Study trends in 2013

According to estimates in a report released by ASSOCHAM, nearly eight lakh Indian students spent over Rs 10,000 crore on overseas education in 2012-13. The report, titled ‘Funds flows out of India for Higher Education 2013’, reveals that the country needs quality institutes on the lines of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) for students wanting to pursue careers in management, accounting, engineering and chartered accountancy. Such an approach would not only restrict the outgo foreign exchange but also spread of global standards within the country increasing employability of the students in the industry and research institutions.

DS Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM, called for deregulation of higher education and reversing the trend of brain drain by opening up a series of quality institutions with public private partnership, while commenting on the findings of the report.

Making a comparative analysis of the expenditure incurred by Indian students studying in India and those studying abroad, the report states that while an IIT student incurs an expenditure of USD 150 per month as fees, those opting to go abroad incur anywhere between USD 200-600, per month, in countries such as US, Canada, Australia and UK.

The report additionally adds that deregulation of the higher education sector will also make India a leading destination for students hailing from other developing countries. While USA tops the list with 82% enrollment in the higher education sector, countries with low enrollment in this space constitute Pakistan (5%), India (12%), China (20%) and Brazil (24%).

The report also finds that about 95% of all entrance exam takers in the IITs and IIMs do not make it due to capacity constraints in these institutes and end up taking admissions abroad. While currently there are about 900 million jobs in India, 90% of these are skill-based, requiring vocational training, 9% are knowledge based and only 1% require both knowledge and skills.

By April-end, 27% building in IIT-B will be solar powered

One fourth of the academic buildings at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) are set to go green by April-end.

IIT-B is in the process of generating around 1 MW power using solar photovoltaic technology to cut down on the electricity spent and to promote the use of clean energy. With 1 MW solar power, 1.5 million units of electricity can be generated. On an average, any urban household consumes 1,000-1,500 units per year. A rough estimate shows solar energy can cost half the current electricity expenditure. A few other IITs will soon follow the suit.

IIT-B had formed a green campus committee to initiate the project. The electricity generated will be sufficient for 27% of the academic buildings on the 500-acre Powai campus. "We have chosen academic buildings that have enough room on the roof to set up the photovoltaic panels. We are in the process of purchasing the panels and have placed orders. Currently, we are aiming at generating 1MW, however, the institute has potential to install panels that can generate around 2.5 MW power, which we will target soon," said Chetan Singh Solanki, an associate professor in the department of energy science and engineering. Solanki is also a member of a similar committee in IIT-Indore, where he plans to promote the same idea of using solar power for the campus. According to him, one more IIT is toying with the idea of using solar power.

"At present, we pay Rs 11-12 for a unit of electricity, but with solar energy, the cost will be halved as one unit will cost us only Rs 5-6," said Solanki. The Victor Menezes Convention Centre, mechanical, civics, physics, metallurgical, computer science, electrical engineering departments, etc, are some of the buildings that will be powered by solar energy. The consumption of each department varies and that has been accounted for.

IIT-B's green campus committee is doing a full-time research in sustainable energy. "The idea is to demonstrate it to other academic institutions. Institutions like IITs should lead such initiatives," said Solanki. According to him, academic institutions do not need high power density, have enough surface area on their huge campuses and should therefore make use of solar technology. "The cost of solar photovoltaic technology has gone down drastically and therefore it is economically viable too," he added.

Incidentally, at a IIT council meeting held in December last year, it was decided that each franchise would establish a green office that would carry out green audits and ensure inclusion of green technology-related topics/courses in the curriculum.

This year, highest no of CAT takers from Maharashtra

Maharashtra has the highest number of CAT (Common Admission Test) takers this year. As many as 31,040 candidates appearing for the ongoing CAT for admissions to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) reside in the state, followed by Uttar Pradesh with nearly 25,270 candidates, and Delhi with 21,507.

Of the 2.14 lakh applicants this year, the top five cities of New Delhi (21,224), Bangalore (19,553), Mumbai (16,895), Hyderabad (16,138) and Pune (13,368) constitute around 40.7% of the total registrations. Data released by IIM-Kozhikode, which is organizing the CAT 2012, states an overall increase in numbers across the categories. There is a 4.2% increase in the total number of registrations this year. The IIMs also witnessed around 8.6% growth in the number of girls registering for CAT in 2012. The number of boys taking CAT has gone up by 2.6%.

