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COMPUTER SAVVY: IT -education has become affordable and accessible these days.

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If you ask Richa Dutta, a Class X student of a south Calcutta school, whether she plans to take up information technology after her final exams, the 17-year-old, who intends to study management, exclaims, “Of course!” She says she doesn’t know a single person in her age group who does not intend to take up IT in some form or the other.

“There is no way you can ignore IT in this day and age,” agrees her friend and fellow student, Rahul Tarafdar. “It doesn’t matter whether you are eager to pursue a career in software or want to go into a seemingly unrelated field such as medicine, you would certainly like to have some knowledge of information technology, which is now all-encompassing,” he observes.

Indeed. This is amply reflected in the mind-boggling number of IT-education institutes in the city. In fact, according to statistics, there are close to 80 large computer education centres and hundreds of smaller ones in Calcutta. And this number, if experts are to be believed, “is still growing”.

So, how on earth do students such as Dutta and Tarafdar decide which IT institutes to choose? Well, as far as they are concerned, “If you are just a little bit informed, you shouldn’t have a problem deciding.” They say that they go by the reputation of an institute.

Along with NIIT and CMC, a name that crops up in this category is Brainware, which is known for its pioneering work in the field of education, web and multimedia that focus specifically on students’ IT needs.

According to Subrata Biswas, marketing executive of Brainware Computer Academy at Kankurgachi’s Manicktala Main Road, points out, “Brainware was one of the first to recognise the need of IT literacy among school pass outs.”

He says that Brainware has been imparting high-end IT-education at highly affordable prices for the last three decades. “It has also designed its courses exclusively for school students who have just taken their Class X exams.”

The idea, he points out, is to make the study of information technology — which could otherwise be fairly daunting — accessible and easy to grasp.

In IT circles the phrase used to describe such courses is “student-friendly”. Perhaps it is this student-friendliness which makes Brainware a favourite among students. For instance, the centre at Manicktala, which opened seven years ago, has at any given point as many as 500 students on its rolls, taught by a faculty of some 20 members.

The total number of students who have passed out from this particular centre has so far been more than 3,000. And this is expected to shoot up in June when the institute plans to launch a series of degree courses. These include the following courses: bachelor of computer application (BBA), master of computer application (MCA), bachelor of business administration (BBA), master of business administration (MBA), bachelor of science in information technology (BSc IT) and master of science in information technology (MSc IT).

A Brainware spokesperson says the courses have always been designed to address the needs of students, keeping in mind the changing demands of IT-knowledge as they go from one level of education to another.

The courses for the beginners include the basic IT-literacy courses such as Brain Power. The teaching technique, said ex-student Neha Gupta, is “fun and friendly”. She said the thrust of the course is to impart fundamental knowledge of information technology to students who are fresh out of school. Gupta, who is now an IT-management consultant, feels that once upon a time she was “totally technologically-challenged”. But after going through this course she had gained, what she considers “the perfect foundation on which I could build my future career in IT”.

The “IT-Smart” course addresses students at the next level. Though it is designed for students with some knowledge of information technology, nevertheless it can also serve the needs of the beginner. The course helps students who intend to take up computer science Plus Two. The “multimedia magic” course is the next level as it is more career-oriented and introduces the student to the world of designing and graphics.

Brainware has troubleshooting courses such as PC-assembling and troubleshooting courses in which students are taught, among other things, the technicalities of computer assembling.

So then, whether your IT-education need is in the area of software, hardware, networking, financial accounting, multimedia or BPO — all of which Brainware addresses — or whether your needs as a student are specific to your courses and career, no need to wrack your brains any longer about where to study. Try Brainware.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

If you like leading a crowd rather than following one, a career as a company secretary could be just the thing, says Shubhobroto Ghosh

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A company secretary is an expert in corporate laws, security laws, capital market and corporate governance. He can also be a strategic manager responsible for all regulatory compliance of the company and the chief adviser to the board of directors.

“A career as a company secretary is not only prestigious and financially rewarding but also carries a high level of job satisfaction,” says N.K. Jain, secretary and chief executive officer of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). Now, with the introduction of a new syllabus for the exam, the prospects seem rosy for those intent on corporate governance.

A student who has passed Plus Two and wants to be a company secretary has to go through the foundation programme, executive programme and professional programme. A graduate student would have to do the executive and professional programmes. All candidates have a practical training period of 15 months.

