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  • Fee Hike By IIM Ahmedabad Sparks Controversy; Institute Charges 200% More Than Required

    Fee Hike By IIM Ahmedabad Sparks Controversy; Institute Charges 200% More Than Required

    Master of Business Administration (MBA) is one of the most in-demand career paths in India. However, the cost of attending an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) has risen dramatically in recent years. IIM Ahmedabad’s fees have increased by 575% in the last 15 years, from Rs four lakh in 2007 to Rs 27 lakh now, according to receipts shared by Maheshwer Peri, entrepreneur and founder of a student consulting platform, Career360, for the academic year 2020-21. “IIMs have single-handedly led to higher education becoming expensive and unaffordable,” Peri claimed.

    In a Twitter thread, Peri claimed that the rise in the fee structure at IIM Ahmedabad has been against the inflation growth which has remained at 146% during the same period. “For a country starved of funds for education, IIMs increase fees every year and invest the surplus to earn 8% when the inflation is 6%. These market-driven fees have single-handedly contributed to the increase and now unaffordable fee structures,” Peri wrote. 

    IIMs don’t need to raise their fee structure each year as they have enough funds to sustain, Peri further claimed. Even if the institute charges one-third of the current fee structure, it would still be in surplus, he pointed out. IIM Ahmedabad currently charges 200% above its actual requirement, according to the claim. The institute is using the surplus amount for investment purposes, Peri said. “As of March 2021, IIM-A invested Rs 1345 crore in government securities, and term deposits, among others. In one year alone, the investments increased by Rs 136 crore implying that the tuition fees of Rs 105 crore were collected to be banked,” he said. The monthly expenditure of IIMs is about Rs 16 crore. However, they had cash in the bank of Rs 42 crore in 2021 and Rs 79 crore in 2020, according to the receipt.

    Several IIMs, both new and old, have raised their fees in recent years, including IIM Lucknow, Calcutta, and Bangalore. Concerns have been raised about the lack of government intervention and accountability in regulating this hike. IIMs have the authority to set their own fees, select and remove chairpersons and directors, and make other key decisions. However, business schools that fall under the purview of the UGC and AICTE are restricted from making certain changes.

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  • Odisha Government Signs Pact With National Institute of Ocean Technology For Protecting Coastline

    Odisha Government Signs Pact With National Institute of Ocean Technology For Protecting Coastline

    The Odisha government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Ocean Technology for the protection of its coasts. The MoU was signed between Water Resources Department Engineer in Chief B K Mishra and Dr. G A Ramdass, Director, NIOT, Chennai, on Wednesday. The Odisha government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Ocean Technology for the protection of its coasts. The MoU was signed between Water Resources Department Engineer in Chief B K Mishra and Dr. G A Ramdass, Director, NIOT, Chennai, on Wednesday.

    “The state government is taking all possible measures for disaster mitigation and focusing on zero casualties,” said Water Resources Minister Tukuni Sahu, who was present on the occasion. National Institute of Ocean Technology, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is a premier institute in the country specialising in the field of ocean engineering and coastline protection.

    On the details of the MoU, Department of Water Resources Secretary Anu Garg said that the institute will provide technical guidance, design, and drawing of climate resilient coastal protection measures. The inhabitants of six coastal districts of the state such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, and Ganjam will be benefitted, the Secretary said adding that this will be a milestone in the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the coastal areas of the state.

    Odisha has a vast coastline of about 480 km and the coastal areas are exposed to natural disasters. Cyclones cause high tidal surges with very high wind speed, resulting in loss of lives and properties. Such erosion of the coastline has been observed at many places in the recent past, the secretary said. “The state government has planned to take up climate-resilient coastal protection measures, raising and strengthening of saline embankments using the latest technology available in the country as a permanent and sustainable solution,” Mr. Garg said.

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  • New Guidelines: Institutes That Complete One Year Can Seek Provisional NAAC Accreditation

    New Guidelines: Institutes That Complete One Year Can Seek Provisional NAAC Accreditation

    Under a new set of guidelines developed by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), colleges and universities that have completed even one academic year will be eligible to apply for provisional accreditation. According to the guidelines, the move aims to “widen the horizon of accreditation”.

    Until now, only those higher education institutions that are at least six years old, or from where at least two batches of students have graduated, could apply for NAAC accreditation.

