Sambalpur University to have a IIIT like IT institute; State to give 10 crores.

Update: Following is from Samaja.

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

The State Government has decided to set up a technical university in Sambalpur. This university would be christened as Sambalpur University Institute of Information Technology. The State Government has provided Rs 10 crore for this institute.

The Pioneer news above is a bit inaccurate. As far as I know it will be a part of Sambalpur University. The idea was mooted by Sambalpur University VC (who was earlier a Computer Science professor at University of Hyderabad) Prof. Arun Pujari. I have seen part of the proposal. Prof. Pujari had a very good proposal. His proposal and persistent efforts to get it approved finally got enthusiastic support from the IT Secretary Mr. Pradipta Mahaptra, the RDC and the Additional Chief Secretary Mr. S. P. Nanda and higher education officials (HE Secretary Mr. M. Padhi and others) and ministry. Kudos to all of them.

With the establishment of this Odisha will soon have three IIIT type institutes in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Sambalpur.

Special thanks to Prof. Arun Pujari. He has several other innovative plans for Sambalpur University. He has also made some very good hires in the Science disciplines at Sambalpur University.  If he continues at the current rate he will be remembered as one of the best VCs of Sambalpur University. Lets support his innovative initiatives with all our heart.

17 comments February 11th, 2010

Making Rourkela a Tier II city of India – HRD and other development of Rourkela (work in progress)

Rourkela is the second largest metropolitan area of Orissa with an official metropolitan population of 550,668 but perhaps much more (at least 700 K) if one takes into account nearby places like Biramitrapur and Rajgangpur. It is probably the most cosmopolitan area of Orissa. Because of its steel plant it has world-wide name recognition. It has a lot of young talents; I am told that Rourkela youngsters have done much better in entrance exams like IIT JEE than from other parts of Orissa. Rourkela and the Sundergarh district have produced many national hockey players (both male and female), some of whom have gone on to captain the Indian national side.

Being an important station in the Mumbai-Howrah line, Rourkela is very well connected to both. The National Institute of Technology at Rourkela is often ranked among the top 5 NITs of the country; in recent years it has done much better and is in the process of starting a business program. Rourkela also has two private engineering colleges and at least one more is in the works. Rourkela has at least two good magament schools: Rourkela Institute of Management Studies (sometimes ranked nationally) and Indian Institute of Production Management, Kansbahal.  

Overall, Rourkela has the potential to be a Tier II city of India at the level of Vizag, Chandigarh, etc. But unfortunately, that has not happened so far and active organized efforts need to  be made to achieve that.

So here I will list some of the things that should be pursued so that Rourkela becomes a Tier II city of India.

Knowledge and HRD aspects:

• Metropolitan University: Rourkela is perhaps the largest metropolitan area of the country, or may be the whole world which does not have a general university. This needs to be rectified at the earliest. IMHO, the best model to follow would be of Delhi University. So a Rourkela Metropolitan University should be established  with graduate programs as well as with a few constituent colleges spread (offering Bachelors as well as Masters degrees) across the metropolitan area, but with no affiliated colleges. The exisiting government colleges in Rourkela (Govt. College, Rourkela; SG Women’s, Rourkela and Rourkela College) would be made constituents of this university.
• Medical College: Although a WODC sponsored PPP-based medical college is in the works, we must continue pursuing an ESIC medical college here. SAIL, which is making a medical college in Bokaro, should also be pushed to establish a medical college here.
• BPUT: BPUT must become fully operational from Rourkela.It  needs to have real departments and centers and offer its own courses. It should be expanded to have programs in Science and Humanities.
• Research Centers: The state should pursue one of the central government departments such as CSIR, DAE, Sc & Tech, etc. to open a research center in Rourkela.
• Centrally funded University: At some point a centrally funded university should be pursued for Rourkela.
• More private institutions: Rourkela has the population base and the amenities that metropolitan areas offer to have more private institutions such as engineering colleges, management institutions etc. A multi-pronged apporoach should be taken.
  • Local big industries should be cajoled to participate in this. For example, SAIL is also planning an engineering college in Bokaro. They should be pushed to have one in Rourkela.
  • Local people should also open private institutions on their own.
  • Educational foundations inside and outside state that have developed good private institutions should be approached and invited to open institutions in Rourkela. Inside Orissa, institutions like Silicon and NIST should be approached. 
• STP: The STP at Rourkela should be expanded.
• IT/BPO: Because of the cosmopolitan nature of Rourkela, it would be a good place for BPO and call center operations. This should be pursued.
• Sports Institute/University: Sundergrah district is considered by many to be the Hockey cradle of India, both in men’s and women’s hockey. It has produced both Men’s and Women’s hockey team captains in Dilip Tirkey and Jyoti Sunita Kullu. Orissa government should pursue to establish a National Sports Institute (of the kind in Patiala) in Rourkela. It should include programs in physical training, coach training, official training etc. This would specially contribute  in the enhancing the employment opportunities for Adivasis who constitute 50.74% of Sundergarh’s population.

