MONTREAL: McGill University and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) have partnered in the creation of a new chair on India Studies. The agreement was signed recently during a visit to McGill by His Excellency Admiral (Retired) Nirmal Verma, High Commissioner of India to Canada.

The ICCR India Studies Chair will be held by distinguished Indian scholars who will serve as visiting professors at McGill’s Faculty of Arts. The ICCR Chairs will teach two courses, present an annual ICCR Lecture on India, and participate in seminars and other academic activities. The first chair-holder will be recruited for the 2013-2014 academic year.

“As the governments of Canada and Quebec seek to strengthen ties with India, McGill University welcomes the opportunity to contribute to education and research in the field of Indian culture and history,” said Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill. “This new chair strongly complements the partnerships that unite McGill faculty and their collaborators in India and will allow us to learn from each other for the benefit of both of our countries. We thank the ICCR for choosing to partner with McGill in this initiative.”

“I consider it a privilege that soon after my arrival, as the High Commissioner of India to Canada, we have inked the MOU for an India Chair between Indian Council for Cultural Relations and McGill University,” said His Excellency Verma. “Education presents a great opportunity for enhanced cooperation between India and Canada.  The ICCR India Studies Chair that will be housed at McGill will not only promote greater understanding of India, it will also act as a catalyst for collaborative projects between McGill and higher institutions of learning and research in India”.

The ICCR India Studies Chair builds on longstanding research collaborations between McGill and partners in India on issues of concern to both nations, such as climate change and sustainable development, food and water security, health and social welfare, urban studies, and the advancement of nanotechnology, aerospace, and other key domains in science and industry.

McGill’s ties to India also include a strong presence of faculty members and students from India at the University. McGill has 400 students from India – making it the fourth-ranking country of origin for McGill’s international students –, more than 30 faculty members of Indian origin and a network of some 600 alumni in India.
 
About McGill University
Founded in Montreal, Que., in 1821, McGill is a leading Canadian post-secondary institution. It has two campuses, 11 faculties, 11 professional schools, 300 programs of study and some 38,000 students, including 8,800 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, with more than 7,700 international students making up 20 per cent of the student body. Almost half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including more than 6,700 with French as their first language. For more information about McGill University: http://www.mcgill.ca/

Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute’s upcoming President Shanthi Johnson will be speaking at this year’s event accompanied by 5 Canadian Members of Parliament. CIEC is still accepting proposals and we would love to hear from those interested in joining this esteemed line-up of speakers.

CIEC will be offering a 1-night free stay at the Hilton Garden Inn to delegates traveling from India as well as a special rate and complimentary airport pick up for ALL Synergy participants.

Click here to learn more, register, or submit a proposal.

Register Now

The much-lauded iCARE Initiative is designed to bring transparency to the agent sector in India by promoting the iCARE Standards.  iCARE is supported by CIEC’s member institutions, including Canadian Colleges & Universities, and is poised to soon become the benchmark in establishing standards for counselors and agents promoting Canadian education in India. iCARE Recognition will be granted by an impartial and knowledgeable Membership Committee, comprised of academic experts representing 3 major Canadian Colleges as well as CIEC staff.

iCARE serves as a cost-effective way for education agents to gain exposure, establish their credentials, and distinguish themselves in the exciting Canada-India education corridor.  Agents wishing to strategically position themselves in an increasingly fierce and competitive international environment are invited to become an iCARE Recognized Member of the Canada India Education Council.

For a full list of iCARE benefits, click here.

You can contact Gaurav Verma at iCARE@CanadaIndiaEducation.com to request an Application Form.

Phone calls, texts, emails and even social media all now snoopable.

Privacy advocates are up in arms after the Indian government began quietly rolling out a Rs.4 billion (£47.8m) Central Monitoring System (CMS) designed to give the authorities sweeping access to citizens’ phone calls and internet comms in the name of national security.

The scheme is initially thought to have been conceived as a response to the threat of terrorism, such as the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed over 150 people and injured hundreds more.

Unsurprisingly the authorities have been pretty quiet about the scheme, although it is thought to have begun operation last month.

Its activities are backed up by legislation – specifically the Information Technology Act 2000 and its amendments – which allows the government to “intercept, monitor or decrypt” any info “generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource” if security and public order are at risk.

Activists are worried because they claim India’s privacy laws are not strong enough to protect individuals in the face of such potentially invasive powers.

The “StopICMS” campaign blog argued the following:

[Government of India] GoI mainly asks Google to remove defamatory content. Why is that? Security for themselves, in the name of safety of citizens? Content removal requests have increased by 90 per cent from the GoI. 33 per cent of the requests from the GoI are about either hate speech, defamation or government criticism. Therefore, we can conclude that after implementation of ICMS GoI will primarily use it against “hate speeches” and government criticism.

While the concerns regarding monitoring of mobile phone calls are justified, the CMS won’t be able to monitor the private social media conversations of foreign services like Twitter and Facebook without a court order.

That said, the Indian government under PM Manmohan Singh has taken an increasingly uncompromising stance when it comes to online freedoms, with the stated aim usually to preserve social order and national security or fight “harmful” defamation.

In response to bloody sectarian clashes across the country last August it banned the sending of bulk SMS messages and blocked numerous Twitter accounts and content sharing sites.

In August last year it even blocked one of its own websites after a controversial court ruling on defamatory content. According to NGO Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2012 report, India remains only “partly free” with a score of 39 – a notable decline from the previous year. By contrast the UK’s score was 25 and the US 12.

JALANDHAR: The city police on Monday cracked down on unscrupulous travel agents on the basis of specific information from the British high commission and Australian embassy that the agents used to prepare forged documents of students for sending them abroad on study visa.

During raids, seven travel agents were arrested with Rs 20 lakh and 42 passports of students besides computers, printers and scanners were seized.

“On receipt of specific information from embassies that some travel agents of the city are indulging in making forged documents for students who aspire to go abroad, raids were conducted on six travel agents, for which separate teams headed by senior police officers were constituted,” deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Jaspreet Singh Sidhu told mediapersons, adding that six cases of fraud against the accused were registered in different police stations.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Diljinder Singh Dhillon, who led the operation, revealed that offices of six travel agents, which were raided, included Express Student Education Service, Pyramid E Services, Scholar Destiny, Easy Way Immigration Consultancy, MK Enterprises Immigration Service and videshyatraa.com.

On the modus operandi, Dhillon said after taking initial fee of Rs 25,000 to 30,000 along with application from students, travel agents used to prepare forged documents for Rs 6 lakh to 7 lakh. “As embassies send passports directly to applicants, agents used to connive with courier services to get the dispatched passport before its delivery to ensure Rs 7 lakh from the applicants, before handing them over their passport,” Dhillon added.

SHILLONG: The state government has sought a detailed report from the West Garo Hills district administration on an incident of rape of a girl by miscreants from neighbouring Assam in Boldamgre village of the Garo Hills.

Social welfare minister Deborah C Marak convened a meeting with principal secretary (social welfare) PW Ingty and other officials in which they discussed the incident. “We have asked the concerned district administration to submit a report on the unfortunate incident,” Marak told reporters.

The state police have also asked their counterparts in Assam to arrest the absconding accused involved in the case.

“On Sunday morning, over a dozen armed miscreants from the Hat-Singimari region of Assam numbering entered the village and raped an 18-year-old girl in the village, about 12 km from Garobadha town. They also went from house to house attacking people and looting them,” a police spokesperson said.

Reportedly, the girl was attacked by the criminals and she was raped by an unidentified person. The dacoits also took away Rs 7,000 from the house of one Gajang Sangma after assaulting his family members.

Meanwhile, several NGOs, including the North East Network, have condemned the rape.

“It’s shocking that despite evidence of increasing sexual violence against women, the state government has not been able to enforce the anti-rape law strictly. The law puts special onus on the police department to act in cases of atrocities on women,” NEN said.

On the other hand, concern over sexual assaults on minors in Meghalaya is on the rise, with even the state home minister, Roshan Warjri, recently voicing her anguish in the state assembly over atrocities on women perpetuated in random in the state, which, ironically follows a matrilineal system.

Investigation is already underway in the incident of gang rape of a school girl in the Garo Hills a few months ago.

India may soon pass a new law to give millions more people cheap food, fulfilling an election promise of the ruling Congress party that could cost about $23 billion a year and take a third of annual grain production.

The National Food Security Bill, which aims to feed 70 percent of the population, could widen India’s already swollen budget deficit next year, increasing the risk to its coveted investment-grade status.

The ambitious bill, a priority for Congress President Sonia Gandhi, will raise India’s annual food subsidy spending by 45 percent. It promises wheat and rice at a fraction of the cost to some 810 million people, expanding current handouts to roughly 318 million of India’s poorest.

Critics say the food bill is little more than an attempt to help Congress, reeling from corruption scandals, win re-election in a vote expected by next May.

The government has already budgeted 900 billion rupees ($16.6 billion) for the scheme in the current fiscal year ending March 2014. If the bill is passed, it will need to come up with as much as 1.3 trillion rupees in 2014/15, adding to a total subsidy burden that already eats up about 2.4 percent of gross domestic product.

“It is very difficult to say whether the government will be able to get the Food Security Bill passed or not, but it is definitely going to further widen the budget deficit,” D.H. Pai Panandiker, head of private think-tank RPG Foundation, said.

“The finance minister is already worried about the budget deficit, and it is going to add to his agony.”

Reducing fuel and fertilizer subsidies would be the best way of mitigating the costs, Panandiker said. Other measures will also be needed to fund the plan, which may include spending cuts and higher taxes.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said in March the rollout of the new food subsidies was unlikely to happen before the middle of the current fiscal year, which started April 1, curbing the financial cost. Chidambaram aims to cut the fiscal deficit to under 4.8 percent of GDP in the current year from around 5 percent in 2012/13.

BULGING STOCKS

Feeding its poor is a matter of urgency for India, home to about 25 percent of the world’s hungry poor, according to the World Food Programme, the food aid arm of the United Nations.

India is one of the world’s biggest producers of rice, wheat and sugar, but it is also one of the largest consumers with a 1.2 billion population. It exports little and builds up stockpiles to cover handouts, which are now overflowing after bumper harvests, which have come close to 200 million tons a year of rice and wheat.

The law would have little effect on India’s export volumes in a good crop year, but “in a year of shortage, there could be some impact” on international markets, a Singapore-based trader said.

The bill will give rice at 3 rupees per kg to the poorest people, less than 10 percent of current retail prices, and wheat at 2 rupees per kg.

The government estimates it would need about 61 million tons of grains, only 3 million tons than it currently makes available, to provide the extra food, hoping better distribution systems and a clamp-down on corruption will reduce wastage.

Last year only about 41.4 million tons was actually distributed by state governments in cheap food schemes.

The Congress party, which leads the ruling coalition, wants to pass the bill by May 10 when the parliament session ends.

But debate this week has been disrupted by opposition parties, which say the government is pushing the populist move as a smokescreen to avoid defending itself over corruption scandals.

Last week, police arrested the nephew of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in connection with allegations that he accepted a bribe of $160,000 to arrange the promotion of a railway official.

The government may try to pass the bill again in the parliamentary session that starts around July 23 or push it through without a vote when parliament is not sitting, using special constitutional powers. It must then win approval for the bill within six weeks of parliament’s return.