Admission to the CS course is open throughout the year. Examinations are held twice a year, in June and December. Originally the entire course was divided into three sections, the foundation, intermediate, and final course. These have now been renamed the foundation, executive and professional programme.

The new syllabus has quite a few changes. The foundation programme now has four subjects, the executive programme has six and the professional programme has eight.

“The changes have been instituted keeping in mind the rapid pace of globalisation and the requirements of the modern corporate world,” says Shantanu Mukherjee, executive officer of the eastern India regional office of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. The trends in the current business environment, emerging regulatory regimes and developments at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) front have been the driving force behind the current changes to the company secretary course.

“The changes to the course were made without compromising on the quality and the number of papers has been rationalised at all levels of the course,” mentions Jain.

Mukherjee explains that subjects are reviewed and updated periodically and the subjects at each level have also been altered as part of the process.

Students also complete a mandatory 70-hour computer course with NIIT (National Institute of Information Technology) that gives them some very handy skills.

“The company secretary course offers a number of training programmes,” reveals Mukherjee. For example, there are academic development programmes that students have to attend after the executive programme. “The changes instituted will make it easier for students to pass the professional programme in the course too,” says Mukherjee.

N.K. Jain emphasises that corporate accountability is on everyone’s mind today. Businesses face significant pressures to comply with a steady stream of complex regulations. “This focussed attention on compliance expects the company secretaries to guide the business in adapting to the prevalent regimes,” he points out.

The prospects of becoming a company secretary in India are bright. According to the Companies Act, 1956, all companies having a paid up share capital of Rs 2 crore or more are required to appoint a full-time company secretary. With liberalisation on a canter, the number of such companies is rising fast thereby creating a demand for more company secretaries.

In a world that is dissolving boundaries and constantly blending, company secretary students have an important role to play in mergers and acquisitions. Mukherjee says that every year almost 40,000 students enrol for this course, 40 per cent of whom pass the exam. The ICSI conducts examinations at 62 centres across the country and one overseas centre in Dubai. It has also launched an online portal for e-learning.

“Under e-learning, students can have continuous access to studies and guidance from faculty online. In a nutshell, the new curriculum for the course has been designed with a global perspective to prepare new generation company secretaries to assume leadership roles in delivering value added professional services to corporates,” sums up Jain.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Calcutta entreprenuers join hands to set up a B-school.
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Could Calcutta be giving us our very own Harvard? Calcutta Business School, a brand new venture spearheaded by the Shikshayatan Foundation is getting ready to cast its spell on prospective management students. “This initiative was undertaken so that the city could have a modern centre of study for business management,” says S.K. Birla, chairman of the S.K. Birla Group and trustee of the Calcutta Business School. Birla explains that he teamed up with some of his industrialist friends to start a management school because they wanted to give something back to the city they have grown up in. “It will be an institute that will bring about the best collaboration between industry and academia,” he says.

Built on 16 acres of land at Bishnupur on Diamond Harbour Road, the institute aims to induct the first batch of 60 PGDM (postgraduate diploma in management) students in July this year. “The eligibility criteria is very strict to maintain a high standard, and students have to clear the CAT to gain entry,” says Subir Chowdhury, former director of IIM Calcutta and advisor to Calcutta Business School. Management institutes generally offer specialisation in marketing, finance, human resources and information systems but in addition to these, Calcutta Business School will also offer students information technology, manufacturing, retail, infrastructure projects, banking and insurance, and hospitality management as options, Chowdhury says. “To maintain academic freedom, autonomy is being sought from the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE),” he reveals.

A one-year executive postgraduate diploma in management will be introduced in 2010-2011 with a batch of sixty and the target to accommodate 120 students by 2011-2012. “This course will be meant for candidates having more than two years of industry experience. A three-year part-time evening PGDM programme will also be introduced two or three years after commencement of the school,” says Chowdhury.

Short-term courses like management development programmes will also be introduced, primarily geared towards professionals. “We are planning a cluster concept for some courses whereby students would be able to delve into subjects like IT management and applications, financial management and international law,” says Birla. Teleconference facilities will be provided so students may make the most of their learning experience at the institution.

The Calcutta Business School is currently in the midst of negotiations with several leading business schools abroad for possible collaboration. All courses will be residential and there will be hostels to accommodate all students. “We have plans to accept students from all over India; non-resident Indians and candidates from Southeast Asia would also be eligible for entry provided they possess the necessary qualifications,” says Birla.

