News & Views - The TMI-BITS DLC Newsletter

July 2004 Issue 03/2004

New B.Sc. Degree Programme in Association with IGNOU

– by Capt.P.Srivastava, TMI (DLP)

The Directorate General of Shipping has been planning to replace the existing 3 months’ deck cadets pre-sea training programme, with a one year pre-sea training programme. In order that all candidates eventually get diploma / degree after completing the standard course, the Directorate has been in continuous touch with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and these discussions have reached final stages of implementation. They propose to start the new B.Sc. Degree Programme in association with IGNOU from 1st July, 2004. The basic information of the new course is as under :

Brief outline of the programme:

Institutes will continue to induct cadets for the existing three month pre-sea training programmestill January 2005. After that , only one year course will be conducted, as per the new methodology.

We, at TMI(DLP), however will continue to support all our students in our existing programme till all our students have completed their diplomas and/or degrees as per our current format. Since all those joining after 2005 will be getting a degree, we feel all our students should try to complete the B.S Programme in order to be at par with the rest for future career development.

We will keep you posted about the developments, but please feel free to get in touch with us for any clarifications or doubts.

Course Notice - Completion of Modules :

In our previous issue of News and Views , we carried an item regarding the tasks to be completed at the end of each module. There appears to be some confusion regarding this among our students. To clarify, for the modules in the courseware for semesters A,B,C,D,E as well as F, students are required to complete only two tasks. However, students must ensure that the two tasks they choose to complete must be selected such that they reflect the students proficiency and understanding of the subject adequately. Selecting two tasks which have one word or one line answers will not serve the purpose. Please be guided accordingly.

Diploma Certificates from BITS, Pilani :

The Institute has received Transcripts, Provisional Certificates and Original Diploma Certificates from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani for all students who have passed Diploma in Nautical Sciences as on 31 Dec ’03. However, some students have still not collected the same from this Institute inspite of individual intimation sent to them.

Concerned students are, therefore, advised to contact this Institute at an early date or intimate the correct postal address to facilitate the despatch to their home address .

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Course on Research Methodology (Phase II - Sem : D, E, F & G) :

As per the programme structure of BS (Nautical Sciences), all students studying in Sem D to G are required to attend a contact course in ‘Research Methodology’ as part of their curriculum.

Hence, this in view, a pilot course has been planned commencing 4th Oct 04 on the campus of Tolani Maritme Institute, Induri, Talegaon Dabhade, Pune – 410 057. All the students who are presently studying in Sem D to G are eligible to attend the Course, the details of which are as follows:

• Duration : Five consecutive working days.
• Fees : As the course forms a part of the semester studies, no fees will be charged. Also adequate resource material will be provided free of cost.
• Accommodation : Hostel accommodation will be provided on the campus, which will be charged at the rate Rs 100/- per day on twin sharing basis. In addition, Rupees 90/- per day will also be charged towards food (breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner). This amounts to a total of Rs 950/-, which will have to be paid directly in cash at TMI campus on the first day of the course.
• Conveyance : Students will have to make their own arrangements to reach Talegaon Railway Station. However, arrangements will be made to receive them at the Railway Station and then drop them on completion of the course.

Students, in order to make the best use of the Course, are required to be proficient in use of computers and familiar with working in MS Office, Excel environment.

All our eligible students are, therefore, requested to confirm their availability to attend the course by 1 st Sep’ 04, to enable us make the necessary arrangements.

More News....

Indian Companies Can Recruit Foreign Nationals

(Excerpts from news item by N.K.Kurup in The Hindu Business Line)

Mumbai , May 26

The country's maritime administration is considering a proposal to allow employment of foreign crew on Indian ships.

The proposal has been made by a group of Indian shipping companies as a "temporary" measure to tide over acute manpower shortage in the wake of a recent boom in freight rates and an expansion of national tonnage. These lines have sought permission from the Director General of Shipping to recruit foreign marine officers, particularly from neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh .

