Category Archives: Education

Andhra Pradesh tops in CAT

Education, Records, All
Krishna Pillutla
Krishna Pillutla

After series of good performances in the national level tests in engineering and medical courses students from the State have made a mark in the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted for admission into IIMs and top business schools in the country.

This year, perhaps the first-time ever, three students from the State scored a perfect 100 percentile figuring among eight such students across the country. It’s an achievement in the sense that State students aren’t as crazy for management courses as they are for engineering and medical courses.

Engineering background

An interesting aspect among these toppers is that they are all from engineering backgrounds and have already proved themselves at various levels. It’s a natural progress from IITs to IIMs these days as a combination of engineering from an IIT and management from IIM is considered a potent weapon for students to market themselves in the national and international arena. These achievers are no different.

The three toppers from the State, include Krishna Pillutla, Imaneni Kumar Karthik and Siva Surya Teja. Krishna Pillutla, a final year computer science student at IIT-Bombay hails from Trimulgherry in Secunderabad. With his score, Krishna will get a call from all the IIMs, but he prefers to study at IIM-Ahmedabad.

Twenty-four year-old Siva Surya Teja, who secured a perfect 100 percentile is from a small town Samalkot near Kakinada. After graduating from JNTU Anantapur, he joined the Infosys in Hyderabad three years ago. He secured the top score in the fourth attempt. In his second and third attempts, he scored 99 and 96 percentile respectively and aimed at getting the top score this time.

Another 100 percentile, Imaneni Kumar Karthik hails from Vijayawada and secured his B.Tech and M.Tech dual degree from IIT Kharagpur. He is employed with Oracle in Hyderabad as of now.

These achievers are from the TIME group that trains IIM aspirants. In fact, one of the toppers, Krishna is the son of P. Vishwanath Director of TIME group.

Commenting on the toppers, Mr. Vishwanath says that most students from the State prefer to move abroad for MS or a job in a good company. “May be such toppers are now focussing on CAT too,” he says. “The placements at IIMs also matter in students’ preference to write CAT.”

source : http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Education Plus / by R. Ravikanth Reddy / January 19th, 2014

BITS alumni walk down memory lane at Hyderabad meet

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technology

Mumbai : 

It was a congregation of BITSians from across the globe, aimed at bringing alive a mega reunion of all Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani student batches spread across four campuses, five decades and seven continents.

The BITSAA Global Meet (BGM) 2014 at the Hyderabad campus coincided with the golden jubilee celebrations of BITS Pilani. Octogenarians and sexagenarians going back to 1950s, when BITS Pilani was called Birla Engineering College, went down memory lane as more than a 100 BITSians shared their experiences at the meet. BITSAA is the global alumni association.

Ranging from Padma Shri D Balasubramaniam of the 1953 batch, to young achievers from the current batch who have incubated their own companies and started research projects, an array of BITSians shared their perspectives.

Some of the hot ventures by current BITSian students that were represented at the event included Exotel, a smart virtual phone number for businesses; Cubito, a smart car-pooling service; Amaterasu Electronics, offering home automation and voice control solutions for India; Sattva Healthcare, a low-cost fetal heart monitor which can give sufficient warning to medical practitioners and save lives, along with several others.

Since 2005, every three years, the organisation presents 30-under-30 awards, to honour outstanding BITSians under the age of 30 who have demonstrated excellence in their chosen area. At BGM 2014, some achievers who showcased their work included Phanindra Sama, Founder and CEO, RedBus, an online bus ticket booking service; Kavikrut, co founder of Mobile Medics Healthcare, a venture aimed at solving the last mile problem of rural healthcare through travelling teams of doctors and mobile vans. The latter was later acquired by the Piramal group to start Piramal eSwasthya. Mahesh Ramasubramanian, a specialist in producing computer graphics imagery for feature films was also felicitated. He has been associated with movies such as Madagascar 3, Shrek, Over the Hedge, Bee Movies and Monster Vs Aliens among others.

Commenting on 50 years of BITS Pilani, V.S. Rao, Director, BITS Pilani Hyderabad, said with Vision 2020, the institute would aim to be one of the top universities in Asia by 2020.

