Anand Mahindra gifts US$ 10 million to alma mater Harvard

In what is being billed as the largest grant to the Humanities Center at Harvard University, Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, is offering his alma mater US$ 10 million for the study of humanities. The grant, in honour of his mother Indira Mahindra, would see the centre being renamed the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard.

According to sources close to the development, the grant has been catalyzed by the 50-year-old bond that the Mahindra family has with Harvard. Anand’s father, the late Harish Mahindra, earned a Bachelor’s degree at Harvard College in 1946. Anand followed in his footsteps and graduated from Harvard in 1977 with a major in visual and environmental studies. During the’70s, Indian regulations did not permit the provision of foreign exchange for undergraduate studies overseas, and Anand was therefore awarded a full scholarship by Harvard. This is something he has not forgotten.

He then went on to earn an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981. Mahindra is reticent in talking about the grant, but is of the view that to address complex problems in an inter-dependent world, it is vital to encourage the cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary exchange of ideas in an international setting. “I am proud to be part of the intellectual legacy of India’s contribution to global thinking across the arts, culture, science and philosophy. I am convinced of the need for incorporating social and humanistic concerns into the core value proposition of business and have sought to do so with tremendous support from my peers and colleagues at work and outside,” he said.

As Mahindra frequently says, the liberal arts experience was a transformational one for him, and he firmly believes that it provided him with a strong foundation for personal and career growth. He has also never forgotten the university’s generosity, and this gift is one way of expressing his gratitude.

The Humanities Center, located at Harvard University, is a site for inter-disciplinary exchanges and is open to the entire academic community and the public, and is a place where discourses on various topics that make up the study of humanities are held.

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

New IITs hit by teacher shortage

Three years after seven new IITs got off the ground, they have hit a stumbling block, that of being unable to attract enough faculty. Each new tech school ought to have had 90 teachers by now, the number of positions sanctioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), but none of them has managed to reach full capacity. Worse, most of the new colleges have not even filled up a third of the teaching positions. Young bright Ph.D. fellows looking at teaching opportunities have, naturally, preferred to join the more established institutes over the latter entrants. IIT heads say there has been a lukewarm response from the experienced lot of teachers from the domestic private colleges wanting to shift to a centre of excellence.

Moreover, while the new IITs are still operating out of temporary campuses, the situation is worse for the ones that are to come up in Gujarat and in Rajasthan, where state governments have failed to yet zero in on a site for the campuses. A recent reality check conducted by the MHRD revealed that most of the IITs, except two, had set 2011-12 as a deadline to move to the permanent campus. Sources in IIT-Gandhinagar said the government was not very clear on the land allotment issue and the permanent campus would come up only two years after the state handed over the site where the college could come up.

“We must now concentrate on hiring some good faculty,” said a senior faculty from IIT, Mandi. Among the seven new institutes, IIT, Hyderabad has been the top choice for teachers. Director U.B. Desai accounts this to the institutes location. “Hyderabad is a place many people want to come to. Its no loger a Tier-II city. Also, we have placed a lot of emphasis on faculty recruitment. We have recruited some dynamic youngsters, one faculty has joined at the professor level and he is heading the civil engineering department,” said Desai.

Although small in numbers, almost all the faculty in the new IITs are fresh young Ph.D. fellows, looking at the centres of excellence as springboards for their teaching career.

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

Anand Mahindra gifts US$ 10 million to alma mater Harvard

In what is being billed as the largest grant to the Humanities Center at Harvard University, Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, is offering his alma mater US$ 10 million for the study of humanities. The grant, in honour of his mother Indira Mahindra, would see the centre being renamed the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard.

According to sources close to the development, the grant has been catalyzed by the 50-year-old bond that the Mahindra family has with Harvard. Anand’s father, the late Harish Mahindra, earned a Bachelor’s degree at Harvard College in 1946. Anand followed in his footsteps and graduated from Harvard in 1977 with a major in visual and environmental studies. During the’70s, Indian regulations did not permit the provision of foreign exchange for undergraduate studies overseas, and Anand was therefore awarded a full scholarship by Harvard. This is something he has not forgotten.

