Odisha HRD

The ten new NITs and their mentors

The list is given below. As per a Times of India report NIT Goa has commenced operation.

Related Links:

• Cabinet approval and budget of each new NIT.

Add comment August 1st, 2010

Many 11th plan HRD initiatives including 20 new IIITs facing roadblocks; Minister Sibal seeks PM’s help

Following is an excerpt from a report in Indian Express.

… Sibal had written to the PM seeking his intervention on three stuck schemes including the proposal to set up 20 new IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology) on PPP basis, which was shot down by the Finance Ministry earlier this month. Of the other two stuck projects, one is meant to finance state universities and colleges, and the second is a Rs 2,000-crore scheme to set up 2,500 vocational schools across the country.

The PMO has now asked the Planning Commission to re-examine the projects.

Sibal is learnt to have brought to the PM’s notice how these projects were key to increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education. India is looking at a GER target of 20 per cent by 2020 against a dismal 12 per cent at present.

… the ministry’s proposal — shared with all state governments last year — to incentivise states for setting up new universities and colleges has also hit a roadblock. The proposal is to provide Central assistance to state governments to the tune of 1/3rd of the capital cost for setting up of new universities and colleges and also for expansion of existing institutes. The state governments will be required to bear 2/3rd of the capital cost and recurring expenditure. In fact, states have already been asked to identify land and suitable locations for these new institutions and also prepare detailed project reports.

2 comments July 21st, 2010

Number of model schools in the first phase to be 3500 (1000 more than what was previously approved)

For additional background and the list of 123 EBBs in Odisha see http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1689. Following is from the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=60782.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the setting up of 1000 additional model schools as a benchmark of excellence in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) through State Governments, thereby taking the total number of model schools to be set up through the State Governments to 3500.

The financial requirement for setting up 2500 schools under State Governments, which were approved by CCEA in November 2008, was estimated as Rs.9322 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan, of which the central share is Rs.7457 crore. Requirement for additional 1000 schools (current proposal) has been estimated to be Rs.3304 crore with the Central share of Rs.2478 crore. Thus the estimated Central share for establishing 3500 schools in the Government sector is Rs.9935 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan. 

Each school will have 560 students, the total beneficiary for 3500 schools therefore being 19.60 lakh students. The programme will be implemented through the societies set up by the State Governments for this purpose. 

The present proposal is meant for 3500 EBBs in 27 States/UTs, although the model school scheme will cover 6000 blocks in all States/UTs. 

The salient features of the Scheme are as follows: 

(i) Every EBB will be eligible for one model school under State Governments. 

(ii) These schools to have classes from VI to XII or from IX to XII. 

(iii) These schools to have norms and standards equal to or better than Kendriya Vidyalayas

(iv) Medium of instruction and affiliating board will be decided by the State Governments. 

(v) 75% of the recurring and non-recurring cost, subject to scheme norms, will be borne by the Central Government except for special category states, for which the sharing pattern is 90:10. 

The major impact of the scheme will be to open up access to quality secondary education to talented rural students. The scheme is expected to provide a major fillip to availability of good quality schools in rural areas, thereby nurturing talent in such areas. These schools are expected to act as pace-setting institutions and to have a demonstration effect on neighbouring schools.

Add comment April 24th, 2010

Odisha proposes upgradation of Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (IED) to a national level institute of MSME

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard by Bishnu Das.

The state government, in its proposal, has proposed to convert the existing Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (IED) at Bhubaneswar, a nodal agency of the Orissa government, to a national level institute for MSMEs. The proposed national institute for MSME would be in line with National Institute of Enterprise and Business Development, Noida, National Institute of MSME, at Hyderabad and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship located at Guwahati. Since the Union government plans to set up three such new centres in the country, the state government intends to cash in on the opportunity. The state government has offered to provide the infrastructure including land belonging to IED for setting up this institute.

1 comment April 20th, 2010

Regional Institute of Education Mysore offers 6 yrs M.Sc Ed integrated program. What about RIE Bhubaneswar?

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

The MSC Ed, an integrated six-year course (12 semesters), introduced in 2008 is the right way to master teaching skills. Offering quality teacher education programmes is the Regional Institute of Education that include innovative pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes and relevant research, development and extension activities.

The institute started as Regional College of Education in 1963, changed the name in 1994. It is one of the five such institutions established by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi. The other institutes are located at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Shilong.

Prior to the six-year course, there was a two-year MSC Ed course for those who had completed BSC Ed, said Regional Institute of Education Principal GT Bhandage. "It had a good response and the students from all over the country would appear for the entrance exam. This course was conceived essentially to meet the demand of the higher secondary level in specific subjects like physics, chemistry and mathematics. Students who have passed out from this course were absorbed by Navodaya and Kendriya Vidyalaya," added Bhandage.

