Honours courses at Indian School of Business and Finance

The Indian School of Business and Finance (ISBF), one of the affiliate centres of the University of London, in association with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), invites students to apply for its three-year full-time undergraduate honours degree programmes in B.Sc. Economics, B.Sc. Economics & Management and B.Sc. Business.

Applicants who have passed or appeared for the Class XII examination conducted by the CBSE or ISC may apply. Students, who have completed or are completing the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma or GSCE A-Levels, are also eligible to apply.

The applicants for this degree should have proficiency in both English and Mathematics. Candidates seeking to register for B.Sc. Economics need to have proof of competency in Mathematics (equivalent to Grade 12). For other programmes, candidates should be able to demonstrate ability in Mathematics (equivalent to Grade 10). Selections are made based on an entrance exam and personal interview. IB students with 30 credits or more may be exempt from the exam. The application forms may be downloaded from www.isbf.edu.in.

For further details, contact: 011405777033, 9971795613.

source:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/04/12/stories/2011041250070200.htm

Four new courses from Footwear Design and Development Institute

The new campus of Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) Chennai at SIPCOT Irungattukottai will become operational from July and will offer four new courses from the academic year 2011-2012, said its executive director D. Saalai Maraan.

Talking to The Hindu EducationPlus, he said the Irungattukottai campus, which is the only branch of FDDI in southern India, will offer B. Sc (Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management) and three postgraduate courses — M. Sc (Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management), M. Sc Footwear technology and M. Sc (Creative Designing - CAD/CAM).

“The main aim of the programme is to create trained manpower for designing and production in the footwear industry at the operational level. It also aims at imparting value addition in terms of technical and design input to existing entrepreneurs. The courses are completely practical-oriented with more than 80 per cent practical inputs.

An entrance exam will be held in the Chennai centre on June 11, 12 and 13. Eligible candidates will be offered scholarship.

The institute has a tie-up with Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation for offering a short-term course in Footwear Manufacturing Technology, for which the SC/ST students have been extended subsidy by the government, he said.

source:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/04/12/stories/2011041250060100.htm

Japan seeks to allay radiation fears

SINGAPORE: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Sunday said “there is no risk to human health” from radioactive rain in the vicinity of the quake-and-tsunami-hit civil nuclear plant in Fukushima. Mr. Kan gave the assurance amid official hints that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, already devastated by the March 11 temblor and tsunami might indeed be demolished altogether.

The appeal from Mr. Kan's office to the people in the affected areas, a copy of which was received by The Hindu from the Japanese Foreign Ministry, reads as follows: “There is no risk to human health, even if it rains. Please rest assured.

Higher-than-normal levels of radiation could be detected in rain, but it would contain only a small amount of radioactive substances which do not affect health at all.

The levels wouldn't go beyond the average of natural radiation dose.”

Suggesting that the people could take some precautionary measures at the time of such rainfall, Mr. Kan told them: “Even if you don't take these measures, it doesn't impose any threat on your health.”

In line with such assurances, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano hinted, at a press conference in Tokyo, that the Fukushima Daiichi atomic energy plant might be demolished because it was not clear whether the devastated reactors could be reactivated in course of time. However, there could be no definitive statement on this issue at this stage.

On another front, officials also sought to allay concerns over the risk of heightened radiation in the event of steps being taken to ease the pressure inside the containment facility of the worst-affected reactor. Plans were afoot to release “gases” from it into the atmosphere.

Air release

An official of the Tokyo Electric Power Company said, in televised remarks, that “the current situation does not necessitate an immediate air release. So we will not do so right away.” Earlier, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency had suggested the possibility of risking the release of some radioactive substances into the atmosphere in a bid to prevent a greater catastrophe at the containment facility.

Amid these developments, efforts to cool the stricken reactors by spraying on them huge quantities of water by whatever means continued, and officials claimed a drop in the overall radiation levels around the multi-reactor complex.