Broadband and hi-fi equipment will be provided for students to surf the Internet and a fully computerised library will serve the students’ academic needs. All students will be given laptops. Research will also be encouraged and a fellowship programme in management equivalent to a PhD is likely to be introduced in the near future. “We will also welcome visiting faculty from institutions in India and abroad and will encourage our faculty members to conduct consultations and utilise tailor-made case studies that suit the Indian business circuit,” Chowdhury says.

What makes this institution unique? “We aim to have the best infrastructure, excellent faculty, an active placement cell and a wide international network so that the institute remains a front runner in business education in the country,” Chowdhury stresses. The two-year PGDM course will cost Rs 7 lakh. The Calcutta Business School will also host a state-of-the-art management development centre spread over 38,000 square feet with 60 air-conditioned rooms and lecture theatres to be used for training programmes, seminars and guest lectures. “We want to implement the best technology in the education that we impart,” points out Birla.

The Calcutta Business School has received a favourable response from the chief minister of West Bengal. “He has been much impressed by our innovative ideas,” remarks Birla. According to him, Calcutta deserves a high-quality business management institute and the Calcutta Business School is a concerted effort by industrialists fond of this city to face that challenge.

“The involvement of stalwarts from the industry will ensure that students get placed in firms they interact with during their academic period at the Calcutta Business School,” he concludes.

Sources: Thr Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

With malls mushrooming across the country, the retail sector is facing a shortage of trained professionals. And the B-schools are racing to meet the shortfall by tying up with retail majors. The Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) in Calcutta started the trend when it entered into a partnership with Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd to provide a two-year programme in retail management. Then it was the turn of NSHM Knowledge Campus, Calcutta, to collaborate with the Retailers Association of India (RAI). Soon all the other management institutes followed suit, drawing up industry-oriented courses in partnership with retail majors. Now the retail sector has taken the next proactive step —RAI conducted the first countrywide entrance examination for postgraduate programmes in retail management on January 27, 2008.

So what sparked off the idea of the Common Admission Retail Test (CART)? Gibson G. Vedamani, CEO, RAI, says, “Retail in India is undergoing a transformation. The phenomenal growth in the organised retail sector has increased the demand for quality manpower. The test will help us induct the best talents.” RAI, which has 46 companies — such as Aditya Birla Retail, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Levi Strauss (India) — as its founder-members, another 100 core members and 60 associate members, will provide internships and placements to students who complete the retail management programme from institutes affiliated with RAI. It is hoping this leverage will lead to more B-schools accepting the CART score.

This year the CART score will, however, be used only by 15 institutes to select students for their retail management course. “CART is based on the lines of the Common Admission Test (CAT). Just like with CAT, students will have to clear a group discussion and personal interview for admission. The CART will enable students to pick their line of work right at the start,” said Krishnendu Sarkar, head (learning systems), NSHM. Just like CAT, CART has sections on quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning and verbal ability. In addition to this, there is a section on business and consumer awareness.

Though RAI is associated with reputed institutes like IIM Indore, CART hasn’t been able to generate a positive response among institutes that do not have tie-ups with RAI. “We are not going to use CART scores for admission. We will be taking in students on the basis of the applicant’s Managerial Aptitude Test (MAT) or CAT score cards,” says Garik Das, head, retail management, IISWBM.

Almost all institutes seem to have similar views. “We are affiliated to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), so we won’t subscribe to CART. We give preference to candidates with national level entrance examination (as prescribed by AICTE) score card,” says professor Deepa Dixit of Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai, which offers a one-year diploma in retail management.

Sanath Dey, executive of examinations, National Institute of Personal Management, Calcutta, also ruled out the possibility of prescribing to CART. “We won’t give preference to CART scores over those of CAT or MAT,” he says. Poonam Gupta, PR officer of Indian Retail School, straightaway says, “Haven’t heard of CART. It’s a relatively new exam and it hasn’t been decided whether the scores will be used or not.”

CART, however, has got a warm welcome from students. “The overall response was great. We have received over 900 applications just from Calcutta and Durgapur,” says Rajib Chanda, director of NSHM. This proves that those who invest lakhs of rupees in a professional course want a job guarantee — which is what RAI is giving. “Anything new has to face some resistance,” Chanda says. “Students, however, seem to have made it clear that they want value for money.”

So, the verdict is out — CART to mart is the obvious choice of students.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

John Mason says that schools should encourage the reading habit if they want students to think for themselves.

