 100% by 2030.
Nikhil Mittal joins Skill Lync
Engineering education start-up Skill-Lync recently appointed Nikhil Mittal as the Head of Growth to oversee Marketing and Sales and build robust processes. His earlier stint includes working with Vodafone, Zain Telecom, Tata Docomo, and Ericsson across India and international geographies. Before joining Skill-Lync, Mittal was VP Marketing at WhiteHat Jr.
Mar Thoma Public School launches Digital Library and Tinkering Lab
The Mar Thoma Public School, Kochi, launched a Digital Library and a Tinkering Lab, inaugurated by Santosh P.R. Infopark Circle Inspector of Police, in the presence of Vanaja Harikumar, Principal; Very Rev. Dr. C. A. Varghese, President of Mar Thoma Educational Society; and Sarah Pamela John Director for Training and Evaluation. An explanatory video on the benefits of an e-library was sent to students to help them access the available 650 books easily. Students also exhibited innovative projects created by them under the guidance of Jithin Lawrence, InCharge Tinkering Lab.
