Do you want to bring old properties to life? Would you like to restore historic buildings? If you have a genuine interest in historic buildings and are passionate about their conservation and preservation, then conservation studies could be the right career choice for you.

…………………………….

Conserving the past is important to protect our future. Building conservationists use traditional skills and materials and offer professional advice to restore listed buildings in an appropriate manner.

They employ state-of-the-art technologies in addition to traditional forms of study and techniques. Material science and basic chemistry is applied to the practical examination of materials found in historic objects and materials used in conservation. Building conservationists also use skills such as cleaning, using adhesives, gap filling and packing fragile objects. They work on a range of materials and treatments, including mosaics, wall paintings and plastics.

• What do I have to do?

Building conservationists specialise in the preservation of historic buildings, monuments, bridges, and other cultural resources. They are professionally trained architectural conservators who provide in-depth investigative and assessment services, both in the laboratory and on-site. Great care is taken to design treatment options for clients that provide for maintenance as well as conservation.

Some of their responsibilities include:

• Repairs and maintenance of listed / historic buildings

• Repairs to timber / wooden frames

• Lime rendering, including lathes

• Brick repairs and pointing in lime mortar

• Purpose made joinery, including box sashes, door, window and sash repairs.

Conservation professionals recognise, evaluate and document style within the context of its historical and artistic relevance. They also analyse historic constructions, materials and technology; discover sensitive and practical approaches to repair; find appropriate solutions for new design in existing structures; and communicate their intentions and standards to owners and the public. All conservation work is documented photographically.

• What should I study?

For the postgraduate course in conservation studies, you should have a degree in architecture. Students study studio art techniques and art history theories, while also getting laboratory-intensive experience in various methods of restoration and conservation used throughout the world on different artistic mediums.

• What next?

Building programmes today are, to a large extent, carried out within existing structures. The trend towards repair and, if necessary, change of use rather than demolition and rebuilding will gain momentum in the future, with an estimated two to three of all future building projects conforming to the trend. The underlying rationale is evinced by the actions of state conservationists supported by the public desire to preserve the historic environment, in the knowledge that the land and associated resources are finite and should be treated accordingly.

It is undoubtedly in the public interest that professional competence in this field is promoted, which has the added benefit of opening up new job opportunities. However, to treat old structures adequately, knowledge and skills are required which exceed those normally acquired by training as an architect or a civil engineer. Even though restoration takes place at selected places (museums, private architectural firms), the need for skilled restorers is desperately felt.

There is scope in architectural firms, heritage management organisations like INTACH, museums which preserve national heritage as well as historic parks and gardens. INTACH offers a fellowship for heritage conservation, urban renewal of heritage / historic zones which has been instituted by its Delhi chapter.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

……………………………………………..

The plot of the hugely popular video game Trauma Center: Under the Knife, created by Nintendo, revolves around a doctor who successfully operates on organ after organ to progress in the adventure. Depending on the time saved and the health of the patient following the surgery, the player is graded, as a top-notch Master Surgeon or a lowly Rookie Doctor, at the end of the game.

In real life, too, warming up a bit on the game console before stepping into an operation theatre may be a good idea for surgeons, particularly those conducting keyhole surgeries, believe scientists who studied how certain video games help doctors achieve dexterity and better eye-hand coordination at the operation table.

Douglas Gentile, a psychologist at Iowa State University, who presented a paper yesterday at the ongoing American Psychological Association annual meet in Washington DC, feels that video games are greatly underutilised in this regard. “To my knowledge, they are not being widely discussed as training tools,” Gentile told KnowHow.

“They could be far more cost effective, and can demonstrate far more variations, complications and recovery from errors in surgeries than traditional techniques,” Gentile observes. Gentile was involved in an earlier study which showed that laparoscopic surgeons who played video games for at least three hours a week were 27 per cent faster at advanced surgical procedures and made 37 per cent fewer errors than those who did not play these games.

Laparoscopy, a minimally invasive surgical process, involves making tiny keyhole incisions and inserting a mini video camera that sends images to an external video screen, while the surgical tools are remote controlled by the surgeon watching the screen. It can be performed on just about any part of the body, from the appendix to the colon and the gall bladder.