Connectivity Apects:

• Rail Connectivity -Trains: While the connectivity to Mumbai and Kolkata is marvelous, connectivity to other places needs improvement. Dilip has a good list of new trains needed for Rourkela at http://rourkelarail.wetpaint.com/page/DEMANDS. This list is:
  • Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express( Day Time)
  • Rourkela-Berhampur Gajapati Express
  • Rourkela-Secundarabad/Hyderabad Express
  • Trains to New Delhi from Bhubaneswar via Rourkela OR Rourkela-Nizamuddin/New Delhi Express (Any extension of Ranchi-Hatia or Tatanagar trains will also work)
  • Trains to Patna and Eastern U.P.
• Rail Connectivity-Others: The Talcher-Bimlagarh line must be fast-tracked.
• Roads: The 4-laning of the state highway 10 connecting Sambalpur and Rourkela must be expedited.
• Air Connectivity: Rourkela airport must be made functional with commercial flights at the earliest.

Metro area:

• A larger metropolitan area for Rourkela that includes Kansbahal and Rajgangpur in the west and Biramitrapur in the North must be formally established.
• The state government should pursue Rourkela to be included in JNNURM.

(The above is from Google Maps.)

(The above is from "sarini: Occasional papers, No. 4, Adivasis of Rourkela")

Work in Progress…

41 comments November 15th, 2009

Some National Institutions/Universities and their locations; planning for the future in Orissa

Tathya.in has a report that mentions some official saying that because of the lack of an airport in Rourkela central government will not agree to have ESIC medical college in Rourkela. I think this is a completely frivolous argument; I don’t see much connection between an ESIC medical college and an airport. (Often airport is a codeword for adequate infrastructure. If that is the case Rourkela indeed has the infrastructure for an ESIC medical college.)

However, in regards to certain centrally funded institutions, such a requirement is in the background and mentioned by journalists, even if they may not be spelled out explicitly. So while pushing for an ESIC medical college in Rourkela, we should set our target to push for more functioning airports as a next action item. Following is a more detailed analysis.

Given below are the locations of some national institutions and some related attributes. It is easy to see that for the locations of IITs, IIMs and National Universities being near (say within 120 kms or 2 hrs) an operational airport has been an important factor. For national universities, in addition being in a large (1 million plus metropolitan area) area with other research institutes has also been spelled out as an important criteria and it is reflected in the locations that are picked.  

On the other hand, the newly established central universities are in towns of all sizes and the locations of the NITs are mixed. The next level centrally funded but locally focused technological institutes, SLIET, Longowal, ABAGKC IET, Malda and Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar are on purpose established in rural areas and smaller towns. Unlike the NITs these institutions take only local students and also have programs focused on local needs. Nevertheless, their quality need not be bad. For example, SLIET is considered quite good.

Looking to the future following are some points relevant to Orissa.