In 2008, MSC Ed course was introduced after completion of II PUC or equivalent. The idea was to catch them young and train them with pedagogic skills and develop adequate content competency crucial to a teacher education programme, said Bhandage.

The six years integrated course is a combination of BSc and MSC. The first four years, students study physics, chemistry and mathematics while in fifth and final year they can choose a specialization subject.

After completion of the course one can get into Higher Secondary Schools or can do research.

… The admissions are made on all India basis through an entrance exam. The selection will be based on the performance in the qualifying exam and entrance exam.

For details log on to www.riemysore.ac.in or call 514515/ 2514095.

RIE Mysore has a website at www.riemysore.ac.in. I have not been able to find a web site for RIE Bhubaneswar. I wonder if RIE Bhubaneswar offers such a course.

Considering the implementation of RTE, there is a big need for more and better trained teachers and educational administrators (headmasters, principals, vice-principals, etc.). To achieve that the government of India should upgrade the RIEs to National Institutes of Education and make them Institutions of National Importance. This will attract the attention of more good students towards a teaching and teaching administration career. The government should incraese the number of seats and number of programs in these institutes and intrdoce programs for creating top-notch Educational administrators.

Add comment April 14th, 2010

Eleven new Central Schools to come up in Odisha

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph: 

The association’s board of governors has recommended the feasibility of 78 more Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) as part of the process initiated by the HRD ministry for expanding the network of such central schools during the 11th plan period. The feasibility report included two KVs in Cuttack along with nine others across Orissa to address the educational needs of children of central government employees who are frequently transferred.

At present, there are 36 KVs in Orissa. While nine schools are in the project and defence sectors, the rest are in the civil sector.

The existing 36 Kendriya Vidyalayas are listed in http://kvsrobbs.org/DirectorKVs.html. As per that list the latest ones established in 2007 are in Rayagada, Parlakhemundi, Boudh, Malkangiri, Nawrangpur, Kandhamal, and Bhadrak. So the districts in Odisha that do not yet have Central Schools are: 

• Deogarh
• Jajpur
• Kendrapada
• Nayagarh
• Nuapada
• Sonepur

I hope the new ones will cover these districts.

See our earlier articles on this topic at http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/556, http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/550 and http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/227.

1 comment April 9th, 2010

Vocational programs to go mainstream

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

… The HRD Ministry is set to revise its vocational education scheme under which the students will have the option to pursue vocational studies as an exclusive stream on par with arts, science and commerce.

The revised scheme, modelled on the pattern of vocational education in Australia and Germany, is expected to be announced next month.

"Students can study exclusively vocational education at Class-XI and XII. This will be an additional stream to the existing streams of science, arts and commerce," a senior Ministry official told PTI.

The focus of the revised vocational education stream will be industry collaboration at all stages, starting with designing of the courses, teaching and work experience in industry.

It will ensure employability of the students. Students can join any job or pursue further studies in professional courses like B.Tech after completing vocational courses.

… The vocational stream will offer a number of courses in areas like hospitality, automobile sector, paramedics, cooking, truck driving, manufacturing, graphics designing and animation, the official said.

Under vocational stream, the programmes will comprise 70 per cent of subject specific studies and 30 per cent general studies like English and communicative skills.

The revised scheme will be implemented across the country with 100 per cent Central assistance. The government has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore in the 11th Plan for this scheme. The Ministry is preparing a note for approval of Expenditure Finance Committee. Then it will go for Cabinet’s approval.

This is a great direction. When mainstream colleges start offering vocational courses and these programs have tie-up with industries that hire the graduates in apprentice positions with good prospects, the stigma associated with vocational programs in the mind of a typical middle class family in India would significantly reduce.

2 comments April 6th, 2010

300 page 6.2 MB UGC Report of the HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA Issues Related to Expansion, Inclusiveness, Quality and Finance.

The link is http://www.ugc.ac.in/pub/report/12.pdf. This was published in November 2008 with 500 printed copies. Its been recently put in the UGC website at number 12 in the page http://www.ugc.ac.in/pub/.

This 300 page document has all kinds of data on higher education in India and is a must read for anyone interested in higher education vis-a-vis India.

An Expressbuzz report by Sanjeev Patro tries to distill out some data with respect to Odisha from the above document. It is a good start and it made me look for the original document (Thanks), but I think a more careful analysis is needed.