Earlier, Japanese spokesman Hidenobu Sobashima had told The Hindu from Tokyo that no radiation-related fatalities had occurred as of then.

On the food-radiation scare in Japan, the International Atomic Energy Agency, clarifying its earlier statement, said the Japanese authorities had only “requested an investigation into the possible stop of sales of food products from the Fukushima Prefecture.” The IAEA earlier said Japan had stopped such sales.

source:http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/21/stories/2011032157831400.htm

Profitable, yet risky trade

THE CRISIS THIS TIME - Socialist Register 2011: Leo Panitch, Greg Albo, Vivek Chibber; LeftWord Books, 12, Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 350.

During the past four decades and more, a group of committed analysts, admittedly with Left leanings, have been bringing out an annual publication, Socialist Register, to make available their interpretation of pressing contemporary problems. The latest in the series deals with the global economic crisis that surfaced in 2008-09 and is still running its course in the United States, Europe, and many other parts of the world.

Even general readers now know that the crisis has been associated with sub-prime lending and the rapid growth of derivatives. What this volume attempts to convey is that the crisis has some systemic features and that it may indeed presage a new phase in the development of capitalism.

Derivatives

Take derivatives, for instance. Thanks to the widespread use of the term, it is common knowledge that derivatives derive their value from other debt-related instruments. But, as financial instruments, what is their special feature, and how do they impact the economic system as a whole and the lives of ordinary people? Are they indeed “financial weapons of mass destruction,” as a writer claimed?

One thing is clear: though derivatives appeared on the financial scene only in the 1980s, now they are the most traded among financial instruments and the latest means of acquiring and holding wealth. The amount of derivatives outstanding currently is multiple times the capitalisation of the world stock markets. Indeed, derivatives are redefining what wealth is. Insofar as they are bought and sold, they are commodities or traded goods. If they are traded, they must have value of some sort, on the one hand, and the right of ownership, on the other.

In an earlier era these two attributes coincided: only goods that had some value of their own — grain, cattle, precious metal, land, etc. — would be considered as wealth or assets. The second phase was when claims to wealth such as paper money, deposit certificates or shares would also be treated as wealth and would become standard forms of holding assets. Derivatives announce the beginning of yet another phase of accumulating and holding wealth. Derivatives are contingent claims on the changes in the future price of an asset without any claim to the asset itself.

Financial instruments

A concrete example will make this clearer. Since the end of World War II, a major issue was to ensure the stability of national currencies to facilitate international trade. Till the early 1970s, what ensured stability was the fact that the US dollar, which remained pegged to gold, was freely convertible into any other currency. Once this dollar-gold link was snapped in 1971, the values of currencies began to fluctuate, opening up an opportunity to make profits by trading in currencies. Then it became possible to trade in the anticipated variations in the prices of currencies — a sort of derived trade — and derivatives emerged as the financial instruments for such transactions. Since these transactions were on anticipated variations that might or might not happen, they were subject to big risks. In fact, they made risk a commodity to be traded and extended such trade to equities, debts, metals, oil, real estate, etc., and even to such things as the weather, movements of wages and so on.

In all these instances, the ownership (that which one sells) is exposure to the performance of items, including assets, without ownership of the item itself (some of which, like weather cannot even be owned). Evidently, it is easier, and can be more profitable, to trade ownership of an oil derivative than a barrel of oil.

Derivatives, therefore, constitute a new form of trade, a new form of ownership, and a new means to make profit. One of the writers in the volume puts it more technically: derivatives are ‘meta-commodities' and ‘meta-capital'. The commodification of risk permits diversification of risk portfolios and the proliferation of transactions.