“While simulators based on video game technology may help surgeons improve their skills, I do not think it is an absolute necessity,” says Jaydip Bhadra Ray, a laparoscopic general surgeon at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Calcutta. In countries like India, aspiring medical students work as understudies to an accomplished surgeon for nearly five years, before they pick up the scalpel on their own, says Ray. Also an ardent video gamer, Ray, however, thinks it can impart certain skills to the surgeon who operates on a three-dimensional human body while looking at a monitor which is two-dimensional like a video game console.

Conventional simulators used by medical schools in the West cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such a technological approach is missing in countries like India. “I am yet to come across an Indian medical college that uses simulators for training surgeons,” says Ray.

Gentile, who earlier conducted studies on the impact of video games on the surgical skills of doctors together with James C. Rosser, head of minimally invasive surgery at the Beth Israel Medical Centre in the US, thinks that advanced video game skills and experience are significant predictors of surgical and suturing capabilities. The study, which appeared in the Journal of Surgery last year, looked at the agility and skills of 33 laparoscopic surgeons. Eighteen surgeons who played video games for three or more hours a week scored over others who never played video games in their life.

Rosser, on his part, has already developed a one-and-a-half-day course called Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program. He says: “I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for surgery.”

Rosser thinks that practice with a video game can help develop timing, a sense of touch and an intuitive feel for manipulating devices. Besides, it offers a much cheaper way to train on those fine motor skills that surgeons employ in surgery.

Myriam Curet, a surgeon at the Stanford University Medical Centre, however, is not as enthusiastic as the others. In a critique on the Journal of Surgery paper, Curet argues that such motor skills are best developed from the age of 8 to 15 years, certainly not in a medical school. Describing video games as an “electronic babysitter,” Curet says there is a need to watch children’s video gaming carefully — the number of hours, the type of games and so on.

But Gentile thinks there is a broader picture. There are several dimensions on which games have effects, including for how long they are played, the content of each game and how you control motions. “This means that games are not merely ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but powerful education tools and may have many unexpected effects,” says Gentile.

So will video games move into medical schools to train the future generations of surgeons? That’s worth watching out for.

You may click to see :->

Serious Games challenging us to play a better education

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Related articles by Zemanta

• US hospital using Wii as training tool for its surgeons
• ‘Wii warm-up’ good for surgeons
• Surgery kit firm’s ‘yes’ to Olympus
• Nintendo Wii Helps Surgeons Hone Motor Skills

Delhi:-

Delhi Business School

Courses offered: DBS offers a master of business administration (MBA) with specialisation in human resources, marketing, information technology and finance. Along with that, the institute offers dual specialisation in international business management, retail management, infrastructure and real estate management, fashion marketing and merchandising, insurance and risk management, healthcare management, telecom management, biotechnology and travel and tourism. It also offers an MBA in hospital management.

Address: B-II / 58, MCIE, Mathura Road, (Near upcoming Metro station on Badarpur Border), New Delhi-110044

Phone: 011-41676793, 011-32423329, 011-32423198; Email: delhi@dbs. edu.in; Website:www. dbs.edu.in

Apeejay School of Management

Courses offered: The institute offers postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) programmes in customer relationship management (CRM), in insurance management and in international business (IB).

Address: Sector VIII, Institutional Area, Near CRPF Camp, Dwarka-110075

Phone: 011-25363979 / 80; Fax: 011- 25363985; Email: asm.dwk.del @apj.edu; Website:www.apeejay.edu

Asia Pacific Institute of Management Studies

Courses offered: The institute offers a master of business administration (MBA) with specialisation in human resources, marketing, information technology and finance.

Address: Plot No. F-2, Block No. B-1, Mohan Co-operative Industrial Estate, Mathura Road, New Delhi-110044

Phone: 011-64720734 / 5 / 6 and 09311109070

Email: admissions@asiapacific. edu.in, contactus@asiapacific. edu.in; Website:www.asiapacific.edu.in

Calcutta:-

Academy for Professional Excellence

Courses offered: APEX in Calcutta offers a master of business administration (MBA), a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM), a masters diploma in business administration (MdBA) and an international diploma in management (CIDM) in affiliation with Cambridge.

Address: 2/1C, Townshend Road, Calcutta-700025

Phone: 033-24744505-6, 033-24545230, 033-24854422

Website:www.apexindia.org

Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management

Courses offered: EIILM offers a postgraduate programme in management with specialisation in marketing, finance, organisational behaviour and human resource management, systems, international business, insurance and risk management, retail business management and logistics and supply chain management.