    These criteria, and the fact that not many institutions actually apply for review, had led to a situation where very few of the 51,000 colleges, universities, and standalone institutions in the country possess NAAC grading.

    The NAAC, which is an autonomous institution established under the UGC Act, evaluates the institutions of higher education on a range of parameters, including their governance structure, teaching and learning, research, infrastructure, and financial well-being among others. Based on these parameters, the NAAC gives institutions grades ranging from A++ to C. If an institution is given a D, it means it is not accredited.

    According to official data, as of October 26, 2021, the NAAC has issued 13,971 accreditations, which remain valid for five years. There are only 12 universities and 64 colleges that have been reviewed by the NAAC four times, with a gap of five years between each grading.

    Under the new guidelines, provisional accreditation for colleges (PAC) is essentially geared to ascertain the readiness of institutions for the final NAAC accreditation.

    Institutions that apply for the PAC process will get feedback regarding the areas they need to work on to reach “the threshold level of quality”, according to the manual. The PAC will be valid for two years, and institutions cannot get it more than two times.

    UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar is expected to address a webinar on the guidelines on February 23. The guidelines were communicated to colleges on January 23.

    The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 lays major emphasis on accreditation. It envisages a “meta-accrediting body” called the National Accreditation Council. According to the NEP, “Through a suitable system of graded accreditation and graded autonomy, and in a phased manner over a period of 15 years, all Higher Education Institutes in India will aim to become independent self-governing institutions pursuing innovation and excellence.”

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  • Top 3 Diploma Courses Available at JD Institute

    Top 3 Diploma Courses Available at JD Institute

    JD Institute has been one of the top fashion and design institutions for several years. One of the major reasons behind this is the quality course that they offer in various fields under numerous categories. So if you’re looking for a good institution, look no further because JD Institute probably has all the courses available and hopefully, the best three listed courses below are what you’re opting for maybe? Furthermore, the courses available in this institution are the undergraduate category, post-graduate category while diploma programs are different.

    Without further ado, we bring you the top 3 diploma courses that the institute offers.

    1. Fashion Design

    Generally, JD Institute has two major courses available in fashion design. One is of the basic level while the other is of an advanced level. Speaking of the top 3 diploma courses, the advanced level under the section seems much more promising. It is a 2-year program of immense learning and knowledge. It takes the aspirants through different design nuances and trends while allowing them to grow efficiently and effectively.

    Highlights of the Course:

    • It encourages students to acquire leadership in different fashion industries and categories.
    • It supports collaborations and projects.
    • It gives insights into the technical side of the field.
    • There are also international opportunities available.

    The learning outcome of the course is awareness of a wide range of techniques, businesses, trends, and sub-fields under the major field. It also facilitates universal vocabulary, fashion, and the technical side of the industry. The career opportunities under this course include fashion designers, retail industry, design curators, quality control managers, apparel production, and more.

    In order to apply, you can find the complete process on their website.

    2. Interior Design

    Another course that we found quite interesting and of great learning is interior design. Nowadays, Interior Design is one of the most picked career choices for young aspirants. Here, the institute offers the course under 3 sections- undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma; the diploma one is as good as other courses.

    Highlights of the Course:

    • It is a two-year program offering massive insights into the field. It takes the students and the aspirants through various elements like decorations, materials, furnishings, lifestyle factors, etc.
    • It also provides awareness regarding the industry in general. This means both the technical as well as the artistic factors.
    • It encourages different collaborations, both nationally and internationally.

    The learning outcome of the course is having your skills enhanced, acquiring knowledge with the details about different spaces like hotels, restaurants, offices, and many more; and understanding the management of the same. The career opportunities here include interior designer, event designer, set designer, design analyst, lifestyle stylist, interior project manager, etc. Check out the website for the process of application.

    3. Fashion Business Management

    Lastly, fashion business management is one of the courses that made us think about education regarding the industry. A lot of professionals today are heavily skilled but lack the management of handling the business or the clients in the field. This particular course is not just good for the artists themselves but also for the entrepreneurs who aim to take businesses forward in the field.

    Highlights of the Course:

    • It teaches different views regarding the industry and field.
    • It provides insights on the technical side.
    • It encourages national as well as international collaborations.

    Talking of career opportunities, this field is massively for entrepreneurs. Another set of professionals in the field can be fashion designers, design curators, academicians, fashion merchandisers, etc.