As a run-up to BGM 2014, top BITSians rang the opening bell for Nasdaq. Plans were also announced for the next BGM to be held in Dubai in 2016-17.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Industry> Education / The Hindu Bureau   amritanair.ghaswalla@thehindu.co.in / Mumbai – January 09th, 2014

Hyderabad institute launches social entrepreneurship program with Columbia University

Education, World Opinion

Mumbai :

The Institute of Management Technology, Hyderabad, announced the one-of-a-kind joint ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ program with Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). The Social Entrepreneurship Program was inaugurated on January 1 and will commence from January 2 and go on until January 18, 2014.

The Programme was inaugurated at IMT Hyderabad by welcoming the students and faculty of SIPA for a Social Enterprise Practicum in India 2014. IMT Hyderabad is hosting this illustrious venture for the second consecutive year. The inaugural ceremony started with a session by G Vani Mohan, Commissioner & Director of School Education, Government of India. With insights on women empowerment, gender equality, social issues she struck a chord with students who were passionate about social issues.

She mentioned about her powerful Social Action Committees which promoted the growth of gender equality thus forming woman warriors. A short film on the developmental activities like Indira KranthiPatham by the Government of India made the students curious about such causes.

Post the inauguration the students left the Campus to go to Bhimavaram and will stay there till January 8, 2014 evening.

On their return, the students will engage in a Social Media Marketing exercise in the neighboring villages, Urban Consulting projects, a lunch and roundtable with Professors from Cardinal Stritch University on Gandhian Philosophy and Bhoodan movement and a Mac Von Debate between Columbia University and IMT Hyderabad students. The joint program will also comprise of shopping and cultural trips to Shilparamam, Golconda and Charminar, an evening with the institute’s cultural club Antragna, pongal, sankranti and lohri celebrations, and client presentations.

Students participating in the program are all Master in International Affairs or Master in Public Policy students at Columbia University in New York.
The course is a design-thinking experiential education curriculum developed to meet graduate student needs and interests in social entrepreneurship and sustainable development in the 21st Century. In addition to multi-media lectures, labs, field work, and site visits, the course curriculum includes a series of applied consulting projects, in which students will conduct short management consulting projects for an Indian social enterprise or organization focused on social entrepreneurship and innovation in social service delivery in a range of sectors.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad> Gender Equality / by Yogita Rao, TNN / January 03rd, 2014

Hyderabad Institute of Excellence Opening Tomorrow

Education, Leaders
Ghiasuddin Babu Khan Charitable Trust chairman Ghiasuddin Babu Khan (left) and trustee M Ziauddin Nayyar after a press meet in Hyderabad on Friday. | NEERAJ MURALI
Ghiasuddin Babu Khan Charitable Trust chairman Ghiasuddin Babu Khan (left) and trustee M Ziauddin Nayyar after a press meet in Hyderabad on Friday. | NEERAJ MURALI

The Ghiasuddin Babu Khan Charitable Trust and the Foundation for Economic and Educational Development will inaugurate Hyderabad Institute of Excellence that aims to provide holistic education to under-privileged students on Sunday.

Osmania University vice-chancellor Prof S Satyanarayana will be the chief guest for the inauguration.

The institute built in a sprawling 100 acres at Vikarabad will offer integrated coaching from Class VII to XII in CBSE curriculum and will commence from academic year 2014-15, chairman Ghiasuddin Babu Khan said on Friday. ‘’About 50 per cent of students belonging to financially backward sections will receive full scholarship. All the students will be inducted after a careful selection process assessed by an entrance test and interview,” he added.

The students enrolled in the school will be trained holistically with equal focus on imbibing academic excellence, moral education and leadership qualities,  Khaleel Ahmed, trustee of Foundation for Economic and Educational Development, said. ‘’Our focus is to bring in social justice through our initiative as this is purely a non-profit organisation. The quality of education will be on par with international standards. With these six years of grooming at the institute they will become better citizens of the country,” he pointed out.

The institute with residential facility is already operating with 115 students in Intermediate first year in the current academic year, said Babu Khan. “I want to emphasise that the institute is open to everyone, it is not just restricted to Muslim community.

Every student can avail the scholarships offered by the institute depending upon his/her performance in entrance test and interview,” he added.