This year, there was an increase in number of candidates having two-three years of experience. As compared to last year, there is a 43% rise in the number of candidates having more work experience. The number of candidates from the non-creamy OBC, SC and ST categories has gone up too. The NC-OBC category saw a growth of 13.3%. "The shift in candidate pool in terms of gender and social balance, as well as work experience, is a positive indication that our society is becoming more aware of the opportunities available," said SSS Kumar, CAT 2012 convenor from IIM-Kozhikode.

Candidates from engineering stream, nearly 67.6% form the largest pool of CAT takers, this year too. Around 67.6% students are from the engineering stream.

Prometric, the firm that conducts the computer-based CAT, said 9,805 candidates candidates took the test on Monday. Both sessions have concluded and all candidates who started their tests have completed successfully.

IIM-A summer placement process starts from today

The premier B-school is all geared up for summer placements for its 2012-14 PGP batch. The cohort-based placement process will begin at Indian Institute Of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on Wednesday.

Despite the fears of an uncertain economic environment, students are expecting a rise in stipends by 15 to 20 per cent this year. The expectations for IIM-A students come following continued interests of leading companies, who made attractive offers during final placements in March this year.

The placement this year, like last year, will take place in four clusters beginning November 17. The second cluster start on November 9, third on November 16 and the process will conclude on November 17. Members of the student placement committee opined that given the economic scenario, consulting, ecommerce and technology companies will have more to offer than the banks and other financial firms.

In the summer placements last year, out of 379 students, who took part in the summer placement process, only 42 students got overseas opportunities. In 2011, student's top preference continued to be banking, financial services and insurance ( BFSI) sector, with 112 students accepting offers in this area. The other sectors that attracted students in high numbers included consulting which had 81 students accepting offers, FMCG with 45 students and IT with 31 accepted offers.

At 50, IIM-A makes a financial turnaround

For the first time, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has a surplus of operating funds - Rs 6.83 crore. This is in spite of spending over a crore on its year-long golden jubilee celebrations and despite a 60% increase in pension liability.

IIM-A has seen a change in its resources in the 50th year of its existence. The institute's balance sheet shows that against an operating loss of Rs 50.49 lakh in 2009-10, and Rs 6.33 crore in 2008-09, IIM-A has generated greater income than expenditure, Rs 11 crore in 2010-11. Out of this, the institute transferred Rs 4.38 crore to its corpus, thus creating a surplus of Rs 6.83 crore.

"For the first time, the institute achieved an operating surplus in 2011, after fully funding the pension liability of the institute. This was achieved despite increase in the actuarial value of the pension liability by about 60% to Rs 860 million (due to sixth pay commission's recommendations) by the end of 2011," Samir Barua, director, IIM-A, said in the annual report of the institute.

The surplus is a major achievement for IIM-A, which decided not to solicit grants from the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in 2003. According to Barua, the institute achieved this through prudent management of costs and generation of opportunities.

The institute collected Rs 61.59 crore as fees and other income from long duration programmes and Rs 51.22 crore from management development programmes and projects.

At present, IIM-A's corpus stands at around Rs 55 crore. IIM-A's corpus in 2008-09 was about Rs 44 crore, down from over Rs 51 crore in the previous two years. The corpus had gone down due to the Sixth Pay Commission.

The golden jubilee celebrations included four international conferences, alumni reunions with participation across batches, publication of a series of management books among other activities.

The institute has been tapping its alumni and also plans to enter corporate alliances to raise funds. IIM-A raised a sum of Rs 38 crore from former students by hosting numerous alumni meets on the occasion of its silver jubilee celebrations.

Can’t sit for JEE if you opt out of IIT

Students who leave an IIT course midway can be barred from taking the next year's entrance examination, the Delhi high court has said.

Justice Hima Kohli upheld the decision of IIT authorities to refuse admit card to one Prateek Rohilla, who withdrew his admission to Indian Institute of Technology Madras after paying the registration fee last year. Rohilla wanted to appear in the IIT-JEE-2012 scheduled for April 8.

HC agreed with the argument of IIT authorities that such attempts by candidates, who once qualify in IIT-JEE and later seek to withdraw the seat allocated to them, resulted in immense financial strain on the institute. "In this attempt, the institute would have to keep a seat vacant not just in the first year but right through the course that may extend up to five years as in the present case," the court said.

"Apart from this, the course is extremely prestigious and every seat is precious and cannot be permitted to be wasted in such a manner," it said, refusing to accept Rohilla's petition.

