Going by the experience of several engineering colleges which found it difficult to place students due to the slowdown, the National Institute of Technology, Warangal (NIT-W) &mdash; a centrally-funded higher education institute &mdash; has introduced interdisciplinary courses for students who would graduate in 2010.
Speaking to Business Standard, NIT-W director YV Rao said IT students would be given a course or two in civil, mechanical or electronics as an optional in the third year of the

NIT-W introduces interdisciplinary courses to improve job prospects

Business Standard

The university will operate at a global level and offer courses in medicine, engineering, architecture, law and management.

India&#39;s first global varsity to be set up in Rajasthan

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is facing heavy weather of late. Be its role over the status of deemed universities or appointment of vice chancellors for the 15 new Central Universities, the regulatory body has come in for criticism. In a chat with LESLIE D&rsquo;MONTE and KIRTIKA SUNEJA, UGC Chairman Sukhdeo Thorat explains his stand on a host of issues while outlining UGC&rsquo;s vision for higher education.

&#39;We do need an over-arching regulatory body with a national perspective&#39;

As in other industries, animation too is now witnessing a slowdown due to lack of funds, amid the global meltdown. However, the industry seems to be looking out for polished or highly-productive animators. But a key factor restricting the growth of animation and gaming in India is the scarcity of skilled professionals.

Animation schools mould students to beat recession

The Institute of Management Technology (IMT) plans to open its third campus in Ghaziabad by the end of this year to cater to the needs of working professionals by offering them distance learning modules.

IMT to open a third campus

The Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) &mdash; one of the new IITs set up last year &mdash; is planning to design courses with a lot of interplay between various streams. It will establish schools or departments and bring three or more domains under one umbrella, according to UB Desai, the new director who took charge last week. He was earlier a faculty member at IIT Bombay.

IIT-Hyderabad to design inter-disciplinary courses

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has set up a committee to look into the matter of regulating the fees and admissions in the 125 deemed universities. The commission, according to its Chairman Professor Sukhdeo Thorat, gets the maximum complaints in these two areas.

UGC plans curbs on admissions, fees in deemed universities

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, in her speech, mentioned about developing a &ldquo;brain gain&rdquo; policy to attract talent from all over the world into the 14 universities proposed in the 11th plan to position them as &ldquo;Innovation Universities&rdquo;.

Draft bill for new varsities sent to HRD ministry

The slowing economy has taken a toll on the number of students placed and profile of companies visiting the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K), campus since January this year. Around 21 per cent of its students are yet to be placed this year.

IIT-K salaries, offers take a hit; 21% students yet to be placed

The Karnataka government&rsquo;s decision to promote private universities in the state prompted Wipro chairman Azim Premji funded not-for-profit organisation Azim Premji Foundation to propose one such university. This, when cleared, will be the first private university in the state. Dileep Ranjekar, CEO of the Foundation, shares the roadmap with Bibhu Ranjan Mishra.

'We intend training people to make policy decisions'

Hautes &Eacute;tudes Commerciales will be collaborating with the premier B-school to launch a one-week student exchange programme.

HEC Paris ties up with IIM-Bangalore

Professor of Economics at Cornell University, Kaushik Basu&rsquo;s was the lone dissenting voice of the 24-member Yash Pal Committee on reforming higher education in India. While acknowledging that the broad ideas outlined in the Yash Pal committee report were commendable, he expressed certain apprehensions too. In an email interview with LESLIE D&rsquo;MONTE, he explains his stance on higher education.

'When it comes to higher education, we need to give up our licensing mentality'

Colleges may not be allowed to admit students for the next academic year.

Get a principal or lose affiliation, Pune varsity tells colleges

A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) holds the potential to leverage careers and bring home fat pay packets. A study indicates that MBA students who worked in finance and consulting, outperformed their peers in other functional areas, especially in the Information Technology (IT) sector.

Finance MBAs rake in more moolah than their batchmates at B-schools

The Common Admission Test (CAT) of the Indian Institutes of Management at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Shillong will be a Computer Based Test (CBT) from this year onwards and Career Launcher, an MBA test preparing institute, is gearing up for this.

Career Launcher to prepare students for online CAT

With the Common Admission Test (CAT) going online, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) Director Pankaj Chandra explains how the new process will work in a chat with KALPANA PATHAK.

'It's a more secure process of taking test'

Bidya S Sahay took over from C V Baxi as the new director of Gurgaon-based Management Development Institute (MDI) on April 1, 2009. He was director at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, since 2005. Prior to that, he was the Dean (Research and Consultancy) and Professor of Operations Management at MDI. In a chat with Kirtika Suneja, he shares his plans for the institute where he worked for nearly nine years.

'What matters most is the quality of placements'

The economic slowdown appears to have taken a toll on satellite education or virtual classrooms for professionals too as corporate sponsorships dry up for sponsored executive education programmes. B-schools say the applications for satellite programmes for 2009 have either remained flat or seen a drop close to 10 per cent.

Satellite education sees flat growth due to slowdown

Keeping in mind the rising costs for an MBA programme, Bangalore-based YGen Management Consulting Services has launched YMAT, a centralised aptitude test for aspirants for management colleges in the country. The test offers a complete end-to-end selection and admission process involving an aptitude test, group discussion and personal interview to be be conducted in a single day.

YGen introduces YMAT for MBA aspirants

Corporate enrollments bear the brunt of the slowdown as companies reduce their training budget by 20 per cent.

Finance, IT firms cut online MBA sponsorship

After providing a gamut of services across all rungs of education&mdash;from higher education to K12&mdash; Manipal Education Group&rsquo;s, Sikkim Manipal University which offers distance education programmes, launched a virtual campus called Edunxt this week. Anand Sudarshan, CEO and MD,Manipal Education, tells Kalpana Pathak how the group&rsquo;s growth plans are on track despite the slowdown.

'The best way to grow is to build a brand by providing value'

Education News: Stay informed with the latest education news in India. Get updates on exam dates, board exam results and more. Visit Business Standard for timely updates.

Education News India | Latest Updates on Exam Dates, Results, Admit Cards | Business Standard

Stay informed with the latest education news in India. Get updates on exam dates, board exam results and more. Visit Business Standard for timely updates.

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