RAI ties up with 15 B-schools, to hold common admission test for retail courses on January 27

to offer a specialized course in retail management titled Postgraduate Program in Retail Management (PGPRM).It has announced Common Admission Retail Test (CART), to be held for gaining entry into these programmes, on January 27, 2008. The exam will be conducted on a national basis for admission for the batch of 2008.

The institutes roped in by RAI to offer PGPRM are: Asian School of Business Management, Hyderabad; Bangalore Management Academy, Bangalore; Chennai Business School, Chennai; IFIM Business School, Bangalore; International School of Business & Media, Bangalore; KLE Society College of Business & Administration, Belgaum; Vasavi Institute of Management & Advanced Studies, Bangalore; Chennai Business School, Mumbai; MERC School of Business and Retail Management, Pune; Rustomjee Business School, Mumbai; C.T.Group of Institute, Jalandhar; IILM Institute of Retail Studies, Gurgaon; Institute of Management and Information Science, Bhubaneswar; NSHM Center of Management & Development Studies, Durgapur and NSHM Center of Management & Development Studies, Kolkata.

CART 2008 will be conducted over 25 centers across India include Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and others. According to RAI, the objective of the test is to assess the candidates aptitude for retail management education, including Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning and Consumer Comprehension.

The application forms for the exam are available at retail stores of RAI member organisations like Shoppers Stop, Big Bazaar, Croma, Viveks, Vishal Mega Mart, Odyssey Bookstore, Landmark Bookstore and Kirtilals. The application forms will also be available at Career Launcher Centres and selected branches of Axis Bank.

The last date of submission of duly filled application forms is January 7, 2008. Graduates from recognized university with minimum 50% marks are eligible to appear in CART 2008. The detailed information of CART 2008 is available on www.cart2008.com.

Retailers Association of India (RAI) is launched by the key retailers of the country. It has founder membership that comprises of Aditya Birla Retail Limited, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, RPG Retail, McDonalds India (West & South) and other leading retailers.