Odisha HRD

Central University of Orissa Koraput advertises for 15 faculty positions total in 5 areas (English, Oriya, Sociology, Anthropology, Journalism & Mass Communication)

1 comment July 19th, 2009

RTI response by MHRD related to Kalahandi; Orissa government should also push for a campus of IGNTU in Kalahandi.

Tathya.in, Pioneer and Samaja covered this.

The following response was received by Madhusmita Panda.

No.RTI/74/Dir(CU)/2009

Government of India

Ministry of Human Resource Development

Department of Higher Education

                 ****

New Delhi, the 10^th July, 2009

 

 

To

 

 Ms. Madhusmita Panda

C/o- Shri Bikram Kishore Panda,

E-8, UCO House, 1/1 Alipore Avenue,

Kolkata-7

 

Subject :  Information sought for under Right to Information Act,2005.

 

Sir,

 

 With reference to your application dated 27.5.2009, it is stated that any application under the section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 is required to be accompanied by a fee of Rs.10 payable in cash or bank draft drawn in favour of Pay and Accounts Office of the concerned Ministry. Since the Indian Postal Orders enclosed with your application are payable to Central Public Information Officer, the same are not acceptable and, hence, are returned herewith. Accordingly, your application is not being treated as an application under section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. 

It may,however, be informed that on receipt of a letter from Shri Bikram Keshari Dev, Member of Parliament about locating the Central University of Orissa in Kalahandi district instead of Koraput district as recommended by the State Government, it had already been decided by this Ministry that the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University could consider establishment of one of its off-campuses in Kalahandi district during the 11^th Plan Period,subject to availability of resources. No separate action was,therefore,called for on letter dated 17.8.2008 of Shri Digambara Patra on this issue.

 

Yours Faithfully.

R.D.Sahay,

Director & CPIO.

The Orissa government had earlier written about an IGNTU campus in Kandhamala. In light of the above, and the fact that IGNTU may have multiple campuses, the Orissa government should also push for a campus in Kalahandi.Considering the distance between Kalahandi and Kandhamala, the need of both places, and the name recognition (unfortunately in a negative sense) of both places it is quite possible that they can get multiple campuses.

7 comments July 19th, 2009

BPUT advertises for 37+37 positions for its engineering colleges in Berhampur and Bhawanipatna

July 19th, 2009

A partial list of engineering colleges that are newly authorized by AICTE to admit undergraduate students

Update2: The possible reason that IIIT, Silicon etc. are not in the BPUT published list despite having received AICTE approval is that BPUT has not completed their inspection of these institutions. It is expected that the inspection will be completed in the next couple of days in time for regular JEE counseling.

Update: The list in BPUT’s web site http://www.jeeorissa.com/newsfiles/news_16.htm is slightly different. The main differences are that it does not have IIIT, Silicon and Xavier and has the following college.

• SOPHITORIUM ENGINEERING COLLEGE, INFRONT OF COLLECTOR OFFICE, BANIATANGI, KHURDA

The following list is obtained from a link mentioned by reader Parashar Das and another link that lists changes in seats. The later link has BIT and IIIT as BIT got its approval in 2008 and IIIT got its approval as a college in 2007.

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. Gurukula College of Engineering for Women (GCEM) At- Jamuhari Chhatabar, Bhubaneshwar Dist- Khurda Odisha
8. Hi-Tech College of Engineering, Rasulghar, Pandara Bhubaneswar
9. Indotech College of Engineering, Plot No. 144, AT/PO Mallipada, Via Pallahat(Khurda-2) Dist-khurda,Orissa-752056
10. International Institute of Information Technology, Plot No – 570(P), Gothapatna, Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar – 751030
11. KMBB College of Engineering and Technology AT-Daleiput, PO-Talahat Dist. Khurda,Orissa
12. Rahul Institute of Engineering & Technology, Govindapur JN Tata Dapalli, Village Konisi, Berhampur, Ganjam (DT) Orissa-761 008.
13. Shibani Institute of Technical Education , At-PO-Chhatabar,Via, Hanla, Bhubaneswar – 752054, Khurda, Orissa
14. Silicon Institute of Technology, Sason, Sambalpur -763 200, Orissa.
15. Spintronic Tech. & Advance Resarch At.Po Taraboi P.S. Jatani Dist Khurda, Orissa
16. Srinix College of Engineering College At-Ranipatna, Dist Balasore-750001 .
17. Suddhananda Engg. & Research Centre, Phulnakhara Cuttack At Anchhipur P.O. Bhatapatna Orissa
18. Synergy Institute of Technology, At : Bhimpur,P.O. Jagannathpur, P.S. Balianta, Dist:Khurda, Orissa
19. Vedang Institute of Technology, Durga Prasad, P.O. Ramachandi, Dist. Khurda, Orissa
20. Vikash College of Engineering for Women (VCEW) plot No. 2766, P.S. Dist- Baragarh, Odisha
21. Vivekananda Inst. Of Tech., at Chhatabar Dandi, Chaatabar, Orissa
22. Xavier Institute of Tech., Princess Avencue Ghangapatna Bhubaneswar Dist Khurda Orissa