($1 = 54.2250 Indian rupees)

TIMES VIEW

The wave of the future

 
The observation by Curtis Uhelein, president of US-based Apollo Global, doesn’t come out of the blue. The trend towards online education is something that has been percolating through the world of higher education for a few years now. Given how new the format still is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, of course. It could mean anything from conventional education supplemented by online methods to online-only education; from material simply being made available online to interactive digital sessions. What is undeniable, though, is that it is good news for both students and educators.

Across the world, there are barriers to higher education. In developed countries, they may be economic or geographical. In developing nations like India, the obstacles are not only economic or geographical in nature but also bureaucratic — the biggest obstacle of all is simply a lack of supply. That is why, far from the popular impression of online education being viable only in the developed world, it is actually in countries like India where it can fulfill its potential. Internet penetration is growing at a steady pace in India — and unlike conventional education where physical infrastructure is a huge limiting factor, internet connectivity alone can enable millions of youth to access quality higher education online.

There is concrete proof that Indians are hungry for such opportunities. They form the second-largest group of people, by nationality, accessing two of the largest online education efforts — Coursera and edX. It’s not surprising, after all, that an Indian student would be interested in the quality courses these initiatives offer — or access Ivy League lectures online, or download podcasts by professors from top global universities, all of which are freely available. With the abysmal higher education situation in this country, online education frees them to seek what they want.
 

COUNTERVIEW

It can only be a poor cousin

Pyaralal Raghavan

 
The argument that education has become global and online teaching can ever compete with offline teaching is ludicrous. A global shift towards online education is a mirage that will remain elusive. Certainly online education has some merits. But it can never be a true substitute for real education that happens in a physical classroom. In the end online education is only a technologically spruced up variation of the correspondence courses, that have helped millions of the less fortunate students secure higher education degrees at low quality and minimal cost.

University and classroom education is simply superior not only because it enables face to face interaction between students and teachers but also because it proactively engages students in the learning process and exposes them to work in other related disciplines. Universities usually club together teaching and research. It is those with the best research and teaching skills who climb to the top of the system. So university students not only observe and learn from some of the best brains in the profession but also get access to world class libraries and laboratories. The best part of the brick and mortar universities is the peer group interactions which make it possible to build an ecosystem that ensures lifelong learning.

However, the biggest obstacle that stands in the way of online teaching is not just the unique attributes of the university system but poor infrastructure facilities in India like bandwidth, which is essential for extending online education. Typically, in developing countries like India, the quality of the limited broadband service available is too poor to smoothly stream visual images. The way that India’s telecom policy has been compromised makes it certain that online education will remain a poor and distant alternative.

LONDON: Albert Einstein’s 100-year-old theory of relativity may finally be proved in the next five years.

An Indian astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Pasadena is heading a global project which is poised to discover proof that space and time can wrinkle in the form of gravitational waves. These waves were predicted by Einstein but have never been seen.

Mansi M Kasliwal, originally from Indore ( Madhya Pradesh), told TOI from California that astronomers from India, Japan and the United States are jointly embarking on a hunt for gravitational waves starting with building one of the world’s most advanced interferometers in Louisiana, Italy to detect waves produced by black holes or hugely explosive events like merging neutron stars—similar to ripples from a stone thrown into a pond.

To measure the signals, an interferometric detector is required that can detect strain to a billionth of a nanometer for a kilometer-length interferometer.

Such extreme gravity events are also rare, occurring only once every 10,000 years per galaxy. Astronomers hope to detect these waves and once they pick up on those tiny fluctuations in space-time as they reach Earth, they’ll want to know where they originated.

She told TOI gravity is responsible for the “long range order of the universe”.

Kasliwal said “Using Einstein’s general relativity, we now think of gravity as the geometrical curvature of the four-dimensional fabric of space-time. Extreme cosmological events such as the merging of neutron stars or black holes induce ripples in the fabric of space-time. However, these ripples, or gravitational waves, are extremely weak, and their detection has remained elusive.”

She added an advanced version of such a detector is being designed to find gravitational waves on a regular basis (roughly tens of events annually) beginning in 2017.

An advertisement that depicts MS Dhoni as Lord Vishnu has landed the Indian skipper in legal trouble. An activist has filed a case against him in a Bengaluru court, alleging Dhoni had ‘denigrated’ the Hindu god in the advertisement in a business magazine. The case was registered under section 295 of the IPC — injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion — on a complaint that said that by posing as Lord Vishnu, holding several things including a shoe in his hands, Dhoni had hurt “religious sentiments.”

The court will take up the case on May 12, when the complainant’s statement will be recorded.

MUMBAI: With luxury companies setting up base in India, there is a growing demand for managers armed with specialized management degrees in luxury. Looking at the growth in career opportunities in luxury, leading business schools which offer management courses in luxury brand management – such as ESSEC in Paris and SDA Bocconi in Milan – are witnessing an increase in demand from markets like India.

The trend, said industry experts, is expected to grow further as luxury expands its scope in India. Looking at the potential, SDA Bocconi has started an Indian branch named MISB Bocconi in Mumbai to leverage its experience within Indian executives. Luxury, which covers a broad range of products and services such as fashion, food, arts, movies, cultural industry and hotels & tourism, is estimated to become a $15-billion industry in India by 2015.

“Indians with luxury business school degrees are sought after in India. This is because luxury is seen as a sector with a big opportunity over the next few years. It’s a noticeable trend that more Indian students are opting for MBA degrees in luxury because there is a growing demand for managers with such specialization,” said Tulika Tripathi, managing director, Michael Page, India, a specialist recruitment firm.

The withdrawal ended a 20-day standoff after Chinese troops breached the militarized border. Experts say Beijing’s latest probe could embolden New Delhi.

NEW DELHI, India — Following a three-week standoff, China and India have withdrawn their respective forces from a disputed area of Daulat Beg Oldie, Ladakh, along their shared border.

The agreement was reached after intense negotiations during a flag meeting between Indian and Chinese commanders on Sunday, according to media reports.

Both sides withdrew to their respective pre-incursion positions near the so-called “Line of Actual Control” (LAC).

Times of India quoted Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying as saying:

Following the standoff at the border area, China and India with the larger interests of bilateral relations in mind have taken a cooperative and constructive attitude.

The 20-day-old standoff between the Chinese and Indian armies began after 50 soldiers from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) crossed about 10 miles inside the disputed territory and set up a tented post. They subsequently put up four more tents and also deployed Molosser dogs, DNA India reported.

India responded by setting up its own post less than a quarter mile away.

Sources had told NDTV that India, unhappy with the way negotiations were progressing, was considering cancelling an impending trip to China by its External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

Meanwhile, the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, is scheduled to visit New Delhi on May 20.

Chinese incursions along the LAC have increased over the past five years.

Indian foreign policy experts say that Beijing is trying to force New Delhi to concentrate on problems within its immediate neighborhood, rather than working to become a regional power.

For China, the forever-fizzling talks to resolve the border dispute are just another tool to keep a potential rival off-balance.

The most recent incident is no different, according to Shrikanth Kondapalli, a professor of Chinese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“They [the Chinese soldiers] came at their own sweet timing and left almost as abruptly,” said Kondapalli, dismissing claims that the soldiers’ exit was the result of clever Indian diplomacy. “They were driving a lesson [home] to India that India is talking too much without much actual strength.”

As part of its “Look East” policy, New Delhi has over the past few years been taking a more assertive stance in bilateral relations and engaged with countries that China considers to lie entirely within its sphere of influence.

In October 2011, for instance, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refused to back down from a confrontation over a joint oil exploration with Vietnam in the disputed South China Sea.

Meanwhile, India has been consistently strengthening ties with groups like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). And the United States has pitched for the Indian navy to play an important role in the Pacific, as well as the Indian Ocean, as part of President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia.

In that context, China’s latest probe might have unintended consequences — pushing New Delhi to a stronger position, rather than scaring it into a weaker one.

“This will have an impact on the Indian foreign minister’s visit to China next week and the premier’s visit to India slated for the later half of this month,” said Kondapalli. “Anti-China feelings are strengthening in India with this incident.”

GlobalPost senior correspondent for China, Benjamin Carlson, said China’s retreat was “deeply confusing from a strategic point of view.”

Why Chinese troops crossed the de facto border in the first place is a mystery; why they bulked up their presence after the initial Indian protest is a mystery; and why the PLA eventually decided to stand down is a further mystery.

The whole incursion may simply have been a tactic to gain bargaining power in border negotiations with India, Carlson said, adding:

… it’s difficult to see how this will play in China’s favor as India joins China’s other neighbors in viewing the regional giant’s territorial aspirations with greater suspicion.

KOLKATA: The tragic fallout of the multicrore Saradha chit fund scam in West Bengal escalated on Monday with the first case of murder being reported in the state after eight people committed suicide. The eighth suicide happened on Sunday night.

A director of Hello India, a chit fund company, was found murdered at his residence in Hooghly district.

Jayanta Sarkar, 48, was allegedly killed with a sharp weapon on Sunday night, the police said. The attack was the first reported case of murder in connection with the Saradha scam.

On Sunday, the 60-year-old father of a chit fund company agent ended his life in North 24-Parganas district. The police say he was distressed over his son’s inability to repay money to investors.

Jagadish Roy, father of Bidhan Roy who was the agent of Anex Chit Fund, was found hanging at his home at Rishi Bankim Gar colony at Sodepur on Monday, the police said.

The speed at which China built steel capacity has left the rest of the world bewildered

Overcapacity and production more than the market can absorb at rates remunerative for suppliers have remained principal concerns for the world steel industry since the 2008-09 global financial meltdown, the members of which still keep flying. In the first quarter of this year, the world steel production at 388.696 million tonnes (mt) clocked a growth of 2.3 per cent over the corresponding period of 2012. In contrast to growing production restraints in most parts of the world, Asian steel output in the first three months of 2013 advanced on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis by 6.4 per cent to 259.8 mt. The speed at which China built steel capacity has left the rest of the world bewildered. Once again the progress in Asia’s production so far this year is largely on account of the world’s second largest economy.

China’s production growth when steel prices remain under pressure and capacity lay off in particularly high-cost centres continues, is not endearing the steel goliath to others. The first quarter steel production in the European Union was down 5.4 per cent to 41.5 mt, while North American output slid 5.7 per cent to 29.7 mt. This led an official of consulting firm Wood Mackenzie to tell Reuters that “most of the world is in decline, but the steel industry in China isn’t disciplined in the way Europe might be”. He thinks with Chinese production remaining “persistently high,” steel prices cannot but remain under pressure leading to margin erosion for producers everywhere. The issue is why should China be courting criticism of other producing nations and still stick to growing steel production. Moreover, near-term industry outlook is not at all encouraging. An official of ArcelorMittal credits China for building a “fearsome low-cost steel industry”. At the same time, some spirited house cleaning operation notwithstanding, the Chinese industry is still left with a good amount of high cost and polluting capacity.

