Update on April 9th 2011: Here is the ad from today’s Samaja. The detailed ad is at http://www.vssut.ac.in/Faculty-2011.pdf. They list 23 Professor positions + 57 Reader positions and 50 lecturer positions. The minimum qualification for professors and readers is a Ph.D and among lecturers, at least in science and humanities, most that will be hired will have Ph.Ds. Once these positions are filled it will increase the number of Ph.D faculty in VSSUT by at least 90.
Following is from a mail sent by Prof. Rakesh Mohanty of VSSUT Burla. It also appears in the alumni site at http://vssut.org/uncategorized/history-created-by-honorable-vc-vssut-burla/.
You will be thrilled and suprised to know that under the dynamic leadership and painstaking effort of Honorable Vice-chancellor, VSSUT Burla, Govt of Orissa has sanctioned 96 New Regular faculty positions (Professors, Readers and Lecturers) for VSSUT Burla.
A great achievement for VSSUT Burla.
This is really wonderful news. If they are able to hire good people against these positions VSSUT will be one of the top technical university in the country and will be next in line for upgradation to an IIEST.
In 2006 the then UCE Burla had submitted a proposal for becoming an IIEST. At that time it had 97 positions sanctioned but with 62 faculty out of which 36 had Ph.D.
I am not sure of the current situation, but with 96 new positions, the sanctioned strength will at least become 193, which is a good number to make a claim for an IIEST.
As per a document prepared by the then UCE Burla in 2006, the then faculty strength of the colleges that were earlier shortlisted for becoming IIEST were as follows:
- IT BHU: 229 faculty with 170 having PhD
- UCET-Osmania U: 127 faculty with 57 having Ph.D
- BESU: 212 faculty with 136 having Ph.D
- UCE-Andhra U: 123 faculty with 68 having Ph.D
- CUSAT: 206 faculty with 151 having Ph.D
So VSSUT’s claim for an IIEST will now depend on how quickly and how many Ph.D faculty they can hire. The sanctioned strength of 193 is pretty good.
Note that earlier in March 2011 VSSUT had advertised for 34 positions (23 lecturers+ 9 readers + 2 professors). See http://www.vssut.ac.in/adv_20111.pdf.
April 9th, 2011
We earlier wrote in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/5748 that the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) was negotiating with Odisha government for a 25 Crore Central Research Institute for Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences. Following is an update on that from a report in Times of India.
The Union government will build a 100-bed yoga and naturopathy hospital in the city soon, official sources said. The state government has identified a 20-acre plot of land for the project at Binjhagiri near Chandaka on the outskirts of the city.
The director of Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy in New Delhi, Dr B T Chidananda Murthy, told TOI over the phone that the proposed hospital would come up at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore. There will be 50 general ward beds and 25 each special and deluxe beds in the hospital for indoor patients. Besides, there will be daily outdoor clinics, he said. The hospital will also have a state-of-the art yoga hall and a research laboratory for chronic diseases.
Murthy said the state government wrote to the council recently, confirming the land allotment. "A central team will come to Orissa in the first week of May to finalise the plan. After taking possession of the land, the construction will start in less than six months," he said.
Murthy said the council wants to have at least six such premier branches across the country for which the Central government has already given its go ahead. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, pain management and age-related problems will be the main focus here. Preventive care will be a focus area of the hospital, which will cater to all sections of the society, Murthy said.
It will be the third such project in the country. Work for similar hospitals has already commenced in Karnataka and Haryana. The council, an autonomous body under the department of AYUSH, ministry of health and family welfare, is also keen to establish similar institutions in Bihar and Assam. "We are waiting for land allotment in those states," Murthy said.
Through the regional research hospitals, the council will undertake education, training and research programmes in fundamentals and applied aspects of yoga and naturotherapy, the council director said.
Most likely, this will be called Central Research Institute in Yoga and Naturopathy. (See http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=60830 where this name is mentioned in the context of the institutes in Haryana and Karnataka.)
Note that this is a seprate initiative from the planned central government take over of the Govt. Dr. AC Homoeopathy Medical College in Bhubaneshwar.
Another thing that should be done is that a branch of this, perhaps focsuing on pharmaceutical aspects, should be established in the foothills of the Gandhamardan Hills. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3421 for a nicely written essay advocating this.
April 9th, 2011