Scope of beauty industry in India

Beauty and wellness industry is growing at swift pace in India with new trends evolving in the society.

In India, the beauty industry has significantly developed in terms of manufacture, promotion and marketing of different beauty products. After completion of any beauty course, the beautician can start a career in the beauty industry as a nail art specialist, a masseur, an aroma therapist, or even a beauty consultant.

It has been noticed that people from different fields like airlines, hospitality and call centres are switching to the Beauty, Spa and Hair Dressing profession. Beauty and wellness is a 12,000 cr. Industry in India and is growing at the rate of 30% each year. Due to the fast paced growth, there are plenty of job opportunities, for which there is need for qualified professionally trained individuals.

This industry has several other advantages such as high salaries, comfortable job timings, ease with which one can start their own spa or salon. But to succeed in the beauty industry, it is essential to get a degree from a good training academy.

The professional beauticians can be employed in modeling and film industry. The option of starting ones own saloon or parlor also remains open.

Candidates with diploma or advance course in beauty care can start the career as a beautician. One can get the specialization in any field like hair styling, beauty therapy, massage, make-up, facials, pedicure, manicure, herbal beauty care and electrolysis.

A beautician should have a creative mind and a good sense of hygiene.

Mumbai based, Svastii Wellness Academy,  a private unisex wellness haven provides tailor made courses in wellness, beauty and cosmetics with the best of academic knowledge and practical insight. Courses offered here are recognized by international examination boards such as CIBTAC/ITEC and custom made courses for hotels and spas.

Some of the courses in beauty industry are Beauty Culture & Hair Dressing, Certificate Course in Beauty & Hair Dressing, Intensive Course on Hair Styling and Beauty, Hair and Cosmetology Basic, Crash Course in Hair Styling, Special Course on Chemical Process, Diploma in Beauty Therapy, Post Graduate Diploma in Skin and Beauty Therapy Diploma in Hair Dressing and Beauty and Certificate Course in Beauty & Hair Dressing.

The syllabus includes theoretical classes on anatomy, physiology, diets and salon management. Practical classes are based on applying make-up, facials and hair treatments.

NIIT to conduct IT Aptitude Test-NITAT on February 19

Chennai: NIIT, announced to conduct IT Aptitude Test - National I.T Aptitude Test (NITAT) to enable students and graduates to ascertain their aptitude towards the IT industry.

'NITAT 2012, will be simultaneously conducted in over 200 cities nationwide, on February 19, 2012.

NITAT has been designed as an objective type test of reasoning, comprehension, data interpretation skills and behavioural traits. Every student undergoing the test will receive a score-card with their interpretation, along with her/his nationwide and zonal ranking. The assessment is expected to be of particular benefit to graduating students in determining their aptitude for IT careers as well as the IT domain that they should take up.

Students can register online by logging on to www.niit.com/NITAT or by visiting the nearest NIIT centre.

HC seeks Centres reply on KVS quota guidelines

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court sought response from the Centre and the city government on a plea against the provision of "quota within quota" in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) guidelines for admission of economically weaker section (EWS) students.

The court issued notices to HRD Ministry and Delhi government's Directorate of Education on a plea of Social Jurists, an NGO, challenging the KVS admission guidelines 2012-2013 which reserved 22.5 per cent seats for SC/ST category students within the 25 per cent reserved quota for children belonging to EWS category in class One.

"Issuing notice to Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Directorate of Education (DoE) of Delhi government," a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said, directing them to file their replies by February 22.

The petition, filed through advocate Ashok Agarwal, stated that quota within quota was not permissible under the Right To Education (RTE) Act.

"Out of 10 seats reserved in 25 per cent quota under RTE Act, KVS Guidelines earmarked nine seats for SC/ST students leaving only one seat for all other categories like OBC, disabled children, EWS etc, which defeats the very object of the Act," the advocate said terming the guidelines as "arbitrary and discriminatory".

Seeking court's direction to the government to re-issue the guidelines as per the law, the counsel said, "Amongst the categories mentioned in the RTE Act for the purpose of reservation, no category is entitled to preference over the other as they all form one homogeneous class and is entitled to equal treatment."

Payroll management courses - First time in India

Chennai: With not much institutions focusing on Payroll management in India, for the first time the subject comes as specialized modules through distance learning mode to empower accountants, entrepreneurs, HR  managers and payroll practitioners.

National Academy of Indian payroll (NAIP) in association with UK's IPP (Institute of Payroll Professionals), provides one-year PG Diploma and short term courses with the kite-mark national standards in relation to the required qualifications to all graduates who are interested in further professional studies to better their chance of employment or promotional prospects.

The qualifications are recognized by the UK Governing Body CIPP.

Apart from providing short-term (one day) training courses for working professionals, it offers foundation certificate course, advance certificate course, certificate course as separate modules. And on completing all the three modules together they provide a PG diploma in Payroll & Payroll Compliance Management. 

The Post Graduate Diploma in Payroll & Payroll Compliance Management has been developed after detailed consultation with Payroll and HR experts from both the private and government sectors within India as well as international practitioners from UK.

First of its kind in India, the courses are also available online with its content uniquely bringing together payroll technicalities, compliance, supervisory and management skills in a versatile format.

School teacher wins award for her book on Andaman

Port Blair: The writer of a book on Ross Island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands won the first prize under Rahul Sanskritayan Tourism Prize scheme, being conducted by Union Tourism ministry.

The author, Krishna Veni, who is a teacher in GSSS Girls School here, won the first prize for her book in Hindi named "Andaman ka Ross Island".

Rahul Sanskritayan national award is given for contribution to Hindi travel literature.

The 130-page book gives a first person account of the history of the then headquarters of British government in Ross Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in a narrative style. 