Add comment March 1st, 2010

22 new Polytechs, 91 new ITIs and 415 new Skill Development Centers to come up in Odisha

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard on the 22 new polytechs.

… These polytechnics would come up in those districts which are not yet served by the government polytechnics. The districts include Boudh Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj and Balasore to name a few.

… It may be noted that 13 government engineering schools and polytechnics are already functioning in Orissa under the state industries department.

… A single patch of land spread over 10 acres has already been identified by the state government in each of the districts.

Out of Rs 12.3 crore sanctioned for each polytechnic, Rs eight crore will be spent on civil works and Rs 4.3 crore will be spent on equipment, machinery, furniture and learning resource material.

With the opening of these 22 polytechnics, every district in the state will have at least government polytechnic providing quality education.

Following is excerpt from a different report in Business Standard on the 91 new ITIs and 415 new Skill Development Centers (SDCs).

The Ministry of Labour and Employment of the Government of India has decided to set up 91 new ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) and 415 Skill Development Centres (SDCs) in Orissa on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

While the Orissa government would provide basic infrastructural support for these ITIs and SDCs including free land with proper power, water and road connectivity, the Centre would provide Viability Gap Funding.

The proposed ITI s would have a strength of 250 trainees per shift running about 10 demand driven trades. An estimated Rs six crore would be spent towards infrastructural development on each of these ITI s.

The proposed SDCs would be smaller centres of vocational training with seating capacity of about 300 persons per shift per annum to meet the skill training needs of the locals.

About Rs 50 lakh would be invested on equipment and machineries for these SDCs.

Expressions of Interest would be invited from the training providers to operationalize these proposed ITI s and SDCs on the PPP mode.

… About 3-5 acres of land need to be identified for the establishment of ITI s at the unrepresented block headquarters while 500 sq m of land is needed for setting up the SDC at the gram panchayat headquarters.

Moreover, the Government of India has decided to upgrade 1396 government ITI s across the country on the PPP mode through an interest free loan of Rs 2.5 crore.

Nine ITI s in the state at Puri, Cuttack, Chhatrapur, Umerkote, Barbil, Dhenkanal, Barbil, Baripada, Baripada and Malkangiri are covered under this initiative.

Add comment February 26th, 2010

CIPET adds two exclusive R & D hubs: One of them, Laboratory for Advance Research in Polymeric Materials (LARPM), established in Bhubaneswar

The advertisement http://www.cipet.gov.in/pdfs/advt.2010.pdf mentions that CIPET is upgrading its centers to High Learning Centers to impart B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D programs with exclusive R & D hubs ARSTPS & LARPM. (Note: I think LARPM was the first R & D hub to be created by CIPET and was mentioned in a Jan 2009 PIB report. But both were also mentioned in a May 2008 Economic Times article.)

As per http://www.cipet.gov.in/research.html:

Technology innovation through dedicated research work by a Core team has been the philosophy of CIPET, which led to the establishment of 02 R&D centres – Laboratory for Advance Research in polymeric Materials (LARPM) & Advance Research School for Technology & Product simulation (ARSTPS) at CIPET Bhubaneswar & Chennai respectively. …

The vision for these R&D Centres have been conceived with objectives of transforming CIPET as a Global research Centre on Polymeric Materials as well as a Resource centre for newer concept development & conversion of concept into reality by Product development on commercial scales. Technology transfer, creation of Intellectual Property (IP), knowledge base with validated documentation would be the key aspects of functioning of R&D entities.

The significance of LARPM & ARSTPS is evident from the fact that they will be chaired by Director General and functioning independently under the Technology & Business development department of Corporate Office. The targets for both R&D centres have been set to pursue the objectives in mission mode. The experienced & competent faculties have been drawn from the existing pool of CIPET along with newly inducted researchers.

Operating model of LARPM & ARSTPS would be influenced with 03 “Rs”- Relevance to industry needs, Result-oriented output, Resourceful base to operate as ‘Centre of excellence”. It is worth mentioning that LARPM has already been sanctioned 03 sponsored projects from Funding agencies of Govt. of India. Similarly, ARSTPS has already initiated industry sponsored projects for Automotive, Medical & Aerospace Industries.

The identified focus areas of LARPM & ARSTPS are as follows:

	LARPM   ARSTPS
	Biopolymers   Innovative Product Design for Medical, Automobile, Aerospace and Packaging Industries
	Polymer Composites & Nanocomposites   Product and Tool Design Conceptualization (modeling, analysis, process optimization & simulation approach )
	Functional Plastics, Carbon nanotubes   E- Manufacturing of Prototypes.
	Polymer Membranes, Conducting polymers   Reverse Engineering for metal and conventional material substitution.
	Development & Characterization of Engg. Polymers, Blends/Alloys   -
	Fuel Cells

The home page of LARPM is http://cipet.gov.in/cipetr&d/. As per http://cipet.gov.in/pdfs/research.pdf there are already 5 students pursuing Ph.D at LARPM. Following are concept drawings of their upcoming building.