He then went on to earn an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981. Mahindra is reticent in talking about the grant, but is of the view that to address complex problems in an inter-dependent world, it is vital to encourage the cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary exchange of ideas in an international setting. “I am proud to be part of the intellectual legacy of India’s contribution to global thinking across the arts, culture, science and philosophy. I am convinced of the need for incorporating social and humanistic concerns into the core value proposition of business and have sought to do so with tremendous support from my peers and colleagues at work and outside,” he said.

As Mahindra frequently says, the liberal arts experience was a transformational one for him, and he firmly believes that it provided him with a strong foundation for personal and career growth. He has also never forgotten the university’s generosity, and this gift is one way of expressing his gratitude.

The Humanities Center, located at Harvard University, is a site for inter-disciplinary exchanges and is open to the entire academic community and the public, and is a place where discourses on various topics that make up the study of humanities are held.

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

New IITs hit by teacher shortage

Three years after seven new IITs got off the ground, they have hit a stumbling block, that of being unable to attract enough faculty. Each new tech school ought to have had 90 teachers by now, the number of positions sanctioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), but none of them has managed to reach full capacity. Worse, most of the new colleges have not even filled up a third of the teaching positions. Young bright Ph.D. fellows looking at teaching opportunities have, naturally, preferred to join the more established institutes over the latter entrants. IIT heads say there has been a lukewarm response from the experienced lot of teachers from the domestic private colleges wanting to shift to a centre of excellence.

Moreover, while the new IITs are still operating out of temporary campuses, the situation is worse for the ones that are to come up in Gujarat and in Rajasthan, where state governments have failed to yet zero in on a site for the campuses. A recent reality check conducted by the MHRD revealed that most of the IITs, except two, had set 2011-12 as a deadline to move to the permanent campus. Sources in IIT-Gandhinagar said the government was not very clear on the land allotment issue and the permanent campus would come up only two years after the state handed over the site where the college could come up.

“We must now concentrate on hiring some good faculty,” said a senior faculty from IIT, Mandi. Among the seven new institutes, IIT, Hyderabad has been the top choice for teachers. Director U.B. Desai accounts this to the institutes location. “Hyderabad is a place many people want to come to. Its no loger a Tier-II city. Also, we have placed a lot of emphasis on faculty recruitment. We have recruited some dynamic youngsters, one faculty has joined at the professor level and he is heading the civil engineering department,” said Desai.

Although small in numbers, almost all the faculty in the new IITs are fresh young Ph.D. fellows, looking at the centres of excellence as springboards for their teaching career.

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

Universities to offer B.Ed. course along with graduation

In a move aimed at providing more trained teachers, select universities will soon offer B.Ed. course along with graduation in science or arts subjects under the 3+1 pattern. In a meeting presided over by HRD minister Kapil Sibal, Vice-Chancellors of central universities have agreed to the proposal. “Decks will be cleared to introduce it in July 2011, once it gets the nod of the academic councils of select universities,” V.N. Rajashekharan Pillai, VC of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), said.

The four-year integrated course will not be available to the students of commerce stream. The students in three-year graduation course can choose to study for another academic year to get a bachelor’s degree in education. Some regional colleges in India already have this kind of integrated course, he noted. A committee, headed by Pillai, has been asked to give suggestions regarding the curriculum to the HRD ministry. Some top-notch colleges in India have agreed to this proposal, he said, adding, “We have approached National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to help us in designing the course materials.”

The proposal aims at providing more trained teachers in lesser period to propel the development of school education. In the meeting, VCs also agreed to facilitate swapping of teachers between colleges. They also agreed to have a Navratna for central universities that will include those which follow strict guidelines and educational standards. But, this does not mean that there will only be nine universities in Navratna. It is only to increase positive competition between the central universities.

Meanwhile, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to introduce a six-month diploma course for academic administrators to train them in developing skills to manage the education system. “NCERT has been asked to design the course subjects,” UGC Under Secretary Veena Nayyar said.

Source: The Economic Times, October 4, 2010

IIM-Ahmedabad pushes for placement reporting

The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A ) has decided to introduce placement reporting standards for all B-schools in the country to bring in greater objectivity and uniformity in the manner placement reports in B-schools are projected in the media.