• For Orissa to have future central institutions like IIM, SPA, etc. to be in a location outside of Bhubaneswar, Orissa must push for the quick establishment of airports and other infrastructure in other parts of the state. For example, the airports in Jharsuguda and Rourkela are the closest to be operational and they should  have scheduled flights at the earliest. Otherwise new centrally funded institutions may again be established near Bhubaneswar and crying hoarse after the fact may not be productive.
• Similarly the knowledge commission has proposed the establishment of 50 national universities in the long run. Considering that the education budget significantly increases from one 5 yr plan to the next, I would not be surprised if there is another set of them made during the 12th plan. Orissa must be prepared for that and by that time (there is a short window) have other areas in Orissa with adequate infrastructure that are being deemed necessary for a national university.
• Orissa must take advantage of the industrial and investment interests in Orissa, mostly due to its minerals, and develop metropolitan areas with larger population base. Currently the local people are creating roadblocks rather than helping in such development.
• In 2010 we should do our best to convince the planning commission, the PM and MHRD that the 12th plan (starting 2012) should include more centrally funded institutions of the kind that can be located in rural or semi-urban areas. In particular,
  • A centrally funded but locally focused technological institute (like SLIET) in all states. The one in Orissa could be located in Kalahandi or Balangir, the other two KBK districts that lack centrally funded institutions.
  • Two regional universities in each major states that are funded 50-50 by the state and the center. (This would be better than one centrally funded institute.)
  • Multiple branches of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in districts with high tribal population.
     

The NITs.

The IITs. 

National Universities

New Central Universities

IIMs

Add comment October 4th, 2009

20 new IIITs wait for the approval of the finance committee and the union cabinet

Following is an excerpt from a report in dnaindia.com.

Jayalakshmi Venugopal / DNA, Thursday, September 10, 2009 9:03 IST

The Planning Commission approved "in principle" plans of the Union ministry of human resources development to establish 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) under the 11th Five Year Plan across various locations in India.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the trade body of the IT and BPO sector, was entrusted with the task of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) which would incorporate a model of private-public partnership in the setting up of these new institutes.

This plan, prepared by NASSCOM, was submitted in May 2008, and has now been granted the Planning Commission’s go-ahead.

However, it is still awaiting the green signal from the finance committee of the Union government and the central cabinet.

3 comments October 3rd, 2009

NIT Rourkela must follow NIT Warangal and go for a medical school and law school

Following is an excerpt from an IANS story by Prashant Nanda that we found in a report in thaiinidan.com.

… “We will retain our original name (NIT-Warangal) but it will become an integrated university with both medical and legal education among other programmes beyond engineering and technology.

“We will also provide postgraduate courses in humanities, business economics, biotechnology and many others. The focus will gradually shift to from under-graduation to post-graduation and research,” Rao explained.

NIT Warangal is the first among the NITs. It was dedicated to the nation by the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru way back in 1959. Then it was known a regional engineering college. The institute is older than many IITs, including IIT-Delhi.

… The director said the institute, which started its journey with a little over 100 students from a temporary campus, now boasts of 4,200 students. In 2006, the institute had 2,000 students of which 1,600 were pursuing B.Tech courses and the rest M.Tech.

“While all the central government institutes are implementing the OBC (Other Backward Classes) quota in three years, we did it at one go. With an increase in the number of seats, we have shifted our focus to post-graduation and research. Out of 4,200 students, currently 1,400 are M.Tech students and 300 are PhD scholars,” Rao added.

Like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, NIT-Warangal will become an integrated university and provide all kinds of courses to students to help the country move forward in the field of higher education, he said.

“The process of becoming a university will start from the coming academic session but it may take a few years to become a full-fledged one. We are targeting 5,000 students by 2011 and 15,000 by 2015,” Rao said, elaborating on his mega plan.

“We are planning to have the school of medical science next year. We are going to give emphasis on biotechnology and microbiology and here the school of medical science will help us grow in both research and innovation.”

NIT Roukela has recently started a program in Biotechnology and is about to start MBA. But it must go beyond and pursue a medical school. 

3 comments September 29th, 2009

Cabinet approves 9 new NITs; Arunachal Pradesh left out

Following is from the PIB release at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=52692.

