No GST on fee for hostels at schools, colleges: Finance Ministry

It clarified that services provided by an educational institute to students, faculty and staff are exempt from GST

Mumbai: Remaining true to its claim of keeping education free from GST, the Finance Ministry on Thursday clarified that there will be no GST levied on annual subscription/fees charges for lodging in hostels under educational institutions.

Addressing fake reports that claim 18 per cent GST will be levied on annual fee charged by hostels, the ministry said, “There is no change in tax liability relating to education and related services in the GST era, except reduction in tax rate on certain items of education”.

The ministry statement further clarified that services that an educational institute provides to its students, faculty and staff are “fully exempt” from GST.

It further went on to define educational institution as one imparting “pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent or, education as a part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by any law for the time being in force or, education as a part of an approved vocational education course”.

Therefore, the services of lodging in hostels provided by all such educational institutions do not fall under the ambit of GST.

The Finance Ministry and the GST Council have from the very start maintained that education will not attract GST. Only some items that fall under the category of education, like school bags have been taxed under GST.

The ministry has been issuing a slew of clarifications to make citizens aware of the new tax regime that has transformed the Indian taxation system.

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Add personal care to your child’s education with these apps

With most of parents crunched with time, it becomes critical to find a suitable support for managing their childs’ education.

Even with the advent of technological inclusion in education, parents and teachers realize that human connect is an absolute necessity for a growing child’s guided mental, emotional and psychological development.  With most of parents in today’s world crunched with time and in many finding it difficult to handle the ever changing syllabus, it becomes critical for them to find a suitable and qualified support for managing their childs’ education. 

Interestingly, in the well-connected technology-supported world of today, nothing seems to be impossible. Finding tutors, as per the requirements for the kids is no more a task either.  Here come the role education startups, offering offline private tutoring through their customer friendly apps. Over the years these startups boosting private tutoring industry in India have bought a revolution. They serve as a link between students and tutors.

Genext Students

Emphasising on Hybrid model of teaching, Genext Students app is one of the most convenient way of connecting with tutors.  Genext Students is a one-of-its-kind platform which brings quality home tutors along with proprietary content (online & offline) to the doorstep of parents/students using technology as a key driver. It enables an enhanced way of delivering private coaching with the best of technology. The mobile app, with its technological features, is made available to the tutors and the parents combining the best of private tutoring with technology-enabled learning for CBSE, ICSE & State Boards. It also empowers educators & tutors to become entrepreneurs, and in turn, leads to the creation of a wave of ‘TUTORPRENEURS’ across the country.

Tutorindia

TutorIndia has been designed to make it really easy and convenient for students and teachers. Students can find tutors for online private tutoring and help with assignments online. Apart from teachers for online tutoring, it also helps in find local teachers in India. Tutors can list there profiles so students contact them. Thousands of tutors have benefited so far and millions will. Tutors can directly apply to jobs posted by students. Again, there is no charge for contacting students and the service is completely free.

UrbanPro

UrbanPro — previously known as ThinkVidya — has more than three lakhs professionals on its platform and has served five lakhs consumers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and the National Capital Region in the education segment.

Tutor.com

Tutor.com offers one-to-one learning solutions for students and professionals. All the services are live, on demand and online. They provide homework help, tutoring, peer coaching, professional development, training, career help but it comes down to the core philosophy that when someone needs help the best way to get it is right away from an experienced expert. Their experts are online 24/7 ready to help. The results: over 14 million one-to-one sessions completed.

TutorCloud

Tutors can use this great website to showcase the services they have to offer learners. It helps to simplify the process of finding new students and allows learners to easily connect with those in their area or who have expertise in subjects with which they struggle.

GlobalScholar

GlobalScholar offers a wide range of online services, including homework help and tutoring. Tutors can use the site to build personalized learning environments for their students, which make it simple to teach, share information, and even track progress over time. With many large school districts already using the program, students may already be familiar with it, and progress in tutoring sessions can easily be shared with the students’ teacher.

ziizoo

There are a lot of online tutoring programs out there these days, but ziizoo sets itself apart by being the first to integrate tutoring with Facebook. Students can sign up, pay as they go, and get help from tutors on a wide range of subjects. Since it’s all integrated directly into Facebook, it’s easy for students to keep up and check back.