The Director General of Shipping convened a meeting of shipping companies on Tuesday to ascertain details of their proposal. "We are examining their suggestion. Going by the details given to us, shipping lines are facing an acute shortage of officers to man their vessels. We have to find a way out to resolve this problem as we cannot allow Indian shipping to suffer," said a senior official in the Directorate General of Shipping.

Currently, there is a shortage of over 500 officers, which may go up as Indian companies are planning to acquire more ships, said a shipping company official. Since there is a shortage of marine officers globally, it is feared that some of the men currently employed in Indian ships will be lured to more lucrative jobs on foreign ships.

In fact, Indian shipping lines have been facing an exodus of officers. Pay scales and income tax are major factors forcing officers to take up foreign jobs. Many companies find it difficult to comply with the manning requirements.

Currently, foreign seafarers are not allowed to work on Indian ships. This is because the Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC), the document essential for seafarers to take up the on-board job, is issued only to Indian nationals. Therefore, Indian CDC rules have to be amended to allow recruitment of foreign nationals, said the head of HR in a leading shipping company. This can done by a Gazette notification, he said.

From the Desk of Capt. Rahul Sharma :

TIPS FOR THE YOUNG CADET

• Read your contract carefully, look for any unusual clauses especially financial penalties for leaving before the contract period has been completed
• Be sensible with the gear you take. You may have to carry it a long way. Don't aim to have a new outfit for everyday you are away. Dress smartly but not like you are expecting a Royalty!
• You will be given tasks which may seem menial. Don't forget, we all have done them. A small bit of advice is that you should never give a job to a person that you are not prepared to do yourself.
  But don't let anybody make you do something which is dangerous, illegal or immoral - if they say they have the company’s backing they are lying!
• It is quite normal for you to make mistakes when you are in training. The important thing is to reduce their occurrence and not to repeat them
• Be very careful when going ashore, there are people who have made a living out of people like yourself. There are also some places in the world were life is very cheap. What price would you put on yours?
• Do your Modules, Assignments and CRB tasks to the best of your ability. It will come in very handy later in life especially when studying for your Competency Certificates.
• You will meet a wide variety of people at sea, some of whom you may find difficult to work with. This is unfortunate but unavoidable.
  
  It is normal to be asked lots of questions you will not know the answer to.
  
  This is not done to humiliate you but to encourage you to ask questions and form an inquisitive mind.
  
  This will be invaluable to you once you graduate and you start having to solve problems.

And finally Cadets

• Be a good listener.
  Sounds easy, well it is, if you understand what it means.
  
  Everybody has something useful to tell you, so don't dismiss them because of their position. Encourage uncommunicative people by friendly questions and genuine interest. Don't interrupt but keep the talk “two way”, even with the occasional nod.
  
  And what ever you do, don't let your eyes wander when somebody is talking to you, because it is really annoying.

Take care!

- by Capt Rahul Sharma, TMI(DLP)

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Au Revoir

Mrs Merlyn Gomes, who was working with us, has recently bid adieu to the organisation seeking greener pastures. She joined the Institute when she was still a student of Tolani College of Commerce and then progressively completed her graduation by learning while earning.

She was with the Institute since it’s commissioning in Mar ’98 and thus contributed to a great extent towards the growth of the Institute, which now conducts a full fledged Degree programme in Nautical Sciences.

News and Views acknowledges her contribution and wishes her all the best in her next innings in the new organisation.

Our Progress

The student strength of the Institute as on 30 June ’04 was as follows :

708 students have completed Phase 1 (SSTP) as on 30 Jun ’04.

The following students have passed the Diploma in Nautical Sciences (Phase 1 of BS Programme) since we published our last issue of News and Views, obtaining grades as stated:

09 cadets have obtained more than 75% marks (Excellent Grade), 42 obtained more than 60% (Good Grade)and 05 passed with 50% or more marks (Fair Grade).

Well Done!

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