IIFT and ESC Rennes School of Business sign cooperation MoU

NEW DELHI: To facilitate educational and academic exchanges between the two institutions, Dr Phillipe Rivet, vice dean for education - ESC Rennes School of Business, France and Dr R K Mitra, registrar - Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) signed a general agreement at IIFT's office in Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi on Sunday. 

Dr Satinder Bhatia, chairperson, international collaboration and capacity development, IIFT, said: "Students on the ESC Rennes Master Programme Grande Ecole (PGE) (M1 & M2 levels) can now take courses in English on the MBA programme at IIFT'S New Delhi campus. On a reciprocal basis, IIFT students on the MBA programme to the PGE can do the same at ESC Rennes, France. IIFT students holding a Bachelor's degree will also have the opportunity to study in one of the international master's programmes at Rennes." 

Rivet said: "As an elite French Management School, ESC Rennes School of Business offers a Bachelor programme in management and 11 international Masters programmes entirely in English. With one-third foreign students comprising 74 different nationalities, the multicultural ethos at ESC Rennes immensely benefits all students. After graduation, this facilitates their entry into a working world that is global in outlook." 

ESC Rennes is located in Brittany. The school is certified by the European Foundation for Management Development - EPAS label (Grande Ecole Programme), the British Open University and the French Ministry  for Further Education. The School has a partnership network with 160 foreign universities in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Unrivalled in Europe, ESC Rennes has 80% English-speaking foreign teachers. Business Managers frequently contribute as guest speakers. Professional internship periods and French lessons that are included in the programme further strengthen students' skills. 

The School also has two research centres, the Centre for Responsible Business and the Centre for Technology Management, enhancing teaching standards. 

"Beneficial activities such as exchange of students and faculty members will now be promoted periodically on a mutual basis. Finally, securing an international Masters in English while living in France will no longer be difficult for Indian students," said Bhatia. 

More students opting for low cost public universities

NEW DELHI: Has the falling rupee affected MS Universities applications? A study by an online portal points towards the changing trends in higher studies abroad to US universities by Indian students.

The study shows that in 2012, more students have applied to public universities, where tuition fees are comparatively much lower than at private universities.

Among more than 1,000 applications analysed, the trend is towards lower fees structures. Around 17% students applied to universities with a fee less than USD 15,000, while almost 40% of applications have been to universities with fees structure between USD 15,000 to USD 20,000.

In 2011, 43% preferred public universities which has increased to 62% in 2012. Students have applied most to universities like San Jose State University and University of Florida while the popularity of private universities like North Eastern university saw a decline in applications.

Mohit Gundecha, CEO, YourNextLeap.com said: "Indian students are stuck in the dilemma between affordability and preference. We have not seen a drop in applications; however, the choices are towards affordability this season. We also see increasing number of students applying to scholarships and interest free loans to relieve the burden to a certain extent."

Four out of the top 6 universities applied to are public universities, according to the study. 

Stockholm home to oldest auction house

When did the practice of auctions start?

Buying and selling things by open public bidding has happened since antiquity. Herodotus has mentioned auctions in Babylon. Several types of auctions - from slaves to seized goods in an armed invasion - are mentioned in Roman and Greek history.

The modern world's oldest auction house is the Stockholm Auction house formed in 1674. Sotheby's and Christie's were formed in 1744 and 1766 respectively. Today auction theory is being studied in applied economics.

Auction theory is also used in designing big auctions like the selling of electromagnetic spectrum and privatisation of public sector companies.

What are the different types of auctions?

There can be many ways to classify auctions. The simplest classification is between open and closed auctions. In the former, participants make repeated bids and everyone is aware how much others are bidding. In a closed auction, bids are sealed. Auctions can also be classified as demand, supply or double.

In a demand auction, 'x' number of buyers bid for a good while in a supply auction 'y' number of sellers offer a good to one buyer. Auctions are also classified as English, Dutch, uniform price, all-pay and so on. The English auction starts with the auctioneer announcing an opening bid, the reserve price for the item.