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About 200 teachers from schools around the city had gathered at an English language training workshop recently where, pen and paper in hand, they turned into attentive students for the day. Their ‘teacher’ at the workshop organised by Oxford University Press was John Mason. The iconic academician, who has spent the past four decades teaching at La Martiniere for Boys, and then helming St James School, Modern High School, Dubai, and Doon School, Dehra Dun, was back in Calcutta to share literature, language and lifestyle-related concerns surrounding students with junior colleagues.

“Calcutta has got the most language-sensitive teachers,” Mason said, settling into a sofa in his hotel at the end of the day’s work. “I must comment on their depth of understanding and appreciation of new methods of teaching and innovation.” Mason was clearly happy with his ‘students’.

Teachers of language, Mason pointed out, were at a unique advantage. “Language is a wonderful opportunity to enrich the child’s entire being. His capacity to imagine, his perceptions — all come through the vehicle of language.” This is why when he is not writing text books, Mason spends his time interacting with teachers. “I try to get past the mechanistic ways of learning and into more creative ways to reach out to the child.”

With children taking up guns on the Indian campus as well, Mason admitted a crisis of values in contemporary times. This problem, he feels, can be addressed by encouraging the habit of reading. “A good reader is a life-long learner. Efficiency of a student in reading is linked to his intellectual growth.”

Yet reading, he lamented, gets attention only in the primary classes. “We do not give importance to reading in middle school, unlike in the West. This is why the majority has a lack of confidence to read and research on their own and depends on notes from teachers to draft out answers. I place this failure at the door of neglected competencies, the most significant of which is reading.”

Mason quoted a directive from the National Curriculum Framework 2005 devised by the National Council of Education and Research Training (NCERT) that asks schools to concentrate only on language and numbers in classes I and II. “When skills are supposed to be developed, instead, unfortunately, there is a clutter of subjects.”

Mason suggested that schools form a reading policy so that the subject teacher does not remain the sole source of information. “The onus of learning should be transferred to the kid. The NCERT also wants that the students be given a chance to develop their own knowledge. This should be the base for them.”

Mason recalled how at the workshop many teachers had complained that children were disinclined to write. “This happens because they are not encouraged to express their feelings. If they are good at speaking the language it is because spoken English is so much more accessible to them through television, which is a medium pleasurable to children. Thus they develop a faculty that is efficient but largely informal.”

But it is not enough for Indian children to learn one language well. Pushed towards mastering a foreign tongue, children in many urban homes are becoming weak in their mother tongue. On being posed the problem, Mason had a homegrown solution to offer. One of the ways to preserve their bilingual faculties is through conversation at home. “I know of families which sit and talk after dinner where each member revives the day’s happenings.”

This not only strengthens the family bond but also builds a child’s confidence in the mother tongue. “But this family concord is a rarity today and the after-dinner conversation is replaced by time spent in silence in front of the television. In case of houses with one TV set, the family is at least assembled in the same room; in those with two TV sets, the breakdown of the concord is final,” Mason signed off.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

V. Kumara Swamy reports on a free course that promises to equip people to deal with the stress of corporate life :-

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When a diploma course promises that it will not only equip you to become an “enlightened CEO” but also tackle modern evils such as stress and depression — that too for free — in the sylvan surroundings of an ancient ashram, it is worth a dekko.

The one-year diploma in life bliss technology (LBT) aims to “empower modern youth with good physical, mental and emotional health”. And to achieve it, the institute is offering the residential course for free. “According to Vedic tradition, knowledge should be free. So we started this life-skills course for those who seek it,” says Nithya Pranananda, principal of the Nithyananda Meditation Academy at Bidadi on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Some of the subjects that will be part of the course are physical wellness, mental wellness, relationships, social intelligence and spiritual intelligence. “For instance, under social intelligence we shall deal with leadership and oratory skills. We want to instil clarity, confidence, courage and creativity, leading to an overall personal development,” says Pranananda.

The minimum qualification for taking the LBT course is graduation and the diploma will be awarded by the US-based International Vedic Hindu University.

“The response has been tremendous to say the least,” says Pranananda, claiming that they have been inundated by queries from people.

Sandeep Hegde is one such candidate who is hopeful that he will get a chance to join the course. The 22-year-old graduate had originally planned to do his MBA but now feels that a one-year stint at the ashram at Bidadi would offer him something unique.

“I am pretty sure that the LBT course will add value to my CV, and moreover, it will certainly improve my personality. I only hope that I get through,” says the Bangalore resident.

