New IIMs, market revival push up CAT applications

Better placement records last year, promise of new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and hopes of an economic revival have pushed up the number of applications for this year's Common Admission Test (CAT), an increase after five years.

While 2008 saw 2.76 lakh applying for the exam, the number of applicants registering for the MBA entrance exam went down in 2009 and 2010. There was a marginal rise in 2011, but numbers dropped again from 2012. In 2014, there were 1.89 lakh applicants but the total candidates who have registered for the exam this year jumped to 2.18 lakh, said IIMAhmedabad which is conducting CAT this year.

Foreign Faculty Members under GIAN Programme for IITs, IIMs and IISc

Under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme, some of the major higher education academic institutes like IIMs, IITs and IISc would get foreign faculty members for this academic year. The national coordinator for collaborating with institutes like IITs, IIMs, IISc, and NITs under GIAN has been selected to be IIT-Kharagpur.
According to the Director of IIT Kharagpur, Professor P P Chakrabarti they have planned 500 such courses by foreign teachers for the academic year 2015-16. For this purpose there has been outlay of about Rs. 35 crore. There would be faculty members joining in as distinguished, adjunct, visiting faculty or professor of practice for various institutes. There would be other faculty members would come by to deliver short or semester long courses in these institutes. Such courses would be for credit and would be made available by the host institution for participation from other institutions.