The 2010-2011 admission ad shows the B.tech and M.tech programs that will be offered in 2010-2011. The program that will be offered at CIPET Bhubaneswar are:

• B.Tech in Plastics Engineering/Technology (Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Chennai , Lucknow, Haldia – proposed)
• B.Tech in Manufacturing Engineering & Technology – proposed (Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Lucknow)
• M.Tech in Plastics Engineering/Technology (Bhubaneswar, Chennai , Lucknow, Hajipur)
• M.Tech in Polymer Nano Technology (LARPM – Bhubaneswar)
• M.Sc M.Tech in Material Science &  Engineering (Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Lucknow).

The only program not listed to be offered at Bhubaneswar, but offered elsewhere, is

• M.Engg in CAD CAM (ARSTPS – Chennai)

Besides the above; all the 15 CIPET centers offer the following diplomas and PG Diplomas:

• Diploma in Plastic mould technology (3 yrs)
• Diploma in Plastics technology (3 yrs)
• PG Diploma in plastic mould design (1 yrs)
• PG Diploma in plastic processing & testing (1.5 yrs)

Finally, the Mancheswar branch of CIPET offers the following programs:

• ITI-Fitter, ITI-Electrician, ITI-IT&ESM and ITI-Welder
• and various short term courses and CAD/CAM courses.

From the above it looks like CIPET Chennai and Bhubaneswar are among the leaders.  However neither Odisha nor Tamil Nadu have a NIPER. (The original NIPER is near Mohali and Chandigarh.  As part of the 11th plan, new NIPERs were made in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Hajipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Rae Bareli.) I hope Odisha pursues and gets one during the next five year plan.

1 comment February 20th, 2010

Existing and recently approved (in the 11th plan) Dept. of Biotechnology Institutes

Following is an excerpt from the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=56523.

Autonomous Institutions: There are seven existing autonomous institutions under Department of Biotechnology namely National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi; Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad; National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Manesar; National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi; Institute of Bioresource and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphal; Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar. Recently, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram has been taken over from Government of Kerala. These institutes have generated 382 publications, 24 patents granted/filed, 9 patents in pipeline and 13 technologies were developed.

Establishment of new breed of institutions in critical areas has been one of the major strategies of 11^th plan. Cabinet has approved setting up of institutions namely Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore; National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute with bioprocessing plant  Cluster in Knowledge city at Mohali; Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI); Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training and Education under the auspices of the UNESCO, Faridabad and Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kolkata and efforts are being made to establish institutions. In other proposed new institutions, National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad has been approved by EFC.

Regional biotechnology clusters , around the new institutions are being planned to promote innovation and discovery. These are the Translational Health Cluster at Faridabad, the Agrifood Cluster at Mohali and the Innovation Cluster at Bangaloore. Together, it is hoped that these will become the technology and innovation gateways of India.

1 comment December 31st, 2009

14 new polytechnics on the way; center to fund Rs 12.3 crores each for infrastructure, state to take care of the rest

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

The Centre has sanctioned funds for establishment of Government polytechnics in 14 districts of the State.

Each of the institutes will receive a one time grant of Rs 12.30 crore from the Centre for infrastructure development while the State Government will take care of the recurring expenditure, including staff salary and administrative expenses.

The Government polytechnics will be located in districts having no such institutes.

Orissa has 13 technical institutes including three women polytechnics offering diploma courses in various trades. However, these institutes are limited to only nine districts and most of them are located in coastal region.

The new polytechnics will be opened in seven Naxal-affected districts of Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Gajapati, Sambalpur, Jajpur, Nayagarh and Deogarh.

The other districts selected for the Centrally assisted technical institutes are Boudh, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Sonepur.

Sites for the proposed polytechnics have been selected in respective district headquarters.

The Government will provide at least 10 acres of land for each of the polytechnics free of cost.

The new polytechnics will start functioning from the next academic session. …

According to a conservative estimate, each polytechnic will have at least 50 staff. The Government will take a decision on recruitment of staff on permanent or contractual basis.

The Government had already submitted a proposal to the Centre for financial assistance for opening Government polytechnics in the remaining seven districts.

