Shifting inclination towards Electrical Engineering  

Trends in the technical sector are witnessing major changes with the inclination shifting towards electrical engineering from computer science engineering. Earlier Information Technology was the foremost choice of the students who acquired good ranking in the IIT Joint Entrance Examination. But now the students seem to prefer the field of electrical engineering more.

The change can be due to lessening appeal for the IT sector. This is evident from the fact that this year Electrical Engineering stood at number 1 position at All India Rank level and closed at 98. Whereas the Computer Science Engineering stood at 116.

According to a faculty member of IIT, this trend would be seen in all the IITs. 

Telecommunications and Computer Science share the same scale of preference. Then comes the number of Mechanical Engineering. 

It is seen that 25% of the top 100 scorers have chosen electrical engineering instead of computer science.

 
33 All India rankers opted for physics at IIT Kanpur which shows that pure sciences are also liked by the students.  
 
Engineering physics is also preferred more as compared to last year. It is shown by the fact that it was opened at rank 48 at IIT-Bombay and it was opened at rank 494 at IIT-Madras.
The admissions done in August 2010 shows that mechanical engineering too is being opted by more and more students now. Chemical as well as Civil Engineering is not preferred so much. 

Certificate Programme in Chess by IGNOU and NIIT 

A Certificate Programme in Chess has been introduced jointly by IGNOU and NIIT. The introduction of programme was announced recently by World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand.  

A joint certification would be awarded by NIIT and IGNOU to the students after the completion of the programme. The students would be able to become members of NIIT Mind Champions Academy and would have opportunity to contribute to chess movement in India. The programme also has an online format. It would also be made accessible for those with hearing-impairment.  

The objective this programme is to encourage the students to take interest in chess as the game is considered to develop young minds. After doing the course the students are expected to think sensibly and improve skills. The COO, NIIT Ltd said that surveys and studies have found out that chess effects the minds of the students in a positive way which in turns effects academics. The programme can be helpful in improving their concentration. It will also act as mind booster and would enable the students to learn the game. Knowledge in chess history would also be increased. Apart from all this the students can also get a chance to play with world chess champion Anand and they can even participate in the annual ChessMaster.   

NIIT Mind Champions Academy would be extended both by IGNOU and NIIT across the country. Vice Chancellor, IGNOU told the sources that they are confident that more and more people would be encouraged to learn and play Chess. He feels that India can again become the world's foremost nation in Chess.  

The course will be offered through Distance Education Programme of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. This programme will be made openly accessible to all interested students through the Sikshadhara portal of open education. 

Further details can be obtained from www.ignou.ac.in

Management Aptitude and Skills Test (MAST) For The MBA Students

Andhra Business Bureau reports that The All India Management Association (AIMA) would be holding an online test for screening business school graduates. The main objective behind this is to evaluate their employability, regarding the ongoing industry trends.

The test is known as Management Aptitude and Skills Test (MAST). It would be done on an annual basis. Coming year it will be held on 20th February 2010.

MAST is expected to rate the students in terms of their readiness to enter the corporate world since it is thought that there is great degree of variation in the course content, teaching quality and facilities provided to the students in various B-Schools in India. It is believed that this kind of test would provide a level-playing field to the recently passed management graduates coming from lesser-known institutions.

The basic skills and expertise required to become an efficient and effective managers would be assessed with the help of this test so that those passing out would have a successful career in the corporate world. The test would be computer based with the time duration of 150 minutes. Various parameters like general ability, management aptitude, domain knowledge and personality would be judged through this test.

AIMA believes that this is an innovative model of testing B-school freshers. It would not only help the students but also the recruiters to find out the best possible opportunities in the jobs’ market as well as well qualified talent.

Accuracy more important than speed for CAT exams

Experts believe that the students appearing for CAT 2010 exam should focus more on accuracy rather than the speed. This can help them to get an edge over others.

According to a report from DNA, there would be 60 questions this time for which they would be given 135 minutes i.e. two hours and 15 minutes. The students need to be accurate instead of blindly thinking about the speed. 40 slots would be given to the students to clear the test in a period of 29 days as compared to 20 slots in previous years. There would be exams in 20 days and 9 days would be the buffer days as no exams would be there during this period.

