Wednesday, July 7, 2010

USA is the most popular destination for Indian students!


Body - Indian students constitute the largest group among all International students in the United States of America. Majority of the Indian students opt for Bachelors degree in Engineering, Commerce and Economics and Masters Finance, Business and Management. Traditionally, USA universities eligibility criterion for Masters demand 16 years of full time education. But, number of USA universities has started accepting students with 15 years of education. Most of the Indian students arriving in American campuses do well because of strong back-ground and training received in High-Schools of India. Few intellectual in India think it a brain-drain and others argue that it is the necessary investment for the future reverse Brain-drain? Kampus Landing believes it has both.
Tejal Laul, Director of Kampus Landing a Global Education Specialist organization says “India’s best institutes for engineering has limited seats, the number of prospective students outnumber the actual availability of seats. Let us take IIT Joint Entrance Examination popularly known as IIT JEE for the year 2010. More than 472,000 students had registered for the examination and the total available seats were 9509. IIT JEE is one of the toughest engineering entrance exams in the world with a success rate of around 1 in 45 in comparison getting to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is easier with an acceptance rate of over 10. It doesn’t mean IIT is better than MIT, IIT caters to the best of the Indian students compared to MIT which caters to the best students from all over the world. I believe as far as the studies are concerned at undergraduate levels IIT and MIT are equal but MIT is much better when it comes to graduate level. IIT doesn't have the research resources like MIT and that is one of the main reasons students after completion of their bachelors degree opt for Masters at MIT.”
The USA education system is freedom oriented and Indian system is forced one where the students don’t get much choices to choose the subject range. Tejal Laul says, “I undoubtedly feel that the American education system is superior. USA being the developed country has the best of the resources, facilities and faculties in the world. Although, India is progressing at a great pace but may take another 50 years to become world class.” The USA education USP’s are practical focus, enriching experience, acceptability by employers all over the world, placement opportunities, diverse culture, immense exposure and cutting edge technology which makes it a dream destination for students wishing to study abroad for higher education.
The USA colleges and universities require twelve years of education for admissions to an undergraduate level. All the USA colleges universities in the US use tests viz TOEFL, SAT, GRE, GMAT to evaluate applicant’s eligibility for admission. These tests are standardized and conducted by the ETS or GMAC in the centers throughout the world including India. Even IELTS has found acceptability with majority of the universities in India. Pearson has also initiated a test known as PTE which also is finding acceptability with USA colleges and universities. The students take TOEFL and SAT if they are going for Bachelors degree in USA, TOEFL and GMAT if they are seeking admissions for MBA program in USA business schools, TOEFL and GRE if they are looking for admissions in Masters apart from MBA. The Bachelor Degrees such as BA, B. Com, B.Sc., B.E., are known as undergraduate degrees in USA universities and not graduate degrees. Master’s degree is called graduate degree and doctoral a degree is called postgraduate degree in USA. The degrees like B.Sc. and M.Sc. are Termed BS and MS respectively. Masters in Physiotherapy is termed as MS Physical Therapy in the United States.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Canada Immigration new rules effective from June 26, 2010


To reduce the federal skilled category backlog, Canada will accept only 20,000 applications with a maximum of 1,000 applications per occupation for those applying under the occupation list. However, this limit does not apply to applicants with a job offer. These changes are in line with other countries viz UK, Australia and New Zealand as these countries match the supply and demand needs of the local market. These criteria affect the applicants who have applied on or after June 26, 2010. If the application was received before June 26, 2010, it will be processed according to the rules that were in effect at that time. Canada is also proposing new eligibility criteria for the immigrant investor program. Instead of $800,000 the personal net worth of the investor required will be $1.6M so it makes an even greater contribution to the Canadian economy. The investor will be required to make an investment of $800,000 instead of from $400,000. Other countries have much higher criteria for investors; it should be noted that Canada has not changed its criterion since 1999 that makes it the most popular destination for investor category and draws a larger number of applicants than can be admitted every year under the immigration plan. Due to this processing times have been increasing. Canada has stopped accepting new investor applications until the new criteria are announced.


The 29 occupations for the Federal Skilled category are:

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
2151 Architects
3111 Specialist Physicians
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
3113 Dentists
3131 Pharmacists
3142 Physiotherapists
3152 Registered Nurses
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
4151 Psychologists
4152 Social Workers
6241 Chefs
6242 Cooks
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
7242 Industrial Electricians
7251 Plumbers
7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
7371 Crane Operators
7372 Drillers & Blasters - Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

Tejal Laul, Director Kampus Landing says “Canada continues to admit good number of students under Student Partnership Program popularly termed as SPP. There are 38 colleges under SPP. Minimum 6 bands IELTS is required to put the file under SPP; TOEFL is not accepted. The student with TOEFL score can file under but the file is not considered under Student Partnership Program SPP. Under Student Partnership Program SPP, the students have to submit very few financial documents viz bank loan approval.”

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Oxford On the ‘Top’ again.

