The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

CAT countdown begins
Sanjog Gupta

IT'S the final countdown,” the words of the band Europe resonate in the ears and minds of lakhs of students across the country. The day of reckoning has almost arrived, a day when ‘fortunes’ will be decided. A day which will separate the men from the boys, the survivors from the have-nots, the achievers from the seekers or in simpler words – the corporate leaders from mere managers.

The CAT is around the corner, on November 24, and this period will prove to be a telling factor in determining who makes it and who does not. Eventually, it is a pressure game – those who cope with the two hours of “torture” without letting the expectations, anticipation and anxiety affect their performance go through, while the rest are left to rue, wondering “why”.

The CAT has been widely admitted to be one the most competitive examination in the world with the success percentage of students making it to the top B-schools comparing with the intake percentages of the world’s top B-Schools such as Harvard and Wharton. Are you still wondering why this is the most laborious period for CAT aspirants, who are required to compete with the best minds from the IITs, RECs and various top colleges?

The stakes aren’t low either – an admission to a top B-School will guarantee a minimum salary of Rs 5,00,000 per annum for an individual even in a dry market while failure leaves you fending for yourself. Here is wishing all CAT aspirants the best for those two tumultuous hours!

Festive fever in Delhi University

On a lighter note, the festival season in Delhi University is beginning with the LSR fest (Tarang) slated for November end and the Hindu fest around the corner as well. The SRCC fest (Crossroads) is slated to hit the campus just before the winter break while all other colleges also go in for their annual festivals in the coming one and a half months.

Choreography and western dance competitions, fashion shows, cultural programmes, professional performances, rock competitions and rock shows will hog the university circuit in the coming months. Entry passes for the eminent fests will become a novelty with students scrounging around to “get a piece of the action”.

It is high time that you call upon all contacts and round-up all the people that you know in the university circles if you want to be certain of “being with it when it counts,” otherwise just land up at the college gates, leaving it all to lady luck. All the Best!

GTBIT launches new campus

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurating the GTBIT’s new campus at Rajouri Garden.

The Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology launched its new campus at Rajouri Garden recently. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated the campus while praising the efforts of President S. Paramjit Singh Sarna for his pioneering efforts in establishing technical institutes in Delhi. She also pledged continued support in the establishment of more such technical institutes.

President Sarna reciprocated the kind words of encouragement and appreciation offered by the CM, by recognising the pivotal role that her government had played in the evolution of the institute. The inauguration ceremony also included talks by Prof Harmohinder Singh, Secretary, DSGMC, S. Vikramjit Singh Sahni, Chairman, Sikh Education Council and former Delhi Cabinet Minister S. Harsharan Singh Balli.

Education UK
The British Council is organising an exhibition titled ‘Education UK’ on undergraduate and postgraduate education opportunities in UK, from November 22 to 23, at the Grand Inter-continental, Barakhamba Avenue, Connaught Place. The exhibition will feature the participation of 66 universities from UK including, eminent ones such as Warwick, Westminster, Bath, Lancaster and UMIST. Students can visit the seminar from 12 noon to 7:00 pm.
Apart from accessing specific information from university pavilions and having all queries answered by university representatives, the attendees can also attend seminars dealing with various intricacies of education in the United Kingdom. The schedule for the seminars is as follows:
Undergraduate Courses Nov 22 (1:00 pm)
Postgraduate Courses Nov 22 (2:00 pm)
Student Visas Nov 22 (3:00 pm)
Vocational Courses Nov 22 (4:00 pm)
Business & Management Nov 22 (5:00 pm)
Scholarships Nov 23 (1:00 pm)
Online Courses from UK at BCL Nov 23 (2:00 pm)
Law Nov 23 (3:00 pm)
Biotechnology Nov 23 (4:00 pm)
IT & Engineering Nov 23 (5:00 pm)

Samaritans of MDI celebrate C-Day

The social compassion of future business leaders was on display on November 14, as they endeavoured to make Children’s Day a joyous occasion for a special section of children. The Samaritans – a social response initiative of Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon, organised several activities for 65 mentally and physically challenged boys belonging to Deepashram.

The activities included a medical camp for the children, distribution of winter wear and putting up an entertainment programme, which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. The Samaritans also ensured the participation of the corporate sector, which most of them are soon going to belong to – in the form of Philips, which sponsored the winterwear.

