The Delhi-based NIIT Ltd (estb.1981), a global leader in ICT skills and talent development, inaugurated its biggest Big Data talent training base at Guiyang City, China on January 9. It will conduct IT (information technology) and Big Data training for university graduates, working professionals and government employees in Guizhou province. The centre will also help government professionals to upskill themselves in digital technology. 

“The launch of NIIT’s training base is a brand-new start towards much larger cooperation between Guiyang City and NIIT. It’s a milestone in two years of our working together to develop Big Data IT talent in Guiyang. The cooperation with NIIT is the largest international talent development cooperation for Guiyang City and we look forward to greater cooperation between China and India,” said Xu Hao, vice mayor, while inaugurating the NIIT centre in Guiyang City.

“The launch of a flagship centre in Guiyang is a result of initiatives taken by the leadership of Guiyang municipal government and NIIT under the guidance of the provincial government to develop Guizhou into a leading Big Data destination for the digital economy of the future. With our understanding of the changing skills requirement of industry, NIIT is committed to support China in its human capacity building initiative,” added Rahul Patwardhan, CEO of NIIT Ltd, speaking on the occasion.

 

Social Start-up Fellowship Progamme 2017

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) India, an initiative supported by PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers), which enables social entrepreneurs to start social impact projects, invites applications for the second batch of the Social Start-up Fellowship Programme 2017. The announcement was made at a function in Delhi on January 5, hosted by Jagriti Yatra, a 15-day journey which takes potential leaders across India, “to understand and build the India of small towns and villages through enterprise”.

“SSE India partners with several organisations to recruit fellows. We look for individuals capable of tackling complex social problems and help them develop business models with lasting social impact,” said Jaivir Singh, chairperson, SSE India, speaking on the occasion and adding that SSE India invites highly motivated individuals in the 18-70 years age group, and helps them transform their ideas into real social outcomes through sustainable solutions for poor and disadvantaged communities. 

Founded in the UK by Michael Young in 1997, SSE India was launched in February 2016 with support from development partner PwC India. Thus far SSE, UK has helped over 1,500 social entrepreneurs to develop sustainable social impact programmes.

 

AU-CUP partnership 

Avantika University (AU), India’s first design-centred university based in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), signed an academic and institutional partnership with Cambridge University Press (CUP) India on January 11 to facilitate the inflow of world-class, well-researched learning materials for Avantika students.

Under the agreement, CUP India will provide educational resources and development programmes to empower AU students and teachers with better learning experiences. As the first step in this association, a continuous professional development (CPD) programme for AU faculty members will be started shortly to help teachers develop internationally-benchmarked teaching programmes. 

“Our association with CUP (India), an affiliate of the world’s leading Cambridge University, will enable Avantika learners with unlimited access to high-quality content and learning solutions,” said Dr. Sanjay Dhande, chief mentor, AU, speaking on the occasion.

“We are excited to work with Avantika University to help them achieve global standards of modern education by delivering educational value for the benefit of learners, teachers, employers and society as a whole,” added Ratnesh Kumar Jha, managing director, Cambridge University Press, South Asia.

 

IET Scholarship Awards 2016

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), one of the world’s largest associations of professional engineers, announced the winners of its prestigious Scholarship Awards in the general and women’s categories in Bangalore on January 9. 

The winners of IET’s 4th Edition Scholar Awards, 2016 are: Himal Agrawal of IIT-Kharagpur and Roshni Chabbra of BITS, Pilani in the general and women’s categories, who were awarded Rs.1 lakh each. Athul Raj of the Army Institute of Technology, Pune and Snigdha Nagarajan from NIT, Trichy were adjudged runners-up (Rs.75,000 each).

The 4th edition of the IET India Scholarship Award attracted parti-cipation of 7,800 students from across India. The participants were evaluated on several parameters including academic performance, technical knowhow, problem-solving capabilities, leadership skills and ability to demonstrate economically and technologically viable ideas to resolve challenges of Indian society. “In the past four years, our endeavour has been to handpick and bring to the fore engineering leaders of the future. I congratulate the winners on their achievements and wish them great careers ahead to contribute to the growth of the Indian economy,” says Shekhar Sanyal, director and country head, IET India.