Latest news with #Associate
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
VIT launches new BBA programme in Vellore campus to make students industry-ready at global level
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is introducing a new programme under its Bachelor of Business Administration course which will help students navigate global careers better with the right skills, knowledge and exposure, from this academic session. A panel of three speakers from VIT outlined the course details, the eligibility criteria and its future opportunities at The Hindu-Education Plus webinar on Navigating Global Education with BBA, held in association with VIT on Friday under 'Career counselling series'. The new programme BBA (Financial Analytics) is a four-year collaborative degree programme between VIT and Binghamton University, State University of New York, under which students wishing to study abroad could complete first two years in Vellore campus and the last two years in the US. Subashini R, Associate Professor and Divisional Head of Human Resource Management, VIT Business School, said the curriculum had been jointly designed and developed after lot of research. Citing 2015 to 2025 statistics, she said, it was found that employability of management graduates in India was the highest at 78% followed by engineering and Computer Applications at 71.5% and 71% respectively. Manoharan M, Associate Professor at the VIT Business School, who is involved in implementing global business management programmes with US universities, said, industries such as banking, investment, insurance, technology, healthcare and consultancy firms are actively seeking skilled analysts to navigate financial complexities. Last date for applying is May 31 midnight.
Scoop
3 days ago
- General
- Scoop
Open Polytechnic Staffer's Blooming Floristry Skills On Display At Graduation
The flowers at Open Polytechnic's graduation ceremony in Wellington on Tuesday 27 May had special significance, as they were arranged by award-winning Academic Staff Member in floristry, Megan Parker. Since Megan is based in the Wellington region, it made perfect sense for Open Polytechnic to call on her 40 years of floristry expertise. This is the fifth time she has carried out this role. The Wellington ceremony saw 115 graduates receive their diplomas and degrees from Open Polytechnic, New Zealand's specialist provider of online learning. 'It's an excellent opportunity for me to give back to Open Polytechnic and hopefully my floral arrangements inspire new learners to take up studying floristry,' Megan says. Megan recently received an Associate of Honour, (AHRIH), the highest award possible from the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture's (RNZIH) at the New Zealand National Awards. The award was for services to horticulture and is limited to just 60 award holders at any one time. According to the RNZIH, the national awards recognised Megan's expertise, knowledge and services to the field of horticulture in New Zealand. 'It was an honour to be recognised with such a high award by the Royal NZ Institute of Horticulture,' Megan says. Megan has been a member of the New Zealand Professional Florists (NZPF) since 1985. To find out more about studying floristry at Open Polytechnic, go to As New Zealand's specialist provider of open and distance learning, Open Polytechnic enrols more than 35,000 mainly part-time students per year. The majority of students are adult learners, combining work and study.
Online Citizen
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Online Citizen
Jamus Lim criticises Yale-NUS book disposal as failure of top-down decisions without consultation
Associate Professor Jamus Lim, Workers' Party Member of Parliament for Sengkang GRC, has weighed in on the National University of Singapore's (NUS) attempted disposal of Yale-NUS College library books, describing it as emblematic of the problems with top-down decision-making carried out without meaningful consultation. Lim made the remarks in a Facebook post on 21 May 2025, a day after public criticism erupted over reports that hundreds of books from the Yale-NUS library were being discarded. NUS issued a apology on 21 May, acknowledging the misstep. In comments reported by CNA, University Librarian Associate Professor Natalie Pang called the incident an 'operational lapse'. Lim calls book disposal symbolic of top-down decisions and missed educational opportunities Reflecting on his personal reverence for books, Lim wrote, 'As a child, my mother routinely warned me never to sit on books… they were an embodiment of knowledge.' He noted that both he and his wife, as academics and bibliophiles, have long respected the value of printed knowledge. 'It was somewhat distressing… to hear about how a large number of books—previously housed at the Yale-NUS Library—had been unceremoniously discarded on a sidewalk, before they would then be shredded,' Lim wrote. He commented that this event symbolised the 'clinical manner' in which Yale-NUS College itself was shut down. Lim criticised the missed opportunity, stating that many of the books were in excellent condition and could have been redistributed with 'some advanced planning and consultation'. Lim noted reports that students passing by were prevented from taking any of the books due to concerns over RFID tags still embedded in them. He dismissed this explanation as a technicality, suggesting that such issues were easily surmountable. He cited research on the long-term benefits of book ownership, referencing studies like Freakonomics and a 2018 social science study which indicated that even the presence of books in a home is associated with improved academic outcomes in children. 'The whole sorry episode strikes me as yet another instance of how top-down decisions, made without widespread consultation with diverse stakeholders, can lead to undesirable outcomes,' he stated. Lim emphasised that while democratic processes can be messy, they help avoid 'the most egregious missteps'. Books already destroyed by time NUS intervened, says recycling company On 21 May, Assoc Prof Pang said that although excess books are usually rehomed within the NUS library system or offered to both faculty and students, this time, students were not given that opportunity. 