The Union Cabinet today approved setting up of new National Institutes of Technology (NITs). These new NITs will be established in Manipur; Meghalaya; Mizoram; Nagaland; Goa (which will also cater to UTs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshdweep); Pudducherry (which will also cater to Andaman & Nicobar Islands); Sikkim; Delhi (which will also cater to Chandigarh) and Uttrakhand.

…

The new approved NITs are categprized under two Schemes, as follows:

(a) Scheme “A” consisting of proposed NITs at Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Goa, which will also cater to UTs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep, Pudducherry, which will cater to Andaman & Nicobar Islands also and Sikkim; and

(b) Scheme “B” consisting of approved NITs at Delhi (which will also cater to Chandigarh) and Uttrakahand.

Each of the NIT under scheme A will be established at a cost of Rs.250 crore while each of the NIT in scheme B will be set up at a cost of Rs.300 crore. Total project cost is Rs.2600 crore. During 11th Plan the expenditure will be of the order of Rs.540 crore and for the year 2009-2010 expenditure will be of the order of Rs.50 crore.

Main beneficiaries will be the students from the States/UTs which at present do not have NITs as seats will be earmarked for such students in these NITs along with seats earmarked to be filled on all India merit basis.

Presently there are 20 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), located at Agartala, Allahabad, Bhopal, Calicut, Durgapur, Hamirpur, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Jamshedpur, Kurukshetra, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Rourkela, Silchar, Srinagar, Surat, Surathkal, Tiruchirapalli and Warangal.

Comparing with an earlier PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=41316&kwd=, it seems Arunachal Pradesh has been left out. One excuse may be that Arunachal Pradesh has NERIST, a nationally funded institute. I guess if people of Arunachal Pradesh complain, NERIST may get upgraded to an NIT.

Although initially it was mentioned that 10 new NITs will be established, the reason only 9 are now approved, is that the 10th slot perhaps went to the ABA Ghani Khan Choudhary Institute. This is mentioned in http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081217/jsp/nation/story_10263837.jsp.

1 comment September 17th, 2009

Ranking of Indian Engineering and Technical Institutes based on research: NIT Rourkela at number 20

The following table is from the current science article at http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/aug102009/304.pdf titled “Ranking of Indian Engineering and Technological Institutes for their Research Performance during 1999-2008” by G. Prathap and B. M. Gupta. It appears in Current Science, Vol. 97(3), 2009.  It gives the top 30 engineering and technical institutes based on publications from those institutes during 1999-2008. Based on this ranking NIT Rourkela is at number 20.

In the table below: P is the number of papers published, C is the number of citations obtained, ICP is the number of papers through international collaboration, h is the H-index and p is a newly proposed index.

There has been some discussin on these ranking in several blogs. Following are some links to those blog entries.

• http://giridharmadras.blogspot.com/2009/08/rankings-of-iitiisc.html.
• http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com/2009/08/pratap-and-guptas-paper-on-research.html.
• http://donutbekaswami.blogspot.com/2009/08/is-nitk-really-top-engineering-school.html.
• http://donutbekaswami.blogspot.com/2009/08/research-at-nits-can-we-solve-it.html.
• http://rainbow-science.blogspot.com/2009/08/fight-for-rankof-best-indian-institute.html.

19 comments August 23rd, 2009

Regular JEE counseling starts with Womens categories; IIIT, Silicon West, Parala Maharaj and Govt. Engineering College Bhawanipatna are in

Regular JEE counseling started yesterday with Women’s categories. In addition to the colleges that were listed for the AIEEE round of  Orissa JEE counseling,  the list of colleges also includes IIIT, Silicon Sambalpur, Parala Maharaj and Govt. College Bhawanipatna. This does not yet appear in the Orissa JEE web site, but I was told by a friend that this is the case. So the complete list of new colleges is:

