Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF), a fashion and textile institute, recently organised its 16th annual convocation ceremony. Oscar Fernandes, minister of state for labour and employment, graced the occasion as chief guest and presented awards to meritorious students. Simon Lewis, pro-vice-chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, the UK, and Rudiger Jung, director of LDT Nagold, were the guests of honour. Three hundred and thirty three students from undergraduate and postgraduate courses were conferred degrees / diplomas on the occasion.

Addressing the students, Fernandes said, “The Indian fashion industry is booming and it is envisaged that garment export will generate over 12 million jobs, a target set by no other sector. Fashion design is a sector where academics and business overlap. Thus it is extremely important that students put to good use the knowledge acquired from this prestigious institute and achieve what they have always desired.”

A.K.G. Nair, group director, Pearl Academy of Fashion, presented a brief report at the ceremony. He said, “While we are working to expand the bouquet of academic programmes, we are also trying to increase our presence in Calcutta and Pune. There are plans to set up a full-fledged residential campus in Greater Noida too.”

MYSORE

Admission alert

The SDM-Institute for Management Development (SDM-IMD), Mysore, is inviting applications from students for their two-year postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM). A graduate in any discipline from any college recognised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) / Association of Indian Universities (AIU), with a minimum of 50 per cent marks, is eligible to apply. Those appearing for their final year bachelors degree examination in April / May 2009 may also apply, provided they complete their final exams as well as meet other requirements before the commencement of the course in the first week of June 2009. The last date for submission of forms is December 8.

Interested candidates have to appear for the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) on November 16, as well as apply to SDM-IMD, Mysore. The two-year residential PGDM programme is approved by the AICTE and the Union ministry of human resource development. Specialisations offered include marketing, finance, systems, human resource management and operations.

For more details, contact R. Raghavendra Rao, admissions officer, at raghavendra@sdmimd.ac.in / admission@sdmimd.ac.in.

CALCUTTA

Spreading awareness

Awareness is the need of the hour when blasts are ripping through busy roads and crowded malls, killing and injuring thousands of innocent civilians. In keeping with this, the theme for the annual cultural programme of the Heritage Institute of Technology’s biotechnology department was “Bioterrorism — the virus wade in”.

The dance drama sought to depict how beneficial scientific inventions have been transformed into weapons of mass destruction in unscrupulous hands. In the play, a gang of terrorists steal a tissue of deadly viruses, discovered by scientists for treating cancer, from a national laboratory and use it as a homicidal bio-weapon. Later they discover that they themselves have not been spared of the fatal infection. B.B. Paira, head of the institute, and S. Sengupta, head of the department, stressed on the need to blend science and culture for a better understanding of both.

Tasneem Sayeed
Heritage Institute of Technology

LUCKNOW

Time to rejoice

IIM Lucknow (IIM-L) has reason to celebrate. Bharat Bhasker, professor of information technology and systems, was conferred the Best Professor of Information Technology award at the recently concluded AsianBrand Summit and Dewang Mehta Business School Awards.

The awards were supported by Sheila Mehta, director, Onward Foundation for Dewang Mehta Awards. The chairman of the jury was Prasad Medury, partner, Amrop International, specialists in top-level and executive recruitment.

Bhasker also acts as a principal investigator and has been responsible for setting up the Internet Commerce Research Centre at IIM-L, to conduct research and development in the area of Internet commerce.

Students at IIM-L recently had a chance to interact with Sudhanshu Vats, vice-president of home care, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). The three-hour session, on Challenges Involved in the Launch and Development of a New Product, provided the students an opportunity to learn the fundamentals in the field of marketing.

The session kicked off with a live case study. The students formed groups of eight and analysed the case from different perspectives to arrive at different strategies that came very close to the actual strategies employed by HUL.

Supplementing the case study with his insights, Vats explained HUL’s strategy of targeting rural and urban consumers separately. He then shared the successful market results achieved by HUL and concluded the workshop with an encouraging feedback on the case analysis by students.

This was not all. The IIM-L students also got to meet Harsh Mariwala, chairman and managing director of Marico Limited, who spoke on The Journey: Pioneering the growth of an FMCG. The Leadership Series of seminars was organised by the Industry Interaction Committee at IIM-L.

CALCUTTA

Check your knowledge

The scientific know-how of the students of Pretoria High was recently tested in a science quiz. Every student from classes VIII to X was asked 25 questions each. The questions were based on physics, chemistry, biology, reasoning and aptitude. The 25-minute event, called Aqua Regia, was organised by the Triumphant Institute of Management Education (T.I.M.E.). Almost 50 teams, comprising two students each, participated in the programme.

The Pretoria students were not new to the challenge, as the science quiz had been organised in the school last year too. That experience helped the students to perform better this time round. Hence it was difficult to select the best five teams to qualify for the next round. The much-awaited results of this competition will be declared after the school re-opens after the puja vacation.

Shashank Newar Class X
Pretoria High

NEW DELHI

Bell the CAT

With the Common Admission Test slated to go online in 2009, TestFunda.com promises to make the preparation process easy, effective and personalised for every CAT aspirant.

The newly-launched website has over 24,000 active participants visiting it on a regular basis. Its interactive CAT-based forums include expert and peer inputs. These help to solve doubts, clear concepts and strengthen preparation at all levels: fundamental, intermediate and advanced.

Apart from featuring the last three years’ original question papers, including detailed explanations and solutions, TestFunda. com is a one-stop shop for those preparing for the management entrance. It includes features such as “word of the day”, puzzles and “question of the day” that are emailed directly to a subscriber. It also has a section where the 2007 topper provides guidance with his expert tips and advice.

TestFunda.com has over 2,000 pages of CAT-based content covering every relevant topic, 28 full-length practice tests, detailed personalised reports and comprehensive feedback sessions. The site believes in blending learning with fun. With constantly updated study material, free chapter views, fortnightly quizzes, vocabulary and logical games, it is a great hang-out for those who enjoy tickling their grey cells. Sections like ask-a-doubt, start CAT and discussion forums make the site even more interesting.

WRITE IN Do you have any experiences or anecdotes to share with us? Send your contributions to
Campus Buzz, Careergraph, The Telegraph, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2236 1208, 2225 3142;
e-Mail: career@abpmail.com