Gujarat University to start India's first dual degree system

The Gujarat University has given a proposal to the University Grants Commission (UGC) that it should be allowed to give two degrees simultaneously to its students.
All this has come up after getting inspiration by the tenth plan of UGC, which wants to have parallel education system. The tenth plan of the UGC clearly states the parallel education concept should be given encouragement. Students should be able to obtain a degree and diploma or a dual degree. Colleges and university should be encouraged to do so.

There is no university in India at present, as per the UGC norms, which allows a student to study for two degrees simultaneously. But the existing rules allow students to take up a degree course and a diploma course together.

The Vice Chancellor of the varsity, V-C Parimal Trivedi has written to the UGC, said that they want to follow the footsteps of foreign universities and has asked for the permission to confer dual degrees. 

After getting permission from UGC, a student who is pursuing post graduation in arts, commerce or science would also be able to study for the bachelor of law (LLB) degree simultaneously. 

The V-C says, “If a student has the capacity and eligibility, he or she can study for one course in the morning, while attending classes for the other one in the evening or afternoon”.

After the approval of the proposal, the Gujarat University will be the first university in the country to offer dual degrees. The students would be given admission in two different courses on the basis of the subjects studied in previous classes.

Source: Times of India

Bosch to spend Euro 50 mn for higher education

Germany-headquartered Bosch Group is planning to expand its funding of higher education and wants to launch a global initiative. The company has decided to invest a total of euro 50 million, in order to support universities and research projects in Germany, China, India and the US in the coming 10 years. Around euro 22.8 million is expected to be provided to India.

The “Bosch InterCampus Programme” stresses on achieving improvements in research conditions for the undergraduate students and scientists in the university sphere.

In 2010 the Bosch Group spent euro 3.8 billion for research and development. It is a global supplier of technology and services. It has taken the social responsibility. All this offers young graduates excellent prospects for the future. It is expected that in 2011 Bosch will take in 9,000 university graduates worldwide.

It has a 10-year development project which aims to set up the “Robert Bosch Centre for Research in Cyber Physical Systems” at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore. This will help to save energy in buildings, for instance. The house of the future would be able to know current energy prices and even the local weather. They would be able to optimise their energy consumption according to the needs.

Bosch is setting up a campus for IT design, cyber-physical systems, mobility solutions and renewable energy in collaboration with IISc. There would be a perfect research and working environment for the IT specialists.

The chairman of the Bosch board of management said, “By funding science and research, we are investing not only in the future viability of our company but also in the future of a global society,”

In the InterCampus programme, undergraduates and scientists would be able to do research on electromobility, energy generation, energy efficiency, and reducing emissions.

Source: Business Standard

Manav Rachna University is the first Int’l Centre for Outsourcing Studies

MRIU has become India’s first University which would now host & establish the International Centre for Outsourcing Studies (ICOS®). It has got under license from the global BPO standards leader, BPO certification Institute, Inc.(BCI) United States. BCI is present in more than 40 countries across the globe. It has more than 00 Certification Training Centres. Certifications of BCI include 23 professional certifications for BPO professionals which cover 6 operative levels - Entry, Specialist, Team leader, Manager, Functional Leader and business Leader.

MRIU would be launching many International certification and degree programs in BPO & Outsourcing. It even includes the internationally benchmarked Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in different areas of outsourcing. This programme gives complete employment assurance for students who achieve a BCI credential. MRIU has also become the first university in India that will offer PhD programs in outsourcing and research and consulting to the BPO Industry.

It is expected that MRIU would be instrumental in nurturing BPO talents that would be globally competitive.

BPO industry offers many career opportunities for young graduates. An average graduate, in India can earn 1.5 lakh-2.5 lakh with some training and certifications. MRIU also wants to install a process to commence talent-creation for KPO industry from the next academic year starting in July 2011.

Fee structure of the course will be announced shortly. Normally BCI entry level certification programme cost somewhere $100 and the higher level cost around $150-$500. Seven other international universities have also joined BCI. 

Source: Business Standard

Corporates given a nod to start medical colleges


Addressing the 13^th edition of national seminar on hospital, healthcare management and medico-legal systems at Symbiosis Internal University, Lavale, the Union health minister, Gulam Nabi Azad said the government is willing to promote public private partnership (PPP) in areas where an urgent need is felt and at present such need a being felt in for more medical institutions. Skilled manpower in the health sector is required and to bridge the supply gap a green signal is given to corporates for setting up medical colleges across the country.


The move is being regarded as an impressive stride in building infrastructure. Till now the government has not allowed the corporates to start medical colleges in India. More medical colleges mean more seats which will produce more medical professionals. All this can fill the demand and supply gap in the health sector. It is estimated that there are around 730,000 doctors and 930,000 nursing personnel,  but a large number of healthcare professionals are concentrated in urban and semi urban areas. So there is great shortage of health manpower at the grassroots level. 