1. Aryan Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mouza: Barakuda, Post Panchagoan, Bhubaneswar-752 050
2. Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology, Plot No 4, Village Harapur, Khurda, Pin- 752 054
3. Einstien Academy of Tech. & Management (EATAM) Bania Tangi Bhubaneswar
4. Eklavya College of Tech., and Sci., At Kusumati PO Jatni Bhubaneswar Khurda
5. Gandhi Academy of Tech. & Engineering At/PO Golonthara Konisi, Berhampur, Dist Ganjam Orissa
6. Gandhi Institute for Education & Technology, At Banlatangi, P.O. Bajpur, Dist : Khurda-752060
7. Government Engineering College, Kalahandi
8. Gurukula College of Engineering for Women (GCEM) At- Jamuhari Chhatabar, Bhubaneshwar Dist- Khurda Odisha
9. Hi-Tech College of Engineering, Rasulghar, Pandara Bhubaneswar
10. Indotech College of Engineering, Plot No. 144, AT/PO Mallipada, Via Pallahat(Khurda-2) Dist-khurda,Orissa-752056
11. International Institute of Information Technology, Plot No – 570(P), Gothapatna, Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar – 751030
12. KMBB College of Engineering and Technology AT-Daleiput, PO-Talahat Dist. Khurda,Orissa
13. Parala Maharaj Engineering College, Berhampur
14. Rahul Institute of Engineering & Technology, Govindapur JN Tata Dapalli, Village Konisi, Berhampur, Ganjam (DT) Orissa-761 008.
15. Shibani Institute of Technical Education , At-PO-Chhatabar,Via, Hanla, Bhubaneswar – 752054, Khurda, Orissa
16. Silicon Institute of Technology, Sason, Sambalpur -763 200, Orissa.
17. Sophitorium Engineering College, Baniatangi, Khurda
18. Spintronic Tech. & Advance Resarch At.Po Taraboi P.S. Jatani Dist Khurda, Orissa
19. Srinix College of Engineering College At-Ranipatna, Dist Balasore-750001 .
20. Suddhananda Engg. & Research Centre, Phulnakhara Cuttack At Anchhipur P.O. Bhatapatna Orissa
21. Synergy Institute of Technology, At : Bhimpur,P.O. Jagannathpur, P.S. Balianta, Dist:Khurda, Orissa
22. Vedang Institute of Technology, Durga Prasad, P.O. Ramachandi, Dist. Khurda, Orissa
23. Vikash College of Engineering for Women (VCEW) plot No. 2766, P.S. Dist- Baragarh, Odisha
24. Vivekananda Inst. Of Tech., at Chhatabar Dandi, Chaatabar, Orissa
25. Xavier Institute of Tech., Princess Avencue Ghangapatna Bhubaneswar Dist Khurda Orissa

Among the above Silicon Sambalpur, IIIT, and Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology (BIT) are colleges which I would recommend the most. As I wrote earlier, I would even say that students with good enough ranks to get CET or UCE may also consider BIT and IIIT seriously. (Disclaimer: As far as I can recall, I am in the advisory board of BIT, Centurion, JITM and was in the advisory board of Silicon some years back.)

11 comments July 25th, 2009

Some progress on the new IIITs; Orissa must insist on the new IIIT to be in Berhampur

There is some progress in the IIIT front. Below is an excerpt from a Business Standard report. (In this regard, Orissa must insist that a new PPP based IIIT be established in Berhampur.)

… Nasscom has proposed that the IIITs be set up with an initial investment of Rs 30 crore, of which the government’s share should not exceed Rs 14.9 crore while the share of partnering companies should not be less than Rs 15.1 crore.

“A series of meetings have been held on the issue of finalising the PPP model for the IIITs. The final decision will be taken within a month’s time after which the institutes will be set up,” a senior HRD ministry official said.

Nasscom has also proposed that salary of faculty be linked to their output and the institutions have provisions of differential salary package.

As per the proposal, the IIITs will be autonomous degree awarding institutions. Each institute will have its own Board of Governors comprising 13 members, including one representative from the government.

The government will give a loan of Rs 100 crore to each institute with five years moratorium period and repayable within ten years time, Nasscom Vice-President Rajdeep Sehrawat said.

…  As per the government’s plans, 20 new IIITs will be set up across the country in the Eleventh Plan period. Currently, there are four IIITs in the country. In north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir, where there are not enough industries, the government will bear the full establishment cost.