FCI to hire 6,000 more employees in six months

New Delhi: State-run foodgrain procurement agency FCI will hire additional 6,000 employees in the next six months, Food Minister K V Thomas said here today.

"FCI will recruit 6,000 employees. We need young people to handle foodgrains procurement and distribution," Thomas said at a global wheat conference.

The minister said this will be over and above 4,000 employees FCI is hiring at present. Later, Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairman Siraj Hussain said that the organisation at present has 30,000 employees and it is recruiting 4,000 staff in Group C category through Staff Selection Commission (SSC).
"The Board has approved filling up of another 6,000 staff and that will take six months. We will request SSC to undertake the recruitment in the Group C category," Hussain said.

He said that the total strength of the FCI will not cross 36,000 as some employees are retiring. Asked about the financial burden on account of hiring, Hussain said," There is no financial crunch... We are not likely to have any problem of cash flow in near future."

The government has increased the guarantee on FCI's cash credit limit by Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore. Besides, the subsidy has also been raised, he added.

FCI is the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains in the country.

40,800 teachers to be appointed in Assam by May

Guwahati: Around 28,000 teachers will soon be appointed on contractual basis and 12,800 teachers on a permanent basis, Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah said today.

At present there are 90,000 posts of teachers lying vacant in the state and initially 40,800 teachers would be appointed by May this year, Sarmah told reporters.

He pointed out that the Supreme Court's verdict vacating the ban imposed by Guwahati High Court on teachers recruitment in the state yesterday has facilitated this.

The process of appointment of contractual teachers will begin from February 15 and the process is expected to be completed before the Bihu festival in April.

The process of appointment of permanent basis will begin thereafter and the entire process was expected to be completed by May 15 this year.

The apex court bench headed by Justice Deepak Verma had set aside the High Court order of March 5, 2010 on a petition filed by the Assam government contending that the ban was causing difficulties in the running of elementary schools to fulfill the mandate of compulsory education under the Right to Education Act.

Around 52,000 candidates have qualified in the first-ever Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) conducted by the state government in January this year. 

Kalam released a book on population boom and food mismatch

Hyderabad: With global population expected to cross 9 billion by 2050 from current 7 billion, a daunting question plaguing experts iswhether there will be enough food to feed so many people?

In his book 'Feeding the Forgotten Poor', agriculturist and Director General of the city-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Dr William D Dar tries to explore the topic threadbare.
The hardback was released by former President APJ Kalam in New Delhi on the sidelines of the second Global Agri-Business Incubation Conference: NIABI 2012.

The event was organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in partnership with ICRISAT.
In a foreword to the book, the former president wrote, "The Book reveals perspectives to grow and provide food to the people wherever they live on Earth, backed by Dr Dar's own experience in multiple countries. Particularly, I am impressed with the Chapter 'Innovate, Grow and Prosper' where he deals with strategic science and dynamic development," an ICRISAT release said yesterday.

The ICRISAT director general, who hails from Philippines, is a research manager besides being an agronomist and has been associated with ICRISAT to realise its dream of smarter, healthier, sustainable and resilient agriculture towards attainment of food security, particularly in the arid tropics of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

President stresses the need for building human resource

Kurukshetra (Haryana): President Pratibha Patil stressed the need for building human resources, saying it is the talent and work of our people that will shape the future trajectory of becoming a good and strong nation.


"We have to focus on building our human resource...it is human beings who set up factories and run them.  It is human beings who establish institutions that are engaged in multiple activities, from providing services to undertaking research and scientific activities for the betterment of humanity," she said speaking at the convocation function of Kurukshetra University here.

"Human beings stand at the centre of creative thinking and of ideas, which can bring many changes of head and heart, material and spiritual," she said.

On the occasion, degrees of Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa were conferred on Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The degrees were conferred by Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia, who is also the Kurukshetra University's Vice Chancellor.

The President awarded gold medals to the toppers of different departments. Degrees to 181 Ph.D Scholars, number of M.Phil and Post Graduates were also awarded.

Patil said that she was happy to note that all the eleven gold medalists honoured today were girls. She called upon the boys to work hard as boys and girls are the two wheels of chariot and both wheels have to be sturdy.

Clean job exit taken seriously by employees, companies: Survey

New Delhi: A professional and clean exit is being taken seriously by employees as well as managements across all industries in the country, according to a survey by staffing firm TeamLease.

Around 92 per cent of Indians across all industries and cities believe exit policies should be taken seriously and given lot of importance. While Bangalore and Chennai top the list with 99 per cent, employees in Mumbai did not care much, the TeamLease survey said.

"Employees are recognising that the labour markets are a small place and ungraceful exits come back with compound interest later. Adherence to a professional and clean exit is increasingly being seen amongst the work force today," Surabhi Mathur Gandhi, Senior Vice-President, IT Sourcing, TeamLease Services, said.

The survey titled 'Impactful exits' noted that companies are giving increased importance to relieving letter as 23 per cent of companies surveyed said they do not proceed with employment due to unavailability of relieving letter.
"But we don't anticipate relieving certificates becoming a deal breaker for new employers until the skill crisis eases," Gandhi added.

According to the study, better prospects and salary hike motivated employees to quit the incumbent organisation. However, one third of the employees surveyed said they would re-join their organisation if given an opportunity.
Further, according to the study majority of the companies, including the Silicon Valley of India Bangalore, still favour manual exit interviews over online, emphasising the reliance on face-to-face interactions.

Around 78 per cent of employees stressed on having longer notice periods for the company, helping the employees to complete pending work as well as the companies to contract the right candidate.

The survey covered employees in the 8 major cities namely Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.

