India's first cloud-based system to drive 8 mn varsity students' admission

US-based Campus Management Corp has partnered Maharashtra government to roll out a single-window system for students' end-to-end solutions during the admission process.

In a move that will see creation of a single-window system for university students in Maharashtra, US-based edtech company Campus Management Corporation has partnered with the state government to roll out a cloud-based centralised structure to manage and track admission process.

The project, reportedly the first of its kind initiative in India, will digitalise the administrative and academic processes of all the 14 non-technical universities in the state.

The University Management System (UMS), which will be kicked off next week, will drive the admission process of about 8 million students for non-technical courses in Maharashtra from next year. US-based IT services provider UST Global is also a part of the project.

“We will track the students for the entire college cycle beginning from allotment of college to career services," said Raj Mruthyunjayappa, managing director, Campus Management Corporation.

UMS will look at all the criteria, including academic scores and reservation category of the candidates, before assigning them colleges. It will then track the academic performance, grades and attendance of the students through its cloud-based software. As the academic cycle gets over, UMS will connect the industry with the students' base for employment opportunities.

The whole system has been built by the Bengaluru team of the company on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which is one of the oldest partners of the US-based edtech firm.

ALSO READ: College entrance system needs an overhaul of the exam, not just the agency

Campus Management Corporation has started the process of hiring for the new Mumbai office, which will have about 100 engineers by the end of the year to track the system.

At 440, the company has the highest employee base in India around the globe. The Indian team also manages its sales and services outside America.

Among its major clients in India, the National Skill Development Corporation is already using Campus Management Corporation's platform. Last year, Maharashtra's Directorate of Vocational Education and Training project came on the Campus Management Corporation platform.

The company also provides software across the full student life cycle to 30 colleges in India, including IIM Udaipur.

Even though India is the second biggest market for the firm, the company does not see it surpassing the mature US market in the foreseeable future, the company's chief executive officer, Jim Milton, said.

With clients in over 35 countries, Milton said the company will be expanding its footprint to newer geographies in Latin America.

Campus Management Corporation has already set up operations in five new countries in the past two months, including South Africa, Nigeria, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark.

Article Source : BS

Long queues again? ATMs go dry as many states face cash crunch: Top updates

Several states are facing a cash shortage despite currency flows in the economy at the pre-demonetisation level

A cash crunch has been reported in several states of India -- Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. People are facing a huge monetary crisis, with a majority of automated teller machines (ATMs) running out of cash. In Bihar's Patna several ATMs have gone 'out of service' causing inconvenience to the locals.

Taking stock of the situation, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "We have reviewed the currency situation in the country; there is more than adequate currency circulation and it is available with the banks... a temporary shortage caused by the sudden and unusual increase in some areas is being tackled.

Here are the top developments in the crisis caused by a sudden shortage of cash across several states and what the government is saying:1. Life gets miserable for many Indians, especially traders: Despite the currency flow in the economy going back to the pre-demonetisation level, ATMs are going dry making life miserable for many residents, especially traders. Many are running from one ATM to another in search of currency notes.

ALSO READ: Demonetisation redux? ATMs again running dry across states amid cash crunch

2. Some ATMs not dispensing more than Rs 5,000: Only one ATM at State Bank of India’s branch had cash, but the machine was dispensing only up to Rs 5000 cash and that too only in the form of Rs 100 currency notes, according to The Times of India report.

The people in Delhi, on the other hand, said that most of the ATMs are dispensing only Rs 500 notes.

3.Hyderabad, Varanasi office-goers face troubles: In Hyderabad, office goers have told news agency ANI, that they have been unable to withdraw cash from ATMs in several parts of the city since yesterday. There are reports from Varanasi as well of people saying there is no cash at ATMs since yesterday, said TOI report.

However, people in Madhya Pradesh claimed that they have been facing a cash crunch for the last two weeks.

4. Govt's meeting with RBI on cash shortage across states: The finance ministry held a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks, and state government officials on Thursday to take stock of cash availability after receiving complaints of the dearth of money in some states. The non-release of funds by the Centre is being cited as one reason for the cash crunch.