3 comments October 29th, 2009

Central University of Orissa classes to start in June from a temporary location; VC Prof. Banerjee will be tested on her ability get one of the 5 medical and engineering colleges to her university

Update: The news item in Samaja.

Tathya writes about this. Following are some excerpts.

Central University of Orissa (CUO) will begin classes from June. … While CUO will have its campus in Koraput, to begin with a temporary campus near Bhubaneswar is being looked out to start classes from next Educational Year.

That is why Professor Banerjee has requested the Government of Orissa in Higher Education department to provide a rented accommodation.

Mr.Padhi has agreed to provide all out support for the institution.

Professor Banerjee is interested to make it a different institution and is inclined to start at least 30-35 departments in the newly carved out Centre of Learning.

However to start with the CUO will have 5 subjects and later it will go on including further, said sources.

… Those CUs, which has not identified land for the institution in the designated place, those can start it from the Capital City of the state, said sources.

So Professor Banerjee is busy in organizing things for facilitating classes from next June. Faculty hiring is the foremost in her mind and as she is eager to make it a top class university, the VC wants to rope in best of the talents from the country.

She is also interested to open Medical College in the University, but it will take time. 

… Professor Baral of Arizona State University said only five of the 15 new central universities will have a medical college in the first phase (i.e.,during the 11th plan).

So the ability of the VC Professor Banerjee will be tested in whether she is able to get a medical and engineering college to the Central University of Orissa, feel the educationist.

Considering that the CUO is to be located in Koraput, in the most backward area, KBK, of India, Prof. Banerjee must do her best to make the right arguments at the earliest and get a medical and engineering college to this university, argued Professor Baral.

Page 522 of the document at http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/11th/11_v3/11th_vol3.pdf given below shows that only 5 of the new central universities will have medical and engineering colleges in the first phase, I.e., during the 11th plan.

Add comment March 25th, 2009

NISER Bhubaneswar is mentioned in Volume 1 of the 11th Five year plan document

In Section 8.44 (page 174) of Volume 1 (Inclusive Growth) of the 11th Five Year Plan, the following is mentioned.

The DAE has also initiated the process for establishment of the NISER at Bhubaneswar, at par with the IISER to undertake integrated five-year Masters’ courses and integrated M.Sc–Ph.D. programme in core and emerging branches of science to provide world-class education to students.

Add comment February 10th, 2009

Science and Technology initiatives of 2008

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=46293.

DEPTT. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Department of Science & Technology initiated several easy to access programmes for people.  Following are some of the highlights:

Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspire Research (INSPIRE)

INSPIRE is a programme by the Department of Science & Technology for attraction of talent to study science and careers with research. The Scheme includes three sub-components namely a) Scheme for Early Attraction of Talents for Science (SEATS), b) Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) and c) Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC).

Scheme for Early Attraction of Talent (SEATS) aims to attract talented youth to study science through INSPIRE award of Rs 5000 to each awardee. About one million young learners of the age group 10-15 years will be selected fro INSPIRE Award from the toppers who constitute approximately one percent in the Class X Board examinations in the country. Summer camps for about  50,000 youth will be organised in which students will interact with global science leaders..

Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) aims to enhance rates of attachment of talented youth to higher education in science intensive programmes. The scheme offers 10,000 scholarship and mentorship every year @ Rs 0.80 lakh per year for undertaking Bachelor and Masters level education in natural sciences. A main feature of the scheme is in mentorship support for every scholar through INSPIRE scholarship.

Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC) aims to attract, attach, retain and nourish talented young scientific Human Resource for strengthening the R&D foundation and base by offering doctoral INSPIRE fellowship in the age group of 22-27 in the both basic and applied sciences including engineering and medicine and assured opportunity for post doctoral researchers  in the age group of 27-32 years  through contractual and tenure track positions for 5 years in both basic and applied sciences areas through an INSPIRE faculty scheme.

Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB)

SERB is an autonomous empowered Board to be established through an Act of Parliament. It will promote excellence in research through established groups pursuing advanced research and gaining global competitiveness for Indian Science and strive to de-bureaucratize the funding support system. The Parliament has passed the bill on the formation of SERB.

Nano Mission

India has mounted a national nano mission in 2007 with an objective of promoting basic and applied research in nano science with an outlay of Rs 1000 crores over 5 years. Under this mission, a new Institute of nano science and technology at Mohali and centers of Banglore and Kolkata are being established.  Projects and centres of excellence in basic and applied research have been supported with an outlay of over Rs 150 crores during 2007-08. More than 500 students are currently carrying out doctoral research in nano science in the country.