Among the above list, 17 colleges are in the Bhubaneswar area, 2 in Berhampur area, 1 in Sambalpur, 1 in Baragarh, and 1 in Balasore. This will take the number of engineering colleges in Bhubaneswar to close to 60.

Some of the other colleges that were in pipeline, but whose name does not appear in the above lists, are:

• Rourkela Institute of Technology, At P.O. Kuarmunda, District : Sundergarh Pin 770039 Orissa 
• Vijayanjali Institute of Technology At Gadabhanga No. 4 P.O. Khantapara, District : Balasore 756043 Orissa
• Adarsha College of Engineering At Saradhapur, P.O. Kumurisingha Dist : Angul, Pin 759122 Orissa
• SRM College of Engineering At Giringaput, P.O. Mendhasala, Orissa
• PJ College of Management & Technology At Kesora, P.O. Bankual, Bhubaneswar 751 002 Orissa
• Pan Institute of Technology, Knowledge City Unit – 7, Bhubaneswar 751 003 Orissa
• Pioneer Institute of Technology Village : Ambilijhari Mouza : Machhapangi, PS Choudwar, District : Cuttack Orissa
• MITS College of Engineering Mouza: Alkar At P.O. Janla, Bhubaneswar 751016 Orissa
• Kalahandi Engineering College, Bhawanipatna (govt)
• Parla Maharaj Engineering College, Berhampur (govt)

Note that last year there were 18 new colleges; 12 in the Bhubaneswar area, 3 in the berhampur area, 1 in Jharsuguda, 1 in Balasore and 1 in Rayagada. Taking into account the count of engineering colleges in various areas from last year and this year, the lower bound is:

• Bhubaneswar area: Last year 43 (including IIT, KIIT, ITER, NIT and IIIT) + 16 (not counting IIIT which is already accounted for) = 59
• Berhampur area: 6 (excluding IIIT Berhampur and Parla Maharaj, which are in the pipeline) +2 = 8+2 in pipeline
• Rourkela-Sundergarh area: 4
• Balasore-Bhadrakh area: 4 + 1 = 5
• Sambalpur-Burla-Jharsuguda-Bargarh: 3 + 2 = 5
• Angul-Talcher: 2
• Koraput-Jeypore: 2
• Others: 3 (Keonjhar, Parlakhemundi, Mayurbhanj) + 1 in pipeline (Govt. announced engineering college in Bhawanipatna)

5 comments July 18th, 2009

A partial list of new engineering colleges that may admit undergraduate students in the upcoming Orissa/BPUT JEE Counseling

The following list is compiled by reader Parashar Das from the various advertisements in Orissa newspapers. The final list should come out before the counseling for engineering starts on 24th July 2009.

