DELHI, DECEMBER 4. Honda Cars India Ltd, the well-known passenger cars manufacturing company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Delhi-based Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC) for accreditation of its premier training centre, the Honda Vocational Training Institute (HVTI), in Alwar, Rajasthan. HVTI (estb.2011) is Honda’s state-of-the-art technical training centre promoted to develop skilled manpower with automobile specific training to create job opportunities for class XII school-leavers and students of India’s 13,105 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). ASDC accreditation will enable HVTI to deliver vocational training to youth following curriculums and protocols preset by ASDC. Students completing HVTI courses will multiply their job options and improve their employment prospects. “Since inception through our HVTI initiative, we have trained almost 14,000 students creating a pool of skilled manpower to meet the needs of a growing automotives industry. This initiative reiterates Honda’s commitment to youth development. By joining hands with ASDC, we will be extending support to local communities and become an enabler of positive transformation,” said Praveen Paranjape, vice president and director (general affairs) of Honda Cars India Ltd. ASDC is the first sector skill council of India promoted by representative organisations of automobile and components manufacturers and dealers together with the Union government. Shell launches NXplorers NEW DELHI, DECEMDER 18. Shell (India) launched a global science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programme titled NXplorers in the presence of Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister, Delhi at a programme attended by students, school principals, teachers and media. According to company spokespersons, NXplorers will become operational in 30 schools in New Delhi. NXplorers is a programme developed to nurture young minds to design sustainable solutions to ease the pressure on food, water and energy supply, using a unique combination of systems thinking, scenario planning and theory of change. The programme is being rolled out across four states in India and aims to reach 3,000 schools and 260,000 students between ages 14-19 years by 2020. The NXplorers programme is already operational in 14 countries including Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Australia, Oman, Qatar, UAE, China, Brunei, Singapore, Philippines and Trinidad. “Food, water and energy systems form the foundation of national growth and development. Water is needed to extract energy and generate power; energy is needed to treat and transport water; and both water and energy are needed to grow food. Our NXplorers programme aims to instill complex and creative thinking skills in young Indian minds to bring about a positive change to our country’s food-water-energy nexus,” said Nitin Prasad, chairman, Shell India, speaking on the occasion. Next-Amazon conferences NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20. The Hyderabad-based Next Education India Pvt. Ltd announced the rollout of nationwide conferences on ‘EdTech solutions for 21st century schools’ in 25 cities across India. The conferences will be held in association with Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com which provides on-demand cloud computing platforms to individuals, companies and governments, on a paid subscription basis. The conferences will highlight and debate latest trends in education technology and their significance for K-12…
