Kg to pg

MNC R&D on the upswing in India
The research and development (R&D ) arms of companies, both global and Indian, have been showing signs of revival in the past one year. According to a report by management consultancy firm Zinnov Consulting, the number of R&D centres of multi national companies (MNC) in India has been increasing at a steady pace, touching 871 in 2011 as compared to 780 in 2008. The salary hike in the industry also touched 13% in 2011.

While the total amount spent on R&D by the top 1,000 R&D spenders had contracted in 2009-10 from $549 billion to $538 billion, in 2010-11, it rose by 8.2% to $582 billion. With more than one-third of the top 1,000 global R&D spenders having centres in India, the industry here is showing signs of buoyancy too.

This growth is reflected in the average pay hike of 13% that the MNC R&D industry in India witnessed in 2011 with expectation of 12.6% hike in 2012.

This is slightly higher than the 12% overall average pay hike in India predicted by HR firms. The high performers got as much as 15% hike on an average. The total R&D employee base stands at over 2,00,000 engineers, growing at an average rate of 9% for the last five years showing consistent growth.

Asian economies, which are expected to grow by 9% in 2012 in terms of R&D spending, are emerging as the main drivers of growth.

European and American R&D spend is expected to grow by 3.5% and 2.8% respectively, as per a global report brought out by Battelle, which manages multiple R&D laboratories in the US. India is also gaining visibility as an R&D centre in South-East Asia for companies having headquarters outside of the US, with 28% of them having a centre in India.

The Zinnov report brings out a peculiar fact of the MNC R&D workforce in India. PhDs, which usually account for the bulk of the research workforce abroad, account for only 0.3% of the MNC R&D staff in India.

The report also says that few companies are placing these requirements when hiring and haven't tied up with educational institutions either to promote the same. This may also be due to the fact that around 45,000 engineers suitable for R&D work graduate in India every year.

"It's a combination of both factors - lack of top PhD talent which goes abroad as also the easy supply of engineering graduates. And you don't need a PhD for all kinds of research . An MTech or a MSc would suffice in cases. It's about choosing the best you have," said E Balaji, CEO of Ma Foi Randstad, an HR consultancy firm.

Online tutorial for professional examination launched
Thiruvananthapuram: With the entrance exams for professional courses just a few months away, Technopark-based Oztern Technology has developed an online tutorial for students appearing for engineering and medical exams.

For it has joined hands with one of the most sought-after educational training institutes, that of P.C.Thomas. The tutorial would be made available through all the 2200 state-run Akshaya IT centres.

India has been the land of innovations and inventions. From being the home to world's first university to inventing the number system to consolidating Ayurveda; the country has had exceptional pioneers in all fields who led the nation to greatness. Here's a tribute to all such thinkers and believers.

India Land of Initiatives education India has been the land of innovations and inventions. From being the home to world's first university to inventing the number system to consolidating Ayurve...

Distance Education Universities
After food, it is education that has posed as the second greatest challenge for human community. It is a sector where the governments of the world countries have pumped-in more funds but unfortunately education hasn’t reached the grass root level of the human community, even now. The consequences has been disastrous. On one hand we have some of the most outstanding men in the fields such as literature, software technology, engineering, management, medical, biotechnology... on the other we also have substantial inhabit; some of the most illiterates in the globe today. What a striking contrast! But there is no point in shying away from the stark reality.
How can the problem of illiteracy be overcome? There are many who wish to join in the mainstream of Distance Education. The fire to study and educate oneself is no doubt a healthy indication but that often got drained due to the lack of proper facilities. It was a stumbling block that was removed with the emergence of distance education.
Distance education has really opened a new window of opportunities for those who desire for further studies. In a way it has helped numerous professionals, dropouts (school & college), housewives, etc to accomplish their unfinished dreams. It has immense relevance, particularly in a country like India, where pursuing education is a pricey affair. The whole purpose of providing Distance education is to provide cost-effective, quality education to large sections of our population including those living in remote and far flung areas.
Even we at National Network of Education (NNE) are already in the mainstream of disseminating the education information to all users free of cost. We receive scores of career queries everyday, which again is a shinning testimony of the great curiosity among the discerning users to know about the various options that education has to offer.
This section gives the list of top Distance Education Universities in India. The following Distance Education Universities offer various distance education courses to students.