1. Shibani Institute of Technical Education, Chhatabar,Bhubaneswar
2. Vivekananda Institute of Technology, Chhatabara,Bhubaneswar
3. Indotech College of Engineering,Malipada, Bhubaneswar
4. Einstien Academy of Technology & Management, Baniatangi,Bhubaneswar
5. Aryan Institute of Engineering & Technology, Barakuda, Panchagaon, Bhubaneswar
6. Ekalavya college of technology & Science, Kusumati,Bhubaneswar
7. Vedang Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar
8. Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology, Infovalley, Harapur,Bhubaneswar
9. Sudhananda Engineering & research centre, Phulnakhara Bhubaneswa
10. Spintronics technology & advanced research, Argul,Bhubaneswar
11. Gurukul college for Engineering for women, Bhubaneswar
12. KMBB college of Engineering & Technology, Bhubaneswar
13. Gandhi institute for Education & Technology, Baniatangi, Bhubaneswar
14. Synergy institute of technology, Phulnakhara, Bhubaneswar
15. IIIT Bhubaneswar
16. Vikash College of Engineering for Women, Bargarh
17. Silicon institute of Technology, Sason, Sambalpur
18. Gandhi Academy of Technolgy & Engineering, Berhampur

It is not clear how many of the above have received AICTE approval so far.

In addition the Orissa government had announced two new government engineering colleges in Berhampur and Bhawanipatna. It is not known if they will be starting this year and take students this year. My guess is probably not. But I could be wrong.

26 comments July 15th, 2009

Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology promises to provide its top five students higher studies and research opportunities in the USA

NOTE: Please note that I am in the board of advisors of BIT. I agreed to join the board because I believe in the people who are making it. Nevertheless I am obviously biased.

The above statement is made in a report about Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology in Pioneer. Some excerpts from that report are:

A group of likeminded eminent NRO academicians have come together to start the Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology (BIT) and offer students of the State the opportunity for technical education and research of international standard and style. The institute promises its students education by experienced faculty from the US, innovative teaching methods and much more within the framework of the BPUT curriculum.

… There would also be opportunities for students to “Earn while Learn,” “Learn While You Teach” and the top five students would be provided opportunities in the US for higher studies and research, he said. The BIT hopes to achieve all this through its experienced faculty, both visiting and permanent, from places like the US, Canada and Singapore. 

I beleive that the above promise would be honored. That is because:

• The BIT founders include several professors in the USA, two of whom (Prof. Laxmi Bhuyan and Prof. Prasant Mohapatra) are Chairmen of their departments at University of Califoirnia at Riversive and University of California at Davis respectively.
• The top students from Orissa are as good as from any other state in India and thus many US universities would love to take them as graduate students and they will believe the quality of these students when these students submit recommendation letters written by professors in the US who know the students closely because of their association with BIT.

BIT’s initial faculty recruitment is also showing their commitment to quality. Its current faculty of thirteen has four Ph.Ds, two doing their Ph.Ds, four with M.Tech/ME/M.Phil degrees and only three with simple B.E/B.Tech degrees.

Even at this early stage of BIT’s recruiting, one may compare BIT with the following institute faculty to get an idea of where BIT is heading.

• Computer Science and Engineering faculty at CET Bhubaneswar (1 B.Tech, 1 M.Tech and 1 Ph.d)
• Computer Science and application at CET Bhubaneswar (1 B.Tech, 1 M.Tech and 1 Ph.d)
• Information Technology at CET Bhubaneswar (1 Ph.D, 2 B.E/B.Tech)
• Electrical Engineering at CET Bhubaneswar (2 Ph.D, 2 M.Tech)
• Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering at CET Bhubaneswar (2 Ph.D, 1 doing Ph.D, # M.E/M.Tech)
• Computer Science at UCE Burla (1 Ph.D, 1 doing Ph.D, 4 M.E/M.Tech)
• Electronics and Telecommunication at UCE Burla (5 Ph.D, 4. M.E/M.Tech)
• IIIT Bhubaneswar (2 Ph.D, 1 submitted Ph.D, 2 doing Ph.D, 1 M.Tech)
• CSE Department at Silicon Bhubaneswar (1 Ph.D, 9 M.Tech, 4 B.E/B.Tech)
• IT Department at Silicon Bhubaneswar (9 M.Tech, 2 B.E/B.Tech )

21 comments July 14th, 2009

VC of CUO Koraput makes the right move; pushes for a medical college

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

Central University, Koraput has requested the Centre to set up a medical college there in a bid to provide better medical facilities and educate local tribals.

"I have suggested the human resources ministry to build a medical college here because I feel the area needs it. But the final nod is yet to come from the ministry," CU vice chancellor Surabhi Banerjee said.