Profit-making

Profit-making via risk-trading is the essence of derivatives. They, thus, create new sites for accumulation mainly for those who already have the advantage of large scale ownership — the big corporations (banks, investment firms. etc.) and their top operatives, hedge funds, and the top wealth-owners. But the ‘small man' gets drawn in too — through his growing dependence on debt — voluntarily, thanks to the convenience the credit cards offer, for instance, but more so involuntarily because only by borrowing can he ever hope to have a house of his own, or educate his children. And often, without his knowledge, his pension fund becomes a big player in derivatives-chasing. Thus, those at the top become wealthier; those at the other end go into debt.

What is more alarming is that while individuals may find it possible to pass on the risk, the cumulative burden of risk may turn out to be too big to avoid a collapse as it happened in 2008-09. This is particularly so because the big players know that the public authorities will bail them out. Once it is done, the train will again be back on the rails till another derailment comes sooner or later. Details may differ, but the basic issues will be the same, perhaps become more intense.

If you find this terse summary of the basic argument interesting and helpful, get to the volume itself which deals with how the crisis this time found expression in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, and South Africa, and wait for Socialist Register 2012, which promises to deal with Asia, West Asia, and Latin America.

source:http://www.hindu.com/br/2011/03/15/stories/2011031551181800.htm

Relax, and pick a job

Let them decide: Students of the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, discuss placement offers.

For years, the placement season at the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management has been a race of sorts. With each trying to outdo the other, using it as a yardstick for greater excellence, several parameters have been used to judge who fared better: slot zero figures (this slot would have the most coveted companies coming in), number of days over which the process was held, international offers, lateral placement figures, and, of course, the all-important and headline-generating pay packets.

IIM-Bangalore, a few years ago, decided to stop disclosing the salaries. While some say the reason behind this was to protect the privacy of students, IIM-B officials have reiterated that they had taken the decision because they did not want to give primacy to pay packets. Indeed, news reports about freshers and people with less than two years of work experience taking home mind-boggling pay packets — it was reported in a newspaper that at one of the IIMs the pay crossed Rs. 1 crore per month this year — was also projecting a wrong image about management education, and what the B-schools are all about.

While most other IIMs do mention the pay packets, many have stopped putting a face to the pay. Most reporting around this has been more or less vague and unsubstantiated. “It is the media that has an unholy obsession with the pay, not the management of the IIMs. While we want our students to do well, it has not dominated our discourse on jobs or placements,” says a professor from IIM-B, who did not wish to be named.

So in 2009, IIM-A decided to opt out of the fierce placements race by institutionalising what it called the cohort-based system. This means that previous yardsticks of slots and number of placement days could not be applied to it. In the cohort-based system, companies visit on weekends through a longer period, in clusters. These clusters could be based on company profiles such as consulting, finance or investment banking. Held over something like a month, students can be at ease.

New tweaks to old process

IIM-B, this year, in a smaller way opted out of the numbers game. Though it did not go the IIM-A way, it decided to fix the number of placement days before hand. Though in 2010, placements had been completed in five days, and every year is compared to the previous one (this is often closely watched as it is regarded as a measure of how the job market is doing), this year it was strung out over 10 days. Pre-fixed, the placements went on at a relaxed pace, points out P.D. Jose, Chairperson, Placements, at IIM-B.

Dismantling the ‘slot-based' classification process, where recruiters were clustered into slots depending on their demand amongst students of that batch, they went for a more relaxed process where all sort of recruiters were invited on all the placement days. Some prioritising was done; however, the rigorous slot system was removed. Besides being stressful for students, companies too compete fiercely for the top slot and institutes find it difficult to please them all.

Typically, 30 companies would come in slot zero, making it difficult for students to attend interviews and forcing them to make on-the-spot decisions. “After all, it is a huge career decision we are talking about here. We felt it is necessary to give students a bit of breathing space to be able to think it over, and also allow them to give multiple interviews and choose from their options. It shouldn't just be about the numbers, we took a decision,” explains a key IIM-B official.

They divided the bay into two and parallel interviews took place, and students were allowed to take a shot through the day. There was no pressure on them to hurry up, and in fact students were allowed to take as much time as they wanted.