'We understand later that many students were interested in having these books, and we would have usually acceded to their requests,' she said. 'We did not do so on this occasion, and we apologise.' To address the situation, NUS announced it would organise a book giveaway and review its processes to ensure broader access to surplus materials in future. Most of the Yale-NUS library collection had been redistributed to other NUS libraries. However, remaining volumes were offered only to faculty. Books that were not taken were sent for recycling, which Pang said was consistent with standard library practices. The issue escalated when it was revealed that the books had already been destroyed before NUS attempted to intervene. According to an employee from Green Orange Enviro, the recycling company involved, NUS contacted them at about 3pm on 20 May to stop the recycling. By then, the materials had already been processed at Asia Recycling Resources. Students at the scene reported seeing books loaded onto recycling trucks and attempted to intervene. CNA reported that two NUS staff and two employees from the recycling firm stopped them, stating the books were 'slated for disposal' and could not be kept. An NUS librarian told students the disposal had to proceed due to a short clearance timeline set by the NUS Law Faculty and campus infrastructure team. The Straits Times cited a former senior Yale-NUS librarian who estimated the library held 40,000 to 45,000 volumes. Around 8,500 remain available for giveaway. A student-led petition titled Save the Yale-NUS Library Books has called for transparency and accountability. It claimed around 2,000 volumes, valued at over S$100,000, were destroyed, and questioned the decision's alignment with NUS's Sustainability Plan. As of 11.51am on 21 May, the petition had garnered 667 signatures. Yale-NUS College is set to close this year, with its final cohort graduating in May 2025. The NUS Law Faculty, currently based at the Bukit Timah campus, is scheduled to relocate to the Yale-NUS premises later in the year, prompting the need to clear existing facilities.
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Business Standard
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
India's core sector growth plunges to eight-month low of 0.5% in April
Output growth in India's eight core infrastructure industries plummeted to an eight-month low of 0.5 per cent in April from an upwardly revised 4.6 per cent growth recorded in March, with three sectors contracting sharply, including refinery products and fertilisers, while electricity and natural gas clocked very feeble upticks. Base effects also pulled down last month's growth print, as the Index of Core Industries (ICI) had risen a sharp 6.9 per cent in April 2024, which was the joint highest in the past thirteen months. Cement production grew at the fastest pace among the core sectors, rising 6.7 per cent in April, but this was almost half the pace recorded in March and the lowest uptick in six months. Steel output grew 3 per cent and electricity generation rose a mere 1 per cent, the slowest uptick in seven months for both sectors. Coal production rose at a three-month high pace of 3.5 per cent, while natural gas output grew for the first time in ten months, albeit by a fractional 0.4 per cent, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday. Crude oil output (-2.8 per cent) contracted for the fourth consecutive month, that economists attributed to low global prices, while output in refinery products contracted for the first time in eight months, with a 4.5 per cent drop that marked the sharpest downturn since November 2022. The eight core sectors constitute 40.27 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which had recorded a mild recovery to rise 3 per cent in March. Economists now expect industrial output growth to drop to around 1 per cent in April. 'The impact of Tariff Tantrums-led unprecedented economic uncertainty along with a high base effect pulled the infrastructure output growth down to be the lowest since August 2024, with six of eight sectors seeing a moderation in growth,' said Paras Jasrai, Associate Director at India Ratings and Research. Jasrai said he expects IIP growth in the range of one to two per cent in April, and core sectors' growth to improve to around 2 per cent in May. Terming the ICI print for April 'quite disappointing', Bank of Baroda chief economist Madan Sabnavis reckoned that IIP growth will be in the range of 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent for last month. Rating agency ICRA said IIP growth could moderate sharply to just around 1 per cent in April, citing the tepid core output numbers and other available high frequency indicators. 'The healthy growth in non-oil exports may provide an upside, unless the same represents round-tripping of some imports,' the firm's chief economist Aditi Nayar noted.
NZ Herald
12-05-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
China not the US is undermining NZ's security - Nicholas Khoo and Reuben Steff
It is China and not the US that is undermining New Zealand's security, Nicholas Khoo and Reuben Steff argue. Photo / Getty Images Opinion by Nicholas Khoo and Reuben Steff Nicholas Khoo is Associate Professor in the Politics programme at the University of Otago and a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs in Christchurch. Reuben Steff is Senior Lecturer at the University of Waikato. Author of 'New Zealand's Geopolitics and the US-China Competition'. THREE KEY FACTS Does New Zealand's increasingly close security ties with the United States and Australia put our security and sovereignty at risk? In their op-ed in the NZ Herald on May 2, Helen Clark and Marco de Jong contend that 'by aligning with the United States and further integrating