That China supports its steel industry and steel products exports by way of subsidies is widely known and resented. The subsidy issue comes to the fore at regular intervals as China will have scrap with countries alleging dumping of steel products by it to the detriment of local producers. What, however, should not be lost sight of is that an industry with China’s capacity is a massive provider of employment in steel mills, upstream mines, downstream value-adding enterprises and tertiary sectors. More than half the steelmakers in China are government owned. Neither Beijing nor the provincial authorities are ready to risk economic disorder and social unrest by withdrawing life-sustaining government support to steel mills. The ArcelorMittal official says, “We are mesmerised by China, but if you look at its steel industry, despite its rise, 92 per cent of steel companies are trading at a loss.” Rising cost of energy and finance is steadily robbing Chinese industry of the status of a low-cost producer. Steel mill wage bill too, is spiralling. And this is happening when world steel demand grows slowly.

In case China sustains steel production at the first quarter rate, then it will end the year with an output of 768 mt against 716.5 mt in 2012. In its short range outlook, World Steel Association says steel use in China in 2013 should rise by 3.5 per cent to 668.8 mt. This is to leave China with an exportable surplus of nearly 100 mt. A point of concern for India, which already is a net steel importer: We should also keep an eye on Japan where softening of yen has significantly improved export competitiveness of its steel. At the same time, “conditions in Europe will remain under pressure in spite of acceleration in production discipline. We, therefore, expect southern European steelmakers to increase their presence in export markets,” says an analyst with Metal Bulletin. In this context is to be seen SAIL Chairman Chandra Shekhar Verma’s observation that “Steel imports will remain a hot button issue for India as long as the world will have much surplus capacity and producers in many places will be in some desperation to export extra metal with them.”

India’s March steel production at 6.86 mt shows a y-o-y rise of 6.5 per cent. However, production rise in this year’s first quarter at 19.826 mt was 2.8 per cent more than in the corresponding period of 2012. Production rises here are due to more and more capacity coming on stream from new projects and existing mill expansion. In fact, this will remain the trend as the country targets a steel industry of the size of 180 mt to 200 mt by 2020. As we go forward, large capacities on account of SAIL, Tata Steel, Vizag Steel and others will get commissioned in close proximity. But will local demand be growing at a rate to ensure that the steel industry will not at any stage be left with much surplus capacity. To go by the observations of Tata Steel Managing Director Hemant Nerurkar and SAIL’s Verma, steel demand in an emerging economy with its focus on infrastructure development should be more than tracking the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate. A six per cent GDP growth in 2013-14 should, therefore, translate into Indian steel use growing at double last year’s 3.3 per cent.

Source: Khaitan & Co.

In a landmark judgement passed on 25 April 2013, the Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) has held that vis-à-vis universities, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has only an advisory role and cannot issue any sanctions on universities and colleges affiliated to universities.

The Supreme Court in this far reaching judgement has also ruled that affiliated colleges (i.e. standalone colleges which are affiliated to universities) are regulated by the universities to which they are affiliated and are not required to obtain permission from the AICTE to run any technical course as they would be within the regulatory purview of the universities to which these colleges are affiliated.

Analysing prior judgements, the Supreme Court went on to hold that qua a university, the role of the AICTE is merely advisory and accordingly it may only provide guidance and advice to the University Grants Commission and universities in respect of technical courses conducted by such universities and that it does not have any regulatory authority over such courses. The Supreme Court further observed that while Master of Computer Applications is a technical course, the role of the AICTE in respect of such course being offered by a university or its affiliated colleges is merely advisory in nature.

The Supreme Court has also held that MBA is not a technical course and hence, would not be regulated by AICTE in any manner whatsoever.

The judgement has created ripples in the regulatory circle as the AICTE has been rendered a body without any regulatory powers. The AICTE is contemplating filing a review petition against this judgement. Regulators are of the view that such a judgement would lead to the mushrooming of engineering colleges all over the country and they would all go unregulated.

Acadia, Bishop’s, Mount Allison, and St. Francis Xavier Universities announced Tuesday they have formed a strategic alliance called the U4 League, which will promote and extend the universities’ common objectives of providing students with the highest quality undergraduate education in a residential setting.

Although the institutions have traditionally competed to attract students, they believe that by collaborating they can enhance the quality of each institution to the benefit of all of their students. The collaboration will be pursued in several ways: designing collaborative programs, courses, activities, and exchanges that students from each institution can access — both on campus and abroad; implementing best practice approaches to improve the quality of university teaching; increasing the teaching, research, and professional opportunities for faculty in each others’ institutions; developing joint research activities, particularly those that boost opportunities for U4 undergraduates; pursuing joint analyses of their institutional operations to determine how they can be improved; and implementing best practices in administration by cooperating, where possible, in service delivery, technology, and infrastructure, in order to contain costs and increase efficiencies.

The alliance wants to ensure that Canada’s students continue to have the unique advantages of small-scale, student-centred, residential universities.

Located in North Vancouver, Capilano University first opened its doors as a college in 1968 responding to the need for local education. In 2009, registration had grown from 748 to 7,500. Capilano University offers a wide range of accreditation and degrees across six areas of study: Arts & Sciences, Business & Professional Studies, Tourism & Outdoor Recreation, Health & Education, Fine & Applied Arts, and Continuing Education.

For International Students

Browse Programs

The owner of a factory building that collapsed in Bangladesh killing hundreds of garment workers was arrested on Sunday trying to flee to India, as hopes of finding more survivors from the country’s worst industrial accident began to fade.

Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion in the border town of Benapole, Dhaka District Police Chief Habibur Rahman told Reuters, ending a four-day manhunt that began after Rana Plaza, which housed factories making low-cost garments for Western retailers, caved in on Wednesday.

Bangladesh television showed Rana, a local leader of the ruling Awami League’s youth front, being flown by helicopter to the capital Dhaka, where he will face charges of faulty construction and causing unlawful death.

Authorities put the latest death toll at 377 and expect it to climb higher with hundreds more still unaccounted for.

Four people were pulled out alive on Sunday after almost 100 hours beneath the mound of broken concrete and metal, and rescuers were working frantically to try to save several others still trapped, fire services deputy director Mizanur Rahman said.

“The chances of finding people alive are dimming, so we have to step up our rescue operation to save any valuable life we can,” said Major General Chowdhury Hassan Sohrawardi, coordinator of the operation at the site.

About 2,500 people have been rescued from the wrecked building in the commercial suburb of Savar, about 30 km (20 miles) from the capital, Dhaka.

Officials said the eight-storey complex had been built on spongy ground without the correct permits, and more than 3,000 workers – mainly young women – entered the building on Wednesday morning despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.

A bank and shops in the same building closed after a jolt was felt and cracks were noticed on some pillars on Tuesday.

Police said one factory owner gave himself up on Sunday following the detention of two plant bosses and two engineers the day before.

Anger over the disaster has sparked days of protests and clashes, with police using tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to quell demonstrators who set cars ablaze.

Garment workers blockaded a highway in a nearby industrial zone of Gazipur on Sunday demanding capital punishment for the owners.

The main opposition, joining forces with an alliance of leftist parties which is part of the ruling coalition, called for a national strike on May 2 in protest over the incident.

Built on a filled-in pond

Wednesday’s collapse was the third major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world behind China. In November, a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory in a suburb of Dhaka killed 112 people.

Such incidents have raised serious questions about worker safety and low wages, and could taint the reputation of the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports. The industry employs about 3.6 million people, most of them women, some of whom earn as little as $38 a month.

Emdadul Islam, chief engineer of the state-run Capital Development Authority (CDA), said on Friday that the owner of the building had not received the proper construction consent, obtaining a permit for a five-storey building from the local municipality, which did not have the authority to grant it.

Furthermore, another three storeys had been added illegally, he said. “Savar is not an industrial zone, and for that reason no factory can be housed in Rana Plaza,” Islam told Reuters.

Islam said the building had been erected on the site of a pond filled in with sand and earth, weakening the foundations.

North American and European chains, including British retailer Primark and Canada’s Loblaw, a unit of George Weston Ltd (WN.TO), said they were supplied by factories in the Rana Plaza building.

Since the disaster, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has asked factory owners to produce building designs by July in a bid to improve safety.

DUBAI: India’s IT exporters have demonstrated resilience by surviving the difficult market conditions of recent times, a senior industry official has said.

Kamal Vachani, Hon. Regional Director of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) for the Middle East, said India’s export of computer software and services during 2012-13 is estimated to have registered a growth of 10.26 per cent over 2011-12.

“In value terms, export of computer software and services during 2012-13 is estimated to be USD 75 billion, up from USD 68 billion estimated in 2011-12″, said Vachani.

With an objective to give a visible momentum to enhancing IT & ITES exports from the country, ESC has created a unique brand for Indian software and services companies in 2001 – INDIASOFT International IT Exhibition & Conferences, Vachani said in a statement.

According to him, the main focus of INDIASOFT events has been to enhance the opportunities for Indian software companies in emerging and established IT markets across the world. ESC has organised 12 editions so far.

LONDON: Canadian foreign minister John Baird has condemned the decision to allow Sri Lanka to host the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in November as “accommodating evil”.

Baird spoke out after his Commonwealth counterparts in London on Friday agreed to press ahead with the meeting despite strong criticism over Colombo’s human rights record.

“We’re appalled that Sri Lanka seems poised to host CHOGM and to be chair-in-residence of the Commonwealth for two years,” the Canadian minister told Guardian newspaper late Friday.

“Canada didn’t get involved in the Commonwealth to accommodate evil; we came to combat it. We are deeply disappointed that Sri Lanka appears poised to take on this leadership role.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada will boycott the November 15-17 meeting unless Sri Lanka investigates suspected war crimes including the alleged indiscriminate killing of civilians by government troops in the climax of the civil war in 2009.

Commonwealth secretary-general Kamalesh Sharma said Sri Lanka had not been on the formal agenda at Friday’s talks but said it had been discussed, and there was no opposition to November’s meeting being held in that country.

It was a “collective decision”, he told a press conference afterwards, adding: “No member of government has indicated remotely that it wishes to change the venue.”

Sharma said the Commonwealth was working with President Mahinda Rajapakse’s regime to address international concerns.

And he said he believed Colombo subscribed to the principles of human rights, democracy and rule of law laid out in the Commonwealth charter signed by Queen Elizabeth II last month.

“All member states subscribe to the same principles and values equally,” he said.

“Interacting with them on many fronts — as I have been doing at all levels — I am fully persuaded that they are sincere in subscribing and following those values.”

New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) A shortage of nearly a million teachers is affecting implementation of the Right to Education Act in India. Compounding this is the lack of government-run training institutes which forces aspirants to go to private insitutions, with the result that just a fraction manage to clear the eligibility test.

The Right to Education Act lays down strict guidelines on the student-teacher ratio, as well as on training, according to which the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) should be 30:1 in primary classes and 35:1 in upper primary classes.

According to a District Information System for Education (DISE) report, in 2011-12 only 34.12 percent of primary school teachers were graduates, while a meagre 17.05 percent teachers were post-graduates.

National convener of RTE Forum Ambarish Rai said the problem is that there are no proper institutions for training teachers.

“There is a huge shortage of teachers, and the RTE mandates appointing trained teachers to fill the gap by 2015. However, the question is: Where will these teachers be trained,” Rai asked while speaking to IANS.

“Teachers’ training has almost collapsed. Today, teachers’ training is being provided by private companies, but the teachers trained by them are not even able to clear the teachers qualification exam,” he said.

In 2012, more than 99 percent of those who appeared for the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) failed the exam. The competency test, conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), was taken by 795,000 aspirants last year.

Training of teachers is the mandate of The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) formed in 1995. But the council could not perform any impressive task in imparting teachers’ training, says Delhi University Department of Education professor Krishan Kumar.