"Locals have to travel either to Vizag or to Berhampur to avail medical facilities and both these places are over 200 km away from here. The medical college will not only improve the quality of life of locals, but also provide scope for research in several diseases common here," Banerjee said. CU has also identified about 100 acre of land for the proposed medical college.

Banerjee said there are also plans to set up a nursing college. Several other need-based, region specific innovative courses will also be introduced. From the 2009-10 academic session, CU is initially beginning with five subjects. The school of language will offer English and Oriya while the school of social science will offer sociology, anthropology and tribal Studies and journalism and mass communication.

"We will take 30 students in each department. The faculty is being recruitment and we will begin classes from August. we will also appoint guest lecturers to take classes," the vice-chancellor said.

… CU also plans to introduce courses like maritime studies, disaster management, disaster management, environmental studies, rural development, and forestry under the choice based credit system. The university will initially function in the buildings of Silk Board and the local Jagannath temple until its own buildings are constructed.

Kudos to the VC for taking the above steps.

1 comment July 14th, 2009

2009 Open-Close ranks for EE and ME at various IITs, ISM and (I)IT-BHU

The following is extracted from http://jee.iitd.ac.in/openclose09.htm.

 (The 2008 open-close ranks are here.)

July 14th, 2009

Selected HRD headlines from our Twitter site

Following is from our twitter site http://twitter.com/orissalinks.

• Besides Frankfinn Bhubaneswar also has an Air hostess Academy. http://airhostessacademy.co…
• New web site of Human Development Foundation at http://www.hdf.ac.in is now active.
• So far 18+1 (director) new faculty have joined NISER Bhubaneswar. http://niser.ac.in/faculty.php 13 more have been offered.
• NISER Bhubaneswar permanent faculty: Phy (7), Bio (4), Math (3), Chemistry (4+1 Director)
• TOI http://bit.ly/18efsq Utkal university Bhubaneswar signs MoU with Central council for research in ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS)
• kalahandia> e-admission kicked off in Orissa for junior colleges: e-admission kicked off Tathya.in.. http://bit.ly/42CD3
• IIT Bhubaneswar Director could have been more imaginative in the IIT Diro’s meeting. http://bit.ly/1avLnx IIT Hyderabad D most impressive.
• Sand artist Sudarsan teams up with Vedanta University in Puri (near Bhubaneswar) http://bit.ly/4i2ql
• Sibal asked the IITs to expand into new areas like medicine and law and evolve a framework in this regard. http://bit.ly/qjTRI
• orissalinksSibal: “For eg, IIT-Kharagpur can have its campus in Delhi too. Spread your wings like an octopus, I will support you.” http://bit.ly/164HC5
• orissalinksSibal: "Why can’t you have a law school inside your campus. Why can’t an engineering student learn about management, economics and biology?”
• orissalinksIIT Bhubaneswar is just starting so it can not spread wings or have medical schools that soon. But NIT Rourkela can. We should push.
• orissalinkskalahandia> Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandirs perform exceptionally well in Orissa: Sangh schools sco.. http://bit.ly/HvlYs
• orissalinkskalahandia> Dr. Sanjib Kumar Karmee’s Letter to CM of Orissa on Medical College in Balangir: Dear .. http://bit.ly/PXtcL
• orissalinkskalahandia> Bhubaneswar to have railway medical college: Mamata Banerjee announces slew of staff-f.. http://bit.ly/HtNZA
• orissalinks.com> Orissa state cabinet approves bills for Vedanta, Sri Sri and ICFAI Universities: Following is an e.. http://bit.ly/hmqXI
• orissalinkskalahandia> Why not an IIM at Burla-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda (BSJ) region?: Orissa likely to miss IIM .. http://bit.ly/UqN2h
• orissalinkskalahandia> Biju Patnaik Rural varsity to come up in Bhubaneswar: Biju Patnaik Rural varsity to co.. http://bit.ly/cBl6t
• orissalinkskalahandia> New in Ministry of Agriculture Orissa: Horticulture college at Chiplima, agriculture c.. http://bit.ly/FjvJz
• orissalinksVC of Central Univ of Orissa at Koraput urges center for a medical college http://bit.ly/zbfnq
• orissalinksTOI: Delhi to set up knowledge city; land earmarked. http://bit.ly/zLQyf Orissa is gifted one but many stupidly oppose.
• orissalinksXIM Bhubaneswar names its new acad. block as Tata Centenary Learning Centre; Tata Steel contributed about 1 crore to it. http://bit.ly/bwvES

Please consider joining Twitter and following Orissalinks to get similar updates immediately. That site will have original micro-postings (140 characters) as well as the headlines of the Orissalinks, Orissagrowth and Kalahandia blogs.

