IIM - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Neelu Rohmetra

Explanation:
The government has appointed heads of 10 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), including the first woman to head one of the 20 premier B-schools in the country.

Prof Neelu Rohmetra of Jammu University is the first woman to be appointed director of an IIM at Sirmaur.

She specialises in HRD and cross-culture management.

Currently, she heads the university’s International Centre for Cross-Cultural Research and Human Resource Management.

The IIMs that got new directors are in Bodhgaya (Bihar), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Rohtak (Haryana), Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Bangalore.

Some of these posts had been vacant for at least a year. Of the 10 appointees, three are teaching at IIM-Lucknow.

As reported on November 25, 2016, IIM-Ahmedabad’s Prof G. Raghuram has been given the top job at IIM-Bangalore.

Raghuram, a teacher at IIM-Ahmedabad for nearly three decades, is chairperson of the Public Systems Group at the premier B-School. He specialises in infrastructure and transport systems, and logistics and supply chain management.

Prof Neelu Rohmetra of Jammu University is the first woman to be appointed director of an IIM.

Bharat Bhaskar, professor of information technology systems at IIM-Lucknow, will be the head of IIM-Raipur. He was the interim director of IIM-Lucknow in 2015.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The Indian Institutes of Management can now set up campuses abroad.

After advocating more autonomy to the premier management institutes and giving them the power to grants degrees, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar introduced the IIM Bill 2017 in the Lok Sabha on 9th Feb 2017.

This would confer statutory powers on them.

As per the bill, IIMs will be allowed “to set-up centres of management studies and allied areas outside India in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Central Government and in accordance with the provisions of the laws in force in such foreign country”.

IIMs would be declared as “institutions of national importance” with Board of Governors (BOG) as the principal executive body of each of them.

The bill also empowers IIMs to appoint their own chairperson.

The BOG will appoint the director (now termed Chief Executive Officer) of IIMs, who has so far been appointed by Centre.

The search-cum-selection committee to be constituted by the board will consist of chairperson and three members chosen from eminent administrators, industrialists, educationists, scientists, technocrats and management specialists.

The BOG of each institute shall consist of a chairperson, one nominee each of Centre and state government, four eminent persons (including a woman) distinguished in fields of education, industry, commerce, social service or public administration.

Two faculty members, one member from SC or ST and up to five persons co-opted from the alumni or who are members of the society of the existing institute would also be members of the Board.

It will have at least three women members.

An earlier draft of the Bill had the provision of the President being the Visitor and choosing the director.

The HRD ministry removed the provision to grant more autonomy to the institutes.

IIMs till now had been registered as societies and unable to grant degrees, including PhD, to their students.

Reservation in admissions will be provided as per Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006.

The Governing Board of IIMs will evaluate and review the performance of the institute within first three years of establishment and thereafter at least once in every three years.

The bill also lays down that there would be a Coordination Forum, with an eminent person as its chairman. This forum would discuss issues which are of common interest to all the IIMs.

IIMs: Know More

• The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are a group of 20 public, autonomous institutes of management education and research in India.
• They primarily offer postgraduate, doctoral and executive education programmes.
• The establishment of IIMs was initiated by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.
• This was based on the recommendation of the Planning Commission.

ANSWER: Both of the above

Explanation:
Union Cabinet has approved the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017.

Under this, the IIMs will be declared as Institutions of National Importance.

It will also enable IIMs to grant degrees rather than diplomas to their students.

At present IIMs are not authorised to award degrees as they registered as societies.

Hence, they are awarding Post Graduate Diploma and Fellow Programme in Management.

Key features of the Bill

- Allow IIMs to grant degrees to their students.

- Grant complete autonomy to IIMs, combined with adequate accountability.

- Coordination Forum of IIMs as an advisory body will be established.

- Board of an IIM will drive the management of the institution.

- It will select Chairperson and Director of IIM.

- Board will have greater participation of experts and alumni.

- It will also include women and members from Scheduled Castes/Tribes.

- Periodic review of the performance of IIM will be conducted by independent agencies and their results will be placed in public domain.

- The Annual Report of the IIMs will be placed in the Parliament and CAG (Comptroller and auditor general of India) will audit their accounts.

About IIMs

• Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) are the country’s premier management institutions.
• They are imparting best quality education in management.
• They are recognized as world-class management Institutions and Centres of Excellence.
• All IIMs are separate autonomous bodies registered under the Societies Act.
• This makes them ineligible to award degrees.
• These awards are treated as equivalent to MBAs and PhD, respectively, but their equivalence is not universally acceptable.

ANSWER: 6

Explanation:
These IIMs will be set up in Vishakhapatnam, Bodh Gaya, Sirmaur, Nagpur, Sambalpur and Amritsar.