JNTU Anantapur, is all set to start a new Masters programme in Information Technology starting next year in collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon University located at Pittsburgh in the United States.

Speaking to ‘The Hindu’, the Vice-Chancellor of JNTU-A, Prof. K. Lal Kishore said that the new Masters programme, which has been an integral part of the academics of JNTU at Kukatpally in Hyderabad since the last 10 years, would be a two-year full time programme based completely out of JNTU-A.

Professor Raj Reddy, a senior professor at the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), was at the JNTU-A on Monday to discuss the proposal to start the Masters programme from the next academic year besides the intricacies of the programme.

A meeting of the administration along with Mr. Raj Reddy was held at the university going into various details of the programme.

Mr. Lal Kishore, explaining the course structure to ‘The Hindu’ said that the university was aiming to take in close to 50 students as a start. Any student with an engineering degree would be eligible for the course.

However, all such interested engineering graduates would have to pass an entrance test following which they would be put into a preparatory programme followed by an exam. Those students who clear the exam with a minimum of 80 per cent marks would be the ones eventually eligible for the new Masters programme.

Going further, Mr. Lal Kishore explained that the students of this course would be expected to devote a lot of time to their studies as the completion of each subject would mean successfully completing close to fifteen or more modules, for all of which an online test would be held by the CMU.

“Special and dedicated infrastructure would be provided to the students of this programme. Students would also be helped with financial assistance through various banks,” said JNTU-A V-C K. Lal Kishore.

Meanwhile, a special recruitment drive is also scheduled to be held aiming at the successful running of the programme in which existing professors might be trained to teach the students of the programme besides recruit those who had earlier completed a similar programme from CMU.

Earlier, Prof. Raj Reddy was felicitated by the JNTU-A V-C Prof. K. Lal Kishore at the university campus.

‘Students will be helped with financial assistance through various banks’

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by  Staff Reporter / January 01st, 2013

We get the pulse of foreign students, who are increasingly opting for the city as a  study  destination

The number of foreign students  opting for Visakhapatnam as a favoured  destination  for higher education  has increased remarkably from last year, going by the number of enrollments. In addition to that, the low cost of living in the city, the foreign exchange  programmes provided by Gitam University and the full scholarship programmes offered by Andhra University are a major draw for foreign students. Apart from scholarly pursuits, there are other aspects of the city that seem to appeal to these students. The scenic beauty of Vizag is one of them. Florian Mingas and Roux Lala of France, who are in their 2nd trimester at Gitam University, say, “In this city, we never felt away from home as the beaches  remind  us of South France. The hostel facilities are good and the fellow students and professors help us in every possible way to make us understand the curriculum. The only problem we have is remembering people’s names and the food is a lot spicier that what we are used to.”

Chloe Cherri of France, a foreign exchange student in Gitam, says that the demeanour of Vizagites has altered her perception of Indians. She says “When I was working in New Zealand as a hotel management employee, I came across a few Indians and they were very rude. I never wanted to come to India, but I had to come to Vizag. And after staying here, I have realised that all Indians are not the same.”.

While that’s the scenario in Gitam, Andhra University has a diverse foreign population from Afghanistan,  Iraq, Iran, Nepal  and Ethiopia. These students say that they have adapted to the city easily, but the only hurdle they face is the humidity during summers. Milkiyas Mehreteab from Ethiopia , who is studying his 1st year business management, says “The college management is good and they are very helpful. It’s like going back to school. My major issue is with the humidity, I have a T-shirt which says ‘bear the heat or sweat it out’ — other than that I’m really happy here,” he quips.

For students from Nepal, who come from cooler climes, the oppressive heat and humidity coupled with the frequent power cuts is a big challenge they face. Even learning the language is a major problem for them. Pooja Ranjitkar, a 2nd year finance  student of Nepal, says, “It is wonderful city, no doubt. Whenever we need help, our  friends  try and teach us Telugu words, but it’s a difficult language. Also, the climate here is very hot and humid and the frequent power shutdowns make it worse. We still need to acclimatise.”

Summing up the Vizag experience, Nasir Ahmed, a 2nd year Applied Geology student from Afghanistan   says, “We are happy that our embassy chose this place for our studies. It’s a great place to socialise and we get to know about many historical places . We have been able to adapt to the lifestyle and food habits  very quickly. But the funny thing is that, here winter is like summer in Afghanistan. But it’s quite a relief as we do not have zero degree temperatures here. The major hurdle we have is the communication barrier. Sometimes, our lecturers’ converse in the regional dialect and it becomes difficult for us to understand. We have to stay back after college hours and talk to the professors and clear our doubts. It’s time consuming. Apart from that, we love the City of Destiny as it is considered to be one among the multicultural cities.”

leena.sri@timesgroup.com

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Life & Style> People / by Leena Shri Pampana, TNN / December 06th, 2012