July 12th, 2009

Update on IIIT Bhubaneswar and IIIT Berhampur

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

The International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bhubaneswar, is all set to launch B Tech courses in several disciplines from the ensuing academic session.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has granted its approval to the premier institute for intake of 240 students in the disciplines of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Computer Science Engineering and IT. Each discipline would have a seat strength of 60.

The students for the B Tech programme would be taken from the State JEE this year. Plans are to restrict intake from State JEE to between 50 and 60 percent and the rest from AIEE and IIT JEE in the subsequent years. Along with the B Tech courses, the institute will also include Ph.D programmes in its curriculum from this year.

… A proposal would be put up with the UGC for accordance of University status to it once it gets going in full strength. The institute, which is presently conducting M Tech courses in Computer Science and IT with 25 students each from the OCAC building, is expected to shift to its own campus at Gothapatna on the outskirts of the Capital in August this year. The campus would come up as a state-of-the-art facility to provide top standard atmosphere and education to the students. Spanning over 23 acres, the IIIT would then have around 2000 students, Prof Nayak said.

… work has started on establishing a second IIIT at Berhampur. The Government has allotted 100 acres for the proposed institute at Rangeilunda.

30 comments July 11th, 2009

Status of AIIMS-like institutions

Following is from a PIB report.

Rajya Sabha 

The Government approved the proposal in 2006 for setting up of six AIIMS-like institutions in the first phase of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). 

The Design-DPR Consultants selected for preparation of designs and the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have submitted the DPRs for medical college and hospital complex. Project Consultants have also been appointed at all sites and work is expected to start in September, 2009 and get completed by the end of 2011. 

The availability of faculty/medical staff is key to efficient running of these institutions. The work of construction of residential complexes has, therefore, been taken up on priority work has started at all 6 Sites and will be completed at all sites by the end of 2010. 

In addition, it has also been decided to set up two more new AIIMS-like institutions, one each in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh in the second phase of PMSSY. 

This information was given by Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

4 comments July 10th, 2009

15% seats in private engineering colleges and privated medical colleges reserved for AIEEE and AIPMT qualified students

Following is from http://www.jeeorissa.com/newsfiles/news_10.htm.

JOINT ENTRANCE EXAMINATION -2009, ORISSA

JEE/09/AIPMT05                    Dated:08.07.2009

Registration of AIPMT (AIPMEE/AIPDEE) candidates to participate in the counseling- cum –admission against 15% all India Quota seats in private medical colleges.

As per provision of “The Orissa Professional Educational ( Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act ,2007” 15% of the seats in MBBS and BDS programmes in all private medical colleges to be filled up by valid AIPMT rank holders. To participate the counselling, these candidates are required to register on line in our website www.jeeorissa.com  from 10.07.2009 to 12.07.2009.  Candidates are advised to take the print out after the registration. The candidates are allowed to enter the counselling hall with production of this printout. Only registered candidates will be allowed to participate in counseling. The schedule and venue for counseling for these candidates are at   8.15 AM on 14.07.2009 at Conference Hall , Hotel Kharavela, Khandagiri Chhak,Bhubaneswar-30. No separate letter will be given to candidates for attending Counselling.

                                                                                                Chairman , JEE-2009

Following is from http://www.jeeorissa.com/newsfiles/news_11.htm.

32 comments July 10th, 2009

BIT (Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology) and IIIT are good alternatives to CET and UCE (VSSUT) for top ranked students in Orissa/BPUT JEE

NOTE: Please note that I am in the board of advisors of BIT. I agreed to join the board because I believe in the people who are making it. Nevertheless I am obviously biased.