The study covered 800 respondents whose profile ranged between the age group of 21-45 years across industries; and functions of sales, marketing, business development, operations, finance, admin/HR, systems (IT) and others.

How to prepare yourself for public exams - Accountancy

Accountancy is a subject where scoring full marks is possible if your preparation is good and meticulous.

In the accountancy question paper, 80% of the questions are from the book and the rest 20% is from the workout examples. Studying selected portions it is impossible score full marks as for as accountancy is concerned. So, it is a must to study the entire portion to get full marks.  

In a question paper that comprises of 4 sections it is necessary to answer all the 30 questions in Section A. In section A try to attempt all the questions in sequence of 1, 2, 3, ….30. If you dont know the answer to a particular question it is good leave the question number and move to the next questions instead of wasting time on the question that you dont know. Leave some space in the same section for those left questions and probably later on you may get some time to think and write the answer. 

Section-B contains 14 questions. Out of which 7 would be simple calculations and the rest seven would be questions related to principles of the subject. Here you have a      choice of attempting only 5 questions.    
 
In Section-C, 8 questions are asked from 45 to 52. Out of which you need to attempt only 5 questions. However, question number 45 is a compulsory question. Some students in a hurry leave this question that would lead to less marks.

Generally, questions from this section are from Single Entry System and Non-Performing Assets. Hence, students should thoroughly work out these two sections.

Next, in Section D, 5 questions are asked from 53 to 57.  Out of which you need to attempt only 3 questions. However, question number 53 is compulsory one. 

This question is usually from Single Entry System or Patternship. This section comprises of questions from Final Statement Accounts, Financial Statement Account, and Cash Flow Statement. Easily, it is possible to score 60 marks if you are thorough with these portions. 

During the exam allot 30 minutes for Section- A, 45 minutes for Section B, 45 minutes for Section C and 45 minutes for Section D. If you happened to spend the last 15 minutes for checking the answers, underlining important points and attaching all the papers in the right order unnecessary tension could be avoided. Even though you may know the answer do not write more than what is required.

Write the answers section wise; do not jumble up sections and answer. It is possible to score full marks in Accountancy subject. 

Aussies interested to tie-up with India in business and investments

Chennai: Australia Government has come forward to have bi-lateral ties with India in Business and investments.

If thinks go on fine to develop bi-lateral ties between the two nations, Australia will provide competitive solutions and expertise in the field of automotive, education, food and beverages, infrastructure, clean energy, water and waste management, sports, health and health products with companies in Tamil Nadu.

Recently, the Australian Trade Commission, the Australian Governments trade and investment development agency, presented business and investment opportunities for Indian businessess at the seminar on "Doing Business and Investing with Australia" held at Chennai. 

It also invited investors from India to expand their business in Australia to access innovation, new technologies and intellectual property.

Revealing this at the Seminar, Michael Carter, Trade Commissioner and Consul-Commercial for Australia to Southern India, said, “Tamil Nadu is a significant business destination for Australian companies. Sectors of potential Australian involvement in Tamil Nadu include automotive; education based learning and skill development; food and beverage and agribusiness; infrastructure and more broadly building and construction; clean energy solutions for energy generation as well as water and waste management; sports; health and medical products and services and training”.

Australia-India bi-lateral trade may reach Rs 2 lakh crore (A$ 40 billion), if everything goes as per plan. 

The University of Wollongongs Innovation Campus (iC) participated at the seminar and provided insight on the significance of Australia as a hub for Indian companies to carry out cutting edge research and development, and the example of utilising the favourable eco system established within the Innovation Campus to set up research and development centres and to innovate for business growth.

Speaking at the Seminar Craig Peden, Director, Innovation Campus (iC), University of Wollongong stated that the University of Wollongong plans set up a campus in India in the near future. 

Board Exams Stress - Dial a Helpline

New Delhi: It's that time of the year when tension runs high, anxiety grips the minds of parents and students who are concerned about just one thing  board exams! But help is just a call away as many helpline numbers are active to overcome exam stress.

"The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) started its helpline on February 1 to help students deal with anxiety and syllabus issues, suggest time management techniques and provide career guidance," Rama Sharma, spokesperson of the exam controlling body, told agency.

"It is our first phase of counselling for those appearing for board examinations this year," she added. The exams begin in March and end mid-April.

"There is a make or break junction synonymous with board exams. Students need to make realistic evaluation of the situation. We make them understand that exams are not the end but just another milestone in their lives," Sharma said.

The helpline can be accessed at toll-free number 1800-180-3456 between 8 a.m. and midnight. The number will be operational till April 16.

"The helpline will resume when the results are out. In the first phase, we will help students during the preparations and in the second phase we will counsel students who feel low after not scoring well," the spokesperson said.

According to psychologists, soaring expectations, the urge to secure a place in college or even getting the choice of stream in school lead to stress in students. But the widening gap between parents and children adds most to the pressure.

"Children need an outlet where they take their problems," Sandeep Vohra, consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Apollo Hospital, told agency.

"When stress levels go beyond the child's endurance, they become non-communicative, lose interest in everything and start withdrawing from family and social life. Students may consider suicide an easier option than facing their parents and relatives after failure," he added.

According to statistics by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 2,479 students committed suicide due to failure in 2010. Of them, 2,057 were in the 15-29 age group. The remaining students were out of this range.

Experts feel it is important for parents to identify the behavioural changes their child is going through and consult a counsellor if the child is withdrawing or hesitating from confiding in.

It is not just the CBSE helpline that is a saviour for students. NGOs such as Snehi and Aasra have also been running exam helplines for students in distress.

"Students come to us when other alternatives do not work. We are not critical or judgemental," said Johnson Thomas, director of the Mumbai-based helpline Aasra.