Maharashtra city polls in Feb, spotlight on BJP-Sena parleys

Stage is set for polls to 10 municipal corporations, 26 zilla parishads and 296 panchayat samitis

Breaking News : Voting for the 10 municipal corporations, including the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will take place on February 21. Besides the BMC, polling for nine other corporations includes Thane, Ulhasnagar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nagpur. The nomination will begin on January 27, while the last date for filing nominations is February 3. The last date for campaigning is February 19. Polling is on February 21 and counting is on February 23.

Further, the polling for the 26 zilla parishads, which are currently dominated by the Opposition Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will be held in two phases on February 16 (for 15 zilla parishads) and on February 21 (for 11 zilla parishads). The counting for these bodies is also slated for February 23. This accounts for more than 80 per cent of the total voters in the state. Maharashtra Election Commissioner J S Saharia, on Wednesday, announced the poll schedule and the application of the model code of conduct.

The ruling BJP and Shiv Sena will make every attempt to further consolidate their position, while the Congress and the NCP will attempt to regain their past glory. Incidentally, the BJP and Shiv Sena, who until recently were engaged in a verbal duel on going solo in the election to the 227-member BMC with an annual budget of Rs 37,000 crore, on Wednesday initiated seat-sharing talks. Both the saffron parties have been ruling the BMC for the past 25 years. However, the Congress and the NCP are still divided over the poll alliance.(more)

Old bridge on Mumbai-Goa highway collapses; 2 buses, other vehicles missing

Old bridge on Mumbai-Goa highway collapses; 2 buses, other vehicles missing

At least two buses and several other vehicles went missing near Mahad city after a bridge on the Savitri River collapsed early on Wednesday due to torrential rains in the Konkan region.

The bridge, more than seven decades old and a critical link to the Mumbai-Goa national highway, crashed around 1 a.m. due to the flood waters rushing into the river.

Two state transport buses with 11 passengers each were missing and there was no contact with either their drivers or the passengers, Raigad Collector Sheetal Ugale said.

Since the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses — which started from Mumbai — did not arrive at their scheduled Mahad depot, Ugale appealed people to get in touch with the concerned authorities about their missing relatives.(more)

Keenan-Reuben murder: All four accused found guilty; sentenced to life imprisonment

A special women's court on Thursday convicted all four men accused in the 2011 Amboli murder of KeenanReuben Fernandez and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the court has held them guilty under Section 302 as well as Section 354 of the IPC.

"We prayed today that all the accused be sentenced forlife imprisonment and court has awarded the same," he added.

The four men Jitesha Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak Tival have been in jail since their arrest on October 20, 2011, the night of the murder.

Keenan, 24, and Reuben, 29, were attacked outside a popular eatery in Amboli in Mumbai's Andheri on October 20, 2011.Read More.

Bombay HC allows BCCI to hold May 1 IPL match in Pune

The Bombay High Court today permitted BCCI to hold the May 1 IPL match between Mumbai Indians and RisingPune Supergiants in Pune, days after it ordered all matches post April 30 to be shifted to other venues instead of  holding them in drought-hit Maharashtra.

A division bench of justices V M Kanade and M S Karnik granted the permission while hearing an application filed by BCCI's general manager (games development) Ratnakar Shetty urging the court to let the cricket body hold the May 1 IPL match as scheduled in Pune.

Read more from our special coverage on "IPL "

• Happy, united, young goes the IPL chant
• Branding googlies for late entrants
• Pune picks Vizag as home pitch, Mumbai to decide on Sunday
• Sixers and fixers
• Bengaluru to host IPL final; Pune picks Vizag as home base

The application had been filed following an order passed by the high court on April 12 directing for all IPL matches from April 30 onwards to be shifted out of Maharashtra due to the severe drought situation in the state.

By the High Court order, a total of 13 matches were to be shifted to other states.

Shetty, in his application, sought the court to grant permission to allow the cricket board to hold the May 1 match in Pune between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants as they would not be able to make arrangements to shift the match in a single day.Read More.

Shift all IPL matches out of Maharashtra after Apr 30, Bombay HC tells BCCI

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered that all Indian Premier League (IPL) matches scheduled in Maharashtra after April 30 be shifted elsewhere in view of the severe drought in the state.

This gives the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 18 days to look for new venues for 13 matches in May, including the final in Mumbai on May 29.

