Empowering women in STEM
Lenovo announced its partnership with TechnoServe International Foundation to empower women in Technology. Lenovo strongly believes that technology is a great career choice for women and by upskilling them in the STEM sector (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) will help them make an informed choice for careers in the field of technology.
Skills training
With this partnership, Lenovo and Motorola India are supporting to scale up the Campus to Corporate Careers Program (C2C) in India to provide holistic skill training in the IT/ITES and BFSI sectors to 100 female students from marginalised communities studying in colleges in Mumbai. These students will have to undergo 120 hours of training over a 2.5-month period, which includes online training, one-on-one career counselling, assignment completion, workshops with industry experts, and employee volunteering engagements.
High achievers
Pravar Kataria and Ranjim Prabal Das, both students of Aakash Institute from Delhi have scored 100 percentile by getting 296 and 291 out of 300 respectively in the February session of JEE Mains 2021 Examination, the first of four Joint entrance exam for Engineering scheduled to be held this year. Pravar and Ranjim are two of the six students who have scored an impressive 100 percentile.
New learning resource centre
Oakridge International School, Bachupally, Hyderabad, inaugurated its new 3196 sq.ft. Learning Resource Centre recently. Senior journalist Kingshuk Nag, Shomie Das, Educational Advisor to Nord Anglia India, and J.P. Narayana, General Secretary, Foundation for Democratic Reforms, addressed the students virtually during the event.
Significant growth
Mumbai-based online test preparation platform Testbook ended 2020 with a 136% spike in the sales of their ‘Testbook Pass’ product, through its partnership with WebEngage journeys. Founded in 2014 by a team of IIT graduates, Testbook helps students from tier II cities and beyond prepare for government job recruitment exams. The platform partnered with WebEngage to increase their communication and engagement strategy and boost their student engagement rates.
Giving back
The students of Jagdish Sheth School of Management (JAGSOM, formerly known as IFIM Business School), IFIM College and IFIM Law School donated ₹18 lakhs to provide nourishment and support to women whose livelihoods were affected by the pandemic. The students have also decided to invest ₹500,000 from the corpus to institute a “Kanyathon Shiksha Kendra (KSS)” along with CRY in a village near Kolar. The KSS will be a digitally enabled classroom and a computer-cum-language lab to educate girls in English, Information Technology and hygiene, cleanliness and etiquettes. The vision is to expand the number of KSS across the country to empower women.
Special scholarship initiative
mPokket has announced the launch of a special scholarship initiative for college students, which aims to help them manage financial challenges during these troubled times. Founded in 2016 by Gaurav Jalan, mPokket has launched the scholarship to bridge the financial gap for many students in meeting academic or related expenses. Being a completely digital offering, students don’t need to submit any hard copies of documents. They simply have to upload proofs pertaining to their financial status, academic scores, and faculty recommendation onto the mPokket mobile app.
ISBF collaborates with JBCN International School
The Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF), an affiliate institution to the University of London (UOL), has partnered with Mumbai’s JBCN International School, Parel, to form the EMF Club, a student-led body that will help ignite innovation in the fields of Economics, Management & Finance (EMF). The EMF Club will also focus on the enhancement of collaboration and critical analysis of real-life situations and business problems, feasibility check on ideas, internship opportunities, sessions by industry leaders, think tank competitions, and the like.
UNESCO Chair at Anant National University
Anant National University has been appointed as the first UNESCO Chair on Museum in the Asia-Pacific region. The UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development is the first on Museums in the Asia Pacific region and second worldwide after Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. Serving as a think tank and bridge-builder between academia, civil society, local communities, research, and policy-making, this Chair will promote and support the development of museum policies in the region and establish new modes and modalities of locating culture in sustainable development. AnantU, through this facility, will provide critical direction to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with a focus on the built environment and inclusive design and establish a nexus of collaborations that will benefit institutions across the Asia Pacific region.