At least three minutes would be available to the students to answer a question. Thus they would have plenty of time to read the questions, understand and answer them. And a correct answer would be like hitting the bull’s eye!

The experts further informed that over the years the time to answer the questions has increased while the number of questions has been reduced. Experts further advise the students to be calm while attempting the exam. They need to have relaxed mood and should maintain mental composure. There is no need of getting panicky. It is estimated by the experts that around 45 questions would be attempted by the students on an average. The above average and the most promising ones may attempt 50 questions out of 60 questions.

The test is to be held between 27th Oct and Nov 24th.

Delhi-NCR, the largest job generating centre

As per a study undertaken by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) to find out about the job trends in India, Delhi-NCR has come out as the fastest job generating centres among the major metropolitan cities in our country. The employment growth rate here was around 34.27% during April-August of the current financial year. Delhi was followed by Mumbai (12.70 per cent), Chennai (6.12 per cent) and Kolkata (4.19 per cent) at second, third and fourth positions respectively.


All levels of jobs are being created i.e. from the senior most position to the junior positions. One can find employment as management trainee or job of the highest level executive in a company. Aspirants find Delhi-NCR to be an important employment destination. The Secretary General, ASSOCHAM said that the campus trends too are positive here as compared to the previous year.

Agriculture and allied activities, Textile and Real Estate sector respectively are providing greatest job opportunities. At the fourth and the fifth positions are Infrastructure and Aviation sectors.

Mumbai and Chennai are ranked second and third as far as total vacancies offered are concerned. Kolkata is next in the line.

The total vacancies posted are the largest in Academics sector in the metro cities. In the education sector 59.46% of the total openings were publicized. IT sector has the credit of creating highest number of jobs in the four metro cities. It could be mainly because of the rise in wage inflation and low demand in the European countries. 57.07% of the total job openings were in IT and IT-enabled services. Next was the IT/Hardware sector.
A rise in demand of the engineering goods and other activities related to the projects running going on in NCR in view of Common Wealth Games might have been the reason behind this buoyancy in the engineering sector. The engineering segment has a large chunk of share of around 54.29 percent in the total employment opportunities generated. Exports and imports have also shown the trends of recovery leading to increase in the share of manufacturing sector. But marginal growth was recorded in Telecom, FMCG, Banking and Logistics sectors.

U.S universities global fair in India

According to a news published in India Infoline New Service, representatives from many leading U.S. universities are expected to visit India in order to talk to students about opportunities in higher education in America. 
 
IDP Education is the largest student placement advisor and is one of the 1st organization globally which has been certified by the American International Recruitment Council. IDP has announced that the 1st U.S. Universities Global Fair would take place in India.

Individual representative from 22 universities would be coming and it is expected that 53 universities would be sending their experts so that they may offer their services on personalized basis to the students here. This fair would be in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. It would start on 25^th Sept and last till 3^rd Oct. It has the plan to move on in other 18 key cities of the world.

IDP has plans that some of the most distinguished U.S universities should be brought together in a structured and interactive way. The students would get a chance to get proper information about the education programmes in the U.S and work prospects there. Indian students would be able to discuss things with the representatives of various universities. This would help them to choose a course for themselves and assist them in planning their career. Special seminars on management and engineering studies would also be organized so that the students here may know about the campus life there in the U.S.

To attract more and more students, pre-registration for the event could offer them incentives like fee waiver and free pre-application assessment.

The Regional Director South Asia, IDP Education said that all this is being done to encourage admissions in reputed U.S universities.

The U.S universities offer quite a wide range of educational programs both at graduation and post graduation level and have thus become an important destination for Indian students. Students are given professional and technological training there. They also have an added advantage of international exposure at work place when they are given placements after the completion of their courses.

Students from India and China are largest in number OCED countries

According to a report published in the Business Standard, the maximum number of students belong to India and China in Organization for Economic and Development (OCED) countries. It is an organization which consists of members from 33 nations.