"We just try to get them talking about their issues and empower them to take positive decisions which enrich their lives, rather than doing anything reckless," he added.

While Aasra's 24X7 helpline can be reached at 91-22-27546669, Snehi runs Disha exam helpline on the number 011-65978181. Disha is active from Feb 1 till March 3.

"In 2011, we attended 1,582 calls related to exams stress. Out of these 1,403 callers were students who were psychologically distressed and emotionally perturbed," Snehi director Abdul Mabood said.

"We also received calls from 179 parents and relatives of students and helped them to handle situational stress," he added

School principals echo the opinion of sensitising parents, a key to deal with emotional turmoil that students could get into during this time.

Said Madhulika Sen, principal of Tagore International, Vasant Vihar, south Delhi: "Parental pressure is a major reason for exam stress. Therefore, we also counsel parents of Class 12 students. We tell them that pressurising the child to perform better will only worsen things." IANS

Australian varsity planning campus in Gujarat

Kolkata: Australia's University of Wollongong (UOW) is planning to establish a 72-acre campus in Ahmedabad, an official of the varsity said on Monday.

"Indian students have a major presence in our country. So we thought why not establish a campus here which will allow them to get the Australian flavour of education without having to leave their shores," Craig Peden, director corporate relations, UOW, said here.

The facility will be the UOW's second international campus alongside Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Gujarat NRE Coking Coal chairman Arun Jagatramka will assist the university with finance and liaise between it and Indian authorities.

Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Limited (GNCCL) is a subsidiary of Gujarat NRE Coke Limited, the largest independent manufacturer of low ash metallurgical coke (Met Coke) in India.

Peden, however, refused to comment on the amount of investment involved in the project, saying it was only in the planning stage and anything concrete can be said only after the end of 2012.

A memorandum of understanding was earlier signed by UOW Vice-Chancellor Gerard Sutton and Jagatramka in Mumbai.

Peden also said the university was mulling to establish a branch of Innovation Campus (IC), a technology and research precinct developed by it.

"With a view to forge partnership with India in the field of R&D in areas like advance manufacturing, energy storage etc, we are looking for a suitable place here to establish a branch of the IC," said Peden.

IC's brand ambassador and Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist visited the Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore last year scouting for suitable place for the Indian branch. IANS

Assam child rights body to survey schools

Guwahati: After receiving several complaints, the Assam child rights panel has decided to conduct a survey in all schools in the state to find out if provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 have been violated.

The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights received reports from some areas alleging gross violation of provisions of the act. Some parents had complained that the school authorities had been charging fees from their children though they weren't supposed to.

Assam had adopted the act last year after the state cabinet approved the rules under the act, which guarantee a lower primary (LP) school (Classes 1-5) within a one-kilometre radius of every neighbourhood and a middle English (ME) school (Classes 6-8) within a three-kilometre radius of every neighbourhood, besides free education from Class 1 to Class 8.

Runumi Gogoi, a member of the commission, said they have received complaints from parents mainly in Rani Education block in Kamrup district alleging the school authorities had been between Rs.20 and Rs.500 from parents.

Gogoi, however, said there is a general misunderstanding about the implementation of the act in schools. "Most schools are yet to receive any instruction from the government regarding the implementation of the act," she said.

"There has been a misunderstanding about the implementation of this act. Considering the complaints, it is clear that the confusion is mainly in Kamrup. Hence, we decided to conduct a survey and monitor all the schools of the district and straighten it out. We would spread the survey to all the schools in the state if needed in a phased manner," she said.

"We visited the Rani Education block after receiving complaints. When we spoke to the headmaster, we were told he hasn't received any direction of this act from the inspector of schools," the member said adding that the headmaster returned the fees to all its students thereafter.

Earlier, an NGO, Sangrami Krishak Shramik Sangha, had written to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and to Unicef over alleged violation of the Act. IANS

Framework for vocational education launched

New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday launched a framework for vocational education to be implemented in polytechnics, engineering colleges and other colleges across the country.

Announcing the launch of the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF), Sibal told reporters that a seven-level certification programme, starting in class 9, would be started in different fields of vocational training, culminating in a degree at the end of the seventh year.

"It will start from class 9 level which will be level one, then for class 10 it will be level two, and so on," the minister said.

"Completing level seven, one would get a degree," he said.

A total of 1,000 hours of training will be necessary in every level annually, with hours fixed for different topics in the course.

The programme, which will be launched from the academic year 2012-13, is sector specific. The sectors include IT, media, entertainment, telecommunications, mobile communications, automobile, construction, retail, food processing, tourism, hotel, jewellery design and fashion design.

"Other courses will also be added in due course of time," Sibal said.

"AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) would seek to provide the requisite statutory approvals to any institutions wishing to conduct these programmes from the academic year 2012 throughout the country. The institutions can choose a maximum of 500 students per institute in any five sectors, 100 students per sector," an AICTE official said.

The programme is expected to cater to at least 5 million students for vocational degree and diploma every year. IANS

Bihar to have smaller universities

Patna: The Bihar government has decided to restructure existing universities in the state in view of the guidelines of the University Grants Commission.

Bihar Human Resources Development minister P K Shahi said a proposal to this effect was put forth by director of higher education to have smaller universities for smooth functioning.

The proposal has already being endorsed by Shahi and HRD principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh.
The state has 12 universities at present. A detail proposal would soon be prepared to bifurcate Magadh University (MU) to create a new university comprising MU-colleges in Patna.

The proposal to carve smaller universities out of B R A Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, L N Mithila University, Darbhanga and T M Bhagalpur University would be initiated later, sources said.

The proposal to select the present universities has been mooted in keeping with UGC's guidelines for more universities to boost Gross Enrolment Ratio.