Address: 6, Waterloo Street, Calcutta-700069

Phone: 033-22100911-3

Email: eiilm@vsnl.com

Website:www.eiilm.edu.in

Bangalore:-

Alliance Business Academy

Courses offered: The institute is an NAAC accredited college, affiliated to Bangalore University, and offers a master of business administration (MBA) approved by AICTE.

Address: 19th Cross, 7th Main, BTM II Stage, N.S. Palya, Bangalore-560076

Phone: 080-26681444, 080-26680324, 080-26680051

Fax: 080-26684137

Email: enquiry@allianceb school.ac.in

Chennai:-

Loyola Institute of Business AdministrationL

Courses offered: LIBA offers a full-time postgraduate diploma in business management.

Address: Loyola College, Chennai-600034

Phone: 044-28175353

Website: http://liba.edu

Pune :-

Indian Institute of Modern Management

Courses offered: Postgraduate diploma in information technology and marketing, postgraduate diploma in personal management and human resource and postgraduate diploma in management for executives.

Address: 55/2-7, Tathawade, opposite Wakad Police Station, off Mumbai-Bangalore Bypass, Pune-411033

Phone: 020-66741249, 020-66741250

Fax: 020-66741243; Email: office@bimmpune.com

Jaipur:-

Indian Institute of Rural Management

Courses offered: IIRM offers a two-year postgraduate diploma in management. It also offers a two-year postgraduate diploma in rural management.

Address: IIRM Campus, Tagore Marg, Mansarover, Jaipur-302020

Phone: 0141-2395402; Email: iirm@iirm.ac.in, info@iirm.ac.in; Website : www.iirm.ac.in

(This list is not exhaustive. It comprises just a few of the best business schools.)

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Related articles by Zemanta

• UC’s MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP PROGRAM … - RedOrbit
• B-school Confidential: MBAs May Be Obsolete

Krista Bradford remembers the precise moment she first encountered ageism. She had worked as a television reporter and anchorwoman for more than two decades with top jobs in news magazines. She had just turned 40, she says, when she went to see an agent at William Morris. “He said to me, ‘Your age is now a factor.’ I didn’t have a wrinkle on my face. I had won more awards that year than ever. But it gave me a pause.”

What did she do? “I decided to write a new chapter.” She left TV and went to college to get a long-postponed degree. And she set up her own business, Bradford Research, which performs competitive intelligence research for startups and Fortune 500 companies. Building on her years of experience as an investigative journalist, she helps her clients locate and recruit senior executives and board members.

New leaf

Bradford used her experience to build a new career. “I was a closet geek even when I was working in TV,” she says. “I used computers and did research on the Internet. When I started my own business, I found those skills transferred.” She started her business as a research company that did candidate identification. “We would find people who appeared to be stellar candidates at a senior executive level, contact them to determine if they’re really worthy, then present them to the client.” Researching skills and familiarity with new technologies gave her new venture an edge.

Sell well

Experience is a selling point only if you let people know you have it, says Bradford. “The majority of search firms and recruitment companies now use the Internet as a research tool to identify candidates. So, if you speak at a conference or are quoted in an article that appears on the Net, or your biodata is on your company’s website — those are all beneficial for your advancement.”

Net savvy

“It’s less a matter of age and more a matter of whether you get the Internet,” she says. If you’re in a mature industry, lead Internet initiatives for your company. “We look for the firebrands who have understood the possibilities of what the Internet and technology mean for their companies. When I go into a non-tech company, I try to find where it intersects with the Internet and who is working at that intersection.”

Speed up

“Something I hear a lot from clients is, ‘Are they high-energy’?” says Bradford. “You have to keep your energy level up while talking to recruiters and interviewers. Fast talkers win. Think at Internet speed. Long pauses may very well undermine your presentation and eliminate you from consideration.”

