The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

100 kids take Divinity Test on Sikh history
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14
‘Servants of Humanity’ organised a written Divinity Test for children at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Jheel, Delhi in which around 100 students participated. The students were made to answer questions based on Sikh religion and history.

The competition was so tough that the organisers had a tough time declaring the winners of the competition. The first three positions of the competition were shared by two students each. First prize was won by Jasdeep Singh of GHPS, India Gate and Charanpreet Singh of GHPS, Punjabi Bagh. Second prize was won by Ashvinder Kaur of Bhai Lalo Public School and Tarun Pal Singh of GHPS, India Gate.

Third prize was won by Taranjeet Singh and Amandeep Kaur of GHPS, India Gate. Consolation prizes were won by Gaurav Kakkar, Dashmeet Kaur and Gurmeet Kaur.

S Tehal Singh, president of the Servants of Humanity said that the enthusiasm in children was such that their parents present at the venue also participated in the competition.

Among the parents, Harinder Pal Singh and Amarjeet Kaur bagged the first prize. The winning parent, Harinder Pal Singh, Member SGPC was also the Chief Guest of the function, who later distributed the prizes to the winning students.

Besides the Sangat, Baba Phumman Singh of Dera Baba Karam Singh Sahib, Harbhajan Singh, Pritam Singh Walia, Harpal Singh, Hardev Singh also attended the function. The written test for the students was conducted by Harjinder Singh and Manjeet Singh of Yuvak Likhari Sangat, New Delhi.

CAMPUS
IIHE-Michigan varsity tie-up on engineering graduate programme
Smriti Kak

The IILM Institute for Higher Education (IIHE) has signed an agreement with Michigan Technologies University (MTU) to offer quality technical education to Indian students.

These students can now obtain global engineering education in various streams including computers, mechanical, electrical, chemical and material sciences. The four-year undergraduate programme will commence from the 2003 academic session.

The students, after completing two years in India, can go to the MTU campus in the USA and complete the rest of the course. For those who cannot go abroad, the course can be completed through the MTU’s distance learning programme.

The programme is not just a credit transfer programme, students are directly enrolled as scholars of MTU.

Admissions begin in Pearl Academy

The Diploma in Applied and Professional Photography is one of the many courses being offered by the Pearl Academy of Fashion.

The Pearl Academy of Fashion has opened admissions for the academic year 2003-04 for its nine professional degree and diploma courses in fashion design, textile design, merchandising and retail management.

This year, the PAF has announced the launch of new programmes including Master’s in Fashion Design, BA Hons in Communication Design, BA Hons in Textile Design and Management, PG in Apparel Management and undergraduate Diploma in Applied and Professional Photography.

Entrance tests will be conducted simultaneously for all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in five centres across the country.

Workshop on behavioural competency

The All India Management Association (AIMA) conducted a seminar-cum-workshop on ‘Professional Dynametric Programmes for Behavioural Competency Modelling and Profiling’ in collaboration with Nicco Internet Ventures Ltd.

The day-long workshop aimed at familiarising the programme participants with the concept, use and applications of the Professional Dynametric Programmes — one of the most advanced psychometric instruments available for identifying, managing and developing specific combinations of traits that will produce measurable, bottom-line results.

The experts also did a demo profiling of the participants. Among those who participated in the workshop included Mr Robert Largent and Ms Patricia Stevenson. Mr Robert Largent is the Principal in HR Management Associates, Inc based in Atlanta, a Georgia-based consulting firm, and Ms Patricia Stevenson is the Principal of Stevenson & Associates Inc, a consulting firm at Arlington, Texas.

Summit on services marketing

The All India Management Association, the apex body of management profession in the country, in association with Escotel Mobile Communications Pvt Ltd is organising a two-day summit on ‘Services Marketing’ on May 16-17 in the Capital.

Dr J. D. Singh, Faculty, International Management Institute, New Delhi is the Summit Director, while Prof Mohd Washid, Associate Professor is the Associate Director.

The summit aims to bring to the participants an opportunity to listen to eminent professionals and their ‘Innovative Strategies for Growth’, among others. The two-day summit will focus on issues such as: ‘What delivers success in services marketing’, ‘Factors that really blind the customer, channel partner and employee loyalty by choice’ and ‘Alternate routes of going beyond brand equity to customer equity’ among other topics.

Senior executives from Bharti Touchtel, Barista Coffee Company and Jet Airways are expected to participate in the summit.

Coaching institute’s claims

FIITJEE, an institute offering coaching for IIT JEE, says that 4,439 students have cleared the IIT JEE 2003 screening test. The institute claims that the programmes concentrate on unravelling the basic potential of every student and stress is laid on understanding the basic concepts and sharpening the analytical skills.

Management course with sectoral specialisation

The Sri Ram Institute of Management has launched a full-time postgraduate programme in management with sectoral specialisation in entreprenuership for small and medium business, hospital management, and corporate sector and human resources management.

The course duration is 15 months and it is one of the few programmes with sectoral specialisation. Students in the first phase are taught general management courses for a period of nine months and in phase two, which extends to six months, the students are given sectoral specialisation.

Amity offers courses catering to insurance sector
Parmindar Singh

Though there has been splurge of job opportunities with the opening of insurance sector lately, not many institutes providing insurance training have come forward. The job opportunities in insurance sector are plenty: one can work as an insurance agent or broker, insurance surveyor, actuary, administrative officer underwriter, and sales manager or marketing co-ordinator.

The Amity School of Insurance and Actuarial Science (ASIAS) has taken one initiative towards providing practical experience in the field of insurance. Spread across a 15-acre campus in Noida with state-of-the art infrastructure, the ASIAS is the first to be recognised by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority.

It may be mentioned that India is the fastest-growing market in Asia for the insurance sector, alongside China. Until a few years ago, life and general insurance was the exclusive domain of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Company (GIC) with their subsidiaries.

The opening up of the sector and the entry of private companies like Bajaj Allianz, Prudential ICICI, ICICI Lombard, Birla Sun Life, IFFCO-Tokio, Max New York and Tata AIC have led to an ever-increasing demand for well-qualified, trained and skilled professionals.

The Amity institute has been set up by Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, a philanthropic trust aiming at imparting quality education. The one-year postgraduate diploma in Insurance Management was launched by the ASIAS in 2000.

The ASIAS has entered into an exclusive partnership for Delhi region with the global institute – Life Offices Management Association (LOMA), Atlanta, USA – to offer their courses in India. The tie-up helps provide qualified manpower in accordance with the expectations of MNCs, says R. R. Grover, director of the ASIAS.

The completion of India-specific LOMA modules leads to exemptions in three modules for fellowship of the Insurance Institute of India. The courses lead to certification of Associate and Fellow Awards. The level and standard is the same as that offered to students in institutions abroad. The ASIAS has also become a member of LOMA to give a substantial financial benefit to students. This would enable the students to access all the available material and research papers in insurance industry the world over.

The ASIAS is committed to produce high-quality manpower. It imparts all-round knowledge of various subjects pertaining to life and non-life insurance.

Special care is taken to improve the over-all personality of the students and to develop them in the areas of marketing and customer relations management so that they can meet the challenges posed by the liberalisation of the insurance sector. The ASIAS offers the following courses: (1) PG Diploma in Insurance Management (IRDA approved), full-time programme; (2) Diploma in Health Insurance and Managed Care, full-time programme; (3) PG Diploma in Insurance Management (composite), part-time programme; (4) Actuarial Science Course, part-time programme; (5) Diploma in Life Insurance, part-time programme; (6) Diploma in General Insurance, part-time programme; (7) Consumer Psychology and Marketing of Insurance Services, part-time programme. The students who have passed out from the institute have been well placed in various companies, claims Mr Grover.

COURTS

MTNL told to pay Rs 6,000 for deficient service
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14
A city consumer court today ordered the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) to pay a total of Rs 6,000 to aggrieved consumers in separate cases for providing deficient service, including non-restoration of connection, despite them having sent repeated reminders.

Mr Atul Saxena, one of the complainants, had alleged that his telephone often remained out of order for a long period. This was even after informing the Chief General Manager and the Union Communications Minister about the matter.

Noting that the MTNL itself had admitted that Mr Saxena’s telephone had not been working for 93 days between June 25 and December 13, 2000, the New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum said: “Telephone is not meant to be a showpiece. In a period of five months, if it has been out of order for more than three months, the MTNL is deficient in service.”

Rejecting the MTNL’s argument that the repair of the instrument was delayed due to heavy rains, forum president L. C. Jain, members Janak Juneja and R. Narayana directed it to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment it caused Mr Saxena along with the litigation cost of Rs 500.

In another case, complainant Mohan Lal alleged that in spite of writing to the Divisional Engineer and informing the company through its computerised complaint system, the MTNL did not rectify the fault in his telephone.

Turning down the MTNL’s contention that Mr Lal had made written complaints just to make out a case to harass it, the consumer court asked the telephone company to pay Mr Lal a compensation of Rs 1,000. The forum also directed the MTNL to waive off the rent charges from the day the telephone went out of order till the date the connection was restored.