India winners of 2021 Imagine Cup
Microsoft has announced the India winners of the 2021 edition of Imagine Cup, its flagship innovation challenge for students and technology enthusiasts. The India winners, Team Detectd from G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur, and Team Intelli-Sense from the Vellore Institute of Technology will proceed directly to the world finals of Imagine Cup, a global competition designed to empower students to apply Artificial Intelligence and other technologies to solve some of the world’s most critical social and sustainability problems. The 2021 India edition saw 353 team entries and over 10K individual entries from students across the country, competing to solve global challenges across four categories: Earth, Education, Health, and Lifestyle. The two winning innovations were focused on cybersecurity to counter deepfakes (Team Detectd) and assistive technology for people with low vision (Team Intelli-Sense).
Dr S. Ramakrishna Velamuri is Dean-School of Management, Mahindra University
Mahindra University has appointed Dr. S. Ramakrishna (Rama) Velamuri, an internationally recognised academic, as Dean of its School of Management. He will be responsible for promoting and designing programs that are benchmarked with the best in India and the world. Under Dr. Velamuri’s leadership, Mahindra University will launch Mahindra University’s School of Management from the 2021 academic session and begin undergraduate programs this session and soon commence its post-graduate and research intake as well. Dr. Velamuri is a seasoned academician with over three and a half decades of experience in holding key academic, administrative and industry positions.
S. Chand Group launches Mylestone
S. Chand Group has launched Mylestone, a comprehensive digitally enabled curriculum for schools, which will go interactive with an App that will allow seamless integration with the existing curriculum currently offered to schools by the platform. The new version will help enhance the students’ performance and support teachers in day-to-day teaching. The application is designed for schools to operate in a post Covid scenario to ensure there is no further interruption in their studies and includes features like live teaching and learning integrated with all online platforms, designing assigning, and conducting online homework and assessment with analytics, doubt resolution support during students self-learning process and exhaustive syllabus completion, content consumption and student performance reports. Mylestone app will be an integral part of Mylestone curriculum and will come free with Mylestone.
Recognition for teachers
1M1B (One Million for One Billion), a United Nations accredited not-for- profit organisation, has announced Lead Z Teacher awards for teachers, educators, changemakers and mentors across India who have made extraordinary efforts during the pandemic to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No 6 on Quality Education. The shortlisted 100 educators will be recognised and invited to the national final and top 10 will be awarded prizes and given an opportunity to showcase their work at the prestigious 1M1B Activate Impact Summit scheduled at United Nations, New York in December 2021 . The objective is to recognise and acknowledge the unwavering dedication and commitment shown by India’s teachers in these testing times. More details at https://leadzworld.com/teacherawards
Two degrees in four years
Deakin University, Australia, and Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) have announced a study option for Indian students that allows them to get two degrees on successfully completing the four-year programme in Business Analytics. This will allow students to transfer their studies after two years to a campus in Australia to study for another two years and complete an undergraduate degree in Business Analytics. After successful completion, students will be awarded a Bachelor of Business Administration from JGU and a Bachelor of Business Analytics from Deakin University, Australia.
Samsung Innovation Lab at DTU
Samsung India has inaugurated a Samsung Innovation Lab at Delhi Technological University (DTU) under the Samsung Innovation Campus initiative (earlier Samsung Digital Acadey). At the lab, students and faculty will work on advanced technology training as well as joint research collaborations on domains such as Application Framework, Multimedia, Health and Security, making students industry-ready. Engineers at Samsung R&D Institute, Noida (SRI-N), will work on collaborative research projects with DTU students and faculty on smartphone domains based on cutting edge technology areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Computer Vision. Students are also encouraged to publish research papers jointly with SRI-N engineers on these projects. With this, Samsung now has eight technical labs spread across the country.
TAU launches TAU-SAT1
Tel Aviv University has launched its first indigenously designed nanosatellite TAU-SAT1 into orbit from the NASA launch facility in Virginia, the U.S. The satellite is designed to conduct several experiments while in orbit, including the measurement of cosmic radiation around earth. The nanosatellite is the first to be wholly designed, developed, assembled, and tested at an Israeli university. The work was done at the Center for Nanosatellites, an interdisciplinary endeavour between the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences and the Soreq Nuclear Research Center.
Virtual Women’s Day celebration
Institute of Management Studies Noida (IMS) organised a virtual Women’s Day celebration and honoured Kirti Singh, Prof. Ekta Jha, Mini Verma, Prof. Deepa Rani, Shweta, Prof. Meenu Chaudhary and Dr. Prachi Aggarwal for working on keeping women’s values in mind during the epidemic crisis. Prof. (Dr .) Manju Gupta, Dean of IMS, was awarded the title of Power Woman on behalf of Lead India Foundation and World Book Records.