CBSEs centre for assessment to play major role in UG tests

New Delhi: The proposed centre for assessment and evaluation studies under CBSE is expected to play a major role in near future holding national level tests for undergraduate technical programmes.


The body will prepare questions for tests like the proposed common aptitude test for engineering programmes said sources in the HRD Ministry.

In course of time, the Ministry proposes to transform it into a statutory authority conducting extensive research concerning examinations.

The department of research and assessment under the body has a mandate to review engineering entrance examination capacity building.

The development comes as the Ministry is understood to have finalised plans for conducting the pan-India common entrance test from 2013 for undergraduate engineering programmes.
It is believed to have arrived at formulae with respect to giving weight ages to the common test and school boards.

Indications are that the weight age will be 60 per cent for the test and 40 per cent for school boards for deciding admission. However, some state boards are believed to be resisting the common test.
The IIT and the NIT councils have already given their approval for the test, which will eventually replace the IIT-JEE and AIEEE.

The sources said the common test may not be made mandatory in the initial years.
The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) will take up the proposal during its meeting in April this year.

DU students to switch sides to the admin in unique programme

New Delhi: Delhi University students will now have a unique opportunity to witness first-hand the daily intricacies of running the varsity administration through an interesting internship programme at none other than the Vice Chancellor's office.

The University has for the first time initiated a programme that invites students to be a part of the administration and even offer suggestions that may turn out to be valuable.
The students will not only get to understand the role of the Vice Chancellor's office in day-to-day functioning of their varsity but also get to assist his team in their affairs.
"People often complain about things that do not happen. Through this programme we wanted students to know more about how the University functions and get involved in the administration even if it is for a brief time," said Dean Students Welfare J M Khurana.

He said during their direct association with the Vice Chancellor's office, the students will be more than welcome to offer their suggestions to improve things.
"Since they are young and fresh minds, they might come up with valuable suggestions. They may understand our side of things and may help us understand the students perspective and what better they want from the University," Khurana said.

The programme will initially invite students who register for a day, and the duration of their association may be increased during the summer vacation.

During their internship with the VC's office, the students will interact with visitors, and assisting them. They will also be provided an opportunity to explore and understand the history of the VC office complex.

New year cheer in job street surge in hiring across sectors

New Delhi: Job seekers have reasons to cheer, as hiring activities surged across all sectors in the first month of the year, despite the uncertainty prevailing in the overall economic scenario, says a report.

Reversing back the sluggish trend witnessed in the previous month, positive hiring activity was witnessed across all key industry sectors in January over December 2011.

The Naukri Job Speak index - an indicator of online job demand — for January 2012 stood at 1,121, which is 4 per cent higher than the December 2011 index and 16 per cent more than the January 2011 index.
On year-over-year basis, barring ITeS and construction, all the other key industry sectors witnessed double digit percentage hikes in their hiring activity.

"With the beginning of the new year, the recruitment scenario seems to be moving in a positive direction," Info Edge India CEO and MD Hitesh Oberoi said.
Oberoi, however, said, "this year, firms will be more particular about recruiting the right talent and employees who can make meaningful contributions to the firm."

Naukri.com is a part of the Info Edge Group. A sectorwise analysis shows that ITeS, oil & gas and telecom witnessed the strongest hiring trends, where recruitment improved by 19 per cent, 18 per cent and 16 per cent respectively, the report said.

Recruitment activity in construction and pharma sectors has been stable when compared to last month, while the IT and banking sectors witnessed just 3 per cent upward movement in hiring activity in January 2012 over December 2011.

City-wise, Delhi maintained strong hiring trends where hiring improved by 10 per cent compared to the previous month, followed by Bangalore (9 per cent), Chennai (8 per cent).
Kolkata, Mumbai maintained steady hiring levels while both Hyderabad and Pune saw the index moving up by a minor 6 per cent respectively in January 2012 over December 2011, the report said.

How to prepare yourself for public exams?

By this time most of the students would be ardently studying aspiring to become doctors, engineers, architects, designers and various other professional studies and taking up various other professional course for a great career.

Here we provide some useful tips for all those students. Please avoid last minute study and forgo the plan of studying on the holidays provided between exams. These are times to revise, but not to do the actual studying. Well, if you have not started studying, at least start immediately.   

Affix the examination schedule at your vicinity somewhere close to the place where you sit and study regularly. Make a proper schedule for each subject giving sufficient time for weaker subjects.   

First of all every student should be aware of the examination schedule and timings. Plus two common exams begin on March 8. All the exam begins at 10.15 AM and finishes at 1:15 PM. Instead of arriving at the examination center at the right time, it is good to be present at your examination center at least 15 minutes before the schedule time. Avoid last minute hurrying, especially if taking a long drive to the exam center. If not writing in your own school, but going to another new school ensure to reach the center at least 1 hour before the commencement of exams on the first day. Then you would be able to  calculate the exact time for travel and adjust accordingly for the coming days.

Make sure to avoid tension during the examination days. Tension arises only when there is no proper planning. So plan prudently keeping thinks like socks, ribbons, shoes and writing accessories everything intact in its respective place to avoid searching in the last minute that will make you tensed. 

Before entering the examination hall make sure you have enough materials for the examination like pen, ink, pencil, scale, sharpener, drawing material and other accessories that are permissible.  Checked out your pockets for any scrap written notes that you would have used for your revision purpose or list of other things that are objectionable. 

Once inside the hall do not try to talk with anyone. Talking unnecessarily with the invigilator could also invite punishment. In stead take 2 minutes time to relax, so that all your apprehension and tension eases away.

Students would be given 10 minutes to read through the question paper from 10:00 AM to 10:10 AM. Then, 5 minutes would be provided for writing certain details on your answer sheet.  It is very important to manage the writing time properly, without spending too much time on one particular question.

