Category: Education & Careers

Exclusive: Royal Caribbean recruiting thousands to meet surging demand

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Cruise operator Royal Caribbean Group opens new tab is in discussions with new and existing markets around the world to recruit thousands of workers to staff its ships and private destinations to keep up with record cruise demand.

The number of people taking cruises hit a record in 2023, and with the surge in demand and larger vessels, labor needs are growing. Tourism boards and port operators from around the world said Royal Caribbean is looking to hire worldwide and the company confirmed it will hire around 10,000 workers this year.

Royal Caribbean’s sea-based workforce at the end of 2023 totaled about 88,700 employees, 6% lower than the year prior, according to the company’s annual filing. The company’s land-based workforce including private destinations consisted of approximately 9,500 full-time employees, up 17%.

Bookings hit a record in the first quarter, boosting quarterly revenue to $3.73 billion, up 29%, and the company’s stock price doubled in the past year to hit a new record.

“The recruiting strategy follows the business strategy of moderate capacity growth,” a spokesperson said. The company plans to hire more than 10,000 workers in 2024 as it brings on three new ships, they added.

Andrew Spencer, president of the Caribbean Maritime University in Jamaica, said Royal Caribbean and rival Carnival have asked the university to ramp up short-term skills and certifications courses to get more workers trained for a career at sea.

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) in April was approached by Royal Caribbean in regards to recruitment and hiring, a request it hadn’t received in the past, said Natasha Chalwell, BVI Port Authority marketing director.

Royal isn’t only focused on the Caribbean. The company also approached The Gambia Tourism Board in April with an interest in hiring more workers, a spokesperson said. The cruise operator currently employs about 700 workers from the West African nation.

“This is something we have discussed and will follow up to see how best we can facilitate that (request),” the spokesperson said. The tourism board said it will try to provide up to 1,000 additional workers.

Netherlands territory St. Maarten is in the midst of discussions about recruitment with Royal after the parties held a recruitment drive last year to source 1,000 workers.

“It did not necessarily yield as many applicants that I think we all were expecting,” said Alexander Gumbs, chief executive of Port St. Maarten Group, who said less than a third of that goal for 1,000 applied.

Tens of thousands of people need to be hired from the Caribbean and Latin America as new ships are deployed across the industry, according to the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, a trade organisation. Tourism boards and ports said one of the major challenges is educating potential candidates about a career at sea to meet industry labor demand.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Australia raises minimum savings for student visa, warns on fake recruitment

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Australia said on Wednesday it would raise the amount of savings international students will need to get a visa and warned several colleges of fraudulent student recruitment practices, as part of efforts to rein in record migration.

From Friday, May 10, international students must show proof of savings of at least A$29,710 ($19,576) to get their visa, the second increase in about seven months. It was raised to A$24,505 from A$21,041 in October.

The moves follow a raft of actions in recent months to tighten the student visa rules as the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in 2022 triggered a sudden influx of migrants, exacerbating pressure on an already tight rental market.

English language requirements for student visas were increased in March and the government has been taking steps to end settings that allowed students to prolong their stay.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said warning letters had been sent to 34 education providers for “non-genuine or exploitative recruitment practices”. They could be jailed for up to two years and banned from recruiting students if found guilty, she said.

“Dodgy providers have no place in our international education sector. These actions will help weed out the bottom feeders in the sector that seek to exploit people and trash the reputation of the sector,” O’Neil said in a statement.

International education is one of Australia’s largest export industries and was worth A$36.4 billion ($24 billion) to the economy in 2022/23.

But record migration, mostly driven by international students, has put the government under pressure with rental prices soaring across the country. Net immigration rose 60% to a record 548,800 in the year to Sept. 30, 2023.
The government expects its policies could halve Australia’s migrant intake over the next two years.

“We are significantly reducing migration levels – we are in the middle of the biggest drop in migration numbers in Australia’s history, outside of war or pandemic,” O’Neil said.

($1 = 1.5177 Australian dollars)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IIT Madras raises ‘historic’ funding of ₹513 crore for FY-24, contributors include FedEx, Walmart

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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IIT Madras has announced its highest round of funding yet, as the institute announced a “record-breaking” ₹513.38 crore in funds secured from alumni, corporate enterprises and other donors in FY-24. The amount is 135% higher than the institute’s funding last fiscal, which stood at ₹231.1 crore. 

A release from IIT Madras said that the funds secured would be used to advance technological research, development, and deploy technology already built by the institute. Part of the funds, IIT said, would also be used to support student scholarships and infrastructural needs of the institute.

“We set a target of ₹300 crore, and we’ve worked very hard along with the IIT Madras Alumni Charitable Trust, to have crossed to ₹500-crore mark,” said Prof V Kamakoti, Director at IIT Madras, in a chat with CNBC-TV18, “People give us money because they trust us, and our alumni have confidence that we will deploy these funds towards the purpose that they have contributed for.”