Further, the school has ample scope for recreational activities and will practice high standards in terms of its curriculum, added Babu Khan. “As of now we have two cricket, football grounds and a basketball court. Air Commodore Naseem Akhtar, retired Indian Air Force officer, will serve as its director who will instil confidence and provide good values to the students,” he pointed out.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad /by Express News Service – Hyderabad / January 04th, 2014

Gitam Prof’s Chip for Longer Battery Life

Education, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

A cell phone battery that enables a mobile phone to work for about 13 hours might sound impossible in near future. But an assistant professor I Sreenivasa Rao from electronic and communication engineering department of GITAM University has achieved this amazing feat and won several awards for the same.

As part of the applied research activity, Sreenivasa Rao developed a low power VLSI Chip which helps the mobile phone users for extended battery life at a lower cost. This is based on his research project ‘Ultra Low Power Memory Design Methodologies in Nanoscale Technologies.’

His research findings have been published in various international journals and he received the best research paper award in IEEE International Conference held in Chennai recently.

Currently, the cell phone users  demand more features and a long battery life at a lower cost. About 90 per cent users demand longer talk period and stand-by time as primary features in their cell phones, while top 3G requirement for operators is power efficiency.

In a release, Rao claimed that his design increases the battery’s life in cell phones. The power consumption in the VLSI circuits can be reduced to a large extent and the charging capacity  of the cell phone battery can stand up to 13 hours in the smartphones.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh /  by Express News Service – Visakhapatnam / January 02nd, 2014

JVV to organise science talent test on December 29

Education, Science & Technology
MLC K.S.Lakshman Rao addressing newsmen on JVV science talent test, in Guntur. / Photo: T.Vijaya Kumar / The Hindu
MLC K.S.Lakshman Rao addressing newsmen on JVV science talent test, in Guntur. / Photo: T.Vijaya Kumar / The Hindu

Jana Vignana Vedika (JVV) Guntur district unit, will organise ‘Chekumuki Science Talent Test’ at district-level for students on December 29. The test will be conducted at K.S.R. Nursing College, located on Pedda Palakaluru Road, from 9 a.m, said MLC K.S. Lakshman Rao.

Briefing this to the newsmen here, he said 56 teams each from Telugu Medium and English Medium would participate in the contest. In all, 336 students of 8th, 9th and 10th classes attend the test from different mandals.

Acharya Nagarjuna University Vice-Chancellor K. Viyanna Rao would inaugurate the programme. MLC Boddu Nageswara Rao would participate. Winners in the test would represent the district in the State-level contest to be held at Visakhapatnam, said Mr. Lakshman Rao, who is also honorary president of JVV district unit.

JVV State convenor (health wing) S. Suresh, State committee member G. Venkat Rao, district general secretary N. Venkateswarlu, and UTF district president G. Prabhu Das participated.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Staff Reporter / Guntur – December 26th, 2013

15-day-long NATA Seva Days to Conclude Tomorrow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion
North America Telugu Association president Sanjeeva T Reddy (left), secretary Ramasurya Reddy and chairman-PR Mahesh Bigala (right) preparing notes before addressing press in Hyderabad on Friday | NEERAJ MURALI
North America Telugu Association president Sanjeeva T Reddy (left), secretary Ramasurya Reddy and chairman-PR Mahesh Bigala (right) preparing notes before addressing press in Hyderabad on Friday | NEERAJ MURALI

The 15-day-long Seva Days of North American Telugu Association (NATA) will culminate with cultural programmes, award of scholarships to students and presentation of lifetime achievement awards at Ravindra Bharati here on Sunday.

A business seminar will also be held in collaboration with Telugu Entrepreneurs Association (TEA).

Justice R Subash reddy of the High Court  will present lifetime achievement award to Maxi Vision group founder Dr Kasu Prasad Reddy and NATA eexcellency award to filmmaker Sekhar Kammula. Assembly chief whip Gandra Venkatramana Reddy will be the guest of honour.

Scholarships to 117 Intermediate students of government colleges, five students from each district, will be presented by justice Dr Y Bhaskar Rao, Lokayukta, Karnataka. Each student will be given a scholarship of Rs 10,000.

Seva Days is an initiative of NATA whereby they lend services to people in the state.  NATA president Sanjeeva T Reddy told reporters that the association had built water plants in Nalgonda, Nellore, Tirupati, Nizamabad and other districts, taken up six projects of clean and green graveyards in Nellore district and organised eye camps in five districts of the state.