After completing the exam make sure that you have minimum of 10 minutes to unhurriedly read through the answer sheet at least once. Manage the time accordingly throughout the exam so that you get that time to read.

Its a proven fact that 80% of the students have a habit of jumping words and subjects. During this reading time you can get a chance to rectify these mistakes, which could help you obtain more marks.

 

Both while coming to your exam and after the exam back home on the way avoid arguments with classmates over the question paper, instead get yourself prepared for the next exam. Keep away from quarrels or any petty teenage brawls on the way back home. Make sure not loose your cool in any untoward incident happening within the family or in neighborhood.  

Young Environmental Scientist Awards 2012 at IIT-M on Feb 11

Chennai: IIT Madras, CLRI and Industrial Waste Management Association (IWMA) are jointly organizing “Young Environmental Scientist Awards 2012”.

The program to be held on 11th February 2012 at IIT-M, in the IC&SR Auditorium from 09.00 a.m.

Mr. S Mani, Chairman, IWMA, President (R&D & EHS), M/s. Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. will  inaugurate the function, Prof. R. Nagarajan, Chemical Engineering Department, IIT Madras will be the Chief Guest and Prof. T.S. Natarajan, Physics Department, IIT Madras will demonstrate interesting Physics experiments at the function learning by doing being his style of imparting Science Knowledge.

Mr Ajit  Narayanan, winner of MIT Innovator of Year under 35  Award and recipient of Govt of India grant for development of "Avaz"- that provides a ‘voice to a non-verbal child with Cerebral Palsy will  deliver a special address to the young children and School Teachers.

Teams made up of school children - 9th to 12th Std will make final presentation and exhibit their research projects in area of Environment (such as Recycling, Waste Management, Rain Water Harvesting, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Energy/Water Conservation) at the program.

Domestic schools to now have CBSE international programme

New Delhi: The CBSE international programme (CBSE-i), adopted by about 26 schools abroad, will soon be available in 50 schools in the country, offering to students a global curriculum which is enquiry and skill based.

CBSE-i delivers education on the pattern of the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate (IB) which is increasingly becoming popular in the country. IB certificate is understood to help students get into top international universities faster.

"Some students want to go outside after class XII. They take IB course.... we should also provide some alternative for them. We are increasing choices of children and these are the choices with respect to those children who want to take up IB course," said HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, adding it will be available on a pilot basis.

Talking to reporters, he said Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has already given recognition to CBSE-i while CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said the feedback from the existing schools which adopted the curriculum is encouraging.

CBSE-i, Sibal said, is "less expensive and quality oriented course and it an alternative to some of the international courses".

The programme is available through the net open to bothteachers and students. While the existing CBSE has three streams, Sibal said, CBSE-i has many other avenues for students such as performing arts, music, visual arts, drama, dance. Mathematics, for example, will be available in two levels Core and Elective.
There are also programmes on electives, life skills, research projects etc. Sibal hoped kendriya vidyalays and other schools would come forward to adopt the programme.

According to CBSE, the International curriculum of CBSE-i  caters to individual learning styles in terms of pedagogy and assessment. It will address global needs as well as relate to local issues and local culture. It will carry forward the basic strength of the Indian system of education.

Besides, it aims at promoting critical and creative thinking skills, effective communication skills, interpersonal and collaborative skills and information and media skills.

Joshi said to make the programme more effective and to facilitate two-way communication between the students and parents, a new section has been added to the existing CBSE-i portal. This section is called the Parents and Students corner.

At present, about 26 schools in Middle East and some South East Asian countries have adopted CBSE-i.

Initiative: The ABC of nursery admissions in a nutshell

A website started by a harried parent is now a lifeline for others seeking nursery admissions for their wards in schools in Delhi

He managed the unthinkable right here in the Capital and rose from being an average ‘Delhiwalla' to a celebrity overnight.

In 2009, IT consultant Sumit Vohra, a South Delhi resident, managed to secure a nursery seat for his daughter in seven of the 11 schools he had applied to. His success run did not end here. He turned his experience into a book, and a website, helping hundreds of other parents who have to go through the trying process every year.

The trials and tribulations of the admission process in Delhi are now decoded on www.admissionsnursery.com. The website that deals with various issues relating to admissions to Delhi schools and provides regular updates, now has a membership of over 40,000 parents.

“My book titled 7/11 is the story about how we (my wife and I) struggled to get our daughter admitted to a good school in Delhi. The book is based on my experiences to equip parents with tricks and tips to win the ‘battle of nursery admissions' into a Delhi school,” says Mr. Vohra.

“Much like any other parent we too went through a lot of tension during my daughter's admission. We spend several sleepless nights surfing the Internet and looking for information on the schools we had applied to and see if other parents had uploaded anything on their experience. That is when we thought of documenting our journey to secure a seat for our daughter in the form of a book.”

The fact that there are very few seats in the nursery for the large number of people who apply makes the competition cut-throat and schools dictate the entire process, he says. “I remember that when one of the popular schools called us for an informal interaction and then went on to refuse the various residence proofs that we had brought along -- these included our voter identity card, electricity bills or my child's fee receipts from the play school. Yet another school in Vasant Vihar refused to accept my wife's M.Sc degree just because she was not carrying her B.Sc degree! In one of the schools the principal only wanted to see how we were dressed. These is no criteria on which a student should be selected for school and we wanted other parents to be ready and prepared when going in for their child's admission,” he said.

The website started by the couple is now a lifeline for parents applying for admission to various Delhi schools. It gives you updates, helps parents share their experience and helps you plan out a rough strategy to face the admission season. It also alerts parents about any mishandling in the admission process. 