Court allows nursery admissions at 3-plus
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday gave the go-ahead to the existing nursery admission process in the capital's private unaided schools, allowing them to admit children aged three-plus years.
A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Shah Endlaw said: "Those schools where pre-school (nursery) education is imparted, it has to be treated as entry level and entry level would not start from pre-primary in respect of such schools."
The court ordered that the nursery would continue to be treated as the entry point of education and promotion to kindergarten (KG) for all such schools which have higher classes was valid.
The court further said: "Children admitted at pre-school at the age of 3-plus will get promotion to pre-primary in the next year and for that, they will not have to undergo the admission process all over again."
"However, in those schools where there is no pre-school level, it would be pre-primary which would be treated as entry level where admission is to be given to the children at age of 4-plus," the court ordered.
Disposing of the petition of NGO Social Jurist, the court said: "Pre-school is not to be treated as part of formal education and at that stage, education has to be only informal."
The bench also had a view that promotion from nursery to KG and so on was an "integral" part of the "developmental continuum" that a child needs at his early age of education.
"Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) which has been globally recognized as critical for human resource development starts from the period of conception to age 8. This entire period presents a developmental continuum and the pre-school care and education has to be treated as part of this developmental continuum. It, thus, becomes an integrated process," its order read.
At the level of pre-school, curriculum has to be such which should ensure that child gets interested in education when he is to take next step at pre-primary level and thereafter, formal education from class 1, the court observed.
With a view to reducing burden of toddlers, the court observed: "We want to make it clear that the focus on 'care' and 'education' at pre-school level has to be altogether different. The children are not to be burdened with any textbooks or home works."
The court's order came on a plea filed by Social Jurist, against the city government's recent order allowing unaided private schools here to go ahead with the admission of 3-plus toddlers in pre-school (nursery) class.
The NGO in its petition said that the order of Delhi's directorate of education (DoE) violated an earlier judgment of the court which said that no child below the age of four years would be admitted for formal schooling.
It sought a "stay of the order dated Dec 16, 2011, of the Delhi government, to the extent it permits unaided recognised private schools of Delhi to conduct admissions to pre-school as entry level class in the academic session 2012-13".
Ashok Agarwal, counsel for the NGO, had alleged that the government had failed to prevent unaided recognised private schools from admitting children below four years of age in formal school.
Seeking a ban on the pre-school class where kids aged above three years but below four years, were admitted, the NGO had pleaded that formal school education should start with the pre-primary class where children above four years were admitted. IANS

Two Bangalore schools win Wipro education awards
Bangalore: Prakriya Green Wisdom School and Sri Kumaran Children's Home of Bangalore were among the five winners of the Wipro 'Earthian' awards for excellence in education.
The IT bellwether, which funds the Azim Premji University through the Azim Premji Foundation to train teachers and professionals, has designed the Earthian programme to foster excellence in school and colleges across the country.

CA - CPT results declared
The results of the Chartered Accountants Final Examination held in November, 2011 and Common Proficiency Test ( CPT) held in December, 2011 were declared on January 18. The results and details of marks of Final Examination and Common Proficiency Test are available hosted on http://www.caresults.nic.in
The merit list (candidates securing a minimum of 55% and above marks and up to the maximum of 50th Rank in the case of Final Examination and candidates securing a minimum of 60% and above marks and up to the maximum of 10th Rank in the case of Common Proficiency Test and in accordance with the decision of the Examination Committee) on all India basis are also available on http://www.caresults.nic.in
Further, facilities have been made for students of Final Examination and Common Proficiency Test (CPT) held in November/December, 2011 desirous of knowing their results with marks on SMS. The service will be available through MTNL and India Times.
For getting results through the message students should type:
i) For Final Examination result the following
CAFNL(space) # # # # # # (where # # # # # # is the six digit Final examination roll number of the candidate)
e.g. CAFNL 000028
ii) For Common Proficiency Test(CPT) result the following
CACPT(Space) # # # # # # (where # # # # # # is the six digit Common Proficiency Test roll number of the candidate)
e.g. CACPT 000171 and send the message to:
52001 - for DOLPHIN AND TRUMP users only
58888 - for all mobile services - Indiatimes

CA Exam Results [ Common Proficiency Test ] : December 2011Announced on 18th Jan 2012 [Final]: November 2011 Announced on 18th Jan 2012

CBSE board exams to begin from March 1

CBSE board exams to begin from March 1
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education has announced the dates for class X and XII board exams.
The exams will start from March 1, 2012 and all the theory exams will be over by April 13, 2012.
The first class X exams is painting and the last is social science, scheduled on March 26, 2012.
Class XII exams start with English on March 1, 2012. The last theory exam for them is psychology.
The details of date sheet can be found on CBSE website http://cbse.nic.in/welcome.htm

CBSE board exams to begin from March 1
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education has announced the dates for class X and XII board exams.
The exams will start from March 1, 2012 and all the theory exams will be over by April 13, 2012.
The first class X exams is painting and the last is social science, scheduled on March 26, 2012.
Class XII exams start with English on March 1, 2012. The last theory exam for them is psychology.
The details of date sheet can be found on CBSE website http://cbse.nic.in/welcome.htm

Common Entrance Test (MAH-MBA/MMS-CET 2012)

..:: Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra State, Mumbai ::.. The aspiring candidate can purchase the Information Brochure along with Applicatio Kit from selected branches of Axis Bank and submit the application form. The candidate can also submit the form through Online Payment ( Credit Card/ Debit Card/ Internet Banking).