Oxford University remains at top of league table for sixth year running


The university league tables provide information for more than 600,000 applicants who face tough competition for places

With Cambridge coming second, Warwick comes third and St Andrews fourth – the pair have switched positions from last year. University College London, Lancaster, Imperial College, London School of Economics, Loughborough and York are in the top 10. London Metropolitan has come last.
The tables rank universities according to the following measures: how satisfied their final-year students are; how much they spend per student; the student/staff ratio; the career prospects of their graduates; a value-added score and what grades pupils have to achieve to stand a chance of being offered a place.
The tables provide vital information for the more than 600,000 university applicants who this year face the toughest ever competition for places.
Britain's oldest universities still dominate the high rankings.
Every year, final-year students score their universities according to how satisfied they have been with their courses, as part of the National Student Survey. The tables, compiled by independent consultancy firm Intelligent Metrix, heavily weight the results of this survey when compiling the rankings. Other league tables concentrate on research ratings.
The tables reveal that Kingston has fallen the highest number of places from last year – from 73rd to 98th, but Huddersfield is the biggest climber, having risen from 96th last year to 54th this year. Hertfordshire has also shot up, from 97th place to 60th.
Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group of large, research-intensive universities, said maintaining high rankings would be "challenging" because universities face "growing cost pressures and fierce competition from better resourced institutions in other countries". She said:
Aaron Porter, president-elect of the National Union of Students, said universities should be more open and accountable about where their funding is coming from and how it is used. He said: "Students have a right to expect a higher quality of education and improvements to their experience. They should also increasingly demonstrate to prospective students what they can expect from their experience and

Monday, June 21, 2010

‘Bogus students problem’ persists even today

As the US, UK and Australia compete for international students, fears of bogus applicants abusing visa systems persist, but recent research suggests fraud risk levels could be low.

The owner of the Florida Language Institute and one employee pleaded guilty last week to charges of making false visa applications on behalf of students applying to study English at their school.

The school, in the suburbs of Miami, was raided in March following a 12-month surveillance operation by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As well as the arrest of the two defendants and seizures of $2.4m in assets, 81 students from 12 countries were also detained in the Miami area.

The defendants are alleged to have failed to report that the majority of the school's students did not attend classes regularly.

Cases involving suspected visa abuses linked to education and the threat posed by allegedly bogus students grab headlines in other countries. The US, Britain and Australia compete to attract students travelling abroad for study – numbers that, according to OECD estimates, exceeded 3 million in 2007. Institutions must be seen to be safeguarding both their national security and the reputation of their education sectors.

The first line of defence against bogus applications is the application process itself. In the US last year, more than a third of the 490,000 student visa applications made were turned down. The UK rejected a similar proportion of the 350,000 requests it received. Yet only Australia has published a detailed analysis of why students are being refused visas, and by doing so, it has shone a light on the scale and impact of student visa fraud.

The evidence from Australia is that fraud is limited and that the detection and prevention procedures currently used by the department of immigration and citizenship (Diac), which are similar to those used by the US and UK, are fit for purpose.

Countries targeted for scrutiny include India, Mauritius, Nepal, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. China, where only government registered agents are allowed to dispatch students and which sent 18% of Australia's 2008 total, was held up by Diac as a model for other countries.

The UK is also keen to improve the quality of agents, who are responsible for placing one in five foreign students. A British Council-led initiative has brought together representatives from the main countries offering English language courses to work on co-ordinating policies.

However, a categorical assessment of the risk posed by student visa fraud will require greater transparency from immigration authorities. Otherwise it is not possible to erase these problems completely.
Courtesy guardian.co.uk

UK proposes 'new' test for spouses' visas

Citizens of non-EU countries wanting to join their partners in the UK for settlement will be required from September to prove that they can speak basic English.
The rules, which require partners to take a designated test of English, were scheduled to be introduced in July 2011 but have been brought forward by the new coalition government.

All spouses, same-sex and unmarried partners of UK citizens or people settled in Britain will need to speak English to A1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference, equivalent to beginner level. According to the government's immigration information website this includes "being able to understand and use everyday expressions and very basic phrases".

The home secretary, Theresa May, said the rule was part of a review of English language requirements across the visa system. "I believe that being able to speak English should be a prerequisite for anyone who wants to settle here. The new English requirement for spouses will help promote integration, remove cultural barriers and protect public services," she said.

‘IELTS’ set to lose 'monopoly' in Australia

The Australian government is considering accepting other
exams for assessment of would-be immigrants' English language skills
Australia's new arrivals could have a more than one test of English to opt for .
The rival exams like TOEFL are considered as important alternatives for testing english skills.
The Australian newspaper quoted an immigration and citizenship department spokesman as saying that the minister in charge, Chris Evans, had written to ETS, the US company that produces Toefl, and other test providers to tell them of "his in-principal support for the acceptance of more than one English language test under the migration regulations".
In 2008 immigration officials launched a review of the Ielts monopoly by inviting other test providers to make their case for recognition.
The new Skilled Occupation List has been compiled by Skills Australia, an independent body established by the government to assess workforce needs. "This list is designed to target occupations of longer-term economic value and will deliver highly skilled migrants while breaking the nexus between permanent residency and low-value education courses," Evans said.
Courtesy guardian.co.uk

Monday, June 14, 2010

Let's talk About Technology.

