Mumbai-based Mexus Education Pvt. Ltd announced the winners of Iken Scientifica 2011-Season IV Student Icon of India national competition at the Knowledge Centre, IIT-Bombay on June 11.
Iken Scientifica 2011 — an annual nationwide science and technology talent hunt organised by Mexus Education, now in its fourth year (season IV) — attracted 275 finalists from 26 cities shortlisted for the title of Student Icon of India 2011. From among them eight students were adjudged winners in the junior (class V-VI) and senior (class VII-VIII) categories.
In the junior category, Taha Juzar (Kuwait); Samyak Parmar of Bright Day School, Baroda; Joel Jaison of J.H. Ambani Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Surat and Gauri Manoj Lad of Fatima High School, Mumbai were adjudged student icons. In the senior category, Devika of Maharani Gayatri Devi School, Jaipur; Rishi Raj of Laxmi International, Vapi; W. Keerthana, Hyderabad and Jaspreet Sandhu of Saupins School, Chandigarh were declared senior icons.
Mexus Education awarded an all-expenses paid tour of the National Aeronautics & Space Agency (NASA), USA as the grand prize for all student icon title winners. Moreover prizes valued at Rs.50 lakh were awarded to other participants of Iken Scientifica, 2011-Season IV.
“Iken Scientifica aims to encourage budding talent to showcase extraordinary aptitude in lateral thinking and experimentation,” says Saurabh Saxena, director of Mexus Education. “This year we hosted participants from several schools and students in the Middle East. Moreover, schools and students in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa are showing increasing interest in Iken Scientifica,” he adds.
GTAVM’s good start
GT Aloha Vidhya Mandir (GTAVM), Chennai, a K-IX co-ed school, completed its first academic year on June 15. Directly supervised by the Maharishi Vidhya Mandir, the GT Aloha management claims to have carved a niche for itself among the elite schools of Chennai. “The foundation of the school rests on inspiration, innovation, intensity and integrity — the guiding principles in our pursuit of absolute excellence,” says K. Kumaran, chief executive of the school. “Every school teaches students what to study, but in our school we teach them how to study. We educate children through neuro linguistic program (NLP) techniques and impart knowledge on life and leadership skills.”
According to Kumaran, the unique characteristic of GTAVM is that all students are trained in transcendental meditation, yogasana and pranayama by experts. “These self-development practices perfected by the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi enable students’ overall academic activities and performance. We are confident that GTAVM is moving in the right direction in the pursuit of excellence,” he adds.
ICoFP scholarships invitation
The New Delhi-based International College of Financial Planning (ICoFP, estb.2002), which offers “super specialised” certification programmes in financial planning, is offering scholarships to 12 students who enroll for postgraduate studies at ICoFP.
“Financial planning is one of the fastest-growing professions around the world and is experiencing a huge demand-supply gap. In India, youngsters in financial planning have a bright future and can take advantage of many opportunities available across the banking, finance, insurance and allied industries. ICoFP is helping students achieve the highest level of career readiness,” says Vani Bajaj, director of ICoFP.
The institute will offer part and full scholarships based on every student’s academic performance, interview and financial condition. “The intent behind the scholarship scheme is to attract talented students to pursue higher education in banking and financial services. For India to emerge as a powerful nation there is an urgent need to provide assistance to meritorious students from socio-economically disadvan-taged households,” says Rajesh Bhojani, chief executive of ICoFP.
IISM admissions open
After successfully completing its inaugural year, the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM), Mumbai, invites admission applications for its second academic year 2011-12. Promoted by former Indian test cricketer Nilesh Kulkarni, IISM is a joint venture of Eduhub Education Pvt. Ltd and well-known vocational education market leader Greycells Education Ltd.
“The Indian sports industry is growing fast in three main segments — broadcast and media rights, sponsorship, licensing and merchandising, and ticketing as also in hospitality, entertainment and catering in sports venues. With an increasing number of global sports events coming to India, the need for structured sports marketing and management programmes has often been expressed by India Inc. Bearing this in mind, IISM offers a postgraduate diploma in sports management in association with Mumbai’s Jai Hind College. This is the sole study programme countrywide for training future sports marketing and management professionals,” says Kulkarni.