The IIIT, for which land will be provided by the states, will spread over 50 acres of area and have completely integrated campus with science and technology parks, he said.

Each institute will specialise on specific area of Information Technology. Each IIIT will be a centre of excellence in that domain. Nasscom has suggested that the institutes be set up in cities having modern amenities.

The IIITs will offer under-graduate, masters and PhD programmes. Each institute will have an intake capacity of about 1,000 students within a period of six to seven years of their functioning, he said.

6 comments June 19th, 2009

IIT-Hyderabad to design inter-disciplinary courses; Whats up with IIT Bhubaneswar?

Following is an excerpt from business standard

The new director of IIT-H, U B Desai, will encourage more interplay between various streams to give an edge to the students.

Speaking to Business Standard, he said IIT-H will encourage interdisciplinary courses to give an edge to the students. For example, it might set up a school of thermal sciences that would house electrical engineering and IT streams. There might also be a wing that would have a mix of biological sciences and information technology for a degree in bioinformatics.

Research will be a key focus area for IIT-H, Desai said, adding that about 35 M.Techs will be admitted this July. The institute also plans to admit about 10-15 PhDs. Last year, it admitted 11 research scholars. The research areas will span across computer science,  chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering streams. “Faculty research will be promoted in a big way,” said Desai.

Eventually, it would have 10 departments and about 5,000 students and about 500 faculty at all levels to maintain a 1:10 faculty to student ratio. It would also gradually offer MSc courses in pure sciences. The total budget for the IIT-H complete with all facilities, faculty and infrastructure is put at Rs 1,200 crore, to be spent in phases including building a new campus in about 523 acre at Kandi.

IT-H, meanwhile, also plans to connect with the local community and invite local schools and colleges for various events at the institute to promote a scientific temperament among students. It also plans to work with universities and higher education institutes in the state in areas of mutual interest. “It is a challenging task to develop a greenfield institute,” said Desai, adding that best practices of other IITs would be replicated here.

Add comment June 17th, 2009

Rajasthan uses a balanced approach in choosing locations for its national institutions

The panel set up by the CM of Rajsthan has picked the following places to recommend to the central government for the various national institutes and universities coming up in Rajasthan. (From a Times of India report and another Times of India report)

• IIT : Jodhpur
• IIM: Udaipur
• National University aiming for world-class: Ajmer 
• Central university: Bikaner.

The committee also recommended:

• a "futuristic" heritage conservation and museology centre in Jaipur
• an institute of Food Technology in Hadoti region of Kota

Currently the following national institutions exisit or are being made in the following places in Rajasthan:

• NIT: Jaipur
• LNMIT (private but top-notch): Jaipur
• National law School: Jodhpur
• AIIMS-like institution (being made): Jodhpur

The institutions are nicely distributed between various cities of Rajsthan, although people of Jaipur and Kota are not happy. The population of these locations are:

• Jaipur (World Gazetteer 2009): 3.1 million (has inetrnational air connectivity)
• Jodhpur (World Gazetteer 2009): 988K  – (332 kms from Jaipur; has air connectivity)
• Udaipur (World Gazetteer 2009): 457K – (400 kms from Jaipur; has air connectivity)
• Ajmer (World Gazetteer 2009):  604.7K – (131 kms from Jaipur)
• Bikaner (World Gazetteer 2009): 624.6K – (321 kms from Jaipur)
• Kota (World Gazetteer 2009): 823 K (242 kms from Jaipur)

In contrast in Orissa the distribution of national institutions are more Bhubaneswar centric. Following is the status:

• IIT: Bhubaneswar
• NISER: Bhubaneswar
• AIIMS-like (being made) : Bhubaneswar
• National Law University: Cuttack (part of Bhubaneswar metroplex)
• IIIT (state-funded) : Bhubaneswar
• National University aiming to be world class: Bhubaneswar
• Vedanta University (private): Puri
• NIT: Rourkela
• Central University: Koraput
• IIIT (centrally funded): state wants it in Berhampur; center has identified as Bhubaneswar

Unfortunately, one of the reason given behind the above selection is the lack of connectivity and the size of places. Following is some information on that.