Update: Expressbuzz.com has a nice report on Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology.

This year IIIT Bhubaneswar is starting B.Tech courses. See http://www.iiit-bh.in/ It could be a good alternative to CET and UCE.

Similarly, BIT, although private, could be a good alternative to CET and UCE as BIT is being made by several top professors in the USA. See http://www.bit.edu.in/. Just to elaborate on the later, following is the promoting body of BIT, as obtained from their web site http://www.bit.edu.in/promoting.htm. I know several of the professors in the BIT promoting body and they are very well respected internationally. I strongly believe that they will make BIT a top engineering college in Orissa.

	Prof. Rabi N. Mahapatra, Chairman Department of Computer Science, Texas A&M University, USA Dr. Rabi Mahapatra is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Texas A&M University. He was a faculty at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur prior to his joining at Texas A&M University in 1995. He has also held visiting faculty position at IBM T.J Watson Research Center during 2001. Dr. Mahapatra received his PhD in Computer Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology in 1992. He directs the Embedded System Research Group at Texas A&M University since 2002. He was editor of the special Issue on Codesign of Embedded Systems for International Journal on Microelectronics in 2003. He is a cofounder of Orissa Information Technology Society (OITS) and International Conference on Information Technology in 1998. Dr. Mahapatra was the Steering Committee Chair of ICIT during 2004 – 2005, and the Program Chair of IEEE Workshop on Embedded System Codesign. He served in the technical program committee of ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC) during 2005-2007; IEEE Intl Workshop on Large-scale Real-time Embedded Systems (2005, 2006), International Conference on Parallel & Distributed Systems (ICPADS) in 2004; International Conference on Parallel Processing (2004), Intl Workshop on System on Chip, and many other International events. He served as the Chairman of IEEE Kharagpur Section during 1994-95. Currently, he is serving as a Faculty Senator from College of Engineering at Texas A&M University for two years and also Associate Editor of ACM transaction of embedded computing. Dr. Mahapatra’s principal areas of research are Embedded Systems, System on Chip, Network Router Architectures, Low-power Designs, and Cyber Physical Systems. He has published more than 100 research articles in the refereed international journals and conference proceedings. His research has been supported by several federal agencies such as National Science Foundation, NASA, Department of Federal Aviation Agency (DoT), and industries like IBM, Boeing, BAE, Lockheed Martin and Xilinx Corp. Dr. Rabi Mahapatra is Ford Fellow, BOYS-CAST Fellow, Senior-Member IEEE Computer Society, and a Distinguished Visitor of IEEE Computer Society. Dr. Mahapatra is currently serving as ABET coordinator for Computer Science, Faculty Senator of Texas A&M University, and Graduate Admission Committee Member in Computer Science.
	Mrs. Sumita Panda, Managing Trustee Bhubaneswar, India Mrs. Sumita Panda with a Masters degree in Arts from the Sambalpur University in 1984 has been directly and indirectly engaged in a number of social projects relating to poverty alleviation, adult education and awareness creation on environmental issues. She takes active interest in woman empowerment by inspiring and helping formation of Self Help Groups among rural and semi urban women from lower economic strata. She is a yoga exponent and an active member of the movement for vegetarianism. Mrs. Panda hails from a reputed Oriya family of freedom fighters and social workers." She is married with two children.
	Prof. Laxmi N. Bhuyan, Trustee Professor and Chairman, Department of Computer Science, University of California, Riverside, USA Dr. Laxmi Narayan Bhuyan is a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, Riverside since January 2001. Prior to that, he was a professor of Computer Science at Texas A&M University (1989-2000) and Program Director of the Computer System Architecture Program at the National Science Foundation (1998-2000). He has also worked as a consultant to Intel and HP labs. Dr. Bhuyan received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University in 1982. His current research interests are in the areas of network computing, multiprocessor architectures, router and web server architectures, parallel and distributed processing, and performance evaluation. He has published more than 150 papers in these areas in IEEE Transactions on Computers (TC), IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems (TPDS), Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing (JPDC), and many refereed conference proceedings. Dr. Bhuyan currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems (TPDS). He is a past Editor of the IEEE TC, JPDC, and Parallel Computing Journal. He was the founding Program Committee Chairman of the HPCA in 1995, Program Chair of the IPDPS in 1996, General Chair of ADCOM-2001, and General Chair of HPCA-9 (2003). He was elected Chair of the IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Computer Architecture (1995-1998). Dr. Bhuyan is a Fellow of the IEEE, the ACM, the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), and the WIF (World Innovation Foundation). He has also been named as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher in Computer Science. He has received other awards such as Halliburton Professorship at Texas A&M University, and Senior Fellow of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. He was also awarded the IEEE CS Outstanding Contribution Award in 1997.