TutorVista

Tutors can offer their services through TutorVista, a site that makes it simple for tutors and learners to connect and interact online. The site offers 24/7 availability, testing, homework help, and tracking, making it a step in the right direction for both students and those teaching them.

Edufire

Share your expertise through Edufire, a site that offers classes and tutoring to learners of all ages and abilities. Live video chats, one-on-one sessions, and pre-recorded content make it simple to find help with just about any topic, from math to Chinese.

Growing Stars

Growing Stars is another online tutoring site, though one that focuses on hiring tutors who have an MS or above. Those who are qualified can apply to tutor, finding long-term clients who teach math, science, history, and other subjects through online video sessions and training.

24 Hour Answers

This site offers college homework help and online tutoring in just about every subject imaginable. As a result, both students and tutors will find it to be a great resource, and unlike many other tutoring sites, this one focuses on helping students at the college or university level.

e-Tutor

e-Tutor offers both students and tutors some incredibly helpful learning tools, from instant feedback and progress tracking to the ability to self-pace and direct any online learning. Resources aren’t just for students who need help catching up, but also gifted students, homeschooled students, and adult learners, too.

HomeworkHelp

Need some quick help with homework? This site can be a great place to find it. There’s a store, online tutorials, and, most importantly, great academic services that match up with state standards for K-12 education.

TutaPoint

Students pay by the hour to use the tutoring services offered through this site, which focuses on math, foreign language, and science. In addition to being able to offer or receive tutoring, the site is also home to books and videos that can help students along as well.

Sylvan Online

Sylvan is keeping up with the demand for web-based learning resources by offering their own online tutoring program. Instead of heading into a Sylvan Learning Center, students can learn from anywhere they choose. This may make tutoring easier for many families who are too busy or too far from traditional tutoring resources.

Vienova

Tutors at Vienova offer one-on-one sessions with students through video chat, whiteboards, and interactive conversations in subjects like English, math, biology, and economics. It’s another simple, easy way for learners to find high-quality tutors and for tutors to offer their services to students.

Care.com

Forget about posting tear off posters at your local grocery store; there’s an easier way to find clients these days. Tutors and students can connect through Care.com. Tutors can create a profile that allows them to showcase the services they offer, and students can pick the tutor they think will be the best fit.

TutoringMatch

Here you’ll find another tool that focuses on online tutoring. Visitors to the site can not only search for a tutor who works in the subject they need help with, they can also get online instruction from that tutor right through the site.

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Internet Saathi: Google empowers women in 100,000 villages

India has taken the lead to become the fastest growing Internet user market in the world.

If you talk to a few women deep within the rural village areas of India, and ask them what they wish, you will be probably be surprised by their answers.  “We want to find jobs online,” “I want to see temples,” “I want to be able to buy from my mobile,” “I want my kids to learn English,” “We wish we could talk to our phones in our own native language.” These are a just a bunch of answers that a few women revealed.

Previously, these women were afraid to even touch a smartphone, worried that they will spoil it. However, things are soon changing. They are now demanding services that can help them get more from the Internet — they have come a long way.

Even as India has taken the lead to become the fastest growing Internet user market in the world, Google states that most of India’s Internet is still dominated by its male users. ‘The digital gender divide is even wider in rural India where digital literacy amongst women continues to be a challenge, this combined with socio-economic challenges are the major barriers that prevent women from using the Internet,’ says Google.

Google says that they have been working hard to change this male: female ratio of new Internet users in rural India by introducing the Internet Saathi program. Launched with a pilot in Rajasthan in July 2015, they announced their plans to scale the program, to cover 300,000 villages across India in December 2015.

Google now shares that the Internet Saathi program, in partnership with Tata Trusts, is live in over 100,000 villages across ten states in India.

There are over 25,000 Internet Saathis who are working everyday across these villages, and are helping over 10 million women learn about the Internet and how they can use it in their daily lives.

Several Internet Saathi’s in rural India are learning about the Internet or their own needs and for their families, kids and their communities.  These Saathis are now increasingly seen as change agents in their villages and continue to find more support from the communities and village heads for their work.