    Last Words

    So without thinking too much, you should definitely check out the main official website of JD Institute for more information regarding the process of admission, fee structure, and more.

  • Globalization of Education: Karnataka’s Higher Education Dept to Enter Into a Pact with Bavarian Universities

    Globalization of Education: Karnataka’s Higher Education Dept to Enter Into a Pact with Bavarian Universities

    Karnataka’s Department of Higher Education and Bavarian Universities of Germany have decided to join hands together under National Education Policy (NEP-2020) and a schedule of proposed activities has been charted out on Thursday.

    In a meeting held at Vidhana Soudha between Dr C N Ashwathanarayana, Minister for Higher Education, representatives of German Consulate and Bavarian-Indian Centre for Business, it was decided to initiate the activities of co-operation in coming February.
    Minister Narayana, pointed out, that the government of Karnataka is very keen to internationalise higher education and is willing to collaborate with Bavarian Universities towards achieving its’ objective of providing quality education. During the meeting, he also mentioned the recent collaboration of the state achieved with Montgomery of Pennsylvania University, USA to award Twinning Diploma to polytechnic students.

    As per the schedule, an online seminar for Bavarian Universities on NEP will be held in February wherein representatives of Karnataka and the German Consulate participate. This will also cover topics on the structure of new degree programmes, multiple entry-exit, Applied learning-teaching & Industry relation and the Internationalisation of higher education.
    During the second phase, in the month of April, an online seminar for Karnataka Universities will be conducted on ‘experimental learning’. This includes topics on University-Industry cooperation and best practice report and Industry oriented teaching, Minister told.

    In the final stage, between July 22-September 22, seminars on ‘Opportunities for internationalization under NEP’ will be organised. This comprises topics on, exchange on how to set up an international office, Joint dual degree/twinning programme.
    Further, a joint framework will be set ready to implement new initiatives of Faculty exchange, Student exchange and Research- Joint PhD.
    The Bavarian-Indian Centre for Business and University Cooperation (BayIND) has been entrusted to take up technical aspects of organizing the activities.
    Friederich Birgelen, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bengaluru), Dr H C Jurgen Lehmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bavarian- Indian Centre for Business, Wibke Dorplar, Managing Director, Bavarian- Indian Centre for Business, Dr ThimmeGowda vice-chairman, Karnataka State Higher Education Council were present. (ANI)

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  • Hyderabad: UGC Prods State Varsities on Faculty Recruitment

    Hyderabad: UGC Prods State Varsities on Faculty Recruitment

    The uncertainty over the finalization of reservation roasters for recruitment of faculty in State universities and their affiliated colleges continues. Speaking to Hans India, sources in the Telangana State Council for Higher Education said,

    Earlier, the Osmania, Kakatiya and few other universities have sent the reservation roasters for faculty recruitment to the concerned departments. It was almost two years, and the issue has taken a backseat following the delay in the recruitment process.

    Telangana State Council for Higher Education said

    Against this backdrop, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked the State universities and their affiliated colleges to submit the reservation roasters in November. However, now, the last date has been extended till December 31.

    In a circular to the State universities, the UGC said that shortage of faculty has become a major concern in higher educational institutions and thus, asked the universities and their affiliated colleges to take the recruitment process on priority. For this, it has asked the institutions to submit the reservation roaster by December 31, to pave the way for completing the process within six months. Ordering the varsities to expedite the process, the UGC said that faculty appointments should be taken up on priority for improving the quality of higher education and directed the Vice-Chancellors to take appropriate steps for the recruitment at the earliest. As part of the exercise, all the universities and their affiliated colleges are also told to ensure that the details of all the vacant teaching posts, along with the reservations and advertisement details are uploaded on the University Activity Monitoring Portal (UAMP) of UGC.

    When asked about permanent recruitment, the sources said that the decision with regard to any form of recruitment in State universities or government colleges rests with the State government.

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  • Girls Should Participate in Technical Education: President Kovind

    Girls Should Participate in Technical Education: President Kovind

    President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the centenary celebrations of the Harcourt Butler Technical University (HBTU) on Thursday.

    Our country has increased its credibility in the field of technology, but we still have a long way to go. Technical institutions like HBTU should inculcate the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in their students. Students should be provided an environment from the very beginning in which they can contribute to the development of the country by becoming ‘job givers’ instead of ‘job seekers.