Makeover

You don’t have to look 25, she says, but “I do think that, like TV personalities, executives in the Internet industries do think about presenting a youthful appearance. Trying to appear as young as possible is a natural reflex.” Bradford says she’s talked to people whose fears of ageism have them considering everything from dyeing their hair to more extreme measures like plastic surgery. If it gives you confidence, go for it, she says. You may want to get some advice on updating your look, but remember succeeding is “a matter of emotional and mental state, experience and leadership”.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Television adspace these days seems to be full of images of people retiring early. Insurance companies suggest that, if you go in for their wares, you can end up doing just that. The objective of insurance is to take care of your family if, in insurances peak, you encounter a God-forbid moment. So what the principal bread-earner is doing in these ads (when he is supposed to be dead, leaving his or her family provided for) is a mystery. But in the world of advertising, you can have your hubby and his insurance payout too.

These columns have talked about retirement before (Who wants to retire, June 10, 2008). But, like Microsoft founder Bill Gates who recently showed the way, there could be a world beyond that. Gates stepped down at 52 to steer his philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Not everyone can run a foundation bestowing largesse on the world. You either need the money or the ability to raise it. But there is no reason why you cannot look forward to a second career after retirement. This is an idea fast catching on in the West. “In the future, the pull to meaningful work, with reasonable salary and benefits, may encourage people to retool for new chapters promising significance,” says Marc Freedman, the author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life.

The “second innings” has even acquired a jargon of its own. Leon Gettler, the author of Organisations Behaving Badly: A Greek Tragedy of Corporate Pathology, refers to it as worktirement “where older workers are staying on the job, or taking on other kinds of work, well beyond the standard retirement age of 65”.

Earlier this year, insurance company Metlife did a survey with Civic Ventures, a firm dedicated to “helping society find the greatest return on experience”. Styled the Encore Career Survey , its key findings were:

• Millions of Americans have already launched encore careers combining income and personal meaning with social impact.

• The number of people in encore careers could grow rapidly in the coming years, creating a new workforce for social change.

• Those currently in encore careers express deep satisfaction with their work.

Does this have any relevance for India? Yes it does, because the late Midnight’s Children (those born a few years after Independence) are now approaching retirement age. And they don’t want to ride off into the sunset.

There is a distinction that needs to be made between encore careerists and people who want to carry on doing what they have done all their lives. We need to encourage the former, who are into something new for them, often at a lower pay, because it is self-fulfilling. They may work as teachers or in NGOs. They are giving back to society.

Quite a few of the people who stick on to their regular jobs, getting an extension or a couple of years as a consultant, are actually being rewarded for services rendered. Yes, they are a storehouse of knowledge. But, in any efficient organisation, this knowledge should have been transferred to the next in line before the incumbent’s retirement became due. “In some organisations, people in their 20s and 30s are discovering that their career paths are stuck, blocked by underperforming managers in their 50s who, like rusty nails, can’t be pulled out,” says Gettler.

The latter variety is a greater danger in the Indian environment. The key difference between the West and this country is that the former is greying; India is getting younger.

In the US, for instance, the greybeards are needed to man posts for which there are no takers. (All these protests about job losses to India and China are because Americans want cushy jobs and not because there are no jobs.)

The younger generation in India is also more adaptable and tech savvy. Unfortunately, the world is still ruled by those who need secretaries to manipulate a mouse and spreadsheet.

The young vs old is therefore another conflict facing the Indian workplace. It happens every generation. But this time may be more bitter than most.

You may click to see:->A second chance to work after retirement

THE SECOND COMING

Findings of the Encore Career Survey

Those in encore careers are working in (%):

Education 30

Healthcare 23

Government 16

Non-profit organisations 13

For-profit businesses that serve a public good 9

Those in encore careers seem to be able to combine commitment and flexibility.

59% work 40 hrs / week or more.

73% say they have the flexibility they need and want.

85% say they have the time to do the things outside of work that are important to them.

Source: Metlife Foundation/Civic Ventures survey of 3,500 Americans, February-April 2008

Despite scoring 84 per cent marks in Class XII in 2007, Rajdeep Puri opted to study for a BCom degree through correspondence from Delhi University (DU), leaving many of his peers surprised. The 18-year-old wanted to utilise his three years of graduation to pick up a skill that would get him a “decent job” at the earliest. After completing a certificate course in French from Delhi University, he is currently pursuing a software development course at a private institute.

“In today’s competitive world, plain vanilla degree courses won’t suffice if you want to make it big — and soon,” says the confident teenager.