Source: The Times of India

1 million jobs in water sector

It is expected that around one million job opportunities would be created in water sector in the coming three years in India. The reason behind this is attributed to the rise in demand for wastewater treatment plants and desalination plants. Even there is greater demand of engineering and design for water applications.

It is estimated that the water industry is growing at a rate of 18 per cent per annum. The total sector is pegged at Rs 60,000 crore which is in no way a small amount. 

Since the reliability of the Indian professionals is increasing all over the world, the manpower demand is too growing more than proportionately. There is quite high demand in Gulf countries. Moreover the market in India too has grown in considerable terms in last few years. Two-thirds of the manpower requirement comes from the companies within India, as many MNCs have been set up here.

People are getting more and more aware regarding pollution control measures and conservation of environment. The norms laid by the government have also resulted in growth of demand for such plants and equipments. Due to large size of the market, Dr K. Chandrasekhar, India representative of US-based water quality association, believes that there would be nearly 50 per cent rise in recruitment in the next three to five years.
The whole industry is likely to become consumer centric and people from all categories including plumber and fitter to scientists would be required in great numbers.

Source: Deccan Chronical

HUL, Bharti Airtel, NTPCand Cognizant, some of top most employers in India

In a survey by a leading global human resources management company Aon Hewitt, it was found that FMCG major Hindustan Unilever, telecom player Bharti Airtel and state-owned NTPC are among the best employers in India. This study is the seventh of its kind performed by Aon Hewitt in partnership woth Outlook Business magazine. 25 companies have been found with best working environment in India. 

Hindustan Unilever, Aditya Birla Group, LG Electronics India, Godrej Consumer Products, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Becton Dickinson India, Aircel, Wipro and Marriott Hotels India are some of the top most employers. 

The characteristics which make them toppers are alignment of people practices to the overall business strategy of the firm and an environment. All this help in creating a positive experience for the employees.
 
These companies are believed to have articulated business strategies. They provide best career proposals. The work environment ensures high performance. 

These companies are able to achieve superior business results. They succeed in better execution of people programs. They believe in investment in high quality staff by them higher average salary and helping them in their rounded skills development.

These companies belong to various sectors such as banking, manufacturing, IT & ITes, telecom, hospitality, FMCG and consumer durable. Their staff ranges from less than 1,000 to over 7,0000 employees.

Some other companies that are included in this list are Kotak Mahindra Bank, Scope International, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Whirlpool of India, Maruti Suzuki India, Canon India, Ford Group, Tata Teleservices, Mindtree, NIIT, Tata Steel, Jubiliant Foodworks, Cognizant Technology Solutions, FirstSource Solutions and Aegis.

Social media act as a potent tool for both employers and employees

Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming hunting grounds for employees seeking new jobs as more and more people are using these sites globally. 

Social media help people to find new jobs in fast and efficient ways according to an HR services firm Ma Foi Randstad.

The survey by the firm says that 82 per cent of Indian employees feel confident when they use the social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, that these sites would help them to find new jobs. The main focus of the survey was on ‘mental mobility’ of the employees which reflected their eagerness to change jobs.

It is estimated that 87 per cent of Indian employees make use of social media to get information about the work culture of an organisation. Track of the most preferred companies is kept by 75% of the people. They do all this in order to prepare themselves for the interviews. 90% employees have their profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin which are used for professional purposes.

Moreover, the survey found that 90 per cent of Indian employees have an individual accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and out of them, 81 per cent use it for professional purposes. Those who are most confident in finding jobs for themselves through social media are mostly from Mumbai (85%) and Delhi (83%).

It can be seen that Indian workforce is the "most mobile in the world", with an index score of 145. China and Mexico come next in this category. Survey of over 60,000 employees in 26 countries was conducted regarding this.

Social media act as a potent tool for both employers and employees. It is a least cost and high return combination.

Infy to hire more in US, China  

Infosys Technologies, which is India's second-largest software exporter, is now planning to step up hiring in the US, China and other overseas markets. The aim behind this is to check increasing employee turnover and encourage profit. They now want to create global footprint.  

A chief executive of the company said that they needed to get talent in the countries like Philippines, in China, in the Czech Republic and Brazil.
 
Infosys is likely to hire around 1,500 workers in America which is its biggest market at present. It wants more than double the workforce in China in 18 months. For this it will add a new campus in Shanghai. Thus Infy is expanding overseas. Its earnings have missed estimates for a third time in four quarters and employee attrition has worsened.
Infy wants to deliver the work from close to the client s premises irrespective of high costs. It is of the opinion that a local resource is likely to be more valuable than somebody sent from India.
 
The Shanghai campus would cost around $130 million There it would hire as many as 4,000 employees in 18 months. There are 3,000 workers in China at present. The company also plans to add people also in Mexico as it is a near shore centre for US.
In the past 10 years the workforce of the company has increased to 13-fold and the revenues have increased 14-fold.

Source: The Economic Times