 Initiative for Technologies for Safe Drinking Water

The department has mounted a national initiative to assess technologies and products available for providing safe drinking water for decentralized use and create a data base of technologies after the evaluation of field performance of products and technologies.

Recent Success Stories of the incubated companies promoted by NSTEDB, DSTsupported Technology Business Incubator (TBI).

Torque 360 Degree Solutions is an incubated company of Technopark, Trivandrum which specializes in providing wireless messaging solutions enabling direct communication with  targeted audiences and service them through various messaging products and tools. One of its spin off, MobME , Mobile Media and Entertainment Start-up is valued at US $ 7 Million and is listed on top 100 IT Innovators 2007 by NASSCOM.

Laurus Laboratories nurtured in ICICI Knowledge Park, Hyderabad, life science Incubator  functions in the area of pharmaceutical process development which provides integrated services, technologies and manufacturing capabilities spanning the  entire drug development life cycle, have had an iconic growth with over USD 100 million valuation and a strategic partnership with Aptuit Inc. in less than two years and created 425 scientist level jobs and around 100 support level jobs.

SooryaKiran Bioinformatics (P) Ltd is a university incubated, new generation bioinformatics company functioning from Technopark, Trivandrum provides reliable, cost effective, world-class customized solutions that bridge the gap between information analysis and knowledge management. The company is poised to establish itself as a world renowned organization, striving to set benchmarks in Computational Biology and Bioinformatic.

National Mission on Bamboo Applications 

National Mission on Bamboo Applications focused attention on value addition of bamboo materials through applications of technology and product development in area of structural materials and energy generation. Several housing and structural applications related technologies have been commercialized. 

DRUGS AND PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM

The programme has established a number of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in drug development.  Total of 85 collaborative R&D projects with leading industries, 31 national facilities and 37 Pharma Industry loan projects have been supported.

The programme has resulted in filing 15 product patents and 13 process patents. Industrial leads on Psoriasis, Migraine, Malaria, Anti-Glaucoma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Diabetes, aging, Pancreatic Cancer, Osteoporosis are under different phases (Phase I, II, III) clinical trials. 

Science Express – an innovative science exhibition on-wheels

Science Express’, an innovative Indo-German Pathway to Discovery, is a unique science exhibition-on-wheels. It was flagged off by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh and Federal Chancellor of Germany Dr. Angela Merkel from Delhi Safdarjung on 30 October 2007. It is a joint venture between the Max Planck Society Germany (MPS), a Noble laureate powerhouse and Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, with the support of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German corporate giant BASF and its Indian arm, among others. The exhibition comprising of over 350 interactive displays, large format modules, video clips and voice-overs strived to provide insights into some most pressing questions about evolution besides state-of-the-art of several scientific pursuits. It also hosted world famous Kids’ Lab of BASF and over 15,000 students performed interesting experiments in Chemistry.

During its incredible tour of India to 57 locations in 217 days covering over 15,000 kms during, this first-of-its kind exhibition received overwhelming response at each halt as it attracted over 22.5 lakhs visitors. Buoyed by its success, a modified version called ‘sciencexpress’  having more indigenous content has been launched on 30 November 2008 to another 50 destinations not covered earlier.    

International S&T Cooperation

The Department of Science and Technology on behalf of the  Government of India has enlarged the Scope and strength of S&T cooperation with many countries during the year 2008-09. Stepped cooperation with European Union, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, Canada, Israel, Russia, SAARC, brazil, South Africa formed special focus during 2008-09. Indian beam line in Japan, Science express with Germany, Industrial R&D fund support with Israel and Canada, science bridges with UK, Joint Biomedical center with Russia, coordinated call for research on computational material science with EU are some indications of stepped up S&T cooperation registered during 2008-09.  

PRA/SKK

8 comments January 2nd, 2009

Rs 80,000/year fellowships for science students under INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research)

Update2: The number 80,000 is inconsistent with the earlier announced number of Rs 100,000/year made in http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36632.

Update: See also http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=45626 for the PM’s speech while launching the INSPIRE program.

Following is from a report in Telegraph.

India’s brightest students who choose to pursue science in college will get Rs 80,000 a year under a government scholarship to draw youngsters to careers in research.

The department of science and technology (DoT) today launched the nation’s largest-ever project to wean high-school students away from dreams of studying engineering or medicine towards BSc and MSc degrees.

Students who rank within 10,000 in the IIT Joint Entrance Examination and within 20,000 in the All India Engineering Entrance Examination but still choose BSc will be eligible for the scholarship, announced earlier this year but formally launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today. Students who clear the central medical entrance exam but opt for BSc will also be eligible.