Let's talk about Latest 'TOP FIVE NEWS'

Courtesy news.cnet.com


1.)As hacker claims, Soldier leaked Google attack investigation details






June 13 ,Sunday


An Army analyst jailed for allegedly leaking a video of a controversial Iraq air strike also allegedly leaked classified information about a U.S. investigation into cyberattacks on Google that originated in China, the hacker who turned in the analyst told CNET on Saturday.

U.S. Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning had confided to well-known hacker Adrian Lamo in e-mails and instant messages that he was the one who provided the 2007 video of a military helicopter gunning down journalists and civilians in Iraq, as well as other information, to whistleblower Web site Wikileaks, Lamo has said.

Along with leaking another video of an attack in which nearly 200 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2009 and leaking 260,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables, Manning told Lamo that he leaked the code name and details of a government investigation being conducted regarding the attacks on Google, Lamo said.

Lamo said he could not say anything more or risk arrest for disclosing classified information.

The U.S. State Department complained to China about the cyberattacks, which Google announced in January and which helped push Google to withdraw its search engine from the Chinese market. More than 30 other companies were targeted in the cybertattacks, which appeared to target source code and, in Google's case, also Gmail accounts of human rights activists. The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the cyberattacks.

Any further details can be furnished by Government officials , however government officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday night.

2.) Smart ForTwo electric minicar headed to U.S. cities





BROOKLYN--Fans of the Smart ForTwo can buff up their enviro-image with an electric drive version of the minicar coming to the U.S. this fall.

Smart USA offered test rides of the ForTwo Electric Drive this week here, where I got a chance to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin on the streets of New York.




Overall, the ForTwo fits the bill as a clever city car because its size makes it easy to maneuver through city traffic and park, provided that you don't have much stuff to haul around. The ForTwo Electric Drive smooths out the gasoline version's choppy transmission and lets minicar owners pull the plug on their oil habits.

Unlike other electric vehicles, the ForTwo is going after a niche audience of sustainably minded people and business owners who want a car that stands out in a crowd. But the design of the ForTwo Electric Drive is significant beyond its initial target customer because it represents a product category--small, electric city cars--with large potential but also clear challenges related to infrastructure.

With this initial roll-out in the U.S., Smart USA expects that about 80 percent of the customers will be businesses, which generally will have the luxury of a place to charge the cars at night. With its unique look, the electric minicar will be a "rolling statement on environmental awareness and oil dependence," said Derek Kaufman, the vice president of business development for Smart USA, which is based outside Detroit.

Daimler, which owns the Smart brand and manufactures the ForTwo, will start volume production in early 2012 and sell it as a 2013 model year car in the U.S.


3.) Probe returns to Earth after asteroid landing



Five years after touching down on a distant asteroid, Japan's Hayabusa space probe returned to Earth on Sunday, landing in the Australian Outback after a spectacular fireball.



Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aren't sure whether the probe managed to collect samples from asteroid Itokawa after its three-month rendezvous with the small space rock in 2005. They would be the first samples returned from the surface of an asteroid.
The probe burned up on reentry, streaking through

the night sky (see pic here), and Hayabusa's heat-resistant container landed with the aid of a parachute in South Australia's Woomera Prohibited Range.

Earth photographed by the asteroid probe Hayabusa before reentry.
(Credit: JAXA)





4.)World Cup pushes Internet to new record
Akamai's metrics from Friday.
(Credit: Akamai)





World Cup fever pushed the Internet to a new record on Friday, according to measurements from Akamai.

Traffic to news sites globally started a steady climb about 6 a.m. Eastern time and peaked six hours later at noon, reaching nearly 12.1 million visitors per minute.

The day's traffic far exceeded the previous record of 8.5 million visitors per minute, which was set when Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election in 2008.

As of Saturday afternoon, Web traffic to news sites was still heavy at 5.7 million visitors per minute.

Solar light bulb to shine on developing world

Here's a bright idea for the planet. A Hong Kong-based company has introduced what it bills as the world's only solar-powered light bulb with the hope of reaching millions of people with little or no access to electricity.






5.)Nokero's N100 solar LED light bulb



The Nokero N100 solar LED light bulb is meant to replace kerosene lamps as a lighting source in the developing world. The company says 1.6 billion people still lack sufficient access to electricity, and many burn fossil fuels for light, which can be dangerous and expensive.



The N100 solar bulb is about the size of a standard incandescent bulb and has four small solar panels in its rainproof plastic housing. Five LEDs and a replaceable NiMH battery inside provide up to four hours of light when the device is fully charged. People hang it outside during the day and then turn it on at night.

The life of the N100 is basically 5 to 10 years, according to Nokero representative Tom Boyd.

A single bulb is $15; a case of 48 costs $480. The company offers a "significant" discount when buying a thousand or more. It adds that the bulb pays for itself within months when used in place of a kerosene lantern