“Teachers’ training has become an ill sector. The training institutes are in ICU, it is like a situation of helplessness,” Krishan Kumar told IANS.

He said the status of a teacher has been degraded with many north Indian states hiring ill-trained teachers on contract, as adhoc or “para-teachers”.

“In the entire Hindi belt, there is a new phenomena of hiring para-teachers. There is a massive movement going on with teachers across states agitating and protesting on issues like regularisation of jobs and better salaries, but it is not being highlighted by the media. North India has forgotten its teachers,” Krishna Kumar said.

The appointment of lower-paid contract teachers is leading to attrition of talent from the field, he added.

A sample survey by NGO Right to Education Forum revealed that para-teachers now constitute a major chunk in many states.

In Bihar, 50 percent of schools have para-teachers, in Andhra Pradesh the figure is 44 percent and in Jharkhand it is 37 percent. Karnataka (28 percent), Uttar Pradesh (23 percent) and West Bengal (21 percent) also have a large number of para-teachers.

The study also says that one out of 10 teachers are sub-contract or proxy teachers who come in place of government-appointed teachers by bypassing the selection process and with no vetting of their qualifications.

These proxy teachers constitute a substantial chunk in Himachal Pradesh (15 percent), Jharkhand (12 percent), Manipur (9.4 percent), Tamil Nadu (9.6 percent), Karnataka (7.6 percent) and Maharashtra (6 percent).

Experts say the only way to improve the situation is through restructuring the training of teachers.

“There is need to regulate and evolve a methodology for teachers’ training,” said Rai.

He said that recruitment was the second major issue dogging implementation of the RTE as a large chunk of teachers were on contract, while the RTE mandates appointing permanent teachers.

“We have disrespected the teachers’ profession. If we start making teachers count the population for the census and work for elections, we are degrading their status. Their dignity is challenged,” Rai added.

BEIJING: China on Sunday took note of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks over PLA’s incursion into the Depsang Valley and said that it is willing to work with New Delhi to deal with differences while maintaining peace at borders and forging strategic cooperative partnership.

“We have noted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement,” a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry said.

“The two sides have been in communication through the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on boundary affairs, border meetings and diplomatic channels for a solution to the incident in part of the western section of the China-India border,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the reaction was in response to a question over Singh’s remarks that Chinese troops incursion into the Depsang Valley in Ladakh can be settled through talks.

Singh told media in New Delhi on Saturday that India does not want to “accentuate” the situation in the wake of the recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh and is working on a plan to resolve it.

“We do have a plan. We do not want to accentuate the situation. We do believe that it is possible to resolve this problem. It is a localized problem. I think the talks are going on,” Singh said.

China had denied that its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had pitched tents in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in Ladakh amounted to trespass and violation of the line of actual control (LAC).

The Chinese statement said “we stand ready to work together with India to properly deal with differences and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas in a bid to boost the healthy and stable development of China-India strategic and cooperative partnership.”

It said “while actively developing friendly cooperation in recent years, China and India have committed themselves to settling disputes including the boundary question through peaceful negotiation and preventing the disputes from affecting the development of bilateral relations”.

The two sides are currently trying to resolve the issue through border consultation mechanism inked last year even as external affairs minister Salman Khurshid is due visit Beijing on May 9, which officials said would be followed by new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visit to New Delhi.

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Ministerial-level talks between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on sharing water under the Parambikulam-Aliyar river pact ended here on Sunday on a positive note with TN agreeing to release 100 cusecs per day to Kerala.

In response to Tamil Nadu’s gesture, Kerala agreed to release 40 cusecs per day to Tamil Nadu from Shiruvani river to Coimbatore.

Briefing reporters after the meeting which was attended by Tamil Nadu PWD minister T Ramalingam, Kerala water resources minister PJ Joseph said the joint water regulatory board, consisting of officials from both states, would meet soon to discuss water sharing from Sholayar river.

The meeting was held against the background of Kerala government’s decision to move Supreme Court to get due share of water from the neighbouring state under the Parambikulam-Aliyar river agreement.

Kerala had accused Tamil Nadu of not honouring the pact by not releasing the due share to Chittor river in Palakkad which was facing acute drought situaion.

Kerala had also brought to Tamil Nadu’s notice the drought situation prevailing in Palakkad and non-availability of water under PAP had adversely affected agriculture sector.

As per the Parambikulam-Aliyar project (PAP), Kerala is entitled to get 7,250 million unit cubic feet in a water year (between July 1 to June 30).

A joint water regulatory board of officials from Tamil Nadu and Kerala release the water under a “fortnightly pattern”.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday accepted the 10,50,000 letters written to her by the Delhi residents over inflated water and power bills following the protest of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at Jantar Mantar  in the national Capital.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said Dikshit’s agreeing to accept the letters is “people’s victory.”

Kejriwal vowed that the movement against the inflated bills would continue until the tariffs are brought down, and alleged that both the Congress and the BJP have together cartelised the water and electricity sector in the state.

“At 9 am one of my associates, Dilip Pandey, got a call from the chief minister’s Office saying Sheila Dikshit wanted to talk. Dikshit said she will receive the protest letters. She was compelled to do so because of the people’s pressure. She had to bow down to the people,” said Kejriwal, while addressing a gathering.

Since the chief minister agreed to accept 10,50,000 letters of protest to her written by the people of Delhi highlighting the inflated bills, the AAP activists called off their scheduled march to her residence, AAP spokesperson Aswathi Muralidharan said.

In the afternoon, AAP activists Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas along with 10 other party members boarded a bus, carrying the  protest letters from Jantar Mantar and handed these over to Dikshit’s staff around 3 pm at her residence at Motilal Nehru Marg in New Delhi’s VIP area.

Kejriwal said the movement against inflated water and power bills would continue till the bills are either waived off or the charges are reduced.

“Our aim is not just to submit these (over) 10 lakh letters, but we are seeking action on them. Our protest is unlike that of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vijay Goel who simply protests for limelight. We have said we won’t pay our bills and this movement will continue till these bills are reduced,” he asserted.

Kejriwal said the Congress governments both at the Centre and in the state had failed to address the issue of water crisis in the national Capital.

“Every year, the Prime Minister says that we will provide water to every household in this country. They have not been able to provide water to Delhi in the past 65 years. How will they provide water to the entire country,” he asked.

“Sheila Dikshit has been in power for the past 15 years. Why has not the issue been addressed,” he asked. Most of the water tanker companies are owned by leaders of these two parties, and the government was hand in glove with the power discoms, he alleged.

Earlier, Delhi Traffic Police eased the traffic restrictions they had imposed in Janpath-Sansad Marg area due to protests and demonstrations.

Kejriwal fasted for 15 days earlier this month to press his demand for reduction in water and electricity tariffs in the capital.

“We are planning to start manufacturing of S4 soon at our Noida facility,” Samsung Mobile and Digital Imaging Country Head Vineet Taneja told PTI.

He, however, refused to share any timeframe by when the production will start. The Noida facility is manufacturing about 35-40 million phones annually, including 12 smartphones such as Galaxy S3.

The company currently imports the recently launched Galaxy S4 from South Korea.

Sensing huge demand for Galaxy S4, the company is also looking to double the high-end smartphone (above Rs 20,000) market size in India, which is currently contributing around 10-12 per cent of the overall smartphone market.

The Galaxy S4, which is packed with newer imaging features as well as ‘gesture-control’ technology, has a five-inch full HD super AMOLED touchscreen, 13 mega pixel rear and 2 mega pixel front camera and supports 3G networks.

Although Samsung is the market leader in smartphone market in India, competition from Apple, BlackBerry and Nokia has put pressure on it to add new software features to maintain its lead.

According to research firm IDC, the overall mobile phone market in India reached about 218 million units in 2012, growing 16 per cent year-on-year.

Of this, 16.3 million units were smartphones, but the category saw a growth of about 48 per cent. Samsung was the leader in the quadcore and 5-inch plus screen size models, IDC added.

The demand for smartphones is expected to be around 34-36 million units this year.

Globally, Samsung had 30.3 per cent share of the smartphone market (with sales of 215.8 million units) in 2012, while Apple had a 19.1 per cent share with sales of 135.9 million units, according to IDC.

LONDON: The good news is India is home to 109 billionaires with an average net worth of $1.7 billion each. The bad news, however, is that compared to last year, India has seen the largest fall in super-rich population in the world.

Compared to last year, India has 485 fewer super-wealthy individuals, followed by China which lost 265 and Japan which lost 210.

The country’s super-rich club — those worth at least $30 million — has 7,730 members with a combined worth of $925 billion. Among them, the largest chunk is of the ultra high-net worth individuals (UHNWIs) who are worth $30 million to $49 million.

They make up 45.7% of the total UHNW population in India with a combined fortune of $125 billion or 13.5% of the total wealth of the India’s ultra affluent.

This is significantly higher than most of its immediate neighbours — Pakistan (310 super-rich), Bangladesh (85) and Sri Lanka (60), or most other Asian countries like Singapore (1,305), Indonesia (785), Thailand (625) and Malaysia (780). Only Japan (12,830) and China (11,245) have more super-rich people than India.

Wealth-X’s “World Ultra Wealth Report” shows the world’s UHNW population grew by 0.6%. The growth rate of the global billionaire population, however, outstripped that growth rate by expanding at 9.4%.

There are 2,160 billionaires globally with a total wealth of $6,190 billion. This group of billionaires, representing the top 1.2% of the world’s UHNW population, controls 24% of the total fortune attributable to the ultra- wealthy. On average, these billionaires are worth $2.9 billion each.

One hundred years after the screening of a black-and-white silent film, India’s brash, song-and-dance-laden Bollywood film industry celebrates its centenary later this week.

The milestone will be marked with the release of Bombay Talkies, made up of short commemorative films by four leading directors, while India will be honoured as “guest country” at next month’s Cannes festival.

Exhibitions in the capital New Delhi are showcasing a century of cinema, including onscreen kissing scenes that originally fell foul of the censors.

It is also a time for reflection on how the industry has evolved, from its early screen adaptations of Hindu mythology to the garish romantic escapism of modern blockbusters.

Commercially, cinema is thriving: India produced almost 1,500 movies last year and the industry is expected to grow from $2 billion to $3.6 billion in the next five years, according to consultancy KPMG.

Leading the way is Hindi-language Bollywood, which took the “B” from its home in Bombay and won the hearts of movie-mad Indians.

But old-timers complain that it has become superficial, neglecting to deal with pressing social concerns of the age.

“There’s a dumbing down that has taken place in the content. I think we are suffering from what is called the narrative crisis,” said veteran director and producer Mahesh Bhatt.

He contrasts modern filmmakers with Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, known as the “father of Indian cinema”, who brought the first all-Indian feature film to the silver screen in Bombay (now Mumbai) on May 3, 1913.

A tale from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Raja Harishchandra, quickly became a hit despite its female characters being played by men — women acting was still widely frowned upon.

Phalke made more than 100 films until his silent style fell victim to “talkies” in the 1930s, but the advent of sound technology allowed India cinema to flourish.

Bollywood plot-lines today can involve stars breaking into song, often in picturesque far-flung locations, apropos of nothing — a style that may bemuse a Western audience, but one that helps to set Indian cinema apart.

