The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NC College of Engineering in an expansion mode
Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

Israna (Panipat), August 21
With a view to providing world class engineering education, the local NC College of Engineering has announced a major expansion of its facilities. The announcement was made on the occasion of its 5th orientation ceremony.

Welcoming the students of the 5th batch and their parents, the chairman of the managing committee, Mr Vijay Gupta, disclosed that a girls’ hostel, costing about Rs 1.25 crore, would soon come up on the campus.

The college library, laboratories and computer centres had been expanded and provided with state-of-the-art facilities. The expanded library can accommodate 500 persons. Round-the-clock internet connection is available through VSAT and diesel generators with 24-hour backup have been installed. To strengthen the placement cell, an experienced faculty member has joined the college. The ultimate aim of the management was to make the college a deemed university, Mr Gupta added.

Explaining his action plan for the new academic session, the college Principal, Dr Surendra Gupta, announced that P.hds and M.Techs from IITs and other premier institutions had joined the college as faculty members.

Twelve students have topped different streams at semester-level at Kurukshetra University (KU). The intake is 390 students, which had been approved by the AICTE, KU, and the state government.

From the current session, which will start on August 27, it is proposed that every student will be assigned to a specific faculty member, who will interact regularly with him and, if necessary, with his parents, so that remedial action is taken at the proper time. Stating that the college is aiming at 100% placement from this year, Dr Gupta also announced the establishment of a book bank in the college.

Later, talking to the NCR Tribune, Dr Gupta said computers, information technology and communication were the emerging areas in the field of engineering. Though these areas were passing through a recessionary phase globally, the demand for technically qualified persons was sure to spurt in the near future. In this context, the role of private engineering colleges was crucial, he added.

CAMPUS
Academic work relegated to background in DU
Gaurav Choudhury

More than a month has passed since the new academic session got under way in Delhi University. Academic work seems to have been relegated to the background. The spat between the University Grants Commission, the nodal authority of all universities in the country, and the teaching community seems to be growing by the day.

While students are worried about the developments as the first term is due to end in about a month’s time, the teachers, on their part, have put the blame squarely on the university authorities and the UGC for not arriving at an early resolution of the issue, which, they say, are affecting their core interests.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has warned that if the university authorities did not take an “academic view” of the current standoff arising out of the recent circulars issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) there could be “widespread anger” among the teaching community.

“The policy intent of the new modus operandi is clearly to render the duly constituted university system defunct and infructuous and attempt a direct takeover of colleges via pliant governing bodies and Principals”, the DUTA said in its letter to the DU Vice-Chancellor.

The teachers’ association said that the potentially most disastrous of these recent letters from the UGC was the one concerning teachers’ workload.

“We were shocked to discover that the UGC does not know the difference between notification, regulation, guidelines and circulars. The UGC also appears to be unaware that the workload requirements as enlisted in the UGC Regulations of 1998 stipulate an upper limit of three clock hours per day for lectures/discussions, which corresponds to the upper limit of “fifteen hours per week” set out in the Delhi University Ordinance XIII”, the letter said.

In a communication to college principals recently, the UGC had directed that 80 per cent of all vacant posts should be filled on a temporary basis for three months. This was followed by another missive yesterday to freeze all recruitment, reduce total staff (teaching and non-teaching) strength by 10 per cent and abolish all vacant posts that are older than a year.

As a result, several classes are being disrupted and students are not getting the required hours of teaching, DUTA said.

Aptech course

Information technology training major, Aptech, has announced the launch of its sales and marketing course focussing on the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

“With a 200 billion global market, and an annual growth rate of 15 to 20 per cent, BPO today forms an integral part of the IT enabled services (ITES) industry. The sales and marketing course is the second in our course basket after banking, which was recently launched. We plan to train 3000 students in select cities and centres in the first phase for this new course”, the Managing Director of Aptech Training Limited, Mr Pramod Khera, said.

He said that the curriculum was designed to develop professionals who would have the technology skills and knowledge of the domain area where this technology was to be applied. This would make the crucial difference in the productivity and employability of the person.

The core IT track provides the students with the necessary foundation in terms of knowledge and skills with a technology usage focus. There is a track in sales and marketing that leads to domain specialisation. The course curriculum includes training inputs from TACK International and from NETg, the leading computer-based training major.