New learning app for Bengali students
The Tutopia learning App, especially designed for the students of Classes 8, 9 and 10 of the West Bengal Education Board, was formally launched at a function attended by students, teachers and educationists from across West Bengal. The app can be downloaded from Google PlayStore and Apple App Store and has been developed by Subrata Roy, Gaurav Dugar and Anurag Chirimar to help students of Bengali medium. The course material has been crafted by experts to make learning easy and enjoyable and playful and guides students to rise above rote memory and get a solid grip on understanding the subjects.
Increasing accessibility of education
Avanse Financial Services partners with NGOs to make quality education accessible for deserving under-served students and to support primary education, skill building and community teacher training. The organisation will lend its support to students, differently abled children and community teachers, who will be prepared to reach out to a larger student base. The three NGOs are MelJol, Samarthanam and Muktangan.
Fun way to learn 21st century skills
UNICEF India in collaboration with Udhyam Learning Foundation (Udhyam) and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited in India) have launched a fun and engaging way for young people to learn 21st century skills. A chat-based platform, funDoo, has been developed on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to enable young learners to skill themselves and face a rapidly changing world. Through this platform, youth between 14 and 24 years, especially those who do not have access to holistic, quality learning and skilling opportunities, can equip themselves with relevant skills for life and livelihood at their own pace. The free programme can be accessed with a smartphone. funDoo’s pedagogy is based on experiential learning methods.
SOAL sees increase in enrolments
The School of Accelerated Learning (SOAL) has witnessed 140% growth in student enrollments during the post-COVID-19 period. This has brought total enrolments to 594 candidates since its inception in 2018. SOAL is a product school in India that caters to both students and working professionals with its offering of Product Engineering and Product Design courses. Of the 192 candidates who have graduated, 82 candidates have been placed across leading tech firms including Dunzo, Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini and Clear Tax while others have either started their ventures or are exploring options. SOAL plans to introduce new programmes such as app development in 2021, weekend workshops, week-long and month-long courses.
IIM-K Survey on ‘Women in the Workplace’
‘Women in the Workplace’, a Pan-IIM survey led by IIM-Kozhikode, revealed a dearth of equal opportunities and insignificant femal representation in leadership roles. A staggering 35% said they do not have equal opportunities for career growth though the number has declined from 49% in 2020 survey. The survey received over 350 responses from alumni and students across the 20 IIMs, with the majority working at mid to senior management levels across industries. While most of the responses came from India, there was a response mix across 15 other countries. The survey was led by alumna and board member Uma Kasoji.
GLIM hosts lecture by Dr. Simon Galpin
The Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, hosted Dr. Simon Galpin, Managing Director, Bahrain Economic Development Board, as part of its Distinguished ‘Thought Leadership Series’. In a virtual thought leadership session, Dr. Galpin addressed the 450+ participants and shared his insights based on his experience and observations over the years and sheds light on key topics like retaining talent, role of technology, and role of millennial in making India as an attractive investment destination.
NatWest Group India partners with ISDM
The NatWest Group India has announced a partnership with the Indian School of Development and Management (ISDM) to strengthen capabilities and drive tangible progress of India’s development ecosystem. In addition to a significant financial commitment, NatWest Group India will nurture talent to positively contribute to India’s development needs. ISDM has built a Post-Graduate programme in Development Management (PGP-DM) and NatWest Group India will strengthen this through interventions like case studies, scholarships, knowledge sharing, industry best-practices and frequent engagements.
Tritya begins an Overseas Education wing
The Tritya Educational Trust has started an abroad-education wing called Tritya Overseas Education to provide comprehensive training to those students with dreams of studying abroad and equip them with the material and information regarding their dream course. Tritya Overseas Education offers comprehensive classroom training for tests such as MAT, GRE, SAT, TOEFL, IELTS and PTE and provides a wide bouquet of services including career counselling, overseas study, immigration and funding, visa, and admission in countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., Ukraine, the U.S. and Australia.