According to him, IISM’s core competence is its integration of the varied experiences of faculty and industry professionals to devise an excellent curriculum for students. The institute’s advisory board includes former test star and commentator Ravi Shastri and tennis star Mahesh Bhupati, among others.
HCL-GSTF green computing initiative
The Global Science & Technology Forum (GSTF), Singapore and HCL Learning, the education and talent development division of HCL Infosystems Ltd — India’s leading ICT system integration, services, hardware and distribution company — announced the launch of joint special IT training programs for ‘green computing’ on June 2. This partnership plans to offer introductory training programs to 10,000 students in 130 cities countrywide by the end of this fiscal year.
“Our training programs will provide participants with in-depth knowledge, skills and expertise needed to understand, evaluate, develop and deploy green IT and cloud computing solutions in a range of contexts including business, government and individual. I am indeed delighted to partner with HCL to launch green computing certification programmes in India,” said Anton Ravindran, chief executive and president of GSTF speaking on the occasion.
Rothin Bhattacharyya, executive vice president (marketing) of HCL Infosystems, is equally bullish about the future of this new initiative. “Over the years, HCL Infosystems has developed numerous programs for imparting training and educational skills and is committed to enhancing the role of sustainable technology in education. This partnership will empower us to create new programs incorporating green IT as a foundation,” he added.
Sharda University scholarships offer
The New Delhi/Greater Noida-based Sharda University (SU, estb.2009) has announced student scholarships valued at Rs.25 crore for the academic year 2011-12.
“Right to education is one of the fundamental rights of every Indian citizen and Sharda University believes that money should not be a road block for students with innovative ideas and passion in their hearts. We offer scholarships and financial aid to meritorious students based on their academic achievements and potential, to ensure that every deserving student has access to quality education,” says Pradeep Kumar Gupta, chancellor of Sharda University.
Under its comprehensive scholarship programme, SU invites applications from students to avail up to 100 percent scholarships across its academic programmes, viz. B.Tech, BBA, MBA, B.Com and BA (journalism and mass communications). For B.Tech programme applications, scholarships are being offered to students based on their performance in class XII, AIEEE and UPSEE exams with 90 percenters eligible for full scholarships. Over 200 scholarships are being offered to B.Tech applicants in three categories.
Likewise, scholarships in three categories are being offered to students seeking admission into SU’s BBA, B.Com and BA programmes based on their class XII grades. “Excellent scholarship programmes are also being offered to MBA aspirants based on their CAT/MAT scores. Moreover, students excelling in sports are also eligible for scholarships,” says Gupta.
Established as a private university in Greater Noida through special legislation enacted by the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly in 2009 and duly approved by UGC, Sharda University’s multi-disciplinary campus is spread over 63 acres and offers impressive infrastructure.
Strathclyde B-school’s India campus
The first business management study programmes jointly offered by the Mumbai-based SKIL Infrastructure Ltd and University of Strathclyde, UK, are set to be launched from September this year. This partnership will offer undergraduate and postgrad business management programmes at the first Indian campus of the Strathclyde SKIL Business School in Greater Noida.
“Strathclyde Business School has more than a quarter century’s experience of delivering education in countries across four continents, has won the Queens Award for exports and is one of the few B-schools worldwide accredited by three principal international accrediting bodies — AACSB International, EQUIS and AMBA,” says Prof. Philip Taylor, associate dean and academic director, University of Strathclyde SKIL Business School.
According to Taylor, Strathclyde Business School ranks No.1 in Scotland and No.5 in the UK. The Greater Noida campus will be a fully integrated off-shore campus of Strathclyde Business School and 50 percent of the course content will be delivered by faculty from Glasgow. “We want our India campus to develop into a sustainable research institution model,” says Taylor.