“In the older system, because everyone was racing against a deadline to complete placements and to look good on the comparison charts, everybody was under pressure to finish fast. That had just vanished,” an IIM professor, who was not associated with the placements, commented. “It was certainly more relaxed and good to watch,” he added.

This year, all 332 students who sat for placements received offers, of which over 100 were placed beforehand during the lateral placement process. The ‘laterals' are students who have had prior work experience. Over the years the numbers of students with work experience has been on the rise. In the batch of 2011, only 28 per cent of the batch comprised freshers and another six per cent had worked for less than a year.

Of the batch of 348 (the largest ever at IIM), 16 had opted out of placements, and two groups among these (comprising around five students) are incubating an innovation or an innovative business idea with the NSR Cell that provides support to start-ups, sources told The Hindu.

Though the total placements was from 105 companies, 130 had evinced interest. As far as trends go, it was work as usual, with finance leading the pack at 36 per cent, followed by consulting at 31. Sales and marketing made up for 21 per cent.

How other IIMs did

IIM-Ahmedabad completed its placements in early March, having commenced in mid-February. Divided into four clusters held on four days, the placement has been successful and all students have been placed.

The others, which are still sticking to the traditional placement process, are more comparable. Among the older IIMs, IIM-Calcutta wrapped up its process in five days, placing all 388 students. Here, slot zero offers were up from 90 to 139.

IIM-Kozhikode saw the total offers go up to 305 from 265 last year (the number of offers per company rose to 3.37 from 2.66 in 2010, according to news reports). IIM-Indore, which wrapped up its placements last month, saw the number of offers increase to 241 this year, from 235 in the previous year.

However, the newer IIMs are still picking up and are yet to complete the placement process.

source:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/03/21/stories/2011032150660100.htm

Forging new relations with institutions

Project English aims to provide every teacher and learner with skills, ideas, and access to the best resources from the U.K., says Mr. Sellers.

The British Council has expanded its programmes in the country by implementing several educational and cultural projects over these years. Paul Sellers, the new Director of the British Council for operations in South India, says that the council is keen on building relationships with a variety of institutions and people in India through its ongoing and forthcoming initiatives. In an interview to The Hindu-EducationPlus in Kochi, Mr. Sellers, who had earlier held senior positions with the British Council worldwide, elaborates on a wide-range of topics related to the council. Excerpts from the interview:

How good is the demand for U.K. higher education among students in India? How do you plan to tap the growing opportunities in the Indian higher education sector?

The demand for U.K. higher education keeps increasing every year. We had a 16 per cent increase last year. There are around 15,000 Indian students going to the U.K. [every year] to study the undergraduate or postgraduate programmes offered by the universities in the country. That is the number of students on our record. It is probably more than that. Interestingly, Kerala accounts for around two-third of the number. It is the biggest among the States. The largest number of students come from Kerala. We attribute this to the good school education and literacy.

Possibly the demand for courses in certain subject areas isnot met even though there are very good higher educational institutions in South India especially in health care and engineering.

And IT is also coming up. British Council institutions around the world have always had a mission to promote the U.K. as a higher educational destination.

Increasingly, we want to build sort of mutual links between U.K. universities and India. We make it easy for the U.K. universities to come and present themselves before Indian students by holding U.K. education exhibitions. We also work closely with the British High Commission so that they can give information on visa requirements, which is an important issue. We are conscious of the competition from Australia, South East Asia, and Europe. The U.K.'s niche is often the postgraduate programmes that complement the undergraduate programmes students pursue here especially in niche subject areas.

One of the ways forward is to link educational institutions in India and the U.K. so that students have a real choice where to study and from where they get quality education.

Do you think that the move by the Indian government to allow foreign universities to open shop here would pave way for the entry of higher education providers in the U.K. to India?