Incidentally, IIT Madras’ ₹500 crore fund may well be the highest any institute has secured in funding in a fiscal. However, at the time of the announcement, other IITs were yet to release their funding for FY-24. 

For context: in December, IIT Bombay announced that its Class of 1998 had contributed ₹57 crore by way of donations to the institute. Of the ₹513 crore in funding secured by IIT Madras, ₹367 crore was coughed up by alumni of the institute – 282% higher than last year’s contribution.

Incidentally, the institute’s CSR team raised ₹95.53 crore, an increase 11.2% from last year’s fund-raise, while philanthropic grants this year amounted to ₹116.8 crore. In all, 48 donors (16 individual alumni and 32 corporate partners) contributed over ₹1 crore per contributor to the institute. “We had Walmart, FedEx and many other PSUs contribute this year towards pathbreaking projects in the field of brain research, MSMEs, logistics and health sciences,” said  Kamakoti.

IIT Madras’ funding has seen a stupendous year-n-year rise since FY-21, when it rang in ₹100.76 crore in funds. the following fiscal saw the number rise to ₹131.12 crore before the institute raised ₹231.1 crore last fiscal. The premier institute has also announced ₹717 crore in pledges, expected to materialise over the next two years.

At present, IIT Madras has several key projects supported by its alumni network and corporate partners, including the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI, Jaisri and Venkat Wind Energy Center, the Walmart Centre for Tech Excellence, the FedEx Centre for Sustainable Supply Chains.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

You can now enroll in ISB without a degree or a CAT score

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Aspiring entrepreneurs often seek to learn management skills from premier institutions in the country. However, many times, they are unable to because they don’t meet higher education eligibility criteria or don’t have a CAT score, among other reasons. One of the most sought-after B-schools, the Indian School of Business (ISB), has come up with a solution.

The ISB has launched I-Venture Immersive (ivi), a programme for budding entrepreneurs. The course will be administered by ISB’s entrepreneurship arm I-Venture@ISB at the Hyderabad campus.

The programme encourages innovators to pursue their passion with or without any formal educational qualification beyond Class 12, the B-school said in a statement.

“The first round of admission for ‘ivi’ is now underway, for the founding cohort starting in October. The six-month immersive experience – billed as ‘more than an incubator, more than a school’ – will be conducted full-time on the Hyderabad campus of ISB.

The application and selection process will involve the candidate uploading videos explaining their motivations. ISB’s statement said the ‘ivi’ programme will stress problem-solving through innovative methods, including AI, machine learning, and data analysis.

Also Read: Medical education costs may double in the next decade—are you prepared?

“Students will acquire proficiency in accounting skills. The marketing segment will focus on branding, customer-centricity, and go-to-market strategies. Further, the ‘ivi’ curriculum will pivot towards Lean Startup entrepreneurship and Design Thinking principles. Finance fundamentals for personal and corporate finance, negotiation enhancement, and supply chain management, are among the other subjects covered, using an immersive experience and hands-on training methods,” it explained.

‘ivi’ will also provide funding support for promising cohort members to bring their innovative ideas to life, the institution’s statement added.

Also Read: Why industries complain about the unemployability of fresh engineering graduates

Apart from catering to aspiring innovators, including recent graduates, tech professionals seeking to infuse entrepreneurial thinking into their careers, and next-generation family business owners, the programme also aims to assist women entrepreneurs to navigate unique challenges in the competitive market and armed forces veterans looking to apply their leadership skills to entrepreneurial pursuits.

“Through ‘ivi’, ISB will foster a vibrant ecosystem that nurtures creativity, attracts investment, and empowers visionary leaders…we are focused beyond the usual big cities, with an inclusive focus on all tiers and towns,” Professor Bhagwan Chowdhry, Faculty Director, I-Venture@ISB said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

CUET UG 2024 Exam: NTA CUET city intimation slip out; know more

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The National Testing Agency recently released the CUET (Common University Entrance Test) city intimation slip. Now candidates, who applied for the exam, can find the city in which their NTA CUET 2024 exam will be held. The other details will be available after the admit card is released. The CUET UG city intimation slip is a reference for students to know their exam centre location before the admit card is released.

The CUET UG 2024 Exam will be conducted in both CBT (Computer Based Test) and pen and paper mode. Around 13.48 lakh candidates are set to appear for the exam at various centres across 350 cities, including 26 outside India.

Know the exam dates of CUET UG 2024:

The CUET UG 2024 examination will begin on May 15 and conclude on May 24, 2024. The admit card for the examination is expected to be available three days prior to the exam date.