• Bhubaneswar (World Gazetteer 2009): 1.67 million  (has airport but no inetrnational connectivity)
• Rourkela (World Gazetteer 2009): 551 K  (no air connections) – 334 kms from Bhubaneswar
• Berhampur (World Gazetteer 2009): 403 K (no air connections) – 160 kms from Bhubaneswar
• Koraput-Jeypore-Sunabeda: 200K+ (no air connections) – 499 kms from bhubaneswar
• Puri (World Gazetteer 2009): 185K – 60 kms from Bhubaneswar 
• Sambalpur (World Gazetteer 2009): 258 K (no air connections)  – 321 kms from Bhubaneswar
• Jharsuguda-Belpahar-Brajarajnagar: 200 K (no air connections) – 374 kms from Bhubaneswar; 50 kms from Sambalpur

For the future, following are some of the steps that Orissa government needs to urgently take regarding developing more larger urban areas and having the national institutions more evenly distributed:

• Make sure the centrally funded IIIT is established in Berhampur
• Establish functioing airports in Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Koraput at the earliest
• Push for international flights to Bhubaneswar
• Push for upgradation of UCE Burla (Sambalpur area) to an IIEST (Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology)
• Push for the establishment of a branch of IGNTU (Indira Gandhi National Tribal University) in Phulbani
• Push for the establishment of IIM outside of the Bhubaneswar area
• Push for the establishment of a centrally funded KBK Inst of Engineering and Technology (along the lines of SLIET and ABAGKIET) in Kalahandi or Balangir.
• Push for upgrading another medical college (Berhampur or Sambalpur) to AIIMS level.
• Push for establishing NID in a location outside of Bhubaneswar
• Push for establishing NIPER in a location outside of Bhubaneswar
• Push for a BITS Pilani campus in a location outside of Bhubaneswar

9 comments June 12th, 2009

Institute of Mathematics and Applications to train 52 tribal students from KBK for IIT/NIT/NISER: Ad in Dharitri

2 comments May 14th, 2009

IIIT Bhubaneswar plans to offer B.Tech from next year: Sambada

Add comment December 26th, 2008

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri to have 25 universities

The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri area will have 25 universities. Following is a slide on it from my presentation at the Invest India Symposium.

The color coding in the above slides is as follows:

• Red – Central govt funded universities/institutes
• Navy Blue: State govt. funded universities
• Light blue: PPP
• Green: Privately created universities and deemed universities
• Orange: Mention about colleges that are part of various universities

To compare this with the universities in the major metropolitan areas of the US and the state of California, please see: 

• Boston: 18 four year colleges and universities in the city and  24 in the surrounding areas, some listed twice as they have campuses in the city as well as in the surrounding areas.
• New York:83 colleges and universities in New York City, not counting the 22 individual colleges of CUNY.
• Los Angeles:
• Chicago: 43 colleges and universities
• California
  

The reason we use California as a reference point is that the population of California (34,600,463 in 2001) is close to the population of Orissa (2001: 36,804,660).

Add comment November 8th, 2008

Comparative Data for IITs and NITs during 2007-2008: from the MHRD 2007-08 annual report

2 comments October 12th, 2008

Layout drawings of IIIT Bhubaneswar

Site Plan

Administration Building:

Hostel:

Next phase:

Add comment October 9th, 2008

Orissa government issues tenders for IIIT, Parala Maharaj Engineering College and Construction Academy

In recent months the Orissa government has issued tenders for two state funded and one PPP based institute:

• IIIT Bhubaneswar: The tender is for construction of administrative and academic building, hostel and external services to be completed in 9 months and at an estimated value of work of Rs 15 crores.
• Parala Maharaj Engineering College in Berhampur: The tender is for construction of the College Building at Berhampur (Sitalapalli), Ground Floor and First Floor, to be completed in 15 months, and at an estimated value of work of Rs 7 crores.
• Construction Academy in Gopalpur, Cuttack: The tender is for construction of Administrative Block (Stilt, Ground & First Floor), to be completed in 18 months, and at an estimated value of work of Rs 5.6 crores.