LPU students win at Smart India Hackathon 2020
Team Electronica, comprising six B.Tech students from Lovely Professional University, Punjab, were the joint winners at the Hardware edition of the Smart India Hackathon 2020 organised by the MHRD. The team built an IOT-enabled ‘Camouflage CCTV Monitoring System’ that can be hidden in a display board like the matrix timer at railway stations and help detect suspicious activities, track suspects and record the audio and video of the surrounding area precisely. Medisetty Arun Sai Teja (final year, B.Tech Electronics Engineering) led the project along with Juluri Bharath Kumar, Nukala Ram Kumar, Meka Vishnu Madhavi, Naitik Gohain and Kasthuri Bhanu Prakash. LPU faculty Dr. Rajesh Singh, Dr. Anita Gehlot and Prof. Mandeep Singh mentored the team. Team Smart Spectators, from QIS Engineering College, Andhra Pradesh, was the joint winner.
Sanskriti University hosts a conference on New World Order
Sanskriti University organised an international conference on “The New World Order Post COVID-19”. Attended by diplomats of countries like Ghana, Burundi, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Botswana, the idea was to provide an opportunity for those who are looking to know the New Normal better and how they can face the current challenges.
Industry-focused Bachelor’s degrees
TeamLease EdTech announced the launch of apprenticeship-embedded degree programmes for students who want to pursue industry-focused Bachelor’s degrees. This programme offers students an opportunity to do a graduate course as well as experience on-the-job training. Currently under the AEDP TeamLease Edtech has developed three degree courses to be rolled out this academic session at Jain (deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru. Students who have passed Class 12 from any stream can apply. Enrolments are open and will continue till April 30.
Dr. Arun Kumar shares insights on the pandemic
Describing the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath as the “worst economic crisis post Independence”, renowned economist Dr. Arun Kumar, Malcolm Adiseshiah Chair Professor, Institute of Social Sciences, has called for “Collectivity” and the need for “a rapid ramping up in the vaccination process”, to help the Indian economy recover faster from the effects of the lockdown-induced recession. Dr. Kumar made the comments while addressing students at the sixth edition of the Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF), New Delhi, which hosted Distinguished Public Lecture Series, on the theme ‘The Impact of Coronavirus and the Lockdown on the Indian Economy’.
UEA announces scholarships for September 2021 intake
The University of East Anglia (UEA) announced scholarships worth £8000 for undergraduates commencing September 2021 across a wide range of programmes. The UEA International scholarship scheme is worth £4,000 per year of study for three years of the Bachelor’s degree with the best submissions considered for an award of £8,000 per year for three years. These scholarships are open for international fee-paying students with eligible applicants to the scholarship considered on one of UEA’s monthly panels which run between February and May 2021. The scholarships are not applicable for programmes in MB/BS Medicine, B.Sc Physiotherapy and B.Sc Occupational Therapy. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Candidates must be in receipt of an offer to be considered for an award and offer holders for September 2021 intake can submit their scholarship application until April 30. More details at https://www.uea.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/scholarships-finder/scholarships-a-z/international-scholarship-schemes-4000
SNU-Delhi NCR granted ‘IoE’ status
Shiv Nadar University (Delhi NCR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to be granted the status of ‘Institution of Eminence Deemed to be University’ (IoE). With this, it has become the youngest recognized IoE and part of the league of top 20 public and private institutions mandated to elevate Indian higher education on the global stage with complete academic and administrative autonomy. Shiv Nadar University’s Pro-Chancellor, Mr. Shikhar Malhotra, and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Rupamanjari Ghosh, signed the MoU in the presence of Dr. Vineet Joshi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Education, Government of India, and Ms. Kirti, Deputy Director (Science), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
BML Munjal University hosts second Technical Conclave
BML Munjal University organised the second Technical Conclave on Synergising Technologies. The School of Engineering and Technology also commemorated the launch of its B.Tech programme in Electronics and Computer Engineering during this conclave. Puneet Chawla, Chairman and Managing Director, RailTel Corporation of India Ltd., delivered the keynote address. The conclave brought together global thought leaders, industry experts and academicians to discuss the immense potential of technological areas and the current issues confronting Industry 4.0 with focus on multi-disciplinary education and integration of cutting-edge technologies in the area of electronics and computer science.