Rohilla moved the court against the IIT decision after it informed him that he cannot reappear for IIT-JEE 2012 exam as last year he withdrew his admission after paying the registration fee. In 2011, Rohilla after qualifying in the IIT-JEE under the scheduled castes category got admission in engineering design (automotive engineering), a five-year M-Tech dual degree course at IIT-Madras.

By making an online payment, Rohilla deposited Rs 20,000 towards non-refundable registration fees and confirmed the admission but did not turn up at IIT-Madras to attend classes. Later, he again applied for the 2012 IIT entrance test under the general category. On his application IIT-Delhi, organizing the test, informed him that his application stood cancelled as he was ineligible.

IIM-B raises fee of Post-Graduate Programme to Rs 15 lakh

Get ready to shell out more for that coveted seat in the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore. The institute has increased the fee for the Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) from Rs 13 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for two years.

The increase will be with effect for the 2012-14 batch. This will include tuition, library and internet fees, case permission royalty, besides the cost of course material, hostel room, service charge, medical insurance, personal accident insurance. The intake will continue to be 375.

The last fee increase was effected two years ago. The increase then was Rs 1.5 lakh. The latest hike brings IIM-B fee close to that at IIM-Ahmedabad, which has increased its fee to 15.5 lakh for the coming batch from the existing Rs 14.45 lakh. These institutes, rated among the best B-schools in the country, will continue to be the costliest IIMs to study in.

IIM-Calcutta student rejects plum jobs to educate villagers

The beaten track is not for everyone and that is why the world is still worth living in.

The story of Puja Mishra, who will receive her MBA degree from IIM-Calcutta on Monday, is a case in point. She has chucked IIM-C placements so that she can live and work in a remote village to educate children and see them through graduation. But this is not the first time that Puja has cold-shouldered a plum job. She had earlier given up an Infosys job in Chicago to study at the management college.

Puja schooled and graduated in computer science engineering from Lucknow. She then bagged a job on Infosys' Bangalore campus. After working for a year there, she was sent to the US by her company where she met her husband, Shashank Shukla, who had to drop out of NDA after an injury.

It was a coincidence that Infosys offered her a green card at almost the same time as she got her admission at IIM-C through the GMAT and interviews. "I always dreamt of teaching village kids. My forefathers are from Rae Bareilly and thus I have seen village life for close quarters. Students travel at least 35 km to reach colleges. The girl child is the worst affected. My father would always tell me that I was lucky to be where I am and that my education would be useless if I did not do anything for village students," Puja shyly said from Lucknow, where she was holidaying with her parents. She would be in the city on Monday to accept her degree at the IIM-C convocation.

With the earnings that the duo had set apart while they worked in the US, they have started Gurukul Mahavidyala, a degree college, in a remote village called Purasi in the Rae Bareilly district. The land on which the college stands belongs to Puja's father RD Mishra, a prominent lawyer from the Lucknow high court. While Puja studied at IIMC, her husband did the ground work to set up the college. Puja wanted a management degree so that she could utilize her training in running the college.

In the course of setting up the college, the couple realized that it was not enough to just have a college without a school attached because the students they were getting were extremely weak academically. "So we have just started Gurukul Public School, an English-medium school. As of now, it has till Class VIII but we will extend it up to the Plus two level. Proposals have been sent to the UP government and we will soon get the approvals. Also, as of now, only pass courses in English, History, Political Science, Sanskrit, Sociology and Economics are being taught in our college. However, we will work towards upgrading them to honours," Puja said.

Looking at the zeal of these two indefatigable youngsters, the UP government has helped by extending free studentships for those unable to pay tuition fees. The teachers are paid from a corpus that the duo has intelligently created partly from their savings and partly from a huge loan that they have taken for the purpose. "People often say that we are mad for taking our careers so lightly. But this is our call in life and we don't mind the risk. As far as uncertainty is concerned, nothing in life is certain!" Puja said bravely.

Puja's IIM-C teachers are thrilled at her decision. "About a decade ago, we had a similar student called Vinayak Lohani who did not wish to be placed and started a school for street children. Now we have Puja. We are proud to have a student like her. In fact, we are trying to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship in our students. But Puja is unique, she is not only an entrepreneur but a leader in her own right," said Prashant Mishra, IIM-C's chairperson for the postgraduate programmes.

Interestingly, as Puja returns to UP after collecting her degree, her husband will now take a break and go to Harvard Kennedy School in the US for a Master's degree in Public Administration.