Google has reached this milestone and is looking at measuring the impact of the program. Findings of the research from IPSOS, a market research company on the socio-economic impact of improving digital literacy amongst women in rural India, is providing Google with insights on what more needs to be done. Almost 90 per cent of women who have attended the trainings with the Saathis have a better understanding of Internet, and on an average 25 per cent of women who have learned to use the Internet continue to use the Internet today. At 35 per cent, Gujarat is presently having the highest percentage of women continuing to use the Internet after attending the program, while Rajasthan rides at 17 per cent, which is the lowest.

The research findings state that the primary use case for Internet is to learn new skills and find information.

The research also stated that the cost of smart phones is the biggest barrier for internet usage after training and over half of the women trained cannot afford to buy the phone

Impact on social standing of women in rural India:

Seven per cent of women trained under the program feel that their social standing has improved. They believe their social standing has improved at individual, household and community level — they feel more informed, more confident about themselves

Economic Impact: Overall, 33 per cent trained women think that their economic condition have improved by learning new skills on the Internet.

Women feel that Internet has helped them to supplement their income in their existing occupation; income increased by an additional 1 per cent in the villages where training was conducted; and those who continue to use internet in their daily lives believe they have upped their income additionally by another 4 per cent.

Loaded with insights and learning’s from the last two years, Google is continuing to expand the program further and have started to roll out Internet Saathi program in Haryana and Bihar, covering around 1,000 villages, and 7,000+ villages respectively.

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Osmania University CET 2014 Results, OUCET 2014 Results

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Infosys become first Indian IT company to generate own power

BANGALORE: In 2006, soaring hotel costs and traffic snarls led Infosys to build Le Terrace, a four-star hotel with 500 rooms for its employees and overseas clients in its campus in Bangalore's Electronics City.

Eight years on, the software industry posterchild is about to embark on generating its own power, in the process saving costs, getting clean reliable power for its operations and fulfilling its broader obligations to society.

Infosys has proposed a 50 mw solar park in Karnataka, becoming the first software company in India to think of generating its own power that will meet a bulk of the electricity needs of its offices in Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore.

Karnataka's energy minister DK Shivakumar told ET on Monday that Infosys had held one round of talks with the state government in which it had expressed keenness to build the solar power facility.

"The company will buy land on its own," he said. Infosys confirmed the intent and said it will submit a formal proposal to the government once they finalise the land.

"We hope to commission the park in about a year," said Infosys Executive Vice President Ramadas Kamath told ET. Asked why Infosys is entering captive generation, he said that his company wanted to be self-sufficient in energy.

"We want to promote use of clean energy and reduce carbon emission. Solar is the best option. Several parts of Karnataka have good solar intensity. We now have solar technologies wherein you recover your investment in eight years. It has less of maintenance hassle, and easy to build," said Kamath, who heads facilities, administration, security and sustainability at Infosys.

Kamath said the idea to build a solar park had been mooted a year ago by Infosys' head of Green Initiative Rohan Parekh, and had won the support of the company's board of directors. "Narayana Murthy and the Board have been very keen that we do this," Kamath said.

The company has already started looking for some 300 acres of land in regions of Karnataka where solar intensity is high.

The company expects project cost, including land, to be about Rs 360-380 crore, small change for a company that is sitting on a cash pile of Rs 30,000 crore. Infosys estimates that it would require about five acres of land to generate one megawatt of solar power and excluding land costs, each MW of capacity will require its shell out around Rs 6.5 crore.

All the Infosys offices in Karnataka, which between them have around 65,000 seats, consume about 95 million units a year. The pro- posed 50 MW will generate about 84 million units, nearly 90% of Infosys present energy needs.

1 MW capacity equals 1000 kilowatts or 1.67 million units of energy a year and is enough to light up anywhere between 300 and 350 homes in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore.

"We will buy the balance from the grid," Kamath said, adding that the company would consider scaling up its generation capacity based on its experience with the 50 MW initially planned. Grid power presently costs the company, which has managed to halve its per capita consumption of power between 2007 and 2013, about Rs 5.65 per unit, while its own solar power would cost about Rs 3 per unit after factoring in depreciation.