The order came despite an assurance by the BCCI that IPL franchises of Mumbai and Pune had agreed to contribute Rs 5 crore to the chief minister’s drought relief fund.

The court said: “We agree that merely shifting of IPL matches out of the state will not be a solution but this can be a beginning to address the drought situation in Maharashtra. Several people are dying because of water scarcity in the state. This court cannot ignore the plight of such people.”

Sources close to both the Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants said the team promoters were now waiting to sit with the BCCI to chart the way forward.

“In 2014, when the IPL matches moved to Dubai for the first leg of the season, the BCCI had, after consulting the teams, agreed to partly compensate the added expenses on the teams for travelling and staying abroad. Both teams expect a similar resolution,” said an executive.

The loss of revenue for the teams will become clearer when new venues are decided. As a rule, if a team is unable to play at its home stadium for any reason, the ground that the match shifts to becomes the team’s home ground for that period.

For example, if Mumbai Indians’ matches are held at Eden Gardens, the Kolkata ground will be treated as Mumbai Indians’ home ground and the proceeds from the gate revenues will go to the Mumbai team, as they would have at the Wankhede Stadium.

“One of the main things that the teams would want to discuss with the BCCI is the new venues. There has to be some following of the Mumbai and Pune teams at the new venues,” said another executive close to the development.

The court order came on a public interest litigation filed by non-government organisation Loksatta Movement, which challenged the use of more than six million litres of water for ground-management, despite Maharashtra facing drought. It had wanted all the matches shifted out of the state.

The court also noted that several districts in Maharashtra were not even getting water for sanitation and other purposes, and the non-potable water being used by the stadiums to maintain pitches can be of use in such districts. “In such cases, one would have expected the BCCI and other respondents (Maharashtra Cricket Association and Bombay Cricket Association) to come forward on their own and shift the matches out of Maharashtra. However, unfortunately, nothing has been done. This court has now no other option than to direct the BCCI to transfer matches out of Maharashtra.”

All matches to be held from April 30 onwards in Maharashtra will have to be shifted to another state. We are giving the authorities 15 days to make all necessary arrangements.”

After April 30, 13 matches were scheduled to be held in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.

'Shocked' friends, industry condole death of Pratyusha

Expressions of shock and condolences poured in from friends and near ones in the TV industry over the alleged suicide of TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee, who was found dead at her suburban residence today.

"Sad sad sad. Nothing's worth ending your one beautiful gift called life for... My heart bleeds for the parents and family...," tweeted 'Bigg Boss 7" winner Gauhar Khan.

"The news is absolutely saddening. I know life is tough but why do you need to do this. She was so young, I don't know what happened. Lots of strength to her family during this time," Kushal Tandon, her co-contestant said.

The 24-year-old was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her flat in Bangur Nagar in suburban Kandivli, a police officer said.

However, no suicide note was found from the flat, he said, adding the exact cause of the death, which occurred around afternoon, will be known only after an autopsy is conducted. Read More.

Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh on high terror alert for Shivratri

Delhi was today put on high alert after Police received inputs that 10 suspected LeT and JeM terrorists believed to have entered India from Pakistan through Gujarat may have sneaked into the national capital for an attack even as four elite NSG teams were rushed to the western state.

On the eve of 'Maha Shivratri' festival, Gujarat as well as other metros and Jammu and Kashmir were also on high alert with raids conducted at Kutch and other places, security being beefed up at vital installations, sensitive areas and at all main temples including the famous Somnath temple where a NSG team has been deployed.

Aamir to partner Maharashtra govt

Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao have launched the Paani Foundation, which will partner the Maharashtra government in its efforts to communicate and educate people at the grass root level about water conservation and watershed management. The foundation and the government announced the first initiative called the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup, a competition to popularise water conservation and watershed management in the rural areas of the state.

Make in India week: Fire audit was donebefore mega show, says event manager

Make in India week: Fire audit was donebefore mega show, says event managerWizcraft, the organisers of mega events, Monday claimed that a complete fire audit, including allsafety checks of the main stage of the 'Make In India Week ' cultural extravaganza, was carriedout before was gutted in a huge fire.

"Prior to the event, all safety checks and audits were done during rehearsals and prior to theshow. !ll fire and safety norms prescribed have been followed," Wizcraft said in a statement on Monday.

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