Vocational courses help students who are unable to make it to professional colleges, or are simply not interested in pursuing a conventional degree, to kick-start their career at the earliest. The aim of vocational courses is to train students in careers that are specific and useful, keeping the job market in mind. Simply put, you gain the expertise that will directly lead to a job.

“Conventional degree courses don’t land you a job without putting in a couple of years of study. But pursuing a graduate degree through correspondence along with a vocational course can give you an edge over your peers,” says Sapna Gupta, director, Air Hostess Academy, Delhi.

Depending on the duration of study, there are three kinds of vocational courses — degree, diploma and certificate. “Choose a course based on your abilities. Think what you are good at and at what level you are good at it,” suggests Usha Albuquerque, director, Career Smart, a career management organisation in Delhi.

So on the one hand you may have high-end courses such as mass communication, jewellery or fashion design and on the other end there are medical lab technology, desktop publishing and hairstyling courses. “Though there is a general perception that students who opt for vocational courses are not academically brilliant, the industry can’t function without these skill-based workers,” says Sanjeev Bhikchandani, CEO, Naukri.com, a jobs portal.

Vocational education, stresses Inder Jeet, principal of Delhi University’s College of Vocational Studies (CVS), can be classified into two categories — soft skill and hard skill based courses. “Soft-skill courses are the higher-end science or management oriented courses (for instance, diplomas in engineering, travel and tourism, and advertising) while the hard-skill courses are more into technicalities (carpentry, electrical diploma),” he elaborates. The college has degree courses in tourism, retail management, insurance and entrepreneurship.

Most people would like to tell you that a “conventional degree” cannot be completely overlooked. “Unfortunately in India, graduation is still considered the minimum qualification for most jobs. So students are advised to pursue a graduate degree through distance learning, alongside vocational courses,” asserts Albuquerque.

Students do realise the importance of a degree. “Graduation is a prerequisite to a lot of things. It is not about having a degree but about educating yourself and broadening your horizons,” says Rohini Tandon, fashion designer, who pursued sociology from Delhi University before opting for a diploma in fashion studies.

Plenty of options are available when it comes to pursuing vocational courses. Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, Delhi University and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in Delhi have numerous colleges and affiliated institutes that offer vocational programmes. Many colleges under the aegis of Calcutta University offer courses in office management and secretarial practice. Courses such as welding technology, optometry, radiography, diagnostic and medical lab technology are conducted by Jadavpur University.

Private institutes and polytechnics too offer several options. In Delhi, Pusa Polytechnic offers three and four-year diploma courses in various engineering fields. Hairstyling and beauty culture diploma courses can be pursued from VLCC and Habib’s institutes all over the country. SinGem Jewelry Education based in Calcutta has 30 centres across India where one can study UGC-recognised diploma and degree courses in jewellery designing.

For those looking for self-employment or joining a family business or building up a career right after school, vocational education comes handy. “The initial salary of a graduate in jewellery design is Rs 25,000 while a diploma holder can expect Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 a month,” says Punit Srimal, chairman and managing director, SinGem Jewelry Education, which offers a BSc in jewellery designing recognised by Punjab Technical University.

If you are inclined towards fitness, Reebok certified courses for trainers are available in most cities. A diploma course in yoga can be pursued from the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy, Delhi. The All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta, offers a one-year diploma in dietetics.

There are many more courses that a student can opt for depending on his or her area of interest. Most vocational courses are open to students who clear Class XII. Many institutes and colleges also hold an entrance test and interview. Most private institutes have a dedicated placement cell for campus interviews. “Since vocational training imparts technical skills, students are easily absorbed by various industries,” says Albuquerque. Companies such as Wipro, the Kotak group, and banks like HDFC Bank and portals like MakeMyTrip.com absorb CVS graduates.

“The aviation and hospitality industries are witnessing a boom. Our campus interviews help place students with reputed airlines and they start at a salary of Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000 a month,” says Gupta.

However, a word of caution — be wary of fly-by-night operators. “Students should make every effort to check the credentials of the institute,” says career counsellor Pervin Malhotra. “Many institutes promise guaranteed placements in big companies. Call up the HR department of those companies to know the truth,” she further adds. Speaking to a few members of the alumni also helps in figuring out the reputation of an institute. “Join an institute which has been in the business for at least eight to 10 years,” advises Malhotra. Surf the Internet and speak to people in the industry to find out more about a particular institute.