After this he/she accepts higher bids and finally sells it to the person who is willing to pay the highest. A Dutch auction works in the opposite way as the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which he goes on lowering until someone is willing to pay for the good.

How is the uniform price auction different from the English and Dutch?

The uniform price auction is used to sell a large quantity of goods. It's a closed auction and the auctioneer invites sealed bids from a number of customers. The auctioneer now checks the bids.

Starting from the highest he has to decide at what price there will be sufficient demand so that he would be able to sell his entire stock. He looks at the second highest bid and goes further down to fix a clearing price.

Once the price is fixed, he sells the goods in order of the highest to the clearing price bids. The highest bidder is called first and allowed to get the amount of goods he wants at his bidding price. The process is repeated until the entire stock is cleared.

What is the winner's curse?

In 'common value auctions', where there is no consensus on the value of a particular good among the bidders, it's possible that the winning bidder ends up paying a much higher price than the actual value of the commodity. The most common examples of the winner's curse are witnessed at auctions for rare art and antiquities. 

Teaching fraternity should be more tech-savvy: Modi

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the teaching fraternity should be more tech-savvy to bring qualitative changes in education.

"A teacher's role would be crucial in bringing qualitative changes in the education sector through the usage of technology," Modi, inaugurating the annual conference of Gujarat Rajya Acharya Sangh in Ambaji town of North Gujarat, said.

"Considering the scale and scope of Gujarat's development, the use of technology in imparting education would increase in the coming times. The teachers would need to be conversant with the latest technology and new methods of education," Modi added.

"The state has planned to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda as a youth year. 21st century is the era of knowledge. And in this era, education and the empowerment of our youths are the best ways for India to establish its supremacy over the world," he said.

Talking about steps taken by the state government for the encouragement of innovations in the field of education, chief minister said, it has set up an incubation centre, i-Create, under the headship of Infosys founder Naranyan Murthy with a view to give shape to the innovative ideas, research and experiments of the youths.

The state government has also formed 'Gujarat Educational Innovation Commission' to push innovative experiments and research.

Gujarat is the only state, which has received a full-fledged 36 MHz satellite communication transponder. This will enable the state government to provide long-distance education to even the remotest parts of the state, he said.

With a view to training teachers, Gujarat government has set up Teachers' University, the chief minister added.

Maha university offers textile diploma for powerloom workers

Mumbai: The Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University is enrolling powerloom workers for a short-term course, which will enable them to seek admission to its diploma course in textiles.

These workers are from areas like Malegaon, Bhiwandi, Mumbra, Amravati, Kamptee and Ichalkaranji in the state, the Nashik-based varsity has said.

"There are about two lakh powerloom workers in these areas and their educational level is not very high. However, over the years, they have developed some unique skills at their workplace, which are not recognised by society or any educational institution. These highly skilled workers hold no certificates, are meagerly paid and cannot even enter a bank for loans," YCMOU Spokesperson Shrinivas Belsare said.

At an event at Malegaon recently, the University decided to recognise the capacities and creativity of these workers with the help of professional skill tests and provide them with certificates jointly with the Municipal Corporation of Malegaon, Directorate of Vocational Training, of Maharashtra Government and the Directorate of Textiles.

The tests conducted by YCMOU found 1,300 'mukadamas' (supervisors) in powerlooms of Malegaon to be qualified for high skills in their work.

The certificates entitle these "unique students" of the university for a loan from the Bank of Maharashtra, a job in any textile mill in the capacity of head mechanic and recognition of their skills, Belsare said.

"Poverty taught workers hard work and sustained work taught them skills. Now, open education has given them the opportunity of a lifetime," noted film lyricist Bashar Nawaz said at the certificate distribution function.

The University has a mandate of providing educational opportunities to underprivileged sections of society, YCMOU Vice-Chancellor R Krishnakumar said.

"We decided to recognise the capacities and creativity of these workers by providing them with certificates," he said.