Archive for August, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in DeshGujarat.
India’s largest university proposed by Vedanta Resources founder Anil Agarwal is coming up in Orissa, but it was originally planned for Gujarat.
… When asked about his plans to enter Gujarat, if any, Agarwal said, “Gujarat is the most developed. Its amazing how business going on here. While everybody is talking about business in energy, we thought of setting up old time Vaghas based power plant. But I haven’t figured it out. I wanted to set up a university here but then we went to Puri(Orissa). But I will be looking forward for something to start in Gujarat, that’s sure. We have something in silvassa but not in Gujarat.”
This sounds to me like a veiled warning from Mr. Agarwal to people of Orissa. I think he is preparing the ground to move to Gujarat if things get tough in Orissa. If that happens, that would be the missed opportunity of the millenium for Orissa. By saying it was planned for Orissa, he will have a ready made excuse to move to Gujarat.
On another front, Vedanta University received clearance from the environment ministry. Following is an excerpt from a PTI report on this.
A committee of the Environment Ministry has given the green signal to the Vedanta Group to set up its university in over 6,000 acres of land on the Puri-Konark Marine Drive in Orissa, notwithstanding protests from locals and activists.
August 13th, 2009
The web site of Srujanika is http://www.srujanika.org/.
August 10th, 2009
August 10th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.com.
Innovation universities, the government’s proposal to build its own Harvard and Oxford, could also bring in transition from the existing reservation system, to one that is based on socio-economic factors. In a concept note commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) for the upcoming 14 innovation universities, a proposal to make away with outright reservations has been mooted. Instead, the note suggests making admissions based on the socioeconomic background of the candidate.
This would mean that seats will not be reserved for candidates, rather the candidate’s admission test scores would be increased based on deprivations that he or she experiences. The concept note says that the weight would depend on factors such as the educational attainment and earning capacity of the parents and nature of the school from which the student has passed Class 10 and Class 12 (urban or rural).
…The Innovation universities, previously referred to as World-class universities or National universities, was proposed in the 11th five year plan, and would focus on multi-disciplinary research and innovation.
… Interestingly, the note recommends allowing foreign candidates to apply to the Innovation Universities along with Indians.
The note recommends holding the admission tests not only in all the state capitals and metropolitan cities, but also in selected cities across the world.
… For admissions to undergraduate courses, the note proposes to use a two-stage testing process: a standardized aptitute test followed by an essay type test. For PG courses, graduate scores and aptitude test scores would be used for determining admissions, while admission to doctorate programmes would be done based on results obtained at the PG level supplemented by references from eminent academicians.
August 9th, 2009
Update, Aug 28 2009: Reader Sabyasachi Kar notices that two more engineering colleges are in the latest counseling list. They are:
- Nigam Institute of engineering and Technology, Barang,Cuttack
- Adarsa College of Engineering, Angul
So now, the total number of engineering colleges goes to 94.
Thanks to keen eye of reader Parashar Das, the latest JEE seat availability list shows three new colleges as well as Purushottam Institute of Technology, Rourkela which was earlier prevented from further counselling.
The three new colleges are:
- VITS Engineering College, Tangi, Khurda (VTK) Pvt.
- Vijyanjali Institute of Technology ,Gadavanga, Balasore (VTB) Pvt
- Oxford College of Engineering and Management ,Ramachandrapur, Bhubaneswar (OCM) Pvt.
That takes the total number of colleges in Orissa JEE counselling to 88+4=92 and total number of new colleges in JEE Counseling to 25+3 = 28. (Other colleges/institutions that do not take students via Orissa JEE are: IIT Bhubaneswar, NIT Rourkela, ITER, KIIT, Department of Agricultural Engineering at OUAT and ICFAI Tech, Bhubaneswar.)
August 2nd, 2009
This was part of a package that the state government had announced after the Kandhamal events.
August 2nd, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.
“The decision to set up IIM-A campus in Hyderabad was taken at a meeting between the board of governors of the institute and state government officials in Ahmedabad recently. The top management institution has now set up a committee to work out further modalities,” state government sources told STOI. Dons in IIM-A confirmed the development to STOI.
The move is said to be highly symbiotic. The 110-acre IIM-A campus is virtually saturated and there is no scope of any further expansion. “The AP government has offered nearly 150 acres of land virtually free of cost or at a nominal amount of Rs one per acre as well as a grant of Rs 100 crore. The seamless campus at Hyderabad would be bigger than the Ahmedabad location and have ultra-modern facilities,” the official said.
