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Friday 17 August 2012

August 2012


Stage set for new India-US partnership
Starting this year, as many as 200 American students will come to India’s Central universities and the IITs as part of a novel ‘Connect India’ programme planned by the two countries. The University Grants Commission will also award 300 Raman Fellowships to Indian students for post-doctoral studies in the US. The moves aim at deepening the engagement between the two countries as part of the Second Indo-US Higher Education Dialogue. 



UGC lists norms for tie-ups with foreign varsities

With the foreign educational providers Bill put on hold, University Grants Commission ( UGC) has finalized regulations through which foreign institutions would be able to come to India in collaboration, partnership or in twinning arrangement with local educational institutions.The regulations, to be notified shortly, mandate that only those foreign institutions would be allowed who are among the top 500 institutions in the world as per Times Higher Education's world university ranking or the Academic Ranking of World Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Foreign institutions would have to ensure that courses offered by them are in conformity with the standards set by Indian regulatory bodies.
 

 
India's online education market size to be $40 billion by 2017

India's online education market size is set to grow to $ 40 billion by 2017 from the present $ 20 billion. "We expect drastic changes in online education in the next 2-3 years period. The online education market is set to grow to $ 40 billion by 2017 from the present $ 20 billion," LoudCloud SystemsChief Technology Officer Anil Sonkar said. India has one of the largest education systems in the world with a network of more than 1 million schools and 18,000 higher education institutions. More than half of the country's 1.2 billion population falls in the target market for education and related services.


Obama-Singh giving boost to vocational studies

The education circle is abuzz with latest international tie-ups. Mahatma Gandhi University has partners in Brown, Duke and Plymouth State University while Banaras Hindu University has found an able ally in University of Pittsburgh. With announcement of Obama-Singh 21st century Knowledge Initiative, United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) has announced an open competition to support exchange of knowledge that may include but may not be limited to curriculum design, research collaboration, seminars and a host of other activities. These should be designed in a manner to create expertise, develop scholarship and teaching, and promote a consistent, long-term association with partner institutions.


MaGE to set up e-University

Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE) is on the threshold of establishing a Global e- University with its base in Kuala Lumpur that will offer flexible learning to employed work force across the globe. Having established academies of banking and finance in partnership with leading private and public sector banks, the Rs 1,300-crore Group said it will extend its training services to other industries to establish similar academies across India.


Higher education: India lags behind China despite English language advantage

Despite the English language advantage and the government's enhanced focus on higher studies, India's top educational and research institutes, including the IITs and IIMs, lag Chinese universities in global ranking. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings has nine universities from China in its 2012 list of Top 400 compared with just one from India. Another latest ranking by Guardian Higher Education Network shows nine Chinese universities among top 50 Asian universities, while no university from India makes it to the list. China has been consistently scoring over India in higher education for several years, as reflected even in previous rankings.


For Indian students, it's destination UK despite several stumbling blocks
Despite Britain’s stringent visa rules, increased unemployment rate and appreciation of the pound against the rupee, the share of applications from genuine Indian students (those going for quality education, professional value addition and so forth) remains intact. The number of Indian students to the UK rose from 38,500 in 2009-10 to 39,100 in 2010-11, even as the number to the US fell from 104,897 to 103,895. However, the number of student visa grants has been around 62 per cent less in the first quarter of 2012, according to the UK government. With the pound rising from Rs 70 to Rs 85 in recent months, the cost of education and living for Indian students has escalated 20 per cent. The unemployment rate there has risen from 7.9 per cent in the first quarter last year to 8.2 per cent for the same quarter this year. However, it is witnessing a decreasing trend now, after 8.4 per cent in January-February.


India ranks 64 in Global Innovation Index 2012

The Global Innovation Index 2012 published today by INSEAD, the leading international business school, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) jointly ranks 141 countries/economies on the basis of their innovation capabilities and results. The study shows that the dynamics of innovation continue to be affected by the emergence of new successful innovators, as seen by the range of countries across continents in the top twenty GII ranking, as well as the good performances of emerging countries such as Latvia, Malaysia, China, Montenegro, Serbia, Republic of Moldova, Jordan, Ukraine, India, Mongolia, Armenia, Georgia, Namibia, Viet Nam, Swaziland, Paraguay, Ghana, Senegal; and low-income countries Kenya and Zimbabwe.