CUET UG 2024 city intimation slip: Websites to visit:

Aspirants can visit exams.nta.ac.in/CUET-UG or cuetug.ntaonline.in/ to download their CUET UG 2024 city intimation slip.

Steps to download the city Intimation slip of CUET UG 2024:

1. Visit the official website exams.nta.ac.in/CUET-UG
2. A page will appear. Click on the city intimation option
3. Enter your application number and date of birth and then click on the next option
4. The CUET UG 2024 City intimation slip will appear on the screen

All the candidates are advised to download and save the intimation slip for further use.

According to the official notification, the Admit card will be issued in accordance with the shift opted by the candidates. “No request for a change of date/shift will be entertained. All three shifts will start at a specified time. Candidates have to report for the slot/s as per the time that will be mentioned in their respective Admit Cards,” the official notification stated

The CUET (UG) exam provides a chance for students from across the country to get admission to the various central universities at the Undergraduate level. The exam is conducted in MCQ format. The question paper includes two language sections, one subject-specific section and one general awareness section.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

HPBOSE Results 2024: Class 10 scores out; Ridhima Sharma tops exam

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBoSE) on Tuesday, May 7, announced the results for Class 10. Students, who appeared for the Class 10 examination, can check their results on the official website of the HPBOSE at hpbose.org.

The Himachal Pradesh Class 10 Board exams 2024 were conducted between March 2 and 21, wherein 91,130 students appeared for the exams.

This time, 67,988 students have passed the exams, while 12,613 have failed and 10,474 candidates have been placed in the HPBoSE Class 10 result compartment category. These students will now have to appear for the compartment exams, the schedule for which will be announced soon.

The overall pass percentage this year stands at 74.61%.

Ridhima Sharma, a student from the government school in Hamirpur’s Nadaun, has topped the Class 10 exams this year, scoring 699 marks out of 700. Her percentage is 99.86%. She is followed by Kritika Sharma from the Bhawarna town in Kangra district. She has scored a total of 698 marks (99.71%). Meanwhile, the third rank is obtained by three students — Shivam Sharma, Dhriti Tegta and Rushil Sood — who have all scored 697 marks (99.57%).

According to reports, 92 students have been placed in the top 10 list of HP board Class 10 results this time. Out of them, 72 are girls.

To check their Class 10 results, all students are advised to keep their roll numbers handy. Here are quick steps to check the results:

Step 1: Open the official website of HPBoSE at hpbose.org.

Step 2: Visit the results page.

Step 3: Open the link that says Class 10 final examination result.

Step 4: Enter all the required details and click on ‘Submit’.

Step 5: Your HPBoSE Class 10 result will appear on the screen.

Besides this, students can also check their respective results with the help of an SMS service.

In 2023, the Class 10 exams were conducted by HPBoSE between March 11 and 31, while the result was declared on May 25. Last time, the overall pass percentage was 89.7%.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

NEET UG Paper Leak 2024: Question paper leak reports are baseless, says National Testing Agency

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 6 rebuffed social media reports that suggest the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate 2024 (NEET-UG) question paper was leaked. Reports claiming leak of NEET-UG question paper are baseless and without any ground, NTA said, adding that the purported images of question papers circulating on social media have no relation with actual paper.

The NTA, however, said the distribution of wrong question papers at a NEET exam centre in Rajasthan led to some candidates walking out with the papers, claiming the integrity of the examination process was not compromised.

The exam was later reconducted for the 120 affected candidates at the centre, said Sadhna Parashar, Senior Director, NTA. According to NTA sources cited by news agency PTI, some candidates were distributed question papers in languages other than their choice of medium which prompted them to walk out of the centre.

“During NEET-UG examination, it came to attention that at one exam centre, Girls Higher Secondary Model School, Mantown, Sawai Madhopur, there was an incident of incorrect distribution of question papers by the centre superintendent. Despite efforts by invigilators to prevent it, some candidates left the exam centre with the question papers,” Parashar said.

A senior NTA official reportedly told national daily Indian Express, “As per the rules students are only allowed to exit the hall with the question paper after the exam, but some students walked out forcefully. Due to this, the question paper was circulated on the internet around 4 pm, but by that time the exam had already started at all other centres across the country. So, there has not been any ‘leak’ of the NEET UG question paper.”

Meanwhile, on reports of the paper leak, Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said “This is because of the failure of this government. The paper leaks are happening time and again. With NEET paper leak, future of 23,00,000 students will be in dark. We will bring a law against paper leaks.”

Separately, the police have registered a case against a 20-year-old student from Rajasthan for allegedly making a proxy candidate appear in place of her at the NEET medical entrance exam in Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra.

The NTA conducted the NEET-UG 2024 exam on May 5 in 557 cities across the country and 14 cities abroad in multiple exam centres.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s only sugar institute gets a woman director for the first time in 88 years

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The National Sugar Institute, the country’s sole sugar institute, located in Kanpur, has made a historic appointment.