According to sources, IIM-A can benefit immensely by having an extension in Hyderabad. “The PGDM — commonly called MBA-course is the brand-building one, but not revenue earning. The institute can generate money only through short-term executive courses and the IT, biotechnology and infrastructure hub that Hyderabad is would attract many to join up,” sources said.
According to sources, reputed faculty from abroad are keen to join the institute and would be motivated by the access that the Hyderabad international airport would provide for them. “IIM-A is the top management institution in the country and Hyderabad is the hub of the emerging economy. Both will tremendously benefit with the setting up of the seamless campus,” officials said.
The YSR Reddy government thought of the seamless IIM-A campus after the Centre made it clear that a new IIM cannot be granted for Hyderabad since it already has an IIT. “And there is no provision for an IIM for Andhra Pradesh in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2013-18) as well. A seamless IIM-A campus would be an extension of the one at Ahmedabad and not another new campus. This way, the Union HRD ministry will also have no objection as it need not give any financial assistance,” said sources.
According to the sources, the IIM-A board of governors were highly appreciative of the facilities that were being offered by the state government for the growth and expansion of the institution. “Their efforts in the last few years to grow including opening a campus in Mumbai came a cropper. Besides, former HRD minister Arjun Singh shot down all the expansion plans of the IIMs. Therefore, the offer from the AP government was welcomed with open arms by IIM-A authorities,” officials said.
Apart from the flagship PGDM course, the seamless campus in Hyderabad would offer a slew of new ones as well as optional courses that the student from Ahmedabad can enlist for a short-term, the sources said.
… The committee set up by the IIM-A authorities is expected to submit its proposals shortly to the board of governors after which the institute will seek a formal approval from the Union HRD ministry.
Orissa should pursue a similar deal with IIM Calcutta for a campus in Orissa.
August 2nd, 2009
With an aim to take India’s GER from 12.4 to 30 by 2020, the global average being 26, on July 24th 2009, the Human Resource Development minister of India Mr. Kapil Sibal asked each state to come up in three months their higher education vision.
I have created a site and put some initial thoughts on it at http://orissa2020.org. I plan to convince the Orissa government to incorporate as many of the items mentioned in that site as possible. It is work-in-progress but is in a decent shape now. I would like your feedback on it. Please send email to the address mentioned in the site, or you could leave comments on this posting. I hope there is a healthy debate on this issue.
August 2nd, 2009
Following is an excerpt from an article in TIME.
Carnegie Mellon, for instance, has for the past eight years offered a master’s program at the Chennai-based Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar School of Advanced Software Engineering. Students fork over $53,000 for the 18-month program — 15% lower than if the coursework were done in the U.S. They also spend the last six months at Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus. The London School of Economics offers three-year undergrad degrees in economics, finance and management through the Indian School of Business and Finance (ISBF) in New Delhi, for a total tuition of $20,000, or one-fifth the standard cost. "Our students get a degree from a reputed foreign university at Indian rates, while LSE gets global reach," says ISBF director Jitin Chadha.
In Orissa, there is a beginning of a collaborative program in the recently established Asian Institute of Public Health. The foreign university involved there is the University of Maryland, Baltimore USA. That is the medical school campus of the University of Maryland. (I did my degree from the College Park campus of that University and the famous Orissa Physicist Jogesh Pati was also a faculty at the College Park campus.)
Among the above three collaboration it seems that the first two are more money-spinning type while the third (the one in Orissa) is a more collaborative partnership. The reason I say that is that in the third one joint research projects in Orissa funded by US agencies are involved. In the first two the modus operandi seems to be that the foreign university provide their name and course structure and hire locals to teach a big chunk of the course.
August 1st, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Statesman.
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) will set up a 500-bed medical college and hospital at Talcher in Angul district. It will also upgrade its Nehru Satabdi hospital to a super speciality hospital.
This was informed at the meeting between the state health and family welfare minister, Mr Prasanna Acharya, and MCL CMD Mr SR Upadhaya on 31 July.
… the state government recently gave its no-objection certificate, official sources said.
The medical college would be set up on a 60 acre patch of land along the same lines as Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow.
Mr Upadhaya further informed that the state health and family secretary would be the chairman of the medical college’s governing body, while the company CMD or senior director will act as the co-chairman.
August 1st, 2009
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