The academy hopes that at the end of the course the students will be equipped to handle any situation with confidence and a calm mind. “The skills taught here range from vocational to life sciences. The self-confident, mature and courageous individual we hope to shape will have the innate strength to chart his career, be it professional or entrepreneurial,” Pranananda asserts. The vocational skills taught will include, among others, publication, construction, housekeeping, photography and videography.

During their stay at the ashram, the students will be put though a variety of tests. The final diploma will be presented only to those who pass these tests successfully. Modelled on the lines of an MBA degree, the students will be asked to prepare presentations, do project work and other activities, except that there will be no cut-throat competition.

Since many of the students may end up in the corporate world, the institute is planning to invite faculty from outside to tell students about the pressures they will be facing and how to overcome them.

According to officials of the academy, students interested in taking the course would be inducted in four batches every three months. Candidates between the ages of 18 and 30 would be selected for the course through interviews. While the interviews for the first batch were held in the last week of January, the course will begin sometime during February.

A free course that smoothens your path to success — that should interest plenty of working professionals too, but there is a catch. They will have to give up their job if they want the diploma. “No working professional will be eligible for admission,” stress the authorities who run the academy.

The LBT course is the brainchild of Nithyananda, the founder of the academy. “After wandering for nine years, I attained inner bliss and the first thing I wanted to do was make this knowledge available for the coming generations. That was my inspiration for creating LBT.”

His vision is to empower at least 1,000 youth with the “capacity to be economically self-supporting and spiritually stable” through the programme within a year. “A handful of spiritually evolved and balanced youth is enough to transform the entire society,” maintains Nithyananda.

“You are not a being with human limitations; you are a being with divine potential. My aim is to make the students realise this truth. When you realise this, you will not only have the natural intelligence and capacity to become a CEO but you will have the maturity to handle the status and be an enlightened CEO,” he says. Aspiring CEOs can certainly give it a try.

Those interested can send their biodata, copies of educational certificates and two passport size photos to Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, Nithyanandapuri, Kallugopahalli, Mysore Road, Bidadi-562109. One can also visit their website (www.nithyananda.org) for more information.

Here’s to a blissful life!

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Search engine optimisers are now in great demand, says Vishnupriya Sengupta

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Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN or even Rediff nearly always throw up relevant results for any search under the sun?

That is a question that crossed Manish Parkar’s mind whenever he sourced information on the Internet. “I always wanted to find out how search engines deliver results against queries in just a few seconds,” recalls the 24-year-old search engine optimiser who works for Mumbai-based Mediaturf — a business unit of Connecturf (I) Pvt. Ltd — one of the leading search engine optimisation firms which specialises in Internet marketing and online advertising in India.

Later, when he joined Qualispace, a unit of QuantumPages Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Parkar discovered search engine optimisers (SEO) played a key role in delivering relevant results, escalating the traffic volume to particular sites which hire their services. “This involves a comprehension of the encoding structure of a web page and generating correct html tags and relevant keywords so that sites which relate to the search show up. I found the job interesting and before long, decided to pursue a career in this field.”

It was a wise move. Today, search engine optimisers (SEO) are much in demand as most software compares such as netramind.com, olive global.com, brainpulse.com, communicate2.com, convonix.com offer this service in India.

“Search engine advertising is growing rapidly and most companies want their names to show up in the top 10 results of search engines like Google,” says Gaurav Awasthy, assistant manager, client servicing, Mediaturf. This is where an SEO fits in. “If he / she can achieve that and generate maximum number of hits for a company, his / her salary increases exponentially and the move up the career ladder becomes easy,” he notes.

An SEO, then, is essentially responsible for marketing a website and should thus know how search engines and directories index and rank websites. Accordingly, his / her sphere of work would include both on-page optimisation that entails re-designing an existing website to increase its traffic volume and off-page optimisation, which denotes submitting information of different companies to various directories.

A graduate in any discipline can join initially as a trainee. But it is important to have a flair for the English language as it involves some amount of content writing. At this level, the salary could range between Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000, though that largely depends on the company itself.

“An SEO also needs to have some basic technical / programming and web design knowledge, along with marketing skills, which he can acquire on the job. As he / she has to understand and analyse the traffic flow into a particular portal, the ability to adapt quickly to changes in the industry is a bonus,” says Shafaat Karim, who heads the project management division of Calcutta-based All India Technologies.

The good thing about search engine optimisation is that if a SEO is able to cater to the needs of the client, the salary could go up to Rs 50,000 and above in just four to five years, emphasises Awasthy adding, “That’s because the demand in this field exceeds the supply.”

Parkar, perhaps, is a case in point. Having optimised over 20 websites — including the home loan division of ICICI Bank and the travel portal, yatra.com, over the past couple of years — today, he is a project leader and manages a team and handles all practical operations.

“When you work for a client and are able to successfully promote its product online, it gives you a thrill,” says Parkar. This, however, involves considerable research, analysis and a fair amount of knowledge of every segment be it travel, software, real estate, et al as the client could be from any of these segments.

So the challenges can often be daunting. “To ensure that a client figures in the top 10 results on Google, MSN or even Yahoo listings, one is required to understand the services offered by the client, engage in product specific keywords research, learn how to design modifications, generate traffic from referral sites, and understand the traffic flow to the site,” says Ranjita Bhattacharya, an SEO who stumbled into this domain by chance and has, to date, not regretted it. Her search, she says, has been fruitful.

And like Bhattacharya, if you are addicted to the Internet and are looking for a career in the virtual world, your search too could end here.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Queen’s University has tied up with the Bengal Engineering and Science University to develop future research leaders. V. Kumara Swamy reports

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Students of Bengal Engineering and Science College at Shibpur (top) can now do a summer programme at Queen’s University, Belfast

Students in select departments of the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) in Shibpur, possibly the oldest engineering institute in the country, will now get a chance to visit the United Kingdom on a student exchange programme. BESU has tied up with Queen’s University in Belfast to give its students the opportunity to do summer courses in the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT), a world-class research centre at the university in Ireland. Twenty successful students will travel to Belfast next summer on the Electronic Engineers’ Welcome Scheme (EEWS), a scholarship programme.

Queen’s University Belfast is a research-driven university with a world-class research and education portfolio. It is a member of the Russell Group of top 20 research-intensive universities in the United Kingdom (equivalent to the United States Ivy League). Its annual budget is a whopping $460 million and, as of now, Queen’s has 17,500 students from more than 80 countries.

The excitement this tie-up has generated among students at BESU is palpable. “This collaboration is a great honour for our university, it brings us a step closer towards BESU’s recognition as a top class institute. The scholarship will help our students showcase their talent at a world-renowned university like Queen’s,” gushes Atrish Mukherjee, a final year student of electronics and telecommunications engineering at Shibpur.

Students who win the coveted scholarship will attend Queen’s University for a period of 10 days, from June 15, 2008. Under the EEWS scheme, each student will receive a grant of £600 that will cover tuition fees, accommodation and meals at the university and other activities.

Some of the things the students will do include working on projects using live data and real applications and undertaking mini-projects with specialist researchers. Apart from academics, they will also engage in a range of cultural and social activities. The EEWS programme will also enable students take an informed decision about their postgraduate career.

So, what does Queen’s stand to gain apart from new students? The university hopes that it would be providing its industry with world class technologists. “Industry and the business world are looking for scientists who have transnational experience. By collaborating with BESU, we will be able to provide better quality graduates,” says Kevin Mulhern, head of communications, Queen’s University. Mulhern feels this tie-up has many likely benefits for both the universities. “Both universities have strengths that complement each other in the areas of electronics, communications and information technology,” he says.

“Queen’s is one of the top universities in the UK. Our students will rub shoulders with some of the best brains from around the world there and I am sure they will treasure that experience for the rest of their life,” says a faculty member of the electronics and telecommunications department of BESU.

“Despite being a top engineering institute, BESU is not as well known outside India as our other engineering colleges. I hope this scholarship programme will help in changing that,” says Jaydeep Saha, a BE computer science student at BESU.

To be eligible for the EEWS scholarship, students must be scheduled to complete their second year of undergraduate study before the summer programme commences in June 2008 and should be doing their graduation in electronic engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or IT.

The engineering schools at Queen’s University rank very high in The Times Higher Education League Table, the definitive guide to top institutes in the UK. That is the reason Bhaskar Sengupta, now a faculty member of the Queen’s School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, joined the institute. “Its rank in The Times Higher Education League Table convinced me to join Queen’s. The university consistently performs well in UK-wide teaching assessments, which I believe is due to its innovative teaching methods,” he says.

Lakshmi Kannan, an MSc student, agrees. “The quality of teaching, the faculty and the library facilities are really great. The academic atmosphere at Queen’s helps me stay motivated. I also enjoy the compactness of Belfast and the warmth of its people,” she says. Kannan feels that researchers from India are sure to find the experience enriching.

Queen’s University’s interest in forging ties with Indian institutes is because it recognises India’s strength as a research centre. Its tie-up with BESU is a broad-based programme of research partnerships with particular emphasis on electronic engineering, information and communication technologies and environmental engineering linked to water supply. The partnership features split-site study programmes and staff exchanges.

Queen’s has also signed a research agreement with the Delhi-based National Institute of Immunology. This partnership is in the field of biomedical sciences associated with cancer research and cell biology and experimental medicine.

It is also collaborating with the University of Hyderabad in the fields of literature, language and translation. As part of the co-operation, the universities are involved in staff exchanges and student exchanges at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Sources: The Telegraph ( Kolkata, India)

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The BCCI-EIM course is the answer to the prayers of many an upwardly-mobile executive .

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Afzal Khan was very disappointed when he was refused a job because he did not have a diploma or degree in business management. He realised then that the years he had spent imbibing management knowledge while moving up the corporate ladder — from an executive to the manager of the e-mail management section of a private bank — were of no use. “Big companies want formal degrees,” he rues.

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) made a similar observation — employed executives often want to do a course in business management so that, empowered with cutting-edge managerial concepts and skill-sets, they can re-position their careers on the fast track. “Executives at private companies often loose out on opportunities while seeking a job change due to a lack of formal training. Since there are very few management programmes for working executives available in Calcutta, we decided to begin such a course as our first educational venture,” says S. Goswami, deputy secretary, BCCI.

So, the BCCI got in touch with the Eastern Institute of Management (EIM), Calcutta — ranked amongst the country’s top B-Schools — for launching a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) evening programme for professionals. The diplomas will be awarded jointly by the Bengal Chamber and EIM, which is affiliated with Kalyani University.

So how different is this course from the run-of-the-mill ones? “The curriculum is designed to impart a sound understanding of the theoretical concepts of business management and their application across a wide industry spectrum to participants who already have practical knowledge of management,” says Amit Sen Gupta, director, EIM. “The programme also seeks to enhance their soft skills, with the major thrust being on communication, self-management and corporate adaptability.” Imparting soft skills to students is the USP of EIM.

The BCCI-EIM PGDM is an 18-month programme, comprising 12 months of classroom teaching followed by a six-month project at the students’ place of work. The programme will be laying heavy emphasis on participative learning, backed by requisite mentoring and inspirational support. “The course, which begins on January 14, 2008, already has a huge number of applicants for only 30 seats,” says Sen Gupta.

So, any plans of increasing the number of seats? “Well, we plan to restrict the number to a modest 30 for the first programme. Though the course is open to all working executives, we will be giving preference to the applicants working for member companies of BCCI,” confirms Goswami.

And what is making the executives flock to this course? “Well, I was aware of EIM’s evening PGDM but it was only when it tied-up with the BCCI that the course appealed to me. The fact that the classes will be held at BCCI (which is close to my office) and the timings made things easier and manageable,” says D.L.N. Murthy, senior executive of a private steel and allied consultancy organisation. Murthy had been toying with the idea of pursing a degree in management and saw this course as a boon. “Getting into IIM is a bit difficult. One has to put in a lot of labour, which isn’t possible for working executives. So this course is definitely the best option for me,” says Murthy, who claims to have applied just for the sake of learning and not for professional gains. But whether or not one is seeking professional gain, this course is definitely bound to increase one’s knowledge and soft skills with a battery of teachers and top professionals coming in to take special classes. Khan, who has also applied for this course feels, “This course is value addition for me. BCCI’s association with this course has definitely added brand value to it. This made me opt for it despite the fact that I’m already pursuing a PGDM (correspondence) from Symbiosis, Pune.”

The course definitely comes as an answer to the prayers of several junior and mid-level executives seeking a career boost without having to quit. “Applicants won’t have to appear for a written test. An interview and group discussion is all that one has to clear. The course fee is Rs 1.25 lakh (down payment) or Rs 1.50 lakh (payable in three instalments). One can also avail student loans,” says Sen Gupta. So executives with three years of experience, run and get your admission kit.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Jadavpur University is the first in India to offer a paper on Queer Studies, reports Shabina Akhtar.