The curriculum is at three levels. The first level aimed to introduce the student to the basics of sales and marketing, the second level, solution selling, principles of sales and marketing and brand management, while the third level involved a comprehensive case study, Mr Khera said.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the apex chamber of software companies in India, has indicated a 60 to 65 per cent growth in the IT-enabled outsourcing segment. It will generate over 1.1 million jobs in India by 2008. Currently growing at about 40 per cent annually, the industry has made its mark of cost-effectiveness and quality.

On account of its low staff costs, a large pool of skilled English speaking workforce, conducive policy environment and government support, India is a popular choice for customers seeking outsourced services and is well positioned to derive benefits from the ITES market and become a key hub for these services.

Already, 15 global companies such as GE, HSBC, Dell, HP, Ernst and Young, and British Airways have already announced plans to open offshore BPOs or expand their existing facilities. Major Indian companies such as Wipro and Infosys are also investing in ITES. While Infosys has floated Progeon, Wipro has investment in Spectramind.

Cisco curricula

Cisco Systems Inc has announced that Hewlett-Packard Co., Panduit Corp. and Sun Microsystems have each sponsored new curriculum to enhance the offerings of the internationally recognised Cisco Networking Academy Programme. The new curricula are available to Cisco’s 70 networking academies across 15 states in India.

The curricula sponsored by HP, Panduit and Sun will include: PC Hardware and Software and IT essentials, network operating systems, fundamentals of voice and data cabling systems, fundamentals of UNIX and fundamentals of JAVA Programming. These will include optional courses and students can choose to attend whichever ones are offered within the respective academies.

The Cisco Networking Academy Program is a non-profit partnership between Cisco Systems, education, business, community and government organisations around the world aimed at nurturing networking professionals. The education programme employs an e-learning model, using a combination of web-based and instructor-led training along with a hands-on lab environment to teach students how to design, build and maintain computer networks. First launched in 1997 in the USA, there are over 9,840 networking academies operating in 146 countries around the world and over 935 academies in 25 countries in the Asia Pacific.

Top managers

A group of three young managers from TISCO, Jamshedpur, has won the 28th National Competition for Young Managers (NCYM) organised by the All-India Management Association (AIMA). Asian Paints, Mumbai, was declared the first runner-up and NTPC, New Delhi, was adjudged the second runner-up in the competition in which more than 100 companies from all across the country participated this year. Mr Himanshu Joshi of MICO, Nasik, was declared the AIMA-Samarpan Best Young Manger of 2002 in the country and a consolation prize was given to Ms Poornima Pandey of Asian Paints, Mumbai.

This year’s winners (three young managers) and the Best Young Manager will be hosted for a week’s training programme by the Malaysian Institute of Management from September 22 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Event management

Buoyed by the vibrancy of information and entertainment revolutions in India, the Indian Institute of Event Management (IIEM) has introduced specialised courses in event management.

The IIEM has been formed by a group of professionals to cater to the growing needs of a huge multidimensional event management industry. The IIEM has been established after getting feedback and survey findings from leading event management companies in the metropolitan cities and major cities. Based on that, as well as considering the Indian as well as global scenario of the event management industry, the institute has introduced a one-year training programme with the following modules to meet the industry HR requirement:

Event Public Relations and Sponsorship

Event Coordination

Event Marketing and Advertising

Event Planning with special focus on: Conferences, Conventions, Seminars, Sporting Events, Exhibitions, Expos, Corporate Events, Trade Fairs, Fashion Shows, Wedding Management, Star Nites, Concerts, MICE etc.

Event Team Leadership

Event Logistics (staging, stall erection, fabrication, design, lighting freight management etc)

Basics and Advanced Event Accounting (Financial Planning / Budgeting)

Event Laws (for obtaining permits, licenses, permissions VAT etc)

Besides, there are two dedicated papers on Indian and foreign event case studies.

Education summit

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in association with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), will organise a two-day summit on technical education from August 23. The theme of the summit is “Academe, Government and Industry Working together for Competitive Advantage”.

Mr Arun Bharat Ram, Vice-Chairman and Senior Managing Director, SRF Limited, would deliver the inaugural address, while Dr R Natarajan, Chairman of AICTE would deliver the keynote address.