But if you have got the right vocation — and the right institute — the world is yours. As Puri puts it, “Pursuing a vocational course or a conventional degree depends largely on a student’s interest. The bottom line is pursuing a study programme which is a worthwhile investment of one’s time, money and energy.”

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

There is a problem brewing in some sectors which could become a cancer unless people sit up and take notice right now. Expats are flooding into the country. Their numbers are likely to increase as a near recession grips the West. Led by the parties of the extreme right and the extreme left, who want tons of toil to be reserved for local sons of soil, there could be a backlash soon.

It’s totally unwarranted, of course. While we may legitimately talk about a “flood” of expats, the comparison is relative to what it was a few years ago. If put against the number of Indians working in, say, the US or the Gulf, it is insignificant.

But, comes a crisis and the expats will be the first to feel the pinch. These are not the earlier generation of foreigners who came in as CEOs or other brass. They are humbler folk, perhaps working in BPOs which require non-English language skills. And you can see it happening. In the civil aviation industry, which has been hit by the high costs of aviation turbine fuel, foreign pilots and engineers are being axed. They were bound to be the first cost-cutting target; their salaries are considerably higher than those of their Indian counterparts. An expat engineer, for instance, makes Rs 2.5 lakh a month against Rs 1.5 lakh for an Indian engineer.

There is a bigger problem waiting, however. Most of the people returning now are not foreigners but non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs). Last year, the then National Association of Software Service Companies (NASSCOM) president Kiran Karnik estimated that more than 20,000 NRIs had returned to India. This year, the number is likely to double.

There are several reasons for NRIs coming back (see box). But they are likely to bring trouble in their wake. Today, there is still the halo of a foreign degree and experience. Tomorrow, home-grown executives are going to ask why they are being discriminated against.

In China, which is a step ahead in this area (last year 40,000 non-resident Chinese returned to their motherland), the problems have already surfaced. The Chinese have coined a word to describe these returnees. They are called hai gui, which can be translated as sea turtles returning to the shores they left to grow up in the sea.

In the early days, they were welcome. Today they are not. Says an International Labour Organisation feature: “Government efforts to promote return migration have also created problems. Preferential policies for returnees have created bad blood between the sea turtles faction and people who have not gone overseas or the land turtle faction. Many hai guis have returned with the perception that an overseas MBA degree will put them in superior positions when compared to the locally-trained talent. They have invested much time and funds and, therefore, expect to receive high remuneration and fast promotion.”

What has happened now is that several returnees don’t find it easy to get a job. They are referred to as hai dai. One translation of that is “returnees waiting for jobs”. The other is “seaweed which floats and does nothing”. No guesses for the meaning the local Chinese prefer.

The Indian hai guis have already been throwing their weight around and irritating the people who didn’t desert the country when the going was tough. For instance, some of them suggested that the running of the Indian Institutes of Technology be handed over to them because they would do a much better job. But these were people who had made money in the West. Their greenbacks gave them some stature.

Today’s returnees are coming back straight out of college or with a couple of years’ work experience. They are causing resentment. If corporate India doesn’t watch out, such seaweed can gum up the works.

THE CHINESE STORY

Reasons for the hai gui (%)

China’s rapid economic development 58
Good government policy 47
Opportunity to develop
new technologies in China 42
Hard to find good
opportunities overseas 32
Glass ceiling overseas for
Chinese 31
Political stability in China 19

Note: People could choose more than one response. (Source: David Zweig analysis)

WHY SEA TURTLES RETURN

• Rapidly decreasing gap between salaries in India and the US.
• More opportunities in India.
• A better environment for growing children.
• Indian schooling much better than the US schooling.
• Need to get back to roots.
• Family support system in India.
• Increasing professional challenges.
• Growing belief in Brand India.

Source: Adapted from trak.in

Related articles by Zemanta

• India Awakens
• Protesters besiege India capital over job quotas

The degree will be awarded by Oxford Brookes University, UK. This programme is designed for those students who have completed their undergraduate degree from India or abroad.

Work experience, although helpful, is not mandatory. Students will be equipped with practical experience and competencies for survival in multi-cultural settings. The institute has already tied-up with a number of companies for the final placements.

