Pakistani, Indian business schools sign MoU our correspondent
KARACHI: In a stunning new manifestation of Pak-India cooperation, the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi.
Announcing the details of the strategic partnership on Monday, IBA dean and director Dr Ishrat Husain said it was designed to provide executive education courses to senior management executives who want fast growth in their careers. The MoU was signed by Husain and Deepak Chandra, who is the deputy dean of the ISB, on April 13 at the ISB campus in Hyderabad, India.
The ISB is one of the most prestigious educational institutions of India and was recently ranked 12th top global business school. It is also the only school in South Asia to have won the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. The IBA is the first business school in an emerging country with which the IBS has entered into a partnership.
The initiative brings together the Centre for Executive Education (CEE) at ISB, one of the largest executive education providers in Asia, and IBA, the oldest business school outside North America. Husain, a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, is also the chairman of the education committee of Aman Ki Asha - a media-led peace movement spearheaded by Pakistan's Jang Group and the Times of India.
Dr. Husain was visiting different cities in India under an Aman ki Asha programme that aims similar initiatives among leading Pakistani and Indian institutions. Other distinguished educationists and experts of the Aman Ki Asha education committee include Dr Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, Mushtaq Chhapra, Baela Jameel and Talib Karim.
According to Husain, the ISB faculty will design and deliver courses for the IBA in the fields of leadership, strategy, entrepreneurship and family businesses initially. The first programme is clated to begin in June this year and potential participants will include the corporate sector, family-owned businesses, public sector corporations, government departments and non-governmental organizations. On the completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate from ISB.
Husain is hoping that the MoU will be the beginning of a long-term broad-based relationship in which the two institutions would collaborate in the exchange of students and faculty, conducting joint research and case studies, and the development of faculty and curricula.
The MoU comes on the back of commerce-minister level talks last week between the long-estranged South Asian neighbours. At the conclusion of the talks, New Delhi offered to let Pakistanis invest in India and the Pakistani commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said the two sides were conducting negotiations in the sectors of education, hospitality and tourism.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

An old man's plea:Let us meet

An online video about Sikhs looking after a mosque built by his ancestors inspires
the writer to re-connect with his past across the border
By Syed Saadat Hu .....more