“If it was exactly the same thing as Hollywood, Hollywood would have run us over. We don’t have that money,” said film critic Anupama Chopra.

For her and many others the “golden age” of cinema was the 1950s, when movie greats emerged such as Satyajit Ray, India’s most renowned filmmaker, who hailed from the alternative film hub of West Bengal.

It was the era of newly independent India, searching for an identity and producing films such as Mehboob Khan’s 1957 hit Mother India, which combined social concerns with popular appeal.

The 1970s and 80s saw a growing commercialism with the rise of the “masala” movie — a family entertainer that typically mixed up romance and action, songs and melodrama, a comedy touch and a happy ending.

Parallel Cinema continued to focus on realism, with films such as Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth (Meaning) in 1982, a gritty tale of an extramarital affair that presented strong female characters.

It was a path-breaker in a decade described as the “dark ages” of Hindi cinema, which struggled with the advent of colour television, rampant piracy and dependence on the Mumbai underworld for funding.

Things improved after India’s economy opened up in the early 1990s, and again a decade later when filmmaking won formal “industry” status. Both steps encouraged foreign firms, such as Fox and Disney, to invest in Bollywood.

But subsequent leaps in technology have not been matched by advances in storytelling, say critics, who lament the formulaic plots, passive roles for women and the copying of Hollywood.

Bollywood’s escapist fantasies have long held mass appeal because “there’s enough realism in the common man’s life”, said Bhatt.

But with ever more TV shows, the Internet and easily available global films, such movies may no longer meet the demands of the educated middle-class.

This expanding group “wants to see something better than trash which caters to the common man who drives auto-rickshaws. They want to see a different kind of cinema,” said veteran actor Rishi Kapoor.

A new crop of experimental filmmakers has started to appear, such as “Hindi indie” darling Anurag Kashyap who is a fixture on the global film festival circuit.

Trade analysts say the growth in multiplex cinemas has also encouraged mainstream films to diversify: a surprise hit last year was Vicky Donor, a romcom about sperm donation.

Raj Nidimoru is co-director of upcoming Go Goa Gone, one of India’s first zombie films, and he believes the move away from staple Bollywood is only just beginning.

“This is just a ripple right now, it’s going to become a wave.”

By Sparsh Sharma for the Government of Canada

A “Sugar Shack” Experience

The Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai, in partnership with the Taj Mahal Palace, presents the Canadian Food Festival from March 22nd to March 30th, 2013.

Mumbaikars will have the chance to feast on Canadian delicacies with a sweet twist at the Shamiana restaurant.  The menu is inspired by the Canadian sugar shacks where maple sap is collected in March and boiled into syrup, toffee and more.

Overseeing the creation of these delights is Chef Louis Charest, Executive Chef to the Governor General of Canada, who has come directly from Canada to prepare sumptuous meals using authentic Canadian ingredients.

On arriving in Mumbai, Chef Charest said “I am excited to share the Canadian sugar shack experience with Mumbaikars. These flavours will serve as an inspiration to display great Canadian cuisine and amazing Canadian products with a fun mix of Indian spices.”

Chef Charest brings the Canadian Sugar Shack dining experience to life through old-time specialties like maple taffy on snow, split pea soup, poutine, maple baked ham, tourtière, and mouth-watering maple desserts.

Following on the success of last year’s Atlantic Canadian Seafood Festival, there will also be a delicious spread of the freshest Canadian seafood, including lobster, scallops, crab, halibut and more. By pairing these delicacies with organic Canadian wines from British Columbia, including dessert wine, and modern Canadian cocktails, the festival is a food lover’s dream come true!

To further capture the true feeling of a Canadian sugar shack, Shamiana is hosting a traditional musical performance at the Sunday Sugar Shack Brunch on March 24th. Mario LeBreton and Philippe LeBlanc will entertain with toe-tapping classics and original music that will transport listeners to a traditional Eastern Canadian party.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency have worked with Canadian suppliers to ensure that only the finest Canadian products are being delivered straight from Canada to your plate during the entire festival.  The Canadian Food Festival will be the opportunity to see new Canadian products not yet available in the Indian market.

Canada’s Consul General in Mumbai, Mr. Richard Bale said “Canada has high-quality agricultural products to share with India and this event will give a unique opportunity for Mumbai to taste Canada’s diverse and top-quality products.  Canada is already providing pulses, canola oil, fish and seafood, specialty and fine foods, sauces and seasonings, wines, spirits, ice wine, bakery, confectionery, and snacks to the Indian market, and we look forward to new products being available in the marketplace in the near future.”

Background

In his role as Executive Chef to Canada’s head of state, Chef Charest has catered for high-ranking officials, prime ministers, dignitaries, royalty and world leaders including their Royal Highnesses, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburg, and now Chef Charest is cooking for Mumbai!

Chef Charest’s pride in showcasing his talent has been rewarded with 14 gold medals, 3 trophies, 4 grand gold medals, 1 World Cup, 4 silver medals and 3 bronze medals. This has included winning gold at the famed New York Culinary Salon, representing Canada in the World Banqueting Competition at the World Championships, winning an individual silver medal at the World Culinary Olympics in Berlin, Germany, in 1996, and earning five gold medals at the Culinary Grand Prix in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2001.

Strategic Partners, one of the world’s top co-production/co-financing markets focusing on feature film, TV and multiplatform fiction, shines the spotlight on India and for the second year in row, the United Kingdom at the 16th annual event, September 12-15 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

“Strategic Partners’ spotlight on India and the UK is timely,” said Laura Mackenzie, Director, Strategic Partners. “Momentum continues to build in the number of Canadian and International producers looking to collaborate with India and the UK is a natural co-spotlight given their experience in successfully capitalizing on their co-pro treaty with India many times.

Offering an intimate, organized forum for projects seeking financing, as well as those at an early stage – looking for the right partner, Strategic Partners’ linear program is designed to provide unparalleled access to international co-production possibilities – all under one roof.

“Strategic Partners held a soft focus on India to introduce a small number of India producers and officials to the event.  This has already contributed to a Canadian film shot in India” added Mackenzie.

The deadline for the Strategic Partners’ call for producer applications and industry registrations is June 28. Application/Registration forms are now available online.

Top Canadian and international industry players are selected to attend, including producers, investors, sales agents, funding agencies, broadcasters and distributors. Offering close to 1000 pre-scheduled 1-2-1 meetings, coproduction focused roundtable sessions, cutting edge panels, visionary keynote speakers, screenings and receptions, Strategic Partners is a convergence of talent and innovation, producing tangible results.

“It was at Strategic Partners that we were introduced to producer, Karen Shaw’s project Khoya in 2012. It’s an interesting project and given our experience in International productions, we came onboard instantly,” said Guneet Monga, producer, Sikhya Entertainment, India (Gangs of Wasseypur, Peddlers.)

“Guneet Monga and I connected during our participation in Trans Atlantic Partners, and further cemented the relationship at Strategic Partners,” said Karen Shaw, producer, Quarterlife Crisis Productions, Canada (Khoya, The Good Fence). “Khoya was shot in India, where we worked with Guneet, and the film is now in post production.”

About Strategic Partners: An International Film, Television and Multiplatform Co-Production Market

The Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners is one of the world’s pre-eminent co-production/co-financing markets focusing on feature film, TV and multiplatform fiction. Strategic Partners offers an intimate, organized forum for projects looking for financing as well as those still at an early stage – looking for the right partner.  It is a linear program designed to provide unparalleled access to international co-production possibilities – all under one roof, set against the backdrop of the Atlantic Film Festival and the vibrant, coastal city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Top Canadian and international industry players are selected to attend, including producers, investors, sales agents, funding agencies, broadcasters and distributors. Offering over 1000 pre-scheduled 1-2-1 meetings, coproduction focused roundtable sessions, cutting edge panels, visionary keynote speakers, screenings and receptions; Strategic Partners is a convergence of talent and innovation, producing tangible results.

Strategic Partners is a part of the Atlantic Film Festival family of programs. Today’s Atlantic Film Festival is now a year-round celebration, growing beyond our eight-day cornerstone event in September to include: ViewFinders, alFresco filmFesto, Strategic Partners and Music & Image.

Receive the most up-to-date information about Strategic Partners and the Atlantic Film Festival, including sneak peaks and festival highlights on their website, Facebook page, on Twitter,  and on Youtube.

Introduction

Since 2008, I have posted templates to serve as a starting point for advisors looking to send clients an overview of the year that just ended and the outlook for the period ahead.

Advisors have told me they’ve received a great response to these letters and the templates rank among my most popular articles – that’s especially the case given today’s uncertainty.

This letter has three components:

1. An update on performance
2. Perspectives on today’s macro challenges from Warren Buffett’s most recent letters to investors
3. Your recommendations for the period ahead

The first quarter in review: Why Warren Buffett is bullish on stocks

As we enter the second quarter of 2013, I’m writing to summarize markets developments since the start of the year and to share my thoughts on positioning portfolios for the period ahead. First though, a quick recap of the first quarter of 2013.

At the end of March, U.S. stock markets crossed the all-time high reached in October of 2007. This was due to an exceptionally strong performance to start the year following the agreement by U.S. Congress in early January to avoid the “fiscal cliff” that would have required dramatic reductions in spending and risked throwing the U.S. back into recession.

Three things worth noting about first quarter performance:

1. Driven by a strong start in January, global markets were up by almost 9% in the first quarter, led by gains in the United States of over 10%. One word of caution: Last year global markets were up by 12% in the first three months before giving back almost all of those gains in the second quarter, in large measure due to concerns about Europe.
2. On the topic of Europe,  in spite of recent headlines about the bank crisis in Cyprus and continuing issues in Greece, the European market was up by 7% (in local currency) in the first three months of 2013. While Cyprus and Greece got the headlines, the large bulk of Europe’s economic performance will continue to be driven by the larger countries.
3. Canada continued to underperform the United States and global markets. Since the beginning of 2010, the Canadian market is up by about 15%; in that same time the United States is up by roughly 50%.

 
Here’s how first quarter performance looked:

Returns to month end, all in local currency, including dividends

Warren Buffett’s view: Stocks still offer value

Warren Buffett is generally considered the greatest investor of all time. From 1966 when he began running Berkshire Hathaway to the end of 2012, the overall U.S. stock market (including dividends) has returned an average of 9.4% annually. That means that $1000 invested in the US market in 1966 was worth just over $74,000 at the end of 2012. During that same time, the book value of Berkshire Hathaway increased by almost 20% per year, twice the U.S. market return. The result: That same $1000 invested in Berkshire Hathaway’s book value would have grown to over $5 million.

That’s why Warren Buffett’s views are worth heeding. And that’s also why his annual letter to investors is awaited each year with such anticipation. Three key messages in this year’s letter:

1. Invest in “wonderful”  businesses

Buffett is known for saying that he’d rather buy “a wonderful business at a fair price than a fair business at a wonderful price.”  He’s written in depth about the competitive insulation that makes for a great business. (In another well-known turn of phrase, he’s said that he wants to buy businesses “so wonderful that an idiot could run them, because some day an idiot will.”

In this year’s letter, Buffett touched on Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in American Express (of which he owns just under 14%) as well as Coca-Cola, IBM and Wells Fargo, his other three big holdings in which he owns between 6% and 9%. In all four cases, he increased his stake in 2012; he quotes the Mae West line that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.”