The decision was taken in a recruiter conclave organized by IIM-A on Friday in Mumbai. Around l60 recruiters, including those from Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank and Indian Bank, were present. From B-schools, placement coordinators from institutes such as IIM-Calcutta, IIM-Shillong, IIM-Lucknow, IIM-Indore, S.P. Jain Institute, ISB-Hyderabad and others were present.

Inputs were taken from placement chairs of other institutes and recruiters present at the conclave. However, IIM-A decided it would soon draft a proposal and send it to all stakeholders for further discussion. Placements Chairperson at IIM-A Saral Mukherjee said: “We’ll try for a consensus among B-schools to publish the standards very soon. The standards will have guidelines as to what details of the students placements and the pay packets offered were to be shared with the media by the placement cell and what was the appropriate time to do so.”

Referring to the general trend of recruiters offering packages in terms of Cost to Company (CTC), which is very different from what a student will actually gets, Mukherjee said: “We will be requesting the companies to be clear on the components of the package like joining bonuses, one-time relocation expenses, variable components and so on, so that there can be more clarity.”

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

Dental council prescribes surgery for edu standards

Concerned over falling standards of dental professionals, the Dental Council of India (DCI) has decided to put some teeth into the regulations. Allowing dental colleges to be opened only if attached to a medical college, review of clinical acumen of doctors every 10 years, an all-India exit test after graduation and a blanket ban on opening new dental colleges — these are some of the changes the DCI plans to usher in to recast dental education.

The DCI Executive Committee which met last month identified ten key issues which need to be addressed. The DCI plans to cut the seat matrix of colleges from 100 to 50 seats and 50 to 30 seats. “There is a serious problem of quality faculty in stand-alone dental colleges in the country. Since most subjects in BDS in the first two years are similar to that of the MBBS courses, the faculty could be shared between medical and dental colleges run by the same institution. The hospital facility too could be used by dental colleges,” Pradeep Shetty, Member, DCI, told TOI.

The DCI has written to all chief ministers not to allow opening of new dental colleges in their states. It asked states to completely stop giving essentiality certificates to colleges, or limit the number of seats for which they have forecast the employability.

Currently, 118,000 registered dental surgeons are in the dental register but only 6,000 doctors were employed in the government sector at primary health centres. About 23,000 dentists graduate from 289 dental colleges every year.
Once essentiality certificates are issued by governments, the DCI does not have any option but to visit the college and submit its recommendation. “We want the process to be stopped at the state level itself. However, there has been no response from the states,” Shetty added. The apex body is now seeking feedback from dental and medical professionals on the proposed reforms.

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

IIM-Ahmedabad pushes for placement reporting

The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A ) has decided to introduce placement reporting standards for all B-schools in the country to bring in greater objectivity and uniformity in the manner placement reports in B-schools are projected in the media.

The decision was taken in a recruiter conclave organized by IIM-A on Friday in Mumbai. Around l60 recruiters, including those from Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank and Indian Bank, were present. From B-schools, placement coordinators from institutes such as IIM-Calcutta, IIM-Shillong, IIM-Lucknow, IIM-Indore, S.P. Jain Institute, ISB-Hyderabad and others were present.

Inputs were taken from placement chairs of other institutes and recruiters present at the conclave. However, IIM-A decided it would soon draft a proposal and send it to all stakeholders for further discussion. Placements Chairperson at IIM-A Saral Mukherjee said: “We’ll try for a consensus among B-schools to publish the standards very soon. The standards will have guidelines as to what details of the students placements and the pay packets offered were to be shared with the media by the placement cell and what was the appropriate time to do so.”

Referring to the general trend of recruiters offering packages in terms of Cost to Company (CTC), which is very different from what a student will actually gets, Mukherjee said: “We will be requesting the companies to be clear on the components of the package like joining bonuses, one-time relocation expenses, variable components and so on, so that there can be more clarity.”