All students who come within the top 1 per cent both in the 10th and 12th standard exams of central or state boards may also apply for the Scholarship for Higher Education. The department of science expects to offer 10,000 scholarships every year.

Students of Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), national science talent scholars and Olympiad medallists will also be eligible.

The scholarship will be available from BSc second year till the students complete their master’s. Students of IISER Pune, Calcutta, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram will receive it this year. So will those of NISER Bhubaneswar.

… The project will also award Rs 5,000 every year to 200,000 students from classes VI to X — picked with help from the schools’ science faculties — for work on a school-level science project. It will provide doctoral fellowships and an assured five-year research career to postgraduate students.

The government will spend Rs 2,100 crore on the scheme in the next three years.

India’s science policy makers have long worried about the migration of meritorious students towards, traditionally, engineering and medicine and, in recent years, management and information technology. “This initiative is important for India from a long-term perspective,” said T. Ramasamy, DoT secretary. “We expect to begin seeing gains from this in about a decade or so from now.”

101 comments December 14th, 2008

Higher education reforms planned at the prodding of NKC

Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in.

Orissa has initiated moves to reform its higher education system, thanks to National Knowledge Commission (NKC) initiative.

The Higher Education department has moved to set up two committees in this regard.

Madhu Sudan Padhi, Commissioner-cum-Secretary Higher Education has moved for setting up the committees to take up reforms of the existing universities.

There are 7 universities under the administrative control of the Higher Education department.

As per guidelines of NKC, in order to bring reforms in the existing academic and examination system, Vice Chancellor of Utkal University will be assigned the job.

NKC has advised the State Governments to ask the universities to revise or restructure curricula at least once in 3 years.

Secondly it has said that annual examination, which tests memory rather than understanding, needs to be supplemented with continuous internal assessment.

NKC proposes a transition to a course credit system where degrees are granted on the basis of completing a requisite number of credits from different course, which provides students with choices.

Universities must become Hub of Research, which is totally absent, said a senior officer.

These are the few guidelines and including others on which the VC committee will prepare the “blueprint” for reforms, said he.

Another committee headed by the Secretary Higher Education will look into to structural reforms including governance, setting up small universities and restructuring the under graduate colleges.

Both the committees will present their report by 15 February, which will form the part of the Blue Print for the state, said he.

I think various state-funded colleges should be combined to form local universities. I will elaborate on this in another post.

Add comment December 13th, 2008

IITs may become real universities and have more non-technical programs

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India. (Thanks to Prof. Ratan Ghosh for the pointer.)

In the coming years, the IIT palette will have on offer a range of shades beyond the cut-and-dry coding courses. A bunch of doctors, historians, perhaps policy makers too, could boast of IIT degrees.

… the XIth five-year committee for higher education is working with these centres of excellence to expand their charts. The committee, headed by educationist Yash Pal, that is meeting IIT heads on Friday will discuss how the tech schools can change their character and, like American universities, enlarge their menu.

"Currently, the IITs are premier undergraduate engineering schools doing some postgraduation and research work. Now, we want to give them a bigger role," Yash Pal told TOI. The noted scientist said that he had discussed his suggestions with some IIT directors and that a clearer picture would emerge after this week’s meeting.

While the IITs will be given more oxygen in terms of starting courses of their choice, it’s difficult to predict whether the new subjects offered will compare in excellence with the engineering departments, or be relegated to the sidelines, like the IITs’ management schools. However, Yash Pal said, "All great universities around the world offer a range of undergraduate courses. Our IITs can’t be great unless they think in that direction."

The committee is looking at the Big Daddy of engineering colleges for inspiration. "If MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or Caltech (California Institute of Technology) can offer a wider range of programmes that are well-known, why not the IITs? Our IITs have produced wonderful engineers for the country. It’s time they looked at offering more," he added.

Former Indian Institute of Science director Govardhan Mehta, who’s also on the committee, said that the country was currently at a stage where an institute running one programme was also being termed a university. "However, a university, as defined in the ninth century, is an institution with a confluence of many disciplines where research and teaching are carried out. While expansion of courses in the IITs is what our committee is thinking of, Friday’s meeting will give us a chance to know what’s in the IIT heads’ minds," he said.

 … IIT-Guwahati director Gautam Barua said, "There has been some suggestion that the IITs start programmes in areas other than science and technology. I do not have a problem with doing that if our focus is clearly defined."

… Educationist and former director of IIT-Chennai P V Indiresan, who has spent a large part of his life in the IIT system, said the institutes had been synonymous with excellence and they must not start any programmes unless they got very good faculty for the same.

