Smart classrooms
Haryana CSR Advisory Board has recently launched an initiative to empower all schools in the state with Smart Classroom Solutions so that educators can teach interactively and inspire students. Power Grid Corporation has offered to establish 330 Smart Classrooms in 165 Government Schools. Globus Infocom has also collaborated with the government to implement this project.
Study abroad collaborations
To broaden the scope of international education for Indian students, Prodigy Finance, a cross-border fintech platform offering loans for postgraduate programmes abroad, has joined with six popular universities in the U.S. and the U.K. With these collaborations, students can now have a wider choice of universities to choose from and make informed decisions to have a brighter tomorrow. The fintech platform aims to disburse loans worth more than $1b to over 20,000 deserving Indian students.
Foundation Day
Jagran Lakecity University (JLU) recently concluded celebrations to mark eight years of its establishment. The Foundation Day of JLU, celebrated with the theme of ‘Educating with a Vision’, featured a series of high-spirited, virtual events led by the students, staff, and alumni. The university took this opportunity to launch JLUET, an Online Entrance Test for UG & PG degrees at the university.
School of Data Science and AI
Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mehta Family Foundation (MFF), the U.S., to set up the Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence with the objective to promote Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) courses at a undergraduate and postgraduate level. The first batch of B. Tech students for this school will be admitted through JEE in the academic year 2021-22.
New hires
Yocket has announced plans to expand its team size by 300 employees in 2021 as a part of its recruitment drive. Out of the 300 employees, the company plans to hire 120 talented minds by the end of 2021 first quarters (FY 21-22). The company intends to expand its team in multiple domains including Marketing, Sales, Product, Software Development, Business Development and others. The company aims at hiring 1,000 employees in the next three years.
New President
Pearl Academy recently announced the appointment of Aditi Srivastava as its new President. Prior to joining Pearl Academy, Aditi was the Global President of Inter National Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD) and spearheading its academic operations in London, New York, Jakarta, and India. In her new role, she will drive the overall pedagogy, academic excellence, faculty development and engagement across Pearl Academy’s campuses in Delhi-West, Delhi-South, Jaipur, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
HR Conclave
JK Business School (JKBS) organised its annual HR Conclave virtually this year on the theme “The Future Workforce Reset – 2021 and Beyond”. Over 500 eminent corporate personalities, industry, academia and student community participated and gave students an opportunity to gain industry insights from renowned industry dignitaries and their views on the current trends.
Placements sealed
NMIMS Deemed-to-be-University’s School of Design (SOD), Mumbai, has announced 100% placements for the first batch of B. Des. (Humanising Technology). Top recruiters included organisations such as Deloitte, The Minimalist, Axis Bank Freecharge, YUJ Designs, Parallax Labs, among others. Students were placed across sectors, with 52% recruited by design agencies, 19% by consulting firms, 14% going into edu tech, 10% in banking and 5% in integrated marketing communications. The top job profiles secured during the current placement season were, Solutions Designer, Innovation Designer, Digital Product Designer – AR, Associate XR Designer, Design Researcher and Interaction & Technology Designer.
Student resources
Urvi Shetty, a sociology student of St. Mira’s College, Pune, launched Covid Resource Student Association (CRSA) in association with Taarini Das and Karuna Das. Run by students to help people in dire need of Covid resources by providing verified and well researched data, the project began in April, with just volunteers. However, with the help of their respective colleges and social media, the word spread and there are now 111 volunteers. The team works to help Covid patients and their families to get access to resources like medicines and injections keeping regulations in mind, real-time availability of ICU and oxygen beds, plasma donors, tiffin facilities, ambulance services and other needs.
Upksilling initiatives
In order to upskill the Indian IT workforce with evolving enterprise tools and technology, SpringPeople has become an SAP Education partner to bring world-class training courses and certifications to India Inc. The focus will be on providing Indian organisations with a skilled workforce through its cross-skilling and upskilling initiatives. Enterprises will now have complete flexibility to define and drive SAP Education and certification initiatives within their organisations.
Stress management webinar
SkillingIndia recently organised an online webinar on ‘Exam Stress Management’ in which over 600 students of colleges across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra participated. The objective was to build skills to manage exam stress and develop a learning mindset. The sessions covered why and how stress happens, causes of stress, signs of being stressed out, coping strategy, awareness and relaxing techniques to deal with stress.
Pearson Undergraduate Entrance Exam
Pearson VUE recently announced a significant milestone in the roll out of its ‘Pearson Undergraduate Entrance Exam’ across India. Exam scores for Pearson’s new standardised admissions test of quantitative, verbal, and abstract reasoning are now being accepted by more than 50 universities in India. The ‘Pearson Undergraduate Entrance Exam’, which launched in December 2020, is aimed at recognising the potential and talent of students in order for them to secure a place at India’s leading universities. Overseas students planning to study in India are also eligible to take the entrance test.
SRM University-AP’s maiden batch graduates
The maiden batch of SRM University-AP’s graduates passed out this year and 92% of the graduating students were placed successfully. About 500 companies visited the campus during the placement drive and students received one or more job offers in reputed companies. Efforts are being made to ensure that all students are placed.
Global Impact ranking
Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS) was ranked among the Top 101+ globally in the ‘Affordable and Clean Energy’ category of the SDGs in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021. In the ‘Good Health and Well-being’ category it was ranked in the 301+ and 401+ in the ‘Industry Innovation and Infrastructure’ and ‘Quality Education’ categories.
New Chancellor at PRIST University, Thanjavur
Educationist M. Ponnaiyah Nageshwaran has become the youngest chancellor of a university following his recent appointment to the top post of PRIST University, Thanjavur. His appointment comes after the sudden demise of Prof. Dr. P. Murugesan, who founded the institution in 1985 and served as its Chancellor till his death. Mr. Nageshwaran will focus on expanding the reach of the university by signing strategic Institutional Collaborations and academic tie-ups with reputed higher educational institutions abroad.