Practising to face questions deftly

 The month before Board examinations is usually the shortest. Not only because February has the least number of days, but also because students have enough and more to do during this time.

After a few rounds of revision and model examinations, most class XII students' study time would now go into solving question papers of previous years.

A practice endorsed by teachers across Boards, solving question papers is said to prepare students to face questions worded differently and also help them divide time wisely. Many publishers come out with question paper compilations.

The School Education Department also makes available model question papers (For details, visit: http://www.tn.gov.in/schooleducation). So does the CBSE (Visit: http://cbse.nic.in/student.htm).

Among the most popular question banks is the one brought out by the State's Parent Teacher Association. According to a former office bearer, much of the Association's funds came from sale of these question banks.

While teachers may ask students to solve as many papers as possible, understanding the concepts is crucial to this exercise too, say students. “If we have to fully solve multiple question papers in the same subjects, we must be very strong in our concepts,” says a class XII student of St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School.

In schools, taking model and revision tests based on question papers of the previous Board examinations is often seen as a practice that helps high scorers top and weak students pass. “Teachers tell us that weak students can easily pass if they try solving even some of the questions,” said a class XII student of an aided school, who uses the ‘Arivali' question paper bank for physics and chemistry. According to T.N.Venkatesh, Joint Commissioner (Education), Chennai Corporation, teachers in Chennai Schools are also training students with the help of past question papers.

“While this is the case for students of Class XII, for Class X students, who have a new syllabus, there is no model question paper as such. Nonetheless, we have prepared a special module for them with key concepts and examples of how the same concept can be tested through questions worded differently,” he said.

In addition to giving practice, question banks also indicate some “challenge areas” that students should quickly address over the next few weeks, says a physics teacher of a government school. 

Students adviced not to enrol in colleges not cleared by govt

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government cautioned students against taking medical admission in institutions not granted permission by the Committee set up by it to regulate admissions to professional courses.

The committee has not given permission to any of the associations, institutions and colleges for admission of students for the academic year 2012-2013 for the medical, dental, paramedical and Indian system of medicine courses "till date," an official release said.

The Committee will issue permission and the guidelines to be followed for admission of students to these courses only after Higher Secondary examinations (plus two) are over for the year 2011-2012, it said.

"Admissions shall not be made by any of the institution or by their association, without obtaining prior permission from the Committee," it said adding any admission made without obtaining the permission from the committee shall not be valid.

The release also pointed out that D D Medical College and Hospital, Tiruvallur, has issued advertisement for admission of MBBS course and the admission, if made, shall not be valid.

As per the directions of the Supreme Court, the Government had last year set up the Committee headed by Justice A Abdul Hadi to ensure "fair, transparent and non-exploitative" admissions of students to professional courses for the seats retained by the private, unaided self-financing professional institutions.  

IIM-B announces sports-based executive education programme

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore (IIM-B) announced a sports-based executive education programme for middle and senior managers with an aim to help to them face challenges in their domain.

This is the first ever programme that leverages the experiences of sportspersons to develop a learning platform for corporate executives and help them approach day-to-day situations differently, said chairperson of IIM-B's executive education programmes Shyamal Roy.

The two-day programme titled 'learnings from sport' is being launched in association with TENVIC, a professional sports consulting company and is scheduled to be rolled out on March 16 and 17.

As a part of this programme, successful sportspersons from various sports will share their anecdotal experiences with the participants.

Knowledge will be shared through classroom sessions, interactive talks, panel discussions, video based case studies and informal interactions. The learning frameworks have been co-created by faculty from IIM Bangalore and professionals from TENVIC, said a statement.

This intensive programme will expose participants to several innovative concepts like altruistic mentoring, performance-based leadership, managing the ups and downs of the game, cross-training and equipping with skills beyond their role, and leadership jugglery.

"It is our intention to take a long-term view of this programme and look at all aspects of sports with a research and management lens" Roy said.

"This program cuts across the conventional management experiences and draws on the learning from sports to empower corporates to tackle challenging business situations", said Hari Iyer, VP, learning from sports, TENVIC.

Centre starts programme for lifestyle diseases

Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre has launched a new health programme to create awareness of early detection of diseases like cancer, dibectics, heart ailments and stroke, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Sudip Bandyopadhyay said.
    
"As a pilot project, 100 districts in the country have been identified to implement the schemes," he told.
    
Of this number five districts are in Kerala- Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Kozhikode and Thrissur - for which Rs 30 crore has been released, Bandyopadhyay said.     

He said the government's aim was to extend the project to the entire country by adding more districts ever year.
    
Under the programme, test kits, medicines and other treatment facilities would be made available at district levels at special Health Cells, he said.
    
Another programme to deal with health problems of the aged has also been initiated, he said, adding six regional centres would be set up under the National Health Programme for the elderly.
    
Bandyopadhyay, who was here to review Centrally sponsored health schemes in the state, said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 125 crore for modernising Kozhikode Medical College.
 
The Centre is also considering Kerala government's request to modernise the other three medical colleges, he said.

Bihar CM urges centre for classification of OBCs

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Centre must make classification of OBCs for effective implementation of 27 per cent reservation of jobs to the people belonging to the category.

"JD(U) wants that the Centre make classification of OBCs on the lines of Bihar," Kumar told reporters after attending 'Janta Darbar' at his official residence here.       

Nepal Congress MP Pradip Giri was present at the Darbar.
      
He said "Giriji is a leader with socialist background. Nepali leaders continue to maintain good relations with Bihar since Independence."

Need urgent strategy to catch up with China in science: scientists

New Delhi: Top Indian scientists favoured urgently designing a well-thought-out strategy to develop science and make it economically competitive to catch up with surging China.
     