Sources: The Times Of India

“Most people think of negotiation only when they need to get something more,” says Tammy Lenski, a professional mediator who helps businesses with conflict management. “At work, every conversation is a negotiation. You’re negotiating deadlines, the quality level, what might be taken off your plate to make room for a project, and what benefit you might get for taking on that project,” she says.

Tackle tactfully

Playing hardball in the office can backfire when you need to work with your coworkers every day. “You have an ongoing relationship with these folks, and you’re trying not to leave debris,” Lenski says. “People need to stop thinking about negotiating as getting more of what I need, which means getting less of what you need. Instead, think about how I can get their needs met while also getting mine.”

Also try to find out the other person’s needs, and come to a conclusion that helps both of you. “The best negotiation is using good human relation skills in an effective way,” Lenski says. “It isn’t about pushing or convincing or manipulating the other person. It’s about having them figure out what they want and how you can help them get it.”

Right query

In negotiations, you know what you want. But you also need to find out what the other side wants in return. It’s most efficient if you just ask openly. When Lenski started her private practice 10 years ago, she decided to provide conflict management services to a company in turmoil. The department head asked her to slash her price by 20 per cent. Lenski said this was her bottom-line number, but the department head said everything is negotiable. Lenski then asked the essential question: “Why do you believe everything is negotiable?” The department head explained the head of finance would ask if she bargained and got a good deal. At that point, Lenski crossed out the original fee and wrote a new one that was about 25 per cent higher. “Will this work?” she asked. The department head said, “Well, I’ll have to offer you 20 per cent less than that.” And they had a deal.

Speak up

Instead of keeping quiet and thus becoming resentful, “negotiating is figuring out how to raise the things that are bothering you so they can be sorted out”, Lenski says.

There are gender-based differences in negotiation. “Many women are not very good at asking, or when they are made an offer, they tend to think that they have to say yes or no,” Lenski says. “But men tend to think of it as the opening volley in a negotiating experience.”

Homework helps

Lenski says people tend to waste a lot of time worrying about scary negotiation scenarios. “They go into it thinking about how it can go wrong,” she says, even though the negotiation generally turns out much better than expected. “Instead, they should spend their time thinking of it from the perspective of the other person. What would make them want to join you to figure things out? Not what will make them change their mind, but what will make them want to sort this out with me. Invite them into joint problem-solving,” she says. Not only does this tactic lead to more successful negotiations, but your colleagues will also have a better opinion of you

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

V N Rajashekaran Pillai, vice-chancellor, IGNOU, recently launched the eGyanKosh, online programmes and web casting facility for GyanDarshan, Edusat and Gyanvani at Electronic Media Production Centre through the teleconference mode. The eGyanKosh is a national digital repository of learning resources, where all the self instructional material of all the programmes of IGNOU is made open to the public.

The Education Times first reported the initiative in 2006. According to Pillai, “80% of the course material has been put on the website and the rest will be available from July. While the original plan was to include only students and faculty of IGNOU, we have decided to open it to the general public free of cost. Moreover, our university has entered into an agreement with Google Ireland Ltd for telecast of the university videos on You tube channels as well.”

The university has launched two online programmes as well — Masters in library and information science, and postgraduate certificate in cyber law. The online programmes will provide a complete virtual learning environment right from registration to certification. Facilities like walk-in admission, integrated multimedia courseware, online counselling and mentoring, individualised assignments and a host of tools for real time and asynchronous interaction will also be offered.

Pillai also informed that IGNOU plans to provide all its courses online and will launch its online admission facilities soon. “Through the online admission and registration facility students would be able to apply for courses and existing students can make their fee payment through credit cards. Besides, www.ignouonline.ac.in would let students track their progress, and interact with their faculty and peer groups,” elaborated Pillai.

According to Uma Kanjilal, director, school of social sciences, the digital learning experience would provide walk-in admission, integrated multimedia courseware (personalised learning space), online counselling and mentoring (web casting and text-based chatting), 24×7 learner support, assignment management system, e-tutor based practical, group-based online seminar and online term-end examinations. Students can use the videoconferencing facility to participate in seminars and viva-voce as well. And to add to it all, the university is also considering introducing online examinations at a later phase.

Click to see:->Ignou goes online, offers webcasting facilities

Sources: The Times Of India