The 21 days of CAT 2012 will be over on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. While an increased number of CAT takers this year has helped dispel the skepticism over the growth of MBA education in India, the technical snags at some centers invited sharp criticism for the testing agency, Prometric. This season of CAT also witnessed a few more highs and lows. MBAUniverse.com has looked into the 20 days of testing and found out the positive and negative trends of the biggest MBA entrance exam which is the gateway to the premier management institutions like IIMs and other top B-schools in India.

HDFC chairman Dr Deepak Parekh has inaugurated a new research-focused B-school, MYRA School of Business, in Mysore on November 4. Located on a 10-acre campus, the new B-school aims to develop global competence in business education in India.

Despite the buzz about economic slowdown, good pre-placement offers are being given to students of various management schools, indicating a good hiring season ahead. International Management Institute (IMI) Delhi has kicked off this placement season on a very upbeat note with the highest pre-placement package of Rs 13.5 lakh being offered by the RPG Group.

The greater role of private sector in promoting and fostering higher education in India, the governments initiatives and a thorough review of the current scenario were discussed in detail during the two-day 8th FICCI Higher Education Summit 2012, organized in partnership with the HRD ministry and the Planning Commission in New Delhi on November 5 and 6. MBAUniverse.com was the online media partner of the event.

CAT 2012 completed 18 days of testing on November 3, 2012. Till now, 1,47,513 candidates have taken the exam. The exam, which took a different turn on the Day 17, did not see much change on the 18th Day. Only the focus of the tough areas was shifted from Quantitative Ability to Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning.

Ravish Tripathi, a CAT taker in the Noida test center, mentioned, The Quantitative Ability section was tough as usual but the other areas were not easy as well. I found the LR questions quite challenging. The RC passages were also ambiguous.

CAT 2012 is now a matter of just five more days. After that, the majority of MBA aspirants focus will be shifted to the XAT 2013 exam, conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur. The exam begins on January 6, 2013, so around 60 days are left. The registration process is going on and the last date to register is November 30. This MBAUniverse.com article describes what you can expect in the exam.

Globalization is one area where Indian B-schools are seriously lagging compared with their European counterparts. Top business schools in Europe seriously pursue internalization with an eye on attracting increased number of foreign students and attaining higher standards and ratings.

In April 2012, TAPMI earned the global accreditation by AACSB International with the unique distinction of being the only AICTE-approved business school in India to have achieved this feat. Dr R C Natarajan, director, said accreditation and grading testify the high quality, outcome-based management education and research orientation at TAPMI in an ongoing basis.

CAT 2012 Day 17 was held on Friday, November 2, 2012. After a one-day break on November 1, 2012, CAT 2012 was resumed. Till Day 16 of CAT 2012, 138054 candidates took the exam. The difficulty level continued to be moderate to difficult. However, the tough part of the exam shifted to the Data Interpretation, Logical reasoning and RC passage questions from the Quantitative Ability questions.

Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) has reasons to cheer. At a time when the industry is abuzz with talks of slowdown that is likely to cast a spell on the ensuring placement season, JBIMS has so far received 16 pre-placement interviews (PPIs) and eight pre-placement (PPOs) offers from companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Citibank, and Standard Chartered Bank to name a few.