Taking part in a seminar on "Science and Technology in China: Implications and Lessons for India" organised here by Observer Research Foundation, the scientists noted that though both India and China were almost on the same level 30-odd years back, now India's large neighbour has moved much ahead.
     
V S Ramamurthy, former Secretary of Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, pointed out how China has gone ahead with a strategy combining science with economics and market competitiveness, which gave the neighbour a definite edge.
     
"China has effectively combined scientific and technological research, economics and strategic thinking", Ramamurthy said.
     
Giving an example, Ramamurthy said while India was one of the major makers of rare earth in the 50s, now it has stopped production of this important material because of lack of market competitiveness.
     
"But China, which used to import in the 50s, now controls more than 90 percent of the supply of this material, controlling the world market," he said. 
     
One point that ran through all the presenters was that China has adopted a holistic approach and has evolved well thought-out plans and investments in every sector, thereby enabling it to address the entire "ecosystem".
     
This was something that India can learn, though the general view was that India has not been doing badly, either, they said. 
     
Despite China's successes, it was pointed out that China would still take some more time to emerge as a leader in the field of science and technology.
     
The view was that if China continues to persist with building an expert base, sooner or later top quality indigenous work will begin to emerge from China.
     
Emphasis on education in China has been a major factor for the country to be able to reach where it is today, the scientists said, stressing the need to catch science students young.
     
They said if India has to really draw the full benefit of the demographic advantage India needs to revamp its educational system.
     
Speaking on development of space science in China, former ISRO Chairman U R Rao said India need not compete with China but should "carefully evaluate its capability, national needs and cost effectiveness in planning its manned space programme".
     
Roddam Narasimha, Member of Space Commission and well-known Indian aerospace scientist and fluid dynamicist, said "persistent, focused, pragmatic, determined, long-term policies, coupled with national ambitions about China's CNP
and GNP, have driven the growth of aeronautics with intelligent use of the Chinese market as irresistible bait to Western industry, and unwavering policy of eventual design, development and manufacture within China."
     
Other participants included Ashok Parthasarathi, former S&T Adviser to late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, V Rajaraman, Indian nuclear scientist, N Balakrishnan of Indian Institute of Science, K  Vijay Raghavan of National Centre for Biological Science and China experts.

Omar for efforts to boost higher education in JK

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said there was need for a comprehensive vision  document for development of higher education in the state in a balanced and scientific manner.
    
Addressing the first meeting of J&K State Advisory Council for Higher Education (ACHE) here, Omar termed development of the sector as need of the hour to meet modern challenges and asked educationists to work in this regard.
    
"Vice Chancellors of various universities and educational experts should come up with this document for deliberations and finalisation in the Council so that it forms an appropriate edifice for achieving academic excellence in the state," he said, calling for efforts to make the state the choicest destination for higher studies.
    
He said the development of human resource in educational centres should be qualitative enough to attract students from other places to pursue higher studies in Jammu and Kashmir.

Production base of Akash to be diversified: Sibal

Bangalore: The low-cost Aakash tablet PC will be made completely indigenous and its production base diversified, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said.

"We are now going to diversify production base and indigenise Aakash tablet. We are planning to create eco-system for end to end development of Aakash in India. This will create enormous opportunities for R&D institutions, developers, electronic production houses," he said at a function here.

He said the IITs and the ITIs are onboard on development of the device which has so far reached out to a handful of students.

The HRD Ministry has already said that it will require an additional 22 crore units of Aakash and for this fresh tenders will be issued enabling other companies along with the present manufacturer Datawind to also get a chance.

At present, the device is available to students at Rs 1,100 after government subsidy.

Asked if the next tender will have 'made in India' clause in it, Sibal said, "Well, we want to make sure that it is 100 per cent done locally ultimately." At present, several components including the processor  are procured from outside.

At the event of Indian Semi Conductor Association, he said, "I want all of you present here to think about it and be part of this magnificent journey."

The government in the meantime plans to involve three more IITs for the Aakash project to make it more indigenous and further lower its price.

Apart from IIT Rajasthan, which is spearheading the project, IIT Mumbai, IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur would also be roped in for the project, sources in the HRD Ministry said.

The speed of the improved device will come at 800 MHz instead of 300 MHz at present.

Many Indians willing to go overseas even for 10 percentage hike: Survey

New Delhi: More than a quarter of employees in India are willing to relocate overseas for two to three years even if they get a 10 per cent pay hike, says a survey.
     
"About 28 per cent of employees in India strongly desire to relocate overseas for a full-time job for two to three years with a 10 per cent pay increase and another 39 per cent would consider the option given an opportunity," according to the survey by research firm Ipsos.
     
Further, 27 per cent Indian employees say they are "very likely" to relocate to another city in India if they were offered a full-time job opportunity in the near future, for a minimum of two years with at least a 10 per cent pay raise and all moving expenses covered.
     
Besides, another 48 per cent of respondents are "somewhat likely" to consider the option of relocation within India.
     
The main reasons for employees to relocate abroad include better pay, better living conditions, a good career move to get international experience and a new adventure.
     
"It is interesting to observe that employees from developed countries like Sweden, USA, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, and France are least likely to relocate compared to employees in developing countries like Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and India," Ipsos India Head (Marketing Communications) Biswarup Banerjee said.
     
"This clearly indicates that employees in developed countries still believe their national economy will rebound strongly and provide them enough good job opportunities to grow in future," he added.
     
The survey, conducted among 12,907 employees in 24 countries, said that 19 per cent of respondents globally would 'very likely' take a full-time job in another country for two to three years with a 10 per cent pay increase.
     
Those most likely to say they would relocate internationally were from Mexico (34 per cent), Brazil (32 per cent), Russia (31 per cent) and Turkey (31 per cent), the survey said.