Barring a few states, grid power is unreliable in most parts of India, forcing companies to also have diesel-operated generators for back-up power and raising their overall power costs.

Companies such as Infosys, which carry out mission-critical operations for mostly overseas clients, need uninterrupted power and its solar experiment, if successful, could lead to other firms to think along similar lines.

(Courtesy : timesofindia)

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How Nokia will help its former employees in India

CHENNAI: Nokia India is implementing what it calls a 'Bridge' programme for former employees who lost their jobs, providing vital help during a difficult period and earning goodwill among those who worked at its Chennai plant. 

The Finnish mobile phone maker's India manufacturing unit was at one time a marquee investment and a symbol of India's importance for Nokia. But the company quickly fell into troubled times. It has shed thousands of jobs at the Chennai factory but in a rare example of corporate social responsibility, it is trying to help its former employees cope with their reversal in fortunes. 
Among those benefitting is K Thyagarajan, 27, a former Nokia India worker who like most others suddenly lost his job and was clueless about what he would do next. He had opted for the voluntary retirement scheme and the exit had left him at a crossroads. "We were like a family, nearly 7,000 employees at the factory. I was extremely sad when they announced the VRS," said Thyagarajan. And just as he was trying to recover from the job loss, he received a letter from Nokia India requesting him to attend some interactive sessions. Thyagarajan initially ignored the letter, but then decided to give in to the persuasion. 

Thyagarajan became a part of Nokia's Bridge programme, which conducts awareness and training sessions for employees to help them secure a new job or start a new venture. It is aimed at those who have worked with the company for at least five years. Apart from structured financial assistance, the programme offers beauty treatment courses, MS Office/Tally accounting courses, training for commissioning of solar units, desktop publishing modules and garment-making. In all, there are about 30 modules being conducted in around 40 locations in TN. 

According to company statistics, over 60% of the outgoing employees have attended the awareness sessions and almost all have opted for the training sessions that have commenced in a few centres. 

Ajit Isaac, the chairman and managing director of Ikya Human Capital Solutions, said that initiatives such as these help employees gain new skills and provide them the confidence to seek opportunities outside. Industry experts are of the view that helping employees to get another job in a difficult situation is new in the Indian context whereas globally many organisations do so.

"These programmes would be based on the opportunities available in the market. This is a welcome move. Any corporate which does this, they have the long-term interests of their employees in mind," said K Purushothaman, a regional director of software industry grouping Nasscom. 

Nokia's factory was excluded from a Microsoft's recent acquisition of Nokia's devices and services units. The Chennai plant was left out of the deal because it is entangled in a legal dispute with tax authorities in New Delhi and Chennai, and the assets of this division has been frozen as a result of the dispute. 

The factory, located at Sriperumbudur, about 40 km from Chennai, is now operating as a contract manufacturer for Microsoft. Although the timeframe of this arrangement with Microsoft is unclear, Nokia India began cutting its workforce by announcing an early retirement scheme. A month after concluding the VRS programme, Nokia India came up with the Bridge programme. It has tied up with TVS Training and Services and Ace Skill Development to design and implement the programme. 

A Nokia India spokeswoman says the company has invested "tens of millions of euros" to run the Bridge program globally in which around 18,000 employees have participated. She claims the program has been successful where it "has resulted in the creation of 1,000 new companies across 19 cities/sites worldwide" and "more than 90% of those companies are still active". 

The company declined to provide specific information on investments in the programme in India. 

P Chitra, 27, who worked at Nokia India's factory for eight years, has now registered a partnership firm with other four ex-employees to export fancy jewellery. The group of five was already pursuing this as a hobby before deciding to take it up as a full-time business opportunity. The initial investment for the business came from the Bridge compensation and the VRS amounts of these five former Nokia employees. 

"We are aiming to earn a profit of Rs 1 lakh per person per month," said a confident Chitra.

(Courtesy : timesofindia)

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SAP brings cloud-based learning to university students

SAP today announced a cloud-based offering designed for students to incorporate the study of SAP solutions into university coursework. The student edition of SAP Learning Hub offers a comprehensive library of electronic content that universities can provide to students for self-study covering close to 150 SAP solutions. It also includes access to e-learning courses, handbooks and other training materials from the SAP Education organization tailored for students’ needs. Through the student edition of SAP Learning Hub, students can prepare for future employment on their chosen career path or prepare for SAP certification exams. This is the latest edition of the new and expanded version of the cloud-based SAP Learning Hub site announced earlier this year.  