2. Look past today’s uncertainty

Buffett addressed the uncertainty that preoccupies many members of the media and which has dampened the willingness of American business to invest. He points out that uncertainty has been a constant in the United States since 1776; the only variable is whether people ignore the uncertainty (which typically happens in boom times) or fixate on it.

Buffett continues to express confidence in the resiliency of American business, just as he did in his famous New York Times article in the fall of 2008 titled “Buy American I Am” that appeared close to stock market bottoms during the uncertainty in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

3. Stay in the game

In this year’s letter, Buffett addressed the temptation to, in his words “try to dance in and out (of the stock market) based upon the turn of tarot cards, the prediction of so-called experts or the ebb and flow of business activity.”
He went on to say that since the long-term outcome of investing in stocks is so overwhelmingly favourable “the risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it.”

In an interview that followed the release of his letter, Buffett reiterated his view that given that at some point interest rates will inevitably rise, stocks of quality businesses continue to offer good value relative to bonds, even in the face of the run-up in equity prices since last summer. He also repeated his skepticism about owning bonds saying that today “the dumbest investment is a government bond.”
 

What this means for your portfolio

In my email at the end of last year, I outlined some guiding principles in my approach to building client portfolios, three of which I repeat here.  I’d be pleased to discuss these guidelines at our next meeting.

1. Time to rebalance: Adhering to your plan

In light of stock valuations and the risk in bonds, early last year we recommended that clients increase equity weights to the upper end of their range. Given strong stock performance since the mid-point of last year, that has worked out well and we continue to advise that clients hold their maximum equity weight.
But strong performance by stocks means that today some clients are above the top of their equity allocation. In those cases, we have been recommending reducing equity weighting to bring portfolios back within their guidelines. Regardless of what happens to markets in the short term, barring a significant change in your circumstances, you should stick to your investment parameters.

2. Diversifying portfolios

When building equity portfolios, I’ve always advocated strong diversification outside Canada. This helped my clients through most of the 1990s, then hurt them in the decade after 2000, then helped them again in the past three years.

Going forward, I have no idea whether the Canadian market will do better or worse than global markets, but I do know that we represent fewer than 5% of investing opportunities around the world. In addition, because of our resource focus Canada’s market will tend to be more volatile over time than those of the U.S. and yes, even Europe.  For those reasons, I continue to recommend geographic diversification of stock portfolios.

3. Focus on dividends and cash flow

The final principle relates to the role of cash flow from investments. Amid the uncertainty surrounding economic growth and equity returns, I continue to place priority on the cash yield from investments. While the headlines talked about US markets hitting new highs in March, investors who reinvested their dividends saw their account values exceed the 2007 peak significantly earlier.

Dividends on stocks in selective sectors continue to make these stocks attractive. When it comes to equities, we do have to be increasingly discerning, however; in some traditional high-dividend sectors stocks that pay steady income are expensive by historical standards and show signs of stretched valuations.

Emerging priorities for sustainable partnerships

One of CIEC’s Founding Members, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, is organizing a Conference in New Delhi on June 1, 2013 to present collaborative research, completed or in process, by Indian and Canadian universities and research institutions in 4 areas: Energy & Environment, Public Health, Food Security, and Bi-lateral Trade & Investment.  Airfare within India and local accommodation in New Delhi will be provided for scholars whose papers have been selected.

For more information on this exciting conference, please visit www.sici.org.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Important Dates

April 30, 2013: Deadline for submission of abstracts

May 15, 2013: Acceptance notification

June 1, 2013: Conference

CONFERENCE ON

ENGAGING CANADA:
EMERGING PRIORITIES FOR SUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIPS

 To be organized by Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute
at the India International Centre in New Delhi
June 1, 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Institute

The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute is a bi-national organization that promotes understanding between India and Canada through academic activities and exchanges. Its broad-based initiatives support the creation of bi-national links between academia, government, the business community and civil society organizations by funding research, faculty and student exchange, conferences, workshops and seminars. With a membership of 93 leading Indian and Canadian universities and research institutions, the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute has facilitated greater collaboration between Indian and Canadian institutions in the humanities, social sciences, arts, science & technology, legal education, and management studies. The Institute, as part of its mandate, has also supported research on sustainable development and other United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

The Conference

The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute is organizing a Conference at the India International Centre, New Delhi on June 1, 2013, to present collaborative research that has been completed, or is currently being undertaken, by Indian and Canadian universities/research institutions in four focus areas.

1. Energy & Environment
2. Public Health
3. Food Security & Sustainable Development
4. Bi-lateral Trade and Investment

Objectives

Emerging opportunities and strategies to address challenges in these four areas that have been identified as priority sectors by both the Indian and Canadian governments will be the themes of this Conference.  One of the objectives of this Conference is to gather experts and a new cadre of researchers to discuss their contributions to higher learning while weaving academic and institutional collaborations between Canada and India. It is expected that strategic recommendations will be derived from the Conference that will contribute to sustained academic and institutional partnerships.

Call for Papers

Papers are invited from faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and doctoral students from Shastri member institutions, as well as faculty/researchers from non-member institutions to present and share work that has been completed or is currently progressing in these four areas. The papers could be the outcome of research funded by the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute or by other agencies, universities or research institutions.  We particularly encourage submissions that develop inter-disciplinary themes.  

Abstract of Papers must be submitted by April 30, 2013, to Dr. Prachi Kaul, Programme Officer, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute by email at prachi@sici.org.in.  Authors must indicate the focus area for which they would like their paper to be considered.

Important Dates

April 30, 2013: Deadline for Submission of Abstracts
May 15, 2013: Acceptance Notification
June 1, 2013: Conference

Travel and Accommodation

Economy class air-fare within India, and local accommodation in New Delhi, will be provided to out-station scholars whose papers have been selected for presentation at the Conference.  Travel and accommodation arrangements/ reimbursements will be done according to the travel and accommodation policy of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute.

Conference Coordinators: 

Dr. Biju Paul Abraham, IIM Calcutta, and Dr. Ravishankar Rao, Mangalore University
Executive Council

Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute

5 BhaiVir Singh Marg,
New Delhi – 110 001, India.
Telephone: 91-11-2374-6417/3114, Fax: 91-11-2374-6416.
Website: www.sici.org.in
Email: sici@sici.org

Source: The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada and Soft Science Associates, Ltd., creators of the animated Legend of Ponnivala series, have signed on with the Asian Television Network for Canadian broadcast of the 26-episode series. The series is slated to launch in English on ATN in late April, with a Tamil-language broadcast planned for the summer.

The Legend of Ponnivala tells the story of the epic South Indian heroes Ponnar and Shankar. It also relates the origins of their family, back to the founding of the region two generations earlier. It is a surprisingly expansive tale for a local legend, and includes a wealth of historical and social insights into medieval Indian culture. It draws inspiration and characters from the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, while keeping its focus on farming, the lifestyle central to its place of origin.

Speaking exclusively to AnimationXpress.com’s Zeenia Boatwala about this broadcasting deal, Dr. Brenda Beck, Creator and Producer of The Legend of Ponnivala shares, “I am very happy about this contract. When I met with ATN’s CEO, Dr. Shan Chandresekar, we realized we were on the same page with this series. He had seen the Legend of Ponnivala trailers and was enthusiastic about the prospect of adding it to the network’s family lineup. I felt that the broadcast potential and strength that ATN was offering would be a great vehicle to get the series out to the widest possible audience, Asian and non-Asian alike. The plan to broadcast in both English and Tamil reflects a fitting balance between the story’s Kongu roots and its modern re-telling in English”

The Legend of Ponnivala has previously been seen only as a feature film in select international settings. One extended excerpt received a nomination for Best Animated Film (Home Video) at the 2012 FICCI BAF Awards in India. Another extract was a featured presentation at the MOSAIC International South Asian Film Festival in Mississauga, Ontario.

Dr. Brenda Beck, Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, adds more, “ Now that its premiere Canadian broadcast has opened the door, we’re looking to build on that momentum and get in touch with additional networks in order to really move the story forward onto an international stage.”

The Legend of Ponnivala is derived from a vast, ancient Hindu folktale tradition from South India’s Kongu region. The story has traditionally been told through song and passed down through generations of singing bards. One such performance was captured on over forty hours of audio tape in 1965 by Dr. Brenda Beck, who directed the series. Art and animation on the project began in 2008. Animator Ravichandran Arumugam, whose grandfather was a traditional singer of the epic, was brought on board to lead the art and animation team.

Informing more on the story line of this series, Dr. Brenda, highlights, “In retelling The Legend of Ponnivala, I have tried to stay as faithful as possible to the story’s original style and content as I recorded it in 1965. At that time, the only place it existed was in the tales of the singing bards of the Kongu region, and it was only by chance that I was able to capture and preserve it on audio tape. This very colourful tale depicts the life of farmers in medieval South India through the adventures of three generations of local kings. Due to a curse, the royal family is forced to confront jealous outsiders who threaten their sovereignty over the land of Ponnivala.

Shares further, “The story has very close ties to other Indian epics, and has even been called a ‘local Mahabharata.’ Because this epic is only really known in selected parts of Tamilnadu, it is fresh and unique, but its size and scope certainly make it powerful enough to stand alongside other great world epics like the Odyssey or Beowulf.”

Also involved in the project is award-winning Celtic musician and world music expert Steafan Hannigan, along with the voice talents of Sivakumar, Sumit Bhatia, Lata Pada, Afroz Khan, Ishwar, and Sanjay Talreja.

“The Legend of Ponnivala” is an epic adventure story for all ages. Part mythology, part fairytale, part historical drama and part action series, Ponnivala promises to delight and entertain viewers of all ages and across all cultures.

On the closing note, Dr. Brenda, expresses, “The Legend of Ponnivala is more than just a TV series. We’ve already released a comic book set in both print and digital formats on our website. It is being taught in elementary schools in Canada, using our lesson plans plus creative added exercises thought up by teachers.  The story provides a unique window on ancient Indian culture, and is even being used as an exhibit at Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum this spring. The whole scope of the project is so much more than just a television series, but with this broadcast the breadth of its cultural, educational, and entertainment value will now be revealed to a much wider audience than we could possibly reach on our own.

If you would like to learn more about the Canada-India Legend of Ponnivala project, please contact Dr Brenda Beck at brenda@sophiahilton.ca. 

By Avinav Sharma

Canada has never been so popular with the Indian students as it stands now. It is all thanks to the great and impactful reforms done by the Government of Canada to make Canada an attractive destination for International Education of 21st century. A fact concreting is that in 2012, for the first time Canada welcomed a record number of international students. A first in history, international students in Canada crossed the number of 100,000.

Students from India are very much interested to pursue their studies in some of the best countries of the world. There is no dearth of talent in India. USA and UK have always been old preferred destinations, but now Canada is slowly making its way to the list of most preferred destinations for the Indian students. Canadian institutions are fast gaining popularity with Indian students.  Some of the Canadian universities had long been coming to India since the 90s and been engaging with students and educational institutions. Student exchange, faculty exchange and research collaborations have been part of it.

With the passing time and globalization, more and more Canadian institutions have entered Indian market to search for the best and smartest talent. The engagement of Canadian polytechnics and community colleges is increasing with institution representatives doing recruitment events at various cities of India and entering into alliances with reputed and trusted educational agents. Institutions and education agents are working closely on a common goal of matching the students’ academic interest and their educational pursuits to programs available at the institutions.