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

DTU students go online to share notes, exam tips

On one cold December evening, a student of Delhi Technological University (DTU), Anand Meena, was waiting at the college photocopy shop with his seniors when he struck upon the idea to create http://www.aglasem.com/. A month later in January 2009, a team of six DTU students Meena, Samrat Malik, Divya, Abhishek Bindal, Abhishek Kanojia, Aakash Agarwal launched an online portal, Aglasem (the next semester) to make students life smoother.

The task of gathering notes, photocopying hundreds of pages of sample papers can be harrowing. Worse still, if you need to consult a book at the last moment before the exam and it is not available in the market or library. But now, with just the click of a mouse a student can get all the information he wants on the website.

Speaking about the portal, Meena said: “It started when DTU was known as the Delhi College of Engineering. Today, it is also a part of the students community of Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology (NSIT) and IP University. Here, we try to make available sample papers, notes from toppers, tips to build resumes and cover letters as well as updates from other engineering campuses.

A year and nine months later, Aglasem is a happening place with updates from campuses such as DU, NSIT, IP University, Jamia, JNU, IIT-D, IIT-M, ISM Dhanbad, among others. One can even download course books, learning software, tutorials and much more. The Aglasem Forum also carries out fruitful college-related discussions. This forum proved to be a boon for admission-seekers.

The success story of this portal is far-reaching as apart from India, majority of its visitors come from countries such as the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Russia, U.K., Pakistan, Mexico, Germany and Turkey.

“Students who submit papers also get to earn. We pay a token Rs. 100 or Rs 200 to those who submit sample papers and notes. With inflow of ads, the site has started generating over four dollars daily. This is enough to keep it running. We don’t charge students for downloads. This is not a commercial venture. We just want to help students and save paper,” said Meena.

“Since its inception, the popularity of the portal has grown and attracts around 10,000 visitors every day. During admissions or exam time, it has recorded hits of up to 20,000 per day,” said Meena. At present, 14 students of DTU,seven from NSIT and two from IP are in the core team working dedicatedly for Aglasem. Besides, there are around 35- 40 volunteers working exclusively for the various sections.

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010

DTU students go online to share notes, exam tips

On one cold December evening, a student of Delhi Technological University (DTU), Anand Meena, was waiting at the college photocopy shop with his seniors when he struck upon the idea to create http://www.aglasem.com/. A month later in January 2009, a team of six DTU students Meena, Samrat Malik, Divya, Abhishek Bindal, Abhishek Kanojia, Aakash Agarwal launched an online portal, Aglasem (the next semester) to make students life smoother.

The task of gathering notes, photocopying hundreds of pages of sample papers can be harrowing. Worse still, if you need to consult a book at the last moment before the exam and it is not available in the market or library. But now, with just the click of a mouse a student can get all the information he wants on the website.

Speaking about the portal, Meena said: “It started when DTU was known as the Delhi College of Engineering. Today, it is also a part of the students community of Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology (NSIT) and IP University. Here, we try to make available sample papers, notes from toppers, tips to build resumes and cover letters as well as updates from other engineering campuses.

A year and nine months later, Aglasem is a happening place with updates from campuses such as DU, NSIT, IP University, Jamia, JNU, IIT-D, IIT-M, ISM Dhanbad, among others. One can even download course books, learning software, tutorials and much more. The Aglasem Forum also carries out fruitful college-related discussions. This forum proved to be a boon for admission-seekers.

The success story of this portal is far-reaching as apart from India, majority of its visitors come from countries such as the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Russia, U.K., Pakistan, Mexico, Germany and Turkey.

“Students who submit papers also get to earn. We pay a token Rs. 100 or Rs 200 to those who submit sample papers and notes. With inflow of ads, the site has started generating over four dollars daily. This is enough to keep it running. We don’t charge students for downloads. This is not a commercial venture. We just want to help students and save paper,” said Meena.

“Since its inception, the popularity of the portal has grown and attracts around 10,000 visitors every day. During admissions or exam time, it has recorded hits of up to 20,000 per day,” said Meena. At present, 14 students of DTU,seven from NSIT and two from IP are in the core team working dedicatedly for Aglasem. Besides, there are around 35- 40 volunteers working exclusively for the various sections.

Source: The Times of India, October 4, 2010