The tender documents are currently available via http://tendersorissa.gov.in/.

1 comment October 9th, 2008

NASSCOM and MHRD tussle over the 20 new IIITs

Following are excerpts from a report in msn.com.

… Indian IT — which contributed to 5 per cent of India’s GDP — needs 2.3 million skilled staff by 2010, up 300,000 from the 2 million it employs now.

With this need in mind, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in the 11th plan document proposed the 20 IIITs, operated through a public-private partnership.

But the HRD ministry wants control of that partnership.

The ministry’s argument: we’re providing the land, much of the money, (half of the direct) loans and other benefits like tax exemptions.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the umbrella body for the IT sector, has proposed an independent authority to oversee the 20 IIITs to ensure autonomy, flexibility and transparency.

… “There is a question over who will run these institutes,” a source in the ministry told HT. “We want government representatives on board, as we cannot leave everything in their [industry] control. Obviously, after providing all the benefits the government cannot be pushed aside.”

Nasscom also wants deemed university status for the each institute — the IIIT set up between the Centre, state and the corporate partner.

… The Nasscom report also cautions government against “political expediency”, in fixing IIIT locations. Meaning: set them up near IT parks and companies, not in political constituencies.  ran aground.

Add comment September 22nd, 2008

Some details on the proposed 20 IIITs across the country

Following are excerpts from a report in livemint.com.

In the new IIITs, the government is actively considering a model where a majority stake goes to the private sector, while reducing the government to a minority shareholder. So, on an equity base of Rs30 crore, the government would get Rs14.90 crore maximum; and industry, Rs15.10 crore minimum.

“This is where the concept of autonomy begins. Even IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) and IITs, which are autonomous institutes, can’t decide on fees and number of seats without government approval because they are dependent on it for grants,” said Rajdeep Sahrawat, vice-president of industry lobby group National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), who led the drafting of the detailed project report on IIITs.

The government is also looking at a loan model, prepared by Nasscom, for IIITs to be set up as autonomous bodies, where the government would give loans to the institutes—and not grant funds—to be paid back over 10 years after a five-year moratorium.

The partners in setting up these IIITs would be the HRD ministry, the governments of the respective states where each institute will be established and industry members.

 

The committee member said it is hoping the model has no management quota. “There will be a board of governors that will decide policy matters for the institutes, and have representations from academia, industry and government,” this person said.

To further clip government interference, the board of governors at these IIITs will have just one government representative, based on the policy of “one seat per investor”.

“Each institution should have three-four industry partners, with a pedigree for research. Even the age of the people to be appointed to the governing board can’t exceed 70 years,” the member said.

With a focus on research, the new IIITs will also have a faculty-student ratio of 1:10, as in IITs. While Nasscom’s public-private partnership model for the new IIITs skips any mention of reservations for students from backward classes, a provision for merit-cum-means scholarships for the students is proposed, where an institute is granted subsidy from the government for the scholarships granted.

This, however, continues to be the toughest call for the government. “The industry wants merit to be the sole criteria, but the government would like to push through reservations, as applicable in other educational institutions. However, the IIITs would have some kind of a relaxation of marks for students from certain backward classes,” the member said.

2 comments August 29th, 2008

Prof. Pankaj Jalote will be the founding director of IIIT Delhi

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday formally launched the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and expressed her commitment to make it a world-class institute.

"The government has been giving top priority to promote IT. Setting up of the IIIT in Delhi would give a fillip to acceptability of IT, which has ensured transparency and helped in developing new work culture," Dikshit told a press conference.

… The institute’s board is chaired by Kiran Karnik, a leading IT sector honcho, and it would have Pankaj Jalote, a computer science professor from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, as its founding director.

The board also includes Pheroz Vandrevala, R. Chandrashekar, S. Sadagopan, Ranjit Roy Choudhary and two principal secretaries from the Delhi government.

3 comments August 14th, 2008