The quality of technical and professional education is very high in Canada. Strengthening the interest of Indian students is the low tuition fee structure of the institutions. Lower tuition fees and the high global ranking of Canadian universities are of much interest to Indian students seeing the growing cost of getting quality education in India. Another attractive aspect is the Cooperative Education which most of Indian students are not aware of. Co-op as a term is relatively new to students and at first instance students are not able to understand it. With more and more information coming into Indian market on Canadian education, the Canadian education system and terms are being familiarized but a lot needs to be done in this field. Most of the students choose their program unaware of co-op opportunities and realize that later on. Even the students who choose the co-op are not aware of the real value and benefit of a co-op. They end up not maintaining the required GPA or percentage that will entitle them to be placed into the co-op by the institution.

With educational opportunities and systems differing from province to province in Canada, Indian students find it difficult to map their academic interest and choose an institution that can best cater to their needs. Official website like that of AUCC try to bridge this gap by providing comprehensive information on universities, programs offered and their contact details. Still the information is not reaching in that amount in which it should, primarily because of unawareness among Indian students. The university admission procedures, steps involved, international credential evaluation are highly complex and time consuming as compared to the admission systems of countries like Australia, UK and New Zealand which are fairly very simple and easy to understand. The entering admission requirements are also a bit high and some of good and genuine students are not successful in making to their university of choice because of it. With the presence of different central and state school boards and higher education institutions in India, a student’s academic score can vary and not present a true picture of his capability of successfully completing his intended program in Canada. This one aspect should be taken into consideration by the universities and institutes of Canada.

Research opportunities are tremendous in Canada and with funding opportunities available to deserving students at every step; Indian students are now getting attracted to research master and doctorate degrees in Canada. Numerous choices of specializations and research areas available help Indian students choose the field that they may not have even thought of pursuing. It just does not stop here. The flexibility of Canadian institutions also allows student to come with a completely new field in which he may want to pursue research and the institution fully support the students with their research ideas and makes them available proper resources.

I can say that a lot more is still to be traversed in promoting Canadian education among Indian students and making them understand every bit of it. It has to be a continuous and result oriented process.

Avinav Sharma is the Country Head — Canada of Kangaroo Studies Private Limited, India.

Source: News East West

TORONTO: Finally, an Indian-origin person is becoming CEO of Canada’s top financial institution.

Bharat Masrani, who is in charge of the bank’s US personal and commercial banking operations, will take over as the CEO of TD Trust – which is Canada’s top bank – from Nov 1.

It will be the first time that a person of Indian origin becomes the head of a bank in Canada. Currently, Sarabjit Marwah , who is the number two in Scotiabank in Toronto, is the highest-ranking Indian in corporate Canada.

But 56-year-old Bharat Masrani will now be the top Indian in corporate Canada when he takes the reins of the country’s top bank.

Masrani, who has been with TD Trust since 1987, started his career as a Commercial Lending Trainee where he rose to Account Manager, Commercial Accounts in 1988. He progressed through a number of positions and responsibilities before assuming the role of Vice President and Head, Corporate Banking Canada.

In 1996, he was appointed Vice President and Country Head for India and then to Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Co-Head in Europe in 1997.

In 1999, Bharat also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of TD Waterhouse Investor Services in Europe. Prior to his current position, Bharat was Vice Chair and Chief Risk Officer, Corporate Office, TD Bank Financial Group.

Bharat Masrani, who earned his Bachelor of Administration with Honours in 1978 and then his MBA in 1979 from York University’s Schulich School of Business, currently lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife Shabnam and two children.

“As we look to the future, the Board is confident that Bharat’s leadership, breadth of experience and global business insight will serve him well,” TD Trust chairman Brian Levitt said in a statement on Wednesday.

Outgoing CEO Ed Clark said, “Bharat brings a continuity of strategy, culture and values. I am extremely confident in the future of TD.”

The TD Board opted for Masrani for the top job because of his excellent execution of his boss Ed Clark’s strategies in the US where acquisitions of many banks, including those of Commerce Bancorp for more than $8-billion and some Florida banks, made TD Trust as one of the top ten banks in the US. In fact, the bank has more branches in the US (over 1,300) than in Canada (1,100).

TOKYO: Addressing a room of university students, Aya Kikuchi, a counselor, dished out tips for students bound for Canada. “One cultural thing to note is that there is a strong ‘ladies first’ orientation there,” she said at a meeting organized by Ryugaku Journal, an overseas study agency.

“So, people might open the door for you. Just say thanks and accept it,” she said, warning against the Japanese custom of yielding and hesitating when people offer help.

The orientation session for 80 eager students reflected a renewed interest among Japanese students for study-abroad programs, particularly among young women.

While the number of overseas students from other major Asian countries like China and India has boomed, there was a precipitous decline in the number of Japanese studying abroad. According to figures from the government and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 83,000 Japanese studied overseas in 2004, though that number dropped to fewer than 60,000 in 2009.

However, experts say the downward trend is reversing in Japan, partly because of demands by major employers, which are seeking to globalize.

The turning point was around autumn 2011, said Yukari Kato, executive vice president of Ryugaku Journal. “The government was beginning to realize they must globalize their human talent, and companies like Rakuten and Uniqlo were introducing in-house English-language policies,” she said, referring to a major online retailer and an internationally known clothing chain.

She added that employers were demanding solid foreign language skills and international experience.

Two trends stand out: One is that university students, eager to bolster their employability, are choosing short-term language programs in English-speaking countries like Australia and Canada. Another is the growing number of high school students looking to go to overseas.

Ryugaku Journal says the number of college students it arranged to send overseas rose 12 percent to 3,500 in 2012, while the number of high school students grew 94 percent.

Tatsu Hoshino, an independent study abroad counselor, said there were signs everywhere that more young Japanese were heading overseas — except in data from the Ministry of Education, which are released a few years after the fact.

“The earthquake in March 2011 did not dampen the growth,” he said, referring to the quake that was followed by a devastating tsunami and nuclear accident. “By contrast, as corporations grew more active internationally, students also began to look abroad.”

While more Japanese students still go to the United States and China, Canada has emerged as a new popular destination for language study, college and working holidays. According to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, the number of student participants in study-abroad fairs at the embassy jumped to 3,643 in 2012, from 2,375 in 2010.

“Quite frankly Japanese have a pretty good opinion of Canada, I think,” Gerald Keddy, parliamentary secretary to the minister of international trade, said by telephone from Ottawa. “They see us as neighbors of the United States but not American.”

Canada is safer and more multicultural and offers greater flexibility on visas and immigration, he said, adding, “We have done a great job of attracting students and allowing them to become part of Canadian society by allowing them to work while studying here.”

Japanese students can stay, study and travel in Canada without a visa for as long as six months and may opt for a holiday working visa that is good for a year.

Ami Katayanagi, a 21-year-old junior at a Tokyo college, called work opportunities a “major determinant” when she was planning to study abroad. Her 10-month stay in Vancouver will start with language training, followed by an internship at a hotel or another service outlet.

Personal security has also been a concern among Japanese students, particularly after recent school shootings in the United States. “My parents were telling me, ‘Oh, please assure us that you are going to be in a safe place,”’ Ms. Katayanagi said.

“Our streets are extremely safe. Our communities are extremely safe. Most Canadians are very friendly,” Mr. Keddy said. “If you are a Japanese parent and if you are thinking of your child going for a foreign education for whatever reason, what is happening in the U.S., it would be very difficult, I think, in clear conscience to send your child there.”

According to the Canadian government, 3,546 Japanese students required a study visa in 2011, up from 3,238 in 2010.

“Generally, people feel greater affinity with Canada, and perhaps stereotypically, people think that English spoken there is more elegant,” said Ms. Kato of Ryugaku Journal. “Also, the local institutions often have Japanese student adviser/counselor on the site.”

The number of Japanese students going to the United States has also risen recently, after having fallen sharply over the past decade and a half.

The number of Japanese students studying on U.S. campuses hit a peak of 47,000 in 1997, and then fell to 19,000 in 2011, according to Institute of International Education, a nonprofit U.S. organization.

But the number of new visas issued by the U.S. State Department to Japanese students rose 10 percent to 18,668 in 2012, from 16,811 in 2011.

Experts say there is a clear gender gap among Japanese students looking to go overseas.

“Overwhelmingly, it is female students who show interest,” said Kageaki Kajiwara, Dean of the School of Asia 21 at Kokushikan University in Tokyo. “Unfortunately, there is a disparity in career opportunities available in this male-dominated society, and opportunities might be greater overseas for Japanese women.”

Marin Nakazawa, a sophomore at Sophia University in Tokyo, is one of them. “I don’t like to be like those ladies I grew up with in my hometown,” she said of a town in Shiga Prefecture near Osaka. “They don’t know the world outside their own.”

Ms. Nakazawa, who is due to study at Tsinghua University in Beijing as an exchange student in the autumn, is eager to learn Chinese and one day help her father’s watch-retailing business move into the Chinese market. “I want to see for myself what it’s like to be there in China.”

Japanese employers are stepping up their efforts to recruit young Japanese with international skills, who are still rare on the job market.

Daisuke Watanabe, director of global recruitment and marketing at Disco Inc., which organizes international career fairs for students studying overseas, said the number of Japanese companies that participated in the annual Boston Career Forum, for those pursuing North American degrees, rose to 191 in 2012, from 171 in 2011. New participants included DeNA and Gree, leading mobile gaming companies, and Uniqlo. “These companies are very active in conducting recruitment” internationally, he said.

It is not yet clear whether the inward-looking mind-set prevalent among young Japanese — partly a result of growing complacency in an affluent society — will be reversed for real. “I am not sure if these students are turning into the type of people corporations want to hire,” Mr. Watanabe said. “The current turnaround mostly involves students going overseas for a short-term study. They are doing that because they are worried about getting jobs.”

A small but growing number of high school students are hoping to gain overseas university degrees. Benesse, an education company that offers counseling and tutoring for the SAT and English as a foreign language, began a program in 2008 to help high school students prepare for college overseas. Interest has peaked in the past few years, according to Masanori Fujii, chief of Benesse’s global business development unit. The number of Benesse clients who ended up at overseas universities rose to 135 in 2012, from 25 in 2011. This year, more than 200 students are likely to leave for overseas schools, Mr. Fujii said.

Benesse’s Route H program is for students who wish to go to top universities like Harvard and Yale. Four graduates of the program ended up at Harvard between 2010 and 2012.

Mr. Fujii said that that growing minority reflected a broader change in Japan. Previously, all elite students had to worry about was getting into the University of Tokyo, which would put them on track to a career with a top Japanese employer. “People are questioning the existing order,” he said. “They are asking themselves, ‘What’s going on?”’

After a wait of more than 10 years, Osmania University’s dream of a hostel for foreign students has finally taken shape. The modern hostel was inaugurated recently by chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Ved Prakash.

For the moment, the plush two-storeyed building, which can house 172 students, will only be available for male students pursuing their Masters or PhD courses. The reasons being cited are multiple, including security.

The hostel has 16 two-bed rooms and 18 three-bed rooms on each of the two floors.

“Each two-bed room also has a small kitchenette while a common spacious dining hall and kitchen on each floor is available for cooking. A sports lounge and a reading room with television are other attractions,” says C. Venugopal Rao, Director, University Foreign Relations Office (UFRO).