    Kovind said.

    President Kovind encouraging girl students for technical education

    The president said he had attended convocations of many educational institutions across the country, where he observed that the performance of girls was very impressive. But in the field of technical education, the participation of girl students is not satisfactory, he said.

    Saying that HBTU has been recognized for its contribution in the fields of oil, paint, plastic, and food technologies, he said the glorious history of the institution is linked to the industrial development taking place in India since the beginning of the 20th century.

    Piece of advice by the president to HBTU

    Pointing to the current ranking of HBTU in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), the president said it should be the endeavor of all stakeholders that by the year 2047, the university should be ranked among the top 25 institutes of the country. Referring to Swachh Survekshan Awards 2021, he said Kanpur city jumped to 21st place in 2021 from 173rd in 2016 in the awards.

    He called for making the goal of cleanliness of the city a mass movement, taking inspiration from Indore city, which is consistently ranked first in the country in cleanliness. Meanwhile, Governor Anandiben Patel released a book containing the history of the institution and presented the first book to the president.

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  • IGNOU July 2021 Admission to UG, PG Courses Extended till November 30

    IGNOU July 2021 Admission to UG, PG Courses Extended till November 30

    Indira Gandhi National Open University, IGNOU, has once again extended the registration date for IGNOU July 2021 fresh admission for all undergraduate and postgraduate programs till November 30. Interested candidates can apply on or before the last date at the official website of IGNOU-now.ac.in.

    On the other hand, admission to Certificate or Diploma and PG Diploma programs for the July 2021 session has been closed as per the official notice. The direct link to apply for IGNOU July 2021 admission is available here.

    According to the official notification, the last date earlier was November 22, 2021.

    • IGNOU July 2021 admission: Steps to apply

      Go to the official website of Indira Gandhi National Open University, IGNOU -ignou.ac.in.
    • Go to the ‘Alert’ section available on the home page old users can just enter their old login credentials and new users will click on the tab ‘New Registration’.
    • Fill in the required details
    • Click on ‘submit’ to complete the process.
    • Download it and take a printout of it for future reference

    After the registration process is done, then IGNOU official authorities will send emails accordingly on the mentioned email-id of the candidates. Candidates are advised to keep a check on the official website for more details and information.

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  • Seven IITs Continue Boycott, no Indian Institute in top 300

    Seven IITs Continue Boycott, no Indian Institute in top 300

    Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is the country’s top-performing institute but is ranked in the 301-350 bracket. It is followed by IIT Ropar and the JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research. Both are in the 351-400 bracket.

    Overall, India is home to 35 of the world’s top 1,000 universities, its second-highest total ever in the rankings. Last year, it was 36. Globally, the University of Oxford tops the ranking for the sixth consecutive year.

    This is the second consecutive year that the IITs in Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, Guwahati, Madras, Roorkee, and Kharagpur have not participated in THE global rankings. They had announced their boycott in April last year, citing concerns over transparency after none of them found a place among the world’s best 300 universities. Before the announcement, the IITs had held two meetings with THE officials to flag issues of “transparency” in the ranking parameters, especially the citation metric. They had objected to THE allowing participating institutions to use collaborative research projects to bump up their score on the citation metric. They had objected to THE allowing participating institutions to use collaborative research projects to bump up their score on the citation metric. Such research papers have high citations by virtue of multiple authors associated with them.

    Hence, an institution that is part of such a project ends up having a disproportionate advantage over others because of one paper that is cited multiple times globally, the IITs had told THE.

    We were hoping they will tweak their criteria a bit. After those meetings, no one really got back to us. So our boycott continues,” said an IIT director. Asked about the feasibility of such a boycott, the director said, “We are very much part of the QS Rankings which is also a reputed ranking table. We have found them to be more transparent when it comes to their ranking parameters.

    IITs had told THE

    When contacted by The Indian Express, Phil Baty, THE’s editorial director, said THE’s ranking methodology is transparent and trusted globally. “Our ranking system is based entirely on a relationship of trust and transparency with the universities that take part, and inclusion. We are trusted all over the world. We firmly believe that the decision not to participate in these globally recognized and trusted rankings disadvantages the IITs. We are proud of our transparent methodology. We are ready and available at any time to continue discussions with the IITs. We would welcome their participation.”Meanwhile, a record 71 Indian institutions have taken part in this year’s rankings and can reap all the benefits from their engagement.”