How the IITs will rise to the challenge remains to be seen. What’s certain, however, is that the flow charts on their lush campuses are set to be redrawn.

Add comment November 20th, 2008

Setting up of 6,000 Model Schools at Block level gets union cabinet’s nod: PIB

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=44613.

The 123 educationally backward blocks in Orissa are (See also http://education.nic.in/mdm/EEBs.pdf for a bigger list):

Add comment November 7th, 2008

UGC recommends 735 additional universities; actions that Orissa needs to take

Following is from a report in Economic Times.

To increase the enrolment rate in higher education, a UGC committee has suggested starting an additional 735 universities in the country during the 11th Plan ending 2012.

The UGC committee, comprising Prof Duraisami of Madras University and Prof Sudhansu Bhusan of National University of Education Planning and Administration, has said that more universities will be needed to increase gross enrolment rate — the percentage of youths in the age group of 18-24 years in higher education — to 15 per cent from the 10 per cent at present.

The committee, set up to suggest reforms on the affiliation system and monitoring of education in 11th plan, has worked out a formula of 20,000 students per university to achieve the target. As per this criteria, the requirement would be 735 universities in the country by 2012, the report said.

"We will study the report and make a final suggestion to the state governments for starting the new varsities," UGC Chairman Prof Sukhadeo Thorat said.

At present there are 388 universities in the country. The committee’s report assumes significance in view of the estimation of National Knowledge Commission last year, when it said that at least 1,500 universities are needed to make India a knowledge society.

The enrolment ratio in higher education is abysmal 10 per cent in India. It is less than eight per cent in states like Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Orissa’s population is 36,706,920, while India’s population is 1,129,866,154. So Orissa’s population is 3.24% of India’s population. So if India’s universities need to increase to a total of 388+735 = 1123. Then Orissa’s share should be 3.24% of that, which is 36.4. Considering Orissa at less than 8% is behind the national average of 10% in terms of enrolment ratio, Orissa will need to have at least 45.5, or say 46 universities. (This is based on using the 8% number for Orissa. It is actually a little over 6 for Orissa. So another 10 may be needed. But for the 11th plan lets stick with the number 46.)

• The exisiting universities in Orissa are (13): Utkal, Sambalpur, Berhampur, NOU, FMU, OUAT, KIIT, SOS, Culture U, Ravenshaw, Sri Jagannath, NIT RKL, BPUT.
• The new universities that are under construction are (8): WCCU, KBK Central, Sri Sri U, Vedanta U, ICFAI, Jagadguru, National Law U, Orissa Open University
• Some institutes that are operating or under construction and that could become universities are (4): IIIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Bhubaneswar, NISER Bhubaneswar, AIIMS Bhubaneswar
• Some institutes that may be opened and become universities are (3) : IIIT Berhampur, BITS, NID
• Some colleges that have applied for deemed university status are (8): Krupajal, CEB, ASBM, Gunupur, Koustuv, Hi-Tech, CV Raman, UCE/OIT.
• So the state needs to make at least 10 more universities.
  • One should be made in each of the undivided 13 districts which do not have a university yet. The 13 undivided districts are: Puri, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Baleswar, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Phulbani, Dhenkanal, Kendujhar, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj. Among them the five districts of Balangir, Kalahandi (Bhawanipatna), Phulbani, Dhenkanal (Angul) and Kendujhar do not have a university nor any new one has yet been announced. So the state should establish 5 universities, one each in each of these undivided districts.
  • CET Bhubaneswar should be made to a university.
  • A comprehensive university should be established in Rourkela.
  • A Bhubaneswar-Cuttack metropolitan university consisting of all government colleges in the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack area should be made.
  • Berhampur medical college should be made to a unitary health university.
  • A health university encompassing all of Orissa, with possible head quarters in Naraj should be made.
• During the 12th and 13th plan at least the undivided districts which do not have two universities should get their second one (8): Those would be Baleswar (Bhadrakh), Balangir (Titlagarh), Kalahandi (Nabarangpur), Koraput (Malkangiri), Phulbani (Boudha), Dhenkanal, Kendujhar (Joda) and Mayurbhanj (Bangiriposi).
  • In addition universities may be established in major population centers without an university. These places include (5): Rayagada, Kalinganagar, Paradeep, Parlakhemundi, Jharsuguda,
  • And in districts which do not yet have a university (5): Bargarh, Deogarh, Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Sonepur.

If someone thinks that the above is too many, then they should compare the number of universities in California, whose population,at 36,553,215, is around the same as that of Orissa. However, Orissa’s area at 155,707 sq km is less than 40% of California’s area of 410,000 sq km.

8 comments August 10th, 2008