Universities can purchase access to the student edition of SAP Learning Hub on behalf of students who then receive access to the site. With a wide range of high-quality content and optional live access to training systems from SAP, students will be set up to train when and where they choose. Students can also access social learning rooms to collaborate with peers and interact with SAP subject-matter experts. The student edition is offered at a lower entry price point for the academic sector, with optional access to live SAP training systems for select courses.

“The generation currently enrolled in universities around the world represents the workforce of the future and both SAP and our ecosystem stand to gain from this impending influx of talent,” said Markus Schwarz, senior vice president and global head of SAP Education. “With social collaboration features and interactive learning rooms, the student edition of SAP Learning Hub meets the learning needs and habits of today’s students and gives them a firm foundation for pursuing an SAP certification, thereby opening up additional career paths.”

“With the student edition of SAP Learning Hub, we can bring young people a blended learning approach that expands their access to SAP innovations,” said Ann Rosenberg, Vice President and Global Head of SAP University 

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Careers in Journalism

Pen is mightier than the sword. Even today, the younger generation is attracted to journalism. Everyday, there are several events happening across the world - political, cultural, religious, educational, social and natural events, etc. We come to know about these events sitting in our houses. How is that possible? Through mass communication, providing information to a large crowd at the same time. But, for this, someone has to collect the information as well as present it. This is the main aim of journalism. Journalism includes investigating, analysing and reporting local as well as world events, trends, current affairs, and so on.

Qualification
Journalism courses are offered at graduation and postgraduation levels. To become a journalism , one can complete a Bachelor's in mass communication/ mass media/journalism after +2. After completion in a related graduation field, one may complete a Master's in journalism or mass communication. A graduate (who has a flair for writing) from any other field can also opt for a postgraduate course in journalism.

Also required is command over language, confidence, enthusiasm, patience and perseverance, ability to differentiate between fact and fiction, adhering to deadlines, team cohesiveness, sensitivity to different views and lifestyles, in-depth knowledge about various fields such as politics, culture, religion, social and current affairs. The most important fact is that people generally feel that journalism is all about writing. It is. However, it is also about reading and most importantly, the ability to express one's thoughts on varied topics. Journalism is for people who are ready to explore various opportunities 24/7, without the constraints of cultural upbringing, gender, and are also ready to go beyond geographical boundaries.

Job prospects
There are different categories in which the media industry can be divided - print and electronic. As the name suggests, everything that is printed comes under print media, which includes newspapers, magazines, journals, tabloids, dailies and books. On the other hand, electronic media includes content on television, radio and the internet. With changes in the society, even this field has undergone a radical change. A journalist has to cover stories/ features on various aspects of life i.e. political, financial, leisure, crime, sports, entertainment, spiritual, educational, infrastructure, technological, medical, and so on. Not to forget, along with the newspapers, there has been an increase in the number of magazines too. Specialised magazines are available in the field of fashion, beauty, family, for youth, travel, medical, technological, lifestyle, education, sports, etc. They can be in many languages.

Some of the work opportunities are in the areas of advertising agencies; educational institutes, magazines, news papers, portals/websites of publications, publishing houses, radio channels as well as television channels. While there are opportunities in this field, it is a competitive field. Therefore, one has to perform at the highest level and be able to work under difficult situations. However, if one persists with hard work and passion, a career in journalism can be a fulfilling and lucrative option.

Skills required• Inquisitive and investigative mind 
• Alertness 
• Adaptive and tolerant of changing and difficult situations 
• Good communication skills

(Courtesy : educationtimes)

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IIT Bombay launches its first MOOCs

Further to its collaboration with EdX, a massive open online course (MOOC) platform, last year, IIT Bombay (IIT-B) recently launched its first three MOOCs.

While sessions for two of the courses – Introduction to Computer Programming (part one) and Thermodynamics – will commence this July, the third course – Introduction to Computer Programming (part two) – will begin in September.