	Mr. Binoy K. Dash, Trustee Software Engineer, Cisco Systems, California, USA Mr. Binoy Dash is currently a Software Engineer in Cisco Systems at San Jose, USA. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University in 2006. Before joining Cisco Systems, he worked as an Engineering Intern in wireless technology giant Qualcomm Inc. for several months, where he worked in WCDMA Physical layer Software, specifically the Cell Searcher algorithm implementation on the wireless chipset. In academics, he was the scholarship recipient from Foundation for Excellence Inc., USA and Industrial Affiliates Program (IAP) in Texas A&M University. In his role as a Software Engineer in Cisco Systems, he is involved in the Design and Development of different applications and protocols that provides routing and switching infrastructure in IOS-XR Microkernel operating system, which drives the high end routers.
	Major General P Pinak Das (Retd.), Trustee Defense Research Development Organization, New Delhi, India Maj Gen P.P. Das was commissioned into the Indian Army in June 1969 having been trained at The National Defense Academy (NDA). In the early stages of his career he took part in the 1971 INDO-PAK operations, in the state of Sikkim. He later went on to complete the Post Graduate program in Maintenance and Industrial Tribology at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. After a decade of service in the Army he was selected by the then Scientific Advisor to the Raksha Mantri to be part of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). During his tenure in the DRDO he worked in the specialized areas of satellites, electronic warfare, missiles and corporate governance. He spearheaded some projects to successful completion in the capacity of Project Director. He served as the interface of DRDO to promote Services’ interaction with a view to develop and design precision equipment to augment the actual requirements of Armed Forces under the Ministry of Defense and Corporate India as an Industry partner.
	Mr. Rabindra Gaan, Trustee Satellite Radio Broadband Consultant, Bell Labs, New Jersey, USA Mr. Rabindra Gaan graduated from IIT-BHU with B.Tech degree in Electronics & Communication during 1985 and obtained his Master Degree from PII, Eindhoven, The Netherlands in 1990. During 1985-89, Mr. Gaan worked with Bharat Electronics, at Bangalore on design, development and testing of VHF wireless .equipment for Indian Defense Forces. He was also responsible for development of encryption equipments for Indian Army on wireless communications. Subsequently, he joined with Punwire Wireless Communications and worked on Digital Multi Access Radio Telephone (DMART) for Indian Defense Forces (Army) as Principal Engineer during 1990 to 1992. Mr. Gaan was working with Shyam Telecom during 1992-1998 where he was a General Manager (R&D). He was instrumental in success of projects like MART (Multi Access Rural Telephony wireless), Optical Multiplexer, ATE (Automatic Test Equipment) and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) technologies. Since 1999, Mr. Gaan has been working with Bell Labs at Murray Hill, New Jersey as a consultant with expertise on Satellite Radio Broadcast Systems. He has more than 21 years of experience in field of Communication Engineering and Technology that includes several innovations to his credits.
	Mr. Neelamadhaba Mahapatro, Trustee General Manager and Partner, Microsoft Corp. USA Neelamadhaba Mahapatro is a General Manager and Partner at Microsoft Corporation. Since 1988, he has played key roles at Microsoft in different product groups in the company such as tools, system and office. He has envisioned several new products providing vision, strategy, and architecture roadmap and foreseeing the successful development of several key new products. To his credit, he has built up strong teams from scratch, working closely with senior executives at Microsoft. He is also a key investor in several technology start ups engaged in development of enterprise software, application servers, and user software development. Neel holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and electrical engineering from IIT Kharagpur and owns several patents to his credit.
	Dr. Gopal K. Mohapatra, Trustee Geophysical Advisor, Hess Corp., Houston Dr. Gopal Mohapatra is a business/planning advisor at Hess Corporation, an integrated oil and gas company in the U.S. Prior to joining Hess, he worked in Exxon Mobil, the largest public oil and gas company, for 10 years. His expertise is in oil and gas exploration and development. Dr. Mohapatra holds a Ph.D. in Geophysics from University of Arizona, Tucson, an MBA from University of Houston and a BS/MS degree in Geophysics from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
	Prof. Prasant Mohapatra, Trustee Professor and Chairman, Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis, USA Dr. Prasant Mohapatra is currently a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Davis. In the past, he was on the faculty at Iowa State University and Michigan State University. He has also held Visiting Scientist positions at Intel Corporation, Panasonic Technologies, Institute of Infocomm Research (I2R), Singapore, and National ICT Australia (NICTA). Dr. Mohapatra received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1993. He was/is on the editorial board of the IEEE Transactions on computers, ACM WINET, and Ad Hoc Networks. He has been on the program/organizational committees of several international conferences. He was the Program Vice-Chair of INFOCOM 2004, and the Program Co-Chair of the First IEEE International Conference on Sensor and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks (SECON 2004), Program Chair of QSHINE International Conference (2006), and a Guest Editor for IEEE Network, IEEE Communications, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing and the IEEE Computer. Dr. Mohapatra’s research interests are in the areas of wireless networks, sensor networks, Internet protocols and QoS. Dr. Mohapatra’s research has been funded through grants from the National Science Foundation, Intel Corporation, Siemens, Panasonic Technologies, Hewlett Packard, and EMC Corporation. On the administrative side, Dr. Mohapatra served as the CTO of Polyphasic Corporation from 2001-2003, and has been serving the Chair of Graduate Group in Computer Science at UC Davis since 2003.
	Dr. Sujata Mishra, M.B.B.S, M.D, Trustee Consulting Physician, Bangalore, India