The summit will serve as a platform for education planners, technical experts, regulatory bodies, educational institutions, universities, R&D organisations and the industry.

Scholarship
The Institute of Management Studies, affiliated to Ch. Charan Singh University and the UP Technical University, has offered the opportunity for 12 students from families affected by militancy anywhere in the country to undergraduate programmes such as BCA and BBA and the postgraduate programme in Journalism and Mass Communication (MJMC) for the academic year 2002-03.

The scholarships have been announced in pursuance of efforts of Harmony, a trust being run by Col N. S. Behl, for helping rehabilitation of families affected by terrorism in India.
Input by Parmindar Singh

Joshi lays stress on ethics in modern management
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 21
Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology, today emphasised on the need to inculcate sense of values and ethics in the Indian management system in the light of developments taking place in the international arena.

He was addressing a conference on ‘Indian Management Education: Vision 2010’, organised by the PHDCCI, here today.

Stating that there was a dearth of good managers today, he said it’s not only corporate management that matters but also management of municipal wastes, hospitals, educational institutes, solid wastes, environment and production, which also holds immense significance.

Dr M B Athreya, management advisor, said that the economic vision for India is to emerge as one of the top four economic powerhouses along with China, the EU and the US not just in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms, but in hard currency terms as well.

Mr Arun Kapur, president, Phdcci, said that the business community is reviewing the accepted standards of the past and restructuring itself to respond to the change. India’s managerial and technical education systems have to keep pace with these new realities. Industry, government and academicians alike are concerned about whether the education being imparted in the Indian management institutions is providing tomorrow’s managers with an appropriate educational foundation.

He said that there is perhaps a consensus both amongst the educators and the industrialists that management education system needs review in terms of curriculum design, research priorities and teaching methodology. It is important that the academia, industry and the government get together to develop a strategic vision for the development of the management education in the country.

Mr P.K Jain, vice-president, Phdcci said that in the globalised market, competent managerial manpower is a pre-requisite for commercial success of an enterprise. Hence, it has become imperative for the management institutes to respond proactively to the fast changing requirements of the business. It is, thus, important that the academia, industry and the government get together to develop a strategic vision for the development of Indian management education.

COURTS

Wife denied bail in kerosene murder case
Jatinder Sharma

Rohtak, August 21
The Additional Session Judge, Mr Shiva Sharma, has denied bail to a woman accused of murdering her husband. According to the prosecution, Mukesh had gone to the house of his in-laws at village Ismaila on April 27, where he asked his wife Anju for Rs 200. Anju allegedly refused to give the money and a quarrel ensued between them.

Anju allegedly brought a plastic container of kerosene and spilt it on the ground and lit it with a matchstick. According to the prosecution, the man caught fire and was rushed to the PGIMS with almost 100 per cent burns. The police got his statement recorded by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr R.S. Chaudhary, and registered an FIR against Anju and arrested her. However, the counsel for Anju argued that she had been falsely implicated in the case and that there was no intention on her part to kill her husband. Her counsel argued that the relationship between the two was cordial.

He argued that even though she had lodged an FIR under Sections 498-A/406 IPC in Jhajjar police station against her father-in-law, mother-in-law, two elder brothers of her husband and their wives, she had no complaint against her deceased husband. He said that being a woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy and with a small child already, Anju was entitled to bail under Section 437 CrPC. He argued that she had been in custody for the last two-and- a-half months.

The public prosecutor opposed the bail application alleging that the petitioner took the life of her own husband and that her act of bringing kerosene and lighting a fire was indicative of her criminal intentions.

He further argued that she was being examined and looked after by the doctors of PGIMS.

According to the report submitted by the Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Rohtak, Anju was in an advanced stage of pregnancy.

Rejecting the bail application, Mr Shiva Sharma, said the fact that Anju had brought a plastic container of kerosene clearly showed her criminal intentions. In the scuffle, she could not sprinkle kerosene on her husband and the container fell on the ground. However, she did not stop. She lit a matchstick and threw it on kerosene, which caught fire and engulfed the man.

The fact that Anju was at an advanced stage of pregnancy and has a small child, does not help her in the peculiar circumstances of this case.