I think definitely there is an opportunity. The new legislation is a positive step forward. I see the U.K. institutions going for joint ventures in India. Some would set up their own campus. But I understand it requires a lot of investment. Some universities thrive on that — Middlesex, Nottingham and some others. They already have campuses in China and the United Arab Emirates running successfully. The reputation of universities is very often based on its locality or presence. The best option, the low-risk model, is to have joint programmes and exchange of faculty and students. And again here British Council intends to help by maintaining the contact with the Indian universities. We can put them together when institutes in the U.K. want to go for joint collaboration.

Do you think that the visa restrictions imposed by the U.K. government would impact genuine applications for higher education?

No, definitely not. There is no barrier at all in terms of the standard students who want to pursue a programme in the U.K. on a bonafide basis especially in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. What the U.K. government has done is to tie-up some of the loose ends in the legislation. It is a fact that some students heading to the U.K. for short-term programmes like language courses are not necessarily going for that sole purpose. We encourage students to come. The student with the right qualification is offered a place in the U.K. in the right institution.

What is your advice to students who are searching for data on the higher educational opportunities in the U.K.? How would they be able to identify fake agents and agencies?

They should go through the British Council web site (www.britishcouncil.org). We have a database of all the universities in the U.K. And this list is vetted and guaranteed by the British Council. It also gives a breakdown of the courses and subjects specialised by each university.

If you are lucky enough to be in a place where you have access to one of our U.K. education exhibition, you can talk directly to the representatives of the universities.

I think the vast majority of agents do a really good job, as they assist the students in finding their right course.

If their advice and data match the initial research you have done on the basis of the British Council web site, it is more likely that they can help you. Do not pay fees upfront without a written guarantee and a contract or paper work. I believe nearly a dozen agents based in Kochi have passed the British Council training for agents.

We offer them a special training. Another thing to do is to check whether they are accredited by the council. It is not mandatory. But it is yet another guarantee.

Could you elaborate on the ongoing ‘Learn English' project initiated by the council?

Project English, a regional initiative on English language teaching (ELT) and training, was launched in November 2007 with the commitment to provide every teacher and learner with skills, ideas, and access to the best resources from the U.K.

A target of indirectly training 7.5 lakh teachers in India from 2007-12 has been set. We have currently reached 74 per cent of the target. Since November 2007, we have trained 4,266 master trainers, 5,56,166 teachers and 28 million students through this initiative.

We are in the middle of a very productive contract with the Kerala government to train teachers of English in the public sector.

The methodology is to train a cadre of master trainers. In the past 18 months, we have trained 300 master trainers. They have trained over 6,000 teacher trainers. These trainers have taught two lakh students in Kerala so far.

We do have similar agreements with nine State governments including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Our aim is to get as close as to the end user — the student.

The council keeps a quality control over the programme. Considering the huge demand in India, our ambition is to become more high-tech with learning of English. We are now researching and investing in English through mobile phone technology and online programmes. Picking the right technology is the key.

One technology might be right for Europe but may not be right for India. Mobile phone market in India had outstretched. Our Internet provision is very good. It will help in increasing your capabilities in learning English. There is a whole range of free materials on the council's web site on learning English.

The focus is still on the teacher. There are very good teacher support materials on the web site.

We already have the Cambridge teacher training course. And we are looking for ways to transmit a similar course through television.

source:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/03/08/stories/2011030850030100.htm

AIIMS entrance examination for admission to the MBBS course

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi will invite applications for an entrance examination for admission to the MBBS course (commencing in August) during the middle of February. Admission notification may be expected during the second week of February, available also on www.aiims.edu or www.aiims.ac.in. Those who have passed Plus Two or equivalent examinations with physics, chemistry, biology or biotechnology and English securing minimum 60 per cent marks in aggregate in these subjects (50 per cent for those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) or those appearing for the Plus Two examination in 2011 may apply. Online and offline application facilities will be provided.

source : http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/02/01/stories/2011020150070200.htm