The Indian students prefer US the most as a place for tertiary and higher education. 6.8 per cent of all international students are Indians that are enrolled in OCED. While the share of China accounts to 17 per cent. This means that the number of Indian students is almost the double, who visit US for their tertiary education. Another statistics shows that 15.2 per cent of the international students in America are from India. Similarly 11.5 of international students are Indians in Australia. 

Apart from U.S and Australia, the other nations where the students mostly go are Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland and the UK. The Secretary-General of OCED is of the opinion that the countries performing best in the system of education often serve as benchmark for success. The national standards are not only taken into account.

The OECD’s annual Education at a Glance study found that, 2.6 million foreign students were enrolled in these countries in the year 2008.

It is a proven fact that economic downturn adversely effects those who have low level of education. The percentage of those jobless who had not done even their high school increase by five percent in OECD countries. On the other hand, unemployment level rose by just 2 percent among those with tertiary degrees.

The report throws light on the point that the US gets the highest number of international students at 18.7 per cent. After this comes the number of U.K with 10 per cent and then Germany with 7.3 per cent.

In 1975, there was 0.8 million students enrolled outside their country of citizenship. It has increased to 2.9 million in 2005 and to 3.3 million in 2008. All this shows rising level of internationalization in education.

India sees strong hiring trends in the coming 3 months

According to a press release by the Press Trust of India, the employers here in our country have a plan to hire people at a faster pace. It is expected to take place in the next three months. According to a survey public administration, education and services sectors would witness robust recruitment trends in our country.

India stands to be most optimistic after China and Taiwan as far as the recruitment intentions are concerned for the fourth quarter this year. This was reported in a recent Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey.

Due to the strengthening of domestic growth rate the job market seems to be booming in India. Employers in other countries are also reporting such positive hiring forecasts. Of the total of 36 countries which were surveyed, 28 showed similar hiring trends for the next three months.

Net employment outlook, which is an indicator of employers' hiring intentions, showed the statistics in India to be 38 per cent for the next three months. For the third quarter it is 41 per cent. The forthcoming festive season though can have some effect on it but it would be negligible. Around 5,395 employers in India took part in the survey.
     
If we a look at the different sector here public administration & education has the highest net employment outlook of 45 per cent, services (40 per cent) and finance, insurance and real estate (34 per cent) respectively. Transportation and utilities, and wholesale and retail trade sectors, both have an outlook of 22 per cent.
     
It is said that the combination of strong domestic hiring trend with improvement in International opportunities presents the best scenarios for Indian job seekers and that too beyond imagination.
     
The Southern region has 41% of employment outlook whereas the Northern region has an outlook of 37 per cent, followed by East (36 per cent) and West (32 per cent) for the fourth quarter.
      
As compared to India China has the highest outlook of 47 per cent and is followed by Taiwan (40 per cent) for the fourth quarter.  The weakest hiring plans for the upcoming quarter were reported from Greece, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain and Ireland. 

Rejection of the proposal of IIT Joint Entrance Examination  

A proposal to conduct a single Joint Entrance Examination for all undergraduate courses was opposed and objected to by the Directors of seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) on Friday. The Hindustan Times reports that the suggestion of conducting this examination was given by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal. It was suggested to have a single aptitude test for multiple examinations held in order to give admission to the students in various undergraduate institutes all over the country. But now this has been scraped by the Directors of IITs.
 
The main reason behind the proposal was to decrease the number of entrance examinations and it was also thought to reduce the influence of coaching classes over the students.

Now a panel has been set by the IIT Council in order to prepare a blueprint for examination reforms which is expected to be accepted both by the government and the institutions.


Earlier it was suggested by the panel that IITs could conduct their own add-on tests along with the aptitude tests. But the ministry is not willing to accept the proposal regarding the add-on tests. 

A proposal to allow foreign faculty to teach at IITs and giving them permanent post has been accepted by Mr.Sibal. IITs are also given permission to increase the number of seats for foreign students in Post Graduate courses up to 25% of their students’ strength.

In another proposal, sometimes back, it was sought to make changes in the Institutes of Technology Act. The Council came forward with a proposal to allow IITs to teach medicine and other inter-disciplinary courses. Again a consensus was not reached when the health and law ministries opposed the proposal. The same proposal has come up again by the Council recently but still a decision has to taken on it.