“Through screening, optical wear is provided to children and we identified some more who need surgeries which will be performed in three months,” he said.

The association has spent more than `2 crore on its programmes. Its next convention in the USA in July next.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / December 28th, 2013

Gitamites upbeat about MUN

Education

Visakhapatnam :

Students of Gitam University are kicked about the fact that their varsity will be playing host to a model United Nations meet ‘Gitam-MUN’ from December 23 to 25 at the campus and are raring to go.

The campus is already abuzz with orientation sessions being held to teach students the nitty-gritty of how to conduct oneself, how to speak via mediators and the intricacies of a civilised debate, mainly because the ideas and possible solutions generated will actually be sent by way of a final draft resolution to the UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan, where they will be catalogued for further study.

“The event is, in a way, being conducted under the aegis and directions of the UNIC for India and Bhutan,” pointed out one of the organisers M Bindu Madhavi.

The event will see students debating on a dozen crucial issues facing the world. As part of the MUN, a total of 12 agendas ranging from range from privatisation of space exploration to peace keeping in Syria and prevention of outbreak of new diseases would be debated by six committees with each committee taking up two agendas.

The committees would represent UN bodies like Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Security Council (UNSC), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).

The students firmly believe that such events not just boost their confidence levels but also make them more proactive in their public and personal lives. “Such meets generate a database of fresh and young ideas for the UN. More importantly such meets help promote a perspective of the future at an earlier date and time,” said R Divya Bharati, a third year engineering student of Gitam and one of the chief organizers of the Gitam-MUN.

Divya Bharati further pointed out that the selection process too is quite tough with a panel of selectors putting the candidates through several rounds of grilling. On the response to the event, she said that so far they had received over 500 applications and expect to receive many more.

Explaining that this is the first time that Gitam is hosting such an event, the students said they will leave nothing to chance to ensure its success. “In fact, we had a two-day orientation programme on this issue mainly because we wish to make a complete success of it. The participating students too seemed excited about being members of a model UN Council,” said a student.

V Abhiraj Gupta, who will play the role of a debater, said, “Such orientation sessions help boost your confidence even if you have already participated in such events. But as this is a pan-India event, it puts it on an entirely different scale.”

K Nandita, a first year MBBS student said, “I’ll be playing a moderator. I love the power part of it and I’m thrilled to be part of this event. I have already participated in MUNs held in Chennai and Bangalore and I’m confident of doing well this time around too.”

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam> World Health Organisation / by Venkatesh Bayya, TNN / December 21st, 2013

Gitam Students Launch Portal

Education

The students of the Hyderabad Business School (HBS), Gitam University, have launched a unique online portal called apneadda.com on Friday, which enables students on campuses to exchange ideas on various issues. The website has been built at a minimal cost of `16,000.

After launching the website, HBS dean and director Prof. SS Prasada Rao said that India is now eyeing at global opportunities. Students should remember that innovation and enterprise are key to a nation’s growth. He complimented students for engaging in a real business using worldwide web especially when online training is picking up.    The idea was conceived by students -Vinod Kumar, Sai Krishna, Srinivas, Srujana, Arun and Jayaprakash of HBS and secured a third place at a national level Business Idea Contest held in Ahmedabad recently.

‘’Although it attracts students in the name of rating food items offered at college canteens, the forums on the website are meant to engage them exchange of ideas,” said CEO of the venture Vinod Kumar.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / December 21st, 2013

President Mukherjee to spend winter sojourn in Secunderabad

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Science & Technology

President Pranab Mukherjee will proceed to the Rashtrapati Nilayam in Bolarum, Secunderabad  for the customary winter sojourn from December 19 to 31.

From Secunderabad, Mukherjee will visit  Tamil Nadu and Kerala  on December 20.

In Tamil Nadu, he will inaugurate the 28th Indian Engineering Congress and the School of Commerce and Economics of Loyola College at Chennai.

In Kerala, he will unveil a statue of late K. Karunakaran, former chief minister of Kerala, at Thiruvananthapuram and inaugurate the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Ayyan Kali at Kochi on the same day.

On December 23, Mukherjee will attend the concluding function of centenary celebrations of Dr. Neelam Sanjeev Reddy, former President of India at Ananthapuram,  Andhra Pradesh .

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-ANI> National / by ANI / New Delhi – December 18th, 2013