Informs Deepak Phatak, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay, “The quality and content offered online will be same as that offered on our campus. The only difference being the MOOCs will allow the students to learn anytime, from anywhere and at a convenient speed. Students can revisit study material as and when required and skip familiar topics.”

The courses can be pursued by anyone and will be delivered through sessions grouped into several themes or topics. Each session will be made up of two to four 15-20 minute ‘episodes’. Each episode will consist of a video recorded lecture of about 8-10 minutes, followed by some practice problems/ quizzes.

There will be additional reading material/ references, which the participants can use for greater clarity, if required. Regular interactive sessions through discussion forums, video conferencing and other such technologies are also being planned.

Students can register for an honour code certificate or for audit free of cost for the initial offerings. For students who wish to get a verified certificate of achievement at the end of the course, a charge of about Rs 1,500 will be levied.

(Courtesy : educationtimes)

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Unusual career options for commerce graduates

Commerce graduates are increasingly opting for non-traditional careers. Here’s a list of five offbeat career options that are gaining popularity among them

With a large number of Indian companies setting up global facilities, employment opportunities for professionals across sectors have increased massively. This has impacted the career choices of young graduates from all streams – arts, science and commerce. While jobs in banking, company secretary and chartered accountancy remain popular among commerce graduates, many freshers are opting for unique professions in the fields of medical transcription, library science, social work, image consulting, food stylist, travel and tourism, entrepreneurship, healthcare management, sports management, etc.  

Some of the unusual career options for commerce graduates in India are:

TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Being the largest revenue generating industry, travel and tourism is a promising career choice for commerce graduates, who can opt for logistics related jobs. Graduates can apply their business and commerce skills and understand client relationship from the business perspective. Travel consultant or travel advisors are the leading roles in this space.
Skills required: Aspirants should possess good communication skills and be open to travelling
Salary: Rs 4-6 lakh

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION
Medical transcription, an allied health profession, deals with the process of transcription or converting voice-recorded reports, dictated by physicians or other healthcare professionals, into text format. Foreign countries are increasingly outsourcing their medical transcription jobs to Indian companies. 
Some of the leading industries hiring medical transcriptionists are healthcare, education, pharma/biotechnology, etc.
Skills required: Candidates must be good with spellings, be good listeners, have knowledge of foreign phonetics and punctuations, adequate research skills, a knack for different languages/accents, above average typing skills and be competent in picking up new medical transcription software.
Salary:  Rs 12,000-40,000 per month (based on performance, productivity and quality) 

E-COMMERCE AND FMCG
With the boom in online shopping, there are a number of options for commerce graduates in fields like liquidation, post-sales, logistics management, etc. 
Skills required: Aspirants should be pros in finance and accounting 
Salary: Rs 3-5 lakh per annum

SOCIAL WORK
The growth in the social sector and the emerging NGO scene in India, have opened up options for commerce graduates to join the fundraising department and effectively utilise their economic and business skills. 
There are ample self-employment opportunities available in the field of social work. Some industries hiring social workers are IT, healthcare, education, consulting services, etc.
Skills: Problem solving, communication and time management skills are a must
Salary: Rs 5,000 per month (starting level for a social worker in an NGO); Rs 7,000 per month (starting level for personnel and labour welfare officer)

LIBRARY SCIENCE
Library science is the study of how to operate a library. The field is made up of several branches:
Public services: Circulation and reference librarians assist patrons to find information and check out books
Technical services: Books and other forms of media are catalogued according to the Dewey or Library of Congress call numbers, processed into the library’s online card catalogue system and readied for the shelves.
Administration: Library directors or administrators study the field of library science extensively to keep library operations running smoothly.
Skills: Candidates must possess various soft skills along with technical skills. These include good communication, interpersonal, leadership, project management, presentation and teaching skills. The essential technical skills include know-how of electronic resources, understanding and proficiency in research tools and devices applicable to a library and understanding computer operating systems
Salary: Rs 10,000-25,000 per month

(Inputs from Srikanth Rengarajan, executive director and president, ManpowerGroup India; Rashi Thakur founder and director, MentorMpact; Sunil Goel, MD GlobalHunt)
Source: TimesJobs.com Bureau

( Courtesy : educationtimes )

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