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Break the bond: Hanif Qureishi’s family denounced him for writing The Buddha of Suburbia
Decades ago, when Ismat Chughtai, an eminent Urdu novelist, penned Lihaf (The Quilt), she ruffled many feathers. Hanif Kureishi’s family denounced him for disgracing them by writing The Buddha of Suburbia. But they were not the only ones to write about sexual preferences, several classics have a subtle reference to homosexuality.

For decades, the homosexuality in famous literary works has been referred to as “intense friendship” and teachers have lived in fear of students asking about the sexual preference of the characters. It has been long in coming, but the time has finally come when people are ready to come out of the closet and speak about their sexual preferences. What’s more, even the academia, known for its prudish correctness, has sensed the huge demand among students for courses pertaining to this genre. The English department of Jadavpur University (JU), Calcutta, introduced Queer Studies as an optional subject in the postgraduate course. This may be a new concept in India, but colleges and universities like City College, San Francisco, Yale University, University of California and DePaul University, Chicago have been offering this course for quite some time now.

Queer studies encompasses theories and writings of thinkers from numerous fields -cultural studies, gay and lesbian studies, women’s studies, post-colonialism and psychoanalysis. It’s a study designed to examine the cultural, social and political implications of sexuality and gender from the perspective of those marginalised by the dominant sexual ethos.

Calcutta has always been tolerant towards the marginalised sexual minority, so it isn’t really shocking that JU was the first university to break all norms and offer Queer Studies as a part of the syllabus. But what made them break the norms?

“While switching over to the semester system, we were asked to give a list of optional courses. Since I belong to the School of Women’s Studies and was also associated with the lesbian movement, I had been toying with the idea of such a course for some time. So Abhijeet (a colleague) and I suggested Queer Studies. To our surprise it was introduced as an optional paper,” says Paromita Chakravorty, convenor of the course.

But what was more amazing was that despite the silent resistance by those belonging to the old school, the six-month optional course became a huge hit with students, who looked upon the course as a route to get all their questions answered. “As a student I had come across literary texts containing moments of revelations of alternative sexuality - a realm that can’t be categorised. I wanted to see how a subject that can’t be theorised has been theorised,” says Shuhita Bhattacharjee, one of the students belonging to the first and only batch of JU that had been offered Queer Studies as an optional paper in 2005. Most of the students had opted for it primarily out of curiosity. “I always wanted to know more about the third gender, who comprise a huge but relatively unknown section of the society. The interactive and interesting classes did manage to demystify the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community,” recounts another student, Debasri Rakshit, who is now an editor with Anthem Press.

The unusual course called for an unusual teaching methodology; the teachers decided that they had to be on an equal footing with their students. “Here, we were talking about sexuality so we couldn’t afford to be snooty. We needed to give students a democratic space in the class in order to break the silence of sexuality,” explains Chakravorty.

Those who had raised their eyebrows at the “sensationalist” course, were taken aback by its content. Literary classics like Virginia Wolff’s Orlando, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Marlowe’s Edward II, Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia, Sappho’s poetry and other serious literary work that spoke of - or hinted at - homosexuality were taught as part of the course.

“The opportunity to take classes at JU came as a boon as it gave us a platform to talk about the LGBT movement. The students were keen to know what sexual activism and politics was all about,” recounts Malabika, founder member of Sappho, an activist forum for the LGBT population.

Generally, the class for an optional paper never has more than 30 students but, for the only time in the history of JU, almost 60 students opted for the course in Queer Studies. “I never expected the course to have so many takers. It was quite an exhausting experience as I had to co-ordinate with various teachers, NGOs and researchers who would come to take classes. Often I also had to explain to teachers how to bring out the subtle mention of alternative sexuality in mainstream literary works,” said Chakravorty. Perhaps this was the reason why the course had been put in cold storage for about a year or two.

“I would love to take up the course, provided the university offers it again. For, as a student of English literature, nothing could be more fascinating than studying the same stream of thought right from Plato’s symposium to modern literary works,” said Nandita Roy, a second year student in JU.

“All optional courses are offered every alternate year. But yes, the demand for Queer Studies has been as good as any regular course,” said Ananda Lal, head of the English department, JU.

But how does a specialisation in LGBT community and queer theory help one make a career?

“The options are limited. One can opt for academics or research, for which one would have to go abroad. But with a lot of NGOs in India dealing with the LGBT movement and AIDS, one could easily get a well paying job with them,” said Chakravorty.

And for students like Nandita who would like to take up Queer Studies as an optional paper, there’s good news. With demand for the subject increasing, JU will offer the course again in 2008.
Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)