Proposal of common exit test for the doctors 

Panel of doctors that regulate medical education in India have come forward with an idea to have a single and common exit test for the graduates of medical colleges across the country.

MBBS students would be required to clear this examination before medical degree is given to them. The Telegraph reports that the thought behind all this is to create a brand called “MBBS India”. This would lead to bringing their degrees at par with each other irrespective their medical colleges. . This is expected to bring uniformity in the standards of qualification of doctors. A doctor from one institution would then not be valued more than of the other institution

But a senior faculty member showed his apprehension when he said that the idea could bring resistance from some of the states and medical colleges. The resistance could be fierce as well as legitimate. Earlier National Knowledge Commission too had proposed such kind of exit test but nothing was implemented. 

There is a doubt among the medical fraternity that this centralized system of evaluation could bring objections from the states and other institution who would not like their authority to be superseded by this new system. Moreover according to them centralized bodies, even MCI itself, have not functioned in the way they were expected to perform.

The Medical Council of India board has also earlier proposed a common entrance test for the medical colleges. The aim behind that was to reduce the burden of students but it too was met with opposition from Tamil Nadu. Even the medical community criticized it on the basis of difference in the quality of standards of school boards and medical colleges in different states in India. 
 

Restructuring the education loans 

The Economic Times reports that now there are chances that the education loan applications of the students would be getting favourable responses if the institution in which one is enrolled in carries a good placement record. Looking at these records would help the banks to judge the repayment capacities of the students who are applying for these loans. All this has come up because the banks are going into loses due to their inability to recover such loans in the absence of any collateral.

Though the academic institutions may be government recognized but if they have poor placement records the students are not be able to get a good job and the loans are not repaid in time. All this was told by the senior official of State Bank which is the largest lending bank in India. Banks are unable to ask for a collateral security for loans below Rs 4 Lakhs because of the existing government rules.  

 
Till now the banks have given Rs 34192 crores as educational loans. Bankers regard this as an unsecured lending and now are taking steps which are qualitative in nature. This can include measures like sanctioning loans on the basis of educational records of the students, recognition of course and institution by the government, salary packages offered to the students etc.

Having being apprehensive about the non repayment of the loans one of the public sector banks have asked for insurance cover for the students applying for loans. This is thought to be useful in tracking the student in case of some mishap and would protect the investment of bank also.

Thus banks want to restructure education loans. They are thinking of giving one year relaxation time to the students to repay the loans which is normally six months after the student completes his course.

Gaming industry getting momentum in India

PTI reports that the gaming in industry in India is exhibiting a great potential for growth at present. The industry is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 32 per cent which stands at around Rs.3,100-crore by the year 2014 which was Rs 650-crore in 2008 and Rs 790-crore in 2009. Thus the industry has witnessed a massive increase of 22 per cent during this period.

Mr Kumar Warrier,Business Head of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics(MAAC) said that the major factors contributing to this increased growth potential seems to be the presence of a large number of young people, higher disposable incomes, large number of wireless users and rise in developers and publishers.

MAAC is among one of the most significant institutes engaged in high-end 3D animation and VFX education in India.

 
Another of the industry official Matthey Jaffery, of Electronic Arts of U.K, stated that there has been a constant widening of telecom bases and the arrival of 3G has accentuated the process of growth. Further it is anticipated that there will be an efficient provision of high speed data network to the mobile gamers in near future. The subscriber base in telecom sector is anticipated to rise upto 19 per cent i.e. Rs.1160 by the year 2014. All this has been attributed to the continuous increase in disposable incomes as well as to the demographics factors working favourably in this direction. 
 

Sports should be made a career option in India 

In a report published in the Times of India, there was a plea made by Ashwini Nachapa to promote sports right from the grass root level. Ashwini Nachappa while addressing the business club road show, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, in connection with the Queen's Baton, expressed her disappointment that sports were not promoted as a career option here. 