    To a question on whether THE would accommodate IIT’s feedback on the citation metric, he said, “Our plans to review and update our overall methodology are well documented. But it is a process which must involve the entire world and cannot be rushed.”

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  • IIT Madras Researchers are Studying The High Transmission Potential of Coronavirus

    IIT Madras Researchers are Studying The High Transmission Potential of Coronavirus

    IIT Madras researchers are studying the high transmission rate and mortality of SARS-CoV-2, the scientific name for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Using computational tools, the team studied its two close variants — SARS-CoV and NL63. The team set out to understand how the spike proteins (which enables the coronavirus to penetrate human cells and cause Covid-19) of these different virus strains are interacting with the ACE2 receptors of human cells and how this interaction is affecting their transmission potential and severity of the disease

    ‘SARS-CoV’ can be considered a ‘sibling’ of the subfamily beta coronavirus ‘SARS-CoV-2.’ The ‘NL63’ belongs to sub-family alpha coronavirus can be considered as a ‘cousin’ of SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV is more severe than SARS-CoV-2 whereas NL63 shows milder symptoms than SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.

    The scientists set out to find the reason behind the mildness and severity of disease caused by these viruses. From the previous studies, it was realized that all three viruses gain entry to the human cell via ACE2 receptors which are present on human cells.

    The research findings of this study have been published in the reputed peer-reviewed international journal Proteins: Structure, Function, Bioinformatics.

    About the IIT Madras Research Team


    The research team was led by Prof. M Michael Gromiha, Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, IIT Madras, Dr. Puneet Rawat, and Dr. Sherlyn Jemimah, Research Scholars from IIT Madras. The team collaborated with Prof. PK Ponnuswamy, Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras, and Madurai Kamaraj University and Professor, Department of Physics, Bharathidasan University in Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu, for this study.

    What was the Purpose of The Study?


    Elaborating on the objectives of the study, Prof. M Michael Gromiha, Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, IIT Madras, said, “Coronaviruses are not new to humans. Coronavirus such as NL63 causes only mild symptoms.”

    “There exist some common functional aspects among NL63 and viruses such as SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, both of which are relatively severe,” he added.

    He mentioned that this brought up several questions, like:

    i) Have these viruses evolved from the same ancestor?

    ii) Why do they cause different mortality rates?

    iii) What is the extent of similarity/difference(s) among these viruses?

    iv) If we have immunity for mild NL63, then is it possible that we may have some degree of immunity towards the wild ones, SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-2?

    “Our effort is to find answers to these questions to an extent possible by studying the interaction mechanism of these viruses with the organs of the human body,” the professor said.

    What did the IIT Madras Research Team Find?


    Using various computational tools, the team found that the interaction area between spike protein and ACE2, surrounding hydrophobicity, and interaction energy play a key role in deciding the severity and transmission potential of coronaviruses.

    The team also found that the distant cousin NL63 has unique ACE2 binding sites compared to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.

    However, some of the binding site regions are conserved and any change in these regions is evolutionarily prohibited.

    Further, they found that less interaction area, surrounding hydrophobicity and interaction energy for the interface residues are the main reasons for the mild severity of NL63 coronavirus.

    Earlier Outbreaks of the Same Virus Family


    There had been previous outbreaks as well. In 2002, one of its members SARS-CoV played havoc and in the year 2012, MERS-another member of the same family also spread widely.

    Now, SARS-CoV-2 has spread around the world causing Covid-19 and, like SARS-CoV and MERS, the SARS-CoV-2 also spreads through sneezing, coughing and via respiratory droplets but its transmission potential turned out to be high.In future, the researchers are all set to conduct a deeper analysis of the binding regions to know which kind of minimal mutations severely affect the binding of viruses S-proteins and ACE2 protein through experimental studies.

    Such a study, the researchers said, will help find ways to reduce the gravity of the severe disease-causing coronaviruses and develop effective therapeutic interventions, which can be used across ACE2 binding coronavirus strains and potentially other viruses that may target ACE2 or infection.

    The team is also working on repurposing the known drugs, which target the identified conserved regions on the viral S-protein and can help in treating coronavirus infections.

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