The Samaritans came into being in 2001 with the objective of making the community socially sensitive, and contributing to society and the environment around them in an effective and fulfilling manner. The students are driven with a simple belief – “Change is possible”. The students visit the Ashram, run by the Missionaries of Charity – every weekend and organise such events on an ongoing basis such as the “Candle Project” and “Food Project”.

Other areas of work for the Samaritans include environmental issues, anti-illiteracy drives and blood donation camps.

BMW encourages research

BMW, the German auto giant, has announced the details of its 7th Scientific Awards, which total approximately 70,000 Euros in monetary rewards. The motto for this year’s research award is “Passion for Innovation” - in other words, a passion for marketable ideas for tomorrow. University graduates and up-and-coming scientists are eligible for entering their dissertations. The dissertations need to be routed through the respective university departments and should be submitted to BMW by March 10, 2003.

In line with its interdisciplinary character, the Scientific Award is open to entrants from all disciplines. Contributions from the natural sciences, engineering, information technology, medicine and information science are as welcome as works from the worlds of economics, the arts or the law.

To enter, the graduate researchers and young scientists must submit their dissertations, MA studies or doctoral thesis with a “Passion for Innovation”; the works must have been completed between January 1, 2001 and February 28, 2003. The entry apart from the thesis must entail an outline, CV and a Participation Declaration signed by the appropriate departmental professor.

An international jury made up of representatives from universities, science, business and industry will assess and select the works submitted according to the criteria of “thematic relevance”, “level of innovation”, “usefulness to society and the environment” and “economic viability”. The awards will be presented to the winners of the Scientific Award BMW Group 2003 in November 2003.

Since 1991, 33 young scientists have been presented with the BMW Group’s Scientific Award. During these 11 years, the Scientific Award has spread far beyond the borders of Germany to become an internationally recognised research prize. In 2001, for example, young researchers from more than 20 countries participated in the competition.

Please visit www.bmw.com/scientific-award for more information and details pertaining to participation conditions.

Courses in media studies

Head of International Operation Barry Johnson, who was in New Delhi recently to launch courses in media studies.

The barrage of courses in media continues as the new economy sector thrives and attracts talent in search of a glamorous lifestyle. Wigan & Leigh have also jumped on to the bandwagon with their own customised offering in Media Studies. The college has launched courses targeted at undergraduates students wanting to pursue regular and advanced studies in film and television production, sound recording, editing, print production and event management.

The comprehensive courses primarily deal with the production side of the media industry and packaged into two and three year programmes.

The two-year course offers a broad curriculum and will cover the basics of all major media activities.

The three-year course on the other hand seeks to enable the students with in-depth knowledge and focusses on subjects such as direction, photography, art direction, animation and editing. The courses are designed with an industry-oriented approach imbibing an interactive method of learning entailing location visits. The courses are offered at the Delhi and Mumbai centers of WLC and have been designed in collaboration with the UK faculty of Media Studies.

NIIT celebrates World Literacy Day

NIIT is planning to bring together 2 lakh Indians across 2,500 locations on December 2, for World Computer Literacy Day.

The event, which is aimed at bridging the digital divide and make computer education accessible to the masses, promises to be the first brush with computers for most of the participants. The World Literacy Day campaign was launched by Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, IT and Communications, Mr Pramod Mahajan.

The NIIT Swift Jyoti Programme is a two-week 12-hour initiative available in four Indian languages – Hindi Tamil, Marathi and Gujarati – apart from English. The capsule course equips the learn with a wide array of skills ranging from email, word processing, internet surfing and accounting.

The programme takes a unique approach to the objective of “taking IT education to the Masses,” by adopting an “Each One Teach Two” methodology. According to the methodology, after 10 hours of the programme, learners will have the option of training two persons of their choice. The programme has been launched in association with Webduniya (which has designed the multi-loingual software), Airtel and Cybermedia.

Dr Sugata Mitra said, “The programme has been designed in such a way that even 60-year olds, who are hesitant to learn the computers, will be emboldened to take the plunge. At the same time, the programme, with several fun elements in it, also holds appeal for youngsters.”

NIIT is also planning to provide free computer literacy programmes to 10,000 principals, teachers and students of government schools across the country in December.

My Vidya from APTECH

Aptech is launching “My Vidya” – a 12-hour courses covering topics such as Computer fundamentals, Internet Concepts, MS Word, Powerpoint etc. The course fee is only Rs 450 with discounts on offer for families and relatives for former or current Aptech students.

A special ‘Teacher’s Awareness Programme’ has also been launched. The scheme is valid from November 15 to December 31.