Sportsmen in India were not given due opportunities which they deserve. According to her it is good to organize and host events like Commonwealth Games but it is equally important that we should be proud of our sportsmen. She lamented that our sports people struggled hard to get a medal, but failed to find jobs after their retirement. 

She was deeply hurt to know about the ongoing corrupt practices and scandals seen in sports. She added that it was essential to run sports in a professional manner when so much of negativity was surrounding the world of sports. Sports have to be result oriented and there should be greater accountability.

Recollecting the old times she said, "Children taking up sports still suffer. We got Rs 10/- per day to compete. Maybe today it’s Rs 25/-"
 

Private organizations should take up sponsorship and that the sports industry needs to work in partnership with private organizations, she added.

Increasing importance of govt jobs in India 

Indian economy is on the perpetual growth path. There has been huge amount of progress since independence. Each and every sector is developing making the economy strong along with achieving the objective of globalization and liberalization. The government sector too shows potential for growth and offers wide range of career opportunities for the individuals. Job stability and the perk and benefits offered in the public sector units are attracting more and more people to opt for government jobs. Employment opportunities exist in government sector in the following areas:

Telecommunication sector: 

We are witnessing a revolutionary change in the telecommunication sector at present. Communication technology has completely transformed the lives of the people. Internet and mobile technology are a global phenomenon and the availability of government jobs in this area of work carry a tremendous growth potential.

 
Public sector telecommunication units namely BSNL, MTNL and VSNL etc are widening their scale of operations. These units are assisting in enhancing the ratio of government jobs in India by creating vacancies at each level of work profile, whether it may be entry level, managerial, administrative level or technical kind of jobs. One can find increasing number of advertisements for them these days.

Jobs in Health Care:

Health care facilities ought to be provided to more than one million people in our country. Growing numbers of hospitals, health care establishments and nursing homes across the country thus offer opportunity to get good jobs in this sector these days.

One can look for vacancies for health practitioners, doctors, ward boys, nurses and pharmacists in the advertisements throughout advertisement media. Great career opportunities are being provided in government sector.

Jobs in education sector:

Not only health facilities need to be provided to the people, provision of educational facilities too is the one of agenda of the welfare policy of our government. Basic educational facilities have to reach the underprivileged. Government sector thus is committed to widen the way with opening of new schools, colleges, universities, deemed universities and institutes like IITs and IIMs across the country. Job openings may in this area of work are there at every level whether it’s teaching or support. 

 
Jobs in Railway and Banking sectors: 

We are one of the biggest railway networks across the world. There are immense job opportunities available here. Banking sector too offers a great growth potential. The recruitment drives through written examinations and interviews helps in finding people to work in these sectors.  and government jobs in India to the individuals in the sector.

Jobs in Finance sector in India

Finance jobs are becoming quite lucrative in India. As there is a steady growth rate of the economy i.e. around 15-20% per annum, Finance jobs are gaining momentum. The pay packages too are handsome. Management professionals are also suitable for these jobs. Apart from MBA many short term courses in Insurance Management etc can also train people about Finance sector.

Both at the national level and at international level, finance companies are quite significantly spreading their work. Even many retail and textile companies are getting into financial sector. Thus it has become easier to get jobs related to Finance in India. One can work as an Insurance Advisor, Insurance associate, Sales development Manager Etc. This field of work is also chosen because of the stability it offers.

These are available both in private sector and public sector banks. The job requirements in the private sector are floated through newspapers or some consultant. The public sector banks recruit people through common bank entrance test. Finance jobs in India are also available in consumer finance. These professionals help in assessing the credit rating of people based on facts and figures so that loans could be provided to people to buy movable as well as immovable properties. Specific Finance professionals are needed in this sector. Finance jobs are not limited to the banking sector alone. Efficient and qualified finance personnel are also in demand to regulate the stock market at various levels. For running the companies smoothly as far as the financial activities are concerned finance professional are employed. These companies offer good pay packages to them to get their services. Even the construction societies hire them.

These professionals have to take major decisions for the business growth. They have to set targets, allocate the budget to different departments, and develop business reports and much more. So finance jobs in India are created in many Companies according to demand and capacity. Candidates can refer to these requirements and search online jobs to get the right finance job in India.