14 comments July 10th, 2009

2009 BPUT/Orissa JEE Counseling – Open and Close ranks of last year

Finally some details of the 2009 BPUT JEE Counseling are available from the BPUT/Orissa JEE Page. Following are some links.

* Registration of AIPMT (AIPMEE/AIPDEE) candidates
* Prioritization process for Ex-Serviceman candidates
* COUNSELLING SCHEDULE FOR MBA, MCA COURSES
* COUNSELLING SCHEDULE FOR LATERAL ENTRY (ENGINEERING / PHARMACY) COURSES
* COUNSELLING SCHEDULE FOR ENGINEERING, MEDICAL(MBBS &BDS) & PHARMACY COURSES
* JEE 2009 Counseling-cum-admission instructions.

The last document has open close ranks, which we give below.

Continue Reading 39 comments July 9th, 2009

Admission notice for Bachelors in Visual Arts at Govt. College of Arts and Crafts, Khallikote

July 9th, 2009

Orissa state cabinet approves bills for Vedanta, Sri Sri and ICFAI Universities

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

… The Bill for setting up Vedanta University was approved during the State Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The other two private universities approved by the Cabinet are the ones to be set up by Sri Sri Ravishankar Trust and Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI).

However, the Cabinet put some riders while approving Vedanta University Bill.

The provision for permitting the university to set up off-shore campus and centres was deleted from the Bill. This means no campus or centre of Vedanta University can be set up by the management outside Orissa. The decision was taken after perusal of the Supreme Court judgment in the Yashpal versus Chhattisgarh Government case. The land requirement for the university has been scaled down to 6,000 acres after largescale protest by the locals.

The Bills for Vedanta and Sri Sri Ravishankar universities were introduced in the last Assembly. However, the two Bills were not passed in view of large-scale protest against the establishment of Vedanta University. The Bills had lapsed along with the Assembly. The Cabinet decided to re-introduce the Bills now with some minor changes. While Vedanta and Sri Sri Ravishankar University Bills will be debated during the budget session, a decision on ICFAI Bill is yet to be taken.

The State Government has already identified 185.97 acres of land near Cuttack for setting up Sri Sri Ravishankar University. …

July 7th, 2009