With a built-up area of nearly 50,000 sq.ft., the hostel was constructed at a cost of about Rs. 6.75 crore. Though there are just two floors now there is a provision for adding two more stories.

In fact, The idea of an International Students Hostel was mooted way back in 2002 and a proposal was submitted to the UGC seeking a financial assistance of Rs. 3.63 crores.

The authorities then planned to accommodate 200 students and an International Transit House with a provision of accommodating 50 girl students. However, the idea fructified only in February 2010 when the foundation stone was laid by the then Vice Chancellor, T. Tirupati Rao.

Source: Times of India

MUMBAI: The United Nations today conveyed regret over the Government of Canada’s withdrawal from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The convention is the only legally binding instrument to addresses desertification, land degradation, and drought.

“The Convention is stronger than ever before, which makes Canada’s decision to withdraw from the Convention all the more regrettable,” the UNCCD secretariat said in a press release from Germany. “We believe Canada will seize every opportunity to support efforts to sustain the implementation of the Convention for the good of present and future generations,” the UNCCD said.

Tenfold increase in recent budget wins plaudits from cash-poor universities

Source: gulfnews.com

Father consumes poison in bank over refusal of loan for daughter.

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: A middle-age man in Agali in Palakkad district attempted suicide by consuming poison in front of a public sector bank today, apparently to protest the denial of an education loan to his daughter. The man was identified as Rajan and his condition was reported to be critical.

Calgary, AB, April 2, 2013  – “Indians and Canadians of Indian descent should be proud of India’s strong economy, particularly that it is no longer considered a poor developing country,” said Devinder Shory, MP (Calgary Northeast) in response to concerns raised by some that Canada was removing India from the list of countries under the General Preferential Tariff (GPT).

As part of Economic Action Plan 2013 the Canadian Government removed India, along with several other BRIC countries, such as Brazil, China, and Russia from the special tariff deduction list. Countries were placed on this list back in 1974 based on criteria set by the World Bank, and had lower tariffs applied to their exports in a bid to give preferential access to the Canadian market for poor developing countries. The removal from the special tariff deduction list will be effective January 1, 2015.

“Removal from the special tariff deduction list is evidence of how far India has come during this period. Its economy is growing each and every year and this growth has lifted millions of people out of poverty and into long-term prosperity.”

“The good news, said MP Shory, is that Canada and India are currently negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Trade between our two countries could reach $15 billion by 2015, and the agreement, once signed, will help to increase trade between our countries.”

“The removal of India from the GPT will encourage both our governments to finish trade agreement negotiations by the end 2013, which is the target set by both our governments. The goal of the negotiations is not only to eliminate or reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, but also to increase and improve investment and expansion opportunities for businesses from both countries. Once the trade agreement is signed there will be no discernible impact from removing India from the GPT.”

BANGALORE: Our mushrooming higher education institutions are of little help, unless they lay emphasis on quality education, and health institutions focus on community-oriented research, especially malnutrition.

Every year, the government focuses on setting up new professional colleges. Instead, it should give importance to quality education and research, which Karnataka lacks, when compared to other progressive states.

Fears over the number of immigrants exploiting the student visa system to enter Britain illegally have been raised by a Telegraph investigation.

Amid negotiations for Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries, Canadian federal government this month decided to increase the tax on goods coming from India recently.

Source: The Times of India

GURGAON: The dropout rate at primary and upper primary levels in government schools in Haryana is reportedly 1% and 2% respectively while the gross enrolment ratio has considerably improved.

The government has taken steps to ensure that basic facilities including uniform, text books and work books are available to children in the age group of 6-14 years. State education minister Geeta Bhukkal said social mobilization programmes have been started in Mewat district to encourage enrolment and ensure every child in the area goes to school. Programmes such as Jajba-e-Taleem and Dastak-e-Taleem have recently been started in the district, under which members of school management committees, NGOs and eminent citizens conducted door-to-door survey to ensure 100% enrolment of students in schools.

Another programme, ‘Pravesh Utsav’, has also been launched in all the government schools across the state for the enrolment, retention and transition of students for classes I, VI, IX and XI. The target is to bring all children in the age group of 6-18 years in the mainstream of education. The school management committees (SMCs) have been constituted in all the schools in Haryana and funds are being directly transferred to SMCs for decentralization of power and their strengthening.

Bhukkal said all private schools in the state must have certificate of registration as per RTE norms. All such schools have been asked to get themselves recognized and after the implementation of RTE Act, recognition is compulsory for all private schools.

The Haryana State Teachers Selection Board has been established for regular and timely recruitment of teachers. As many as 8,403 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers and 1,910 masters have recently been posted in schools across the state. Recruitment of 9,870 JBT teachers is under underway. Apart from this, rationalization of JBT teachers as per RTE norms has also been done for improving the quality of education as well as maintaining the right student-teacher ratio.

Under new rules, foreign students who graduate with an Australian bachelor’s degree, masters or doctorate can work for up to four years in Australia upon completion.

International students have greater chances to find employment under the federal government’s changes to the 485 Temporary Graduate visa.

Under the changes to visa subclass 485, which took effect on March 28, foreign students who graduated with an Australian bachelor’s degree, masters or doctorate, can obtain a visa to remain and work in Australia for between two and four years, depending on their degree  — a significant increase on the previous limit of 18 months.

In an already competitive job market, the incentive is to lure high quality overseas students to study in Australia.

“Technically, it’s now much easier for international students to stay in Australia,” said Danny Ong, Multicultural Employment Consultant at Monash University. “But the main concern is that there is now a bigger group of international students competing for work opportunities”.

Remaining in Australia can be a gamble.

“This is a question that international students need to ask: it’s whether I can get a job,” Mr Ong said.

For international students, tuition fees could cost up to $30,000 per year, paid up-front, and application fees can cost almost $2,000.

“A lot of students find it very difficult to deal with parental expectations,” said Mr Ong. And this is affecting the quality of the international student experience.

“They tend to make an association between money and the quality of education. And that influences their interaction with the university,” he said.

Lyndal Partington, careers consultant at the University of NSW, says it is important to learn skills away from the classroom for a holistic education.

“It’s important to help them [international students] develop communication skills, team work skills — soft skills employers look for in graduates,” she said.

“One of the challenges is that they don’t have local work-experience and it’s hard to get their foot in the door. And another challenge is the difference in workplace culture between Australia and their home country,” said Ms Partington.

Under the 485 Temporary Graduate Visa, students can obtain a two-year work visa if they studied in Australia for at least 16 months and have completed either a bachelor’s degree or a masters by course work. Students who completed a masters by research can qualify for a three-year visa, while those who completed a doctorate get four years.

One Sunday in late August 2007, my college swim coach sat down with me and six of my teammates. Our American peers had been dismissed and we were left, a group of international students representing Sweden, South Africa, Croatia, and France.

“This first week of classes, you have a special assignment,” he said. “After each class you must introduce yourself to your professors. Then you must come up with a question, go to their office hours and ask it. It can be a question you already know the answer to; it doesn’t matter, just go anyway.”

It was the evening before the first day of classes. I was a 19-year-old freshman at Limestone College, a small college in rural South Carolina, and was strongly considering not completing my coach’s seemingly pointless assignment.

Later I realized it was the most important piece of advice anyone gave me during my years in college.

Most college professors share a number of attributes. They enjoy learning, which is why they chose a profession allowing them to read and research. They enjoy being around young people, which is why they chose to work in a college environment. And they, too, have been young at some point.

As an international student you bring to the table knowledge and points of view that can differ widely from those of your American peers. For a professor, usually an expert in his or her given field, this is extremely intellectually stimulating. Professors also, like any teacher, love to share their expertise.

Being able to carry an intelligent conversation with your professor on the subject he or she teaches will therefore elevate you to a level far above that of the average student. Seeking help outside of class doesn’t show that you are unintelligent, but that you are a motivated student.

So when you eventually fall behind, miss a class or fail to hand in an assignment, the relationship you have established with your professor will become invaluable. Your occasional tardiness can always slip by, because you have already proved that you are a good student, right?

U.S. colleges often have dozens of scholarship programs funded by various earmarked endowments, and more often than not professors make up most of the committees selecting the recipients. The hours you spend getting to know your professor may end up being rather lucrative.

And although you probably won’t be thinking about graduate school during your first week of classes, one day you just may, and already knowing whom you can ask for a letter of recommendation will lift a significant weight off of your shoulders.

Last but not least, most professors are genuinely nice and interesting people, which itself is enough reason to reach out to them.

As for me, I ended up doing what my coach told me. It resulted in not only an additional academic scholarship, an academic award, solid grades and a number of grad school recommendations, but also friendships that have lasted to this day.

It all began with an outstretched hand and a “hello.”

Anders Melin, from Sweden, is a former collegiate swimmer for Limestone College and the University of Missouri, where he earned an undergraduate degree in finance. He is now pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at New York University.

Source: Vancouver Sun

Henry Luan came to Vancouver from China in 2011 looking for a western high school experience, and a chance to go to university in Canada.

The Grade 10 student is among thousands of international students who have arrived in the Lower Mainland during the past decade. But many face an immediate and significant challenge — they speak little or no English, which makes it a struggle for them to communicate and fit in.

Many of these students have trouble with course material and often graduate late from high school. The language barrier also makes it harder to get into university, leading to more stress and pressure.

“When I first came here, I was trying to talk to people, but they didn’t understand what I was saying. It was awkward and I felt so bad,” says Luan.

Even after two years at University Hill Secondary School, he still has difficulties today. “You know you [understand] a lot more than you can actually express, and it is frustrating,” he said.

Joanne Park is a Grade 11 student at Earl Marriott Secondary School in Surrey. But if she had remained in Korea, she would already be in Grade 12.

In order to earn enough credits and learn English, Park has had to push her graduation off a year. Still, she is uncertain if this decision will give her a better chance of getting into university. It is even more frustrating because all of her friends will be graduating this year.

There is help available to such students within the school system.

If international students’ English-language skills are inadequate for regular English courses, they are put into English as a Second Language/English Language Learners (ESL/ELL) classes.

In B.C., students need at least 80 course credits to graduate from high school. That creates a problem because students cannot earn credits from ESL classes.

On top of that, in order to graduate, students must also have credits for English 10, 11, and 12, as well as provincial exam marks for English 10 and 12.

“Everyone wants to graduate on time, so they rush through our ELL programs,” explains Gleneagle Secondary’s head counsellor Bindy Johal.

She sees many international students drop English 10 because of failing marks, but that makes graduating on time even harder.

Some try to earn these credits in other ways, such as taking online courses.

Johal doesn’t believe that is a good idea. Online courses lack the “face-to-face” element that is important when learning English, she said.

Iqbal Gill, a counselor at University Hill Secondary, said it is expensive for international students to study in Canada, and parents are unwilling to accept that their children will not graduate on time.

Gill said that students are being sent to Vancouver at younger ages to have more time to learn language skills. But this can be a double-edged sword, since it is harder for younger children to be away from parents, she says.

“There are times when I see (young international students) struggling, and it would be really nice if they could be with their families,” said Gill.

Another challenge is that international students’ proficiency in English also affects their mark in other classes. They understand the concepts behind math and science courses, but the language barrier brings their marks down. This also pulls down their admission average for universities.