After 88 years of male leadership, Dr Seema Paroha, a senior professor at the institute since 2014, has been appointed director.

This milestone marks a significant step towards gender equality in the institute’s long history, predating the nation’s independence.

National Sugar Institute is the country’s only sugar institute, established in 1936. Up to now, 19 directors have held the post in this institute, but for the first time, a woman has had the honour of becoming the director of this institute.

Dr Seema Paroha, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, began her academic journey in Indore and later earned her PhD from Jabalpur.

Since 2014, she has been a key figure in the biochemistry section of the National Sugar Institute, contributing significantly to the field with around 90 research papers.

Paroha will lead the effort for the Sugar Institute to become a university.

Currently, the institute only offers diploma courses, five of which will be converted into degree courses.

Under the New Education Policy, the institute will offer degrees for a two-year course and a diploma for those who drop out after the first year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

ICSE, ISC Results 2024: CISCE announces Class 10 and 12 results, here’s how to check

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) announced Classes 10 and 12 results on May 6 for board examinations that concluded on April 3.

Students can check their marks on the official websites of CISCE i.e. cisce.org and results.cisce.org. Both the results for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education, or ICSE Class 10 and the Indian School Certificate or ISC Class 12, will be released at 11 am.

Students will need to put in relevant credentials such as their unique ID, Index Number, and CAPTCHA to check their ICSE and ISC Results 2024. Apart from the official websites, results will also be available on the DigiLocker app and website.

While both ICSE Class 10 and ISC Class 12 exams for 2024 started in February, the papers concluded on March 28 and April 3, respectively.

Here’s how to check ICSE and ISC Results 2024

1. Visit one of the official websites — cisce.org or results.cisce.org
2. Click on the respective links to check ICSE Results 2024 or ISC Results 2024
3. A page will open on the screen, seeking candidate details
4. Add login credentials and submit
5. The results will be displayed on the screen.
6. Students can download the the scorecard that pops up

Re-evaluation and improvement exams

After the results are announced, candidates can apply for re-checking and re-evaluation of their marks. The website will open for re-checking requests on May 6, 2024, and will be available till May 10, 2024. “No further request for recheck of results of the ICSE / ISC Examination Year 2024 will be entertained thereafter,” the board has said.

Going forward with this academic session, CISCE has also suspended compartment exams for Classes 10 and 12. Students will instead have the option to appear for improvement exams, a maximum of two subjects to better their marks.

The improvement exams will be held in July.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

46% Indian women worry about safety at work, 14% report instances of harassment: Deloitte Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Safety remains a paramount concern for Indian women, with 46% worrying about their safety at work or during commutes. This is according to the Women @ Work 2024 Report by Deloitte. Additionally, 14% report instances of harassment or discomfort from clients or customers, highlighting the need for robust measures to ensure a safe and inclusive workplace environment.

According to the report, Indian women are primarily concerned about women’s rights, financial security, and personal safety at work or while commuting.

14% of women across the globe say that women’s rights have deteriorated in their respective countries over the last year. Strikingly, the same proportion shares this belief in India, indicating a concerning trend within the nation.

“Furthering the equal participation of women in our workforce goes well beyond the four walls of the office, and some of the priorities would include change in behaviour. It is important for organisations to call out undesirable behaviour such as micro-aggressions and gender-bias. It is also important to focus on areas that may feel like they’re beyond the organisation’s control, which nevertheless need investment of best possible efforts,” says Saraswathi Kasturirangan, Chief Happiness Officer, Deloitte India.

For example, extending the zero-tolerance policy for bad behaviour by colleagues to vendors / customers as well; a night-time travel policy where there are safeguards for women professionals; and sensitisation training that covers allyship in general, instead of just as a rule at the workplace, she said.

The report also suggests that women in India often work through health challenges related to menstruation and menopause, surpassing global averages. The report suggests that the taboo around women’s health. This underscores the importance of fostering supportive and inclusive workplace environments that accommodate women’s health needs.

The report also emphasises on the disparity and gender roles in India. Women with partners in India bear the brunt of household tasks, with only 16% being the primary earners in their households.

Despite commitments to gender diversity, only 10% of women in India believe that their organisations are taking concrete steps to fulfill these promises. Lack of flexibility and inadequate benefits emerge as top factors influencing women’s decisions to leave their current employers.

Also, a significant portion of Indian women (30%) express a lack of desire to progress into senior leadership positions, signaling underlying barriers and challenges in career advancement.

While fewer women in India experience exclusion and lack of flexibility in hybrid working environments compared to the previous year, challenges persist for those mandated to return to the workplace full time. Many have requested reduced hours, citing negative impacts on mental well-being and employer perception.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow