MUMBAI, MAY 18. The Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) celebrated its inclusion in the Top 50 Global MBAs for Finance league table of the London-based Financial Times by ‘ringing the bell’ at the Bombay Stock Exchange. ISB continues to be the only Indian B-School in the Top 50 FT Finance MBA global rankings. Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej Group and member of the ISB executive board, led the bell ringing ceremony. 

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Rajendra Srivastava, dean of ISB, announced the school’s entry into Mumbai through its first off-campus programme — PGPpro (a weekend programme for working professionals) — adding that ISB’s premier executive finance programme will be launched in Mumbai soon. 

“Mumbai is the financial capital of India and what better place to announce our PGP finance programme,” he said. “It’s a moment of pride for us and we are very happy that our ranking has gone up to #44 from #46 last year. This has been possible due to the success of our alumni network, recruiters, strong research credentials of our faculty and support from industry. Today’s bell ringing not only celebrates our success but also marks our entry into this city,” he added.

 

ISH-GEMS agreement

NEW DELHI, MAY 3. The Indian School of Hospitality (ISH) signed a memorandum of understanding with GEMS Education (United Arab Emirates). The memorandum details a collaboration agreement between ISH and GEMS Education in the areas of scholarships, faculty and student exchange programmes, building industry networks and faculty training. 

Commenting on this new initiative, Dilip Puri, founder-CEO of ISH said: “GEMS Education is a pioneer in global education which provides unparalleled standards of education to students. Together, we are determined to create a unique talent pool equipped with international perspective and experience for the hospitality industry.”

Added Dino Varkey, CEO of GEMS Education: “Fostering a number of strategic partnerships with renowned universities will give ISH students access to a range of world-class universities, with the flexibility to study in our Dubai campuses or elsewhere abroad.”

 

More takers for CAIE exams

DELHI, MAY 17. The UK-based Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) announced the results of its March 2018 exam series in India for the Cambridge IGCSE, AS & A Level qualifications. With more than 38,000 entries, the March 2018 series witnessed a growth of 13 percent over last year.

Entries for the Cambridge (class X) IGCSE exam grew by 12 percent over March 2017, to over 30,000 entries. Entries for Cambridge International, AS & A Levels increased by 16 percent with more than 8,000 entries this year.

“We continue to receive overwhelming response to our March exam series since its introduction in India in 2015. We hold exams in India in March especially to enable students to get their results in time to meet domestic university deadlines, and we’re adding more subjects to the March series every year,” says Ruchira Ghosh, regional director, South Asia, CAIE. 

 

Academia Datathon 2018

MUMBAI, MAY 9. Manipal Prolearn, the executive education unit of the Bangalore-based Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE), has partnered with Data Science Society (DSS) to promote the Academia Datathon 2018. DSS is a Sofia (Bulgaria)-based not-for-profit data-driven community which promotes quantitative research, ethical and open innovation in the data sciences domain through collaborations in science, education and business. The weekend online competition was conducted between April 27-29. 

Academia Datathon 2018 drew the participation of 150 students from ten universities in six countries who were required to work on a real-world business case study and develop machine learning models for testing with cryptocurrency data. The event also attracted 25 mentors from all over the world to share their knowledge in the fields of fintech, cryptocurrency and data science.

“The Academia Datathon organised by DSS is a unique initiative in which students compete and benchmark themselves against their peers from around the world,” said A.P. Ramabhadran, CEO of Manipal Prolearn.

 

KIIT’s multi-varsity concordat

BhHUBANESWAR, MAY 23. The Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), an IET- accredited institution, signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with three premier UK universities — Kingston, Lancaster and Sheffield Hallam — in separate ceremonies on their campuses last month. The collaboration agreements were facilitated by the London-based Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a not-for-profit committed to improving the quality of engineering education worldwide.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Sasmita Samanta, registrar of KIIT said: “We’re delighted with the levels of opportunity that the IET accreditation has brought. The breadth of this agreement is a testament to the benefit it will bring all signatory universities. I am glad our faculty and students will have the chance to work with Kingston, Lancaster, and Sheffield Hallam universities and look forward to welcoming their students to our KIIT campus.”