Odisha HRD

BIT asked to admit students by October 31st; BPUT has to figure out how!

I am told that Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology (BIT) which could not participate in Orissa JEE counseling during August this year due to delayed AICTE approval will be admitting its first batch of students by the end of October 2008. On October 1, the Orissa High Court has issued an order to BPUT for allowing BIT and other six engineering colleges to admit their students by the end of October 2008. Prof. Rabi Mahapatra, Chairman, BIT said the stage is set to start the classes of all the four engineering branches from November 1, 2008. Special efforts are being made to cope up with the BPUT curriculum in the compressed semester time frame.

BIT is promoted by three US based professors (Prof. Rabi Mahapatra, Prof. Prasant Mohapatra and Prof. Laxmi Bhuyan) and several professional from top industries in USA. The vision of this group is to establish a world class Institute in the country. The Govt. of Orissa has keenly supported their efforts to establish a quality technical education. More on BIT can be found by visiting their website at http://www.bit.edu.in.

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I am told that six other exisiting engineering colleges had seat increases which also happened after the Orissa govt.deadline. Students were not admitted against those seats during the last counseling. Now students will also be admitted against those seats.

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The Orissa ggovernment is trying to figure out how to do the above. Watch out this space and http://www.jeeorissa.com/home.asp for any updates on this.

October 9th, 2008

Layout drawings of IIIT Bhubaneswar

Site Plan

Administration Building:

Hostel:

Next phase:

October 9th, 2008

Layout of Parala Maharaj Engineering College, Berhampur

The tender will be opened in October 2008 and the work is required to be completed in 15 months. Following are some layout diagrams.

24 comments October 9th, 2008

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

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

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

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

2 comments October 9th, 2008

Searching the web for recent news on AIIMS-like institute in Bhubaneswar

The following undated item was found in http://mohfw.nic.in/Advtertisementhll.htm.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE

Hindustan Latex Limited, on behalf of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare invites Application for appointment of

EOI for appointment of IT/HIS Consultant

Educational Qualification:          B – Tech in Computer Science/Information System Management/ Electronics & Communication Engineering.

Work Experience:

Essential: 2 years’ experience in designing/implementing Hospital Information System

          Desirable:

a)   Hands on Experience and Skills in networking & communication technology

b)   Experience in preparing users requirement specification (URS) and system requirement specification (SRS) for large multi – speciality hospitals.

c)    Strong trouble-shooting and communication skills, both written and verbal

          Remuneration: Negotiable

          Duration of contract: 12 months.

Duties and Responsibilities:

EOI for appointment of Medical Education Technology consultant

Educational Qualification:

Essential:          MBBS + MD or MS

Desirable:        PhD

Work Experience:

Essential: Minimum 15 years as faculty in a medical College institution with at least 5 years as professor or HOD

Desirable: Experienced in devising study material with help of medical education technology.

Age: Up to 65 years (retired persons below 65 can also apply)

Remuneration: Negotiable

Duration of contract: 12 months.

Brief description of Job Profile:

Government of India, MoH&FW proposed to engage a fulltime Medical Education Technology Consultant for finalizing the curriculum including e-lecturers for the six AIIMS-like institutions being set up at Bhopal, Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Raipur, Bhubaneswar and Patna. Each of the institution would train 100 undergraduates and similar number of PG/PhD students every year. The medical Education consultant will help the Ministry in the curriculum design and training that is appropriate in a state –of-the-art Medical Education, using latest tools of technology. The consultant will indicate best practice to ensure adequate resource pooling and networking between the six AIIMS-like institutions and other existing GOI institutions. The consultant will also provide a road map; work plan to operationalize the preparation of e-lectures for the training of medical students/Doctors.

  The following item was found in http://cga.nic.in/html/BulletinBoard_GroupA.htm.

Interested NFSG/JAG Officers may get further details from

Shri. Sanjeev Mishra, Joint Controller General of Accounts on Phone No.24648254 or Group-A Section on Phone No. 24645814.

Following are excerpts from http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20080913/814/tnl-five-medical-colleges-to-be-upgraded.html.

Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh is expected to announce the "much-awaited" scheme to upgrade Amritsar Medical College under the Pradhan Mantri Swastha Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), Phase II, during his visit to Amritsar starting on September 15.

It is learnt that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who has long been pressing this demand, recently met the PM for this. Amritsar is one of the five medical colleges that the Union Health Ministry has listed for upgradation under Phase II, the others being Aligarh, Nagpur, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, besides two AIIMS-like institutes in Uttar Pradesh and Bengal. "The proposal has gone to the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) and will be soon put before the Cabinet," a senior official told The Indian Express.

… While the cost of upgrading each existing site is Rs 150 crore, the AIIMS-like institutes will require an investment of Rs 750 crore each. For Phase I, meanwhile, one institute each will be set up in the states of Bihar (Patna), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Orissa (Bhubaneswar), Rajasthan (Jodhpur),Chhattisgarh (Raipur) and Uttarakhand (Rishikesh).

…

Even though the necessary funds were approved for the Phase I sites in 2004-2005, they are yet to be completed despite the 2008 deadline. Although work on each centre has started, the Government has extended the deadline by two years.

The delay has come at a heavy price. Initially, the approximate expenditure was Rs 280 crore for each institute, but "in March 2006, financial projections were made and it was set at Rs 330 crore each. This is expected to go up to at least Rs 450 crore, as the prices of construction material have gone up," said a senior official in the Health Ministry. Officials blame the poor response of developers to their tenders as a major cause of the setback.

October 7th, 2008

Orissa govt. scholarship for girls in Orissa pursuing graduate studies in medicine, engineering and management: ad from Samaja

October 4th, 2008

Upgradation of ITIs

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=43347.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval for implementation of Scheme “Upgradation of the remaining 1096 Government ITIs through Public Private Partnership” for the period 2008-09 to 2011-12 at total cost of Rs.2800 crore.

The implementation of the Scheme would help in:

• 1096 selected ITIs will be upgraded through Public Private Partnership. Industry Partner will be involved in all aspects of training from development of curriculum to trade testing.

• Academic and financial autonomy given to the ITIs will improve their internal and external efficiency. The demand driven and improved quality of training will lead to better employability of ITI graduates.

October 3rd, 2008

Scheme for Girls’ Hostel for students of secondary and higher secondary schools

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=43337.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval for a revised centrally sponsored scheme for construction and running of girls’ hostels for students of secondary and higher secondary schools in each of the educationally backward block during the 11th Five year Plan. The CCEA also gave its approval to incur and expenditure of Rs.2000 crore as Central share with a sharing pattern of 90:10 between the Centre and the States. The revised scheme provides for construction of 3500 hostels through State Governments in all the educationally backward blocks in the country in addition to recurring grant to meet the need of inmates.

October 3rd, 2008

Recommendation of the pay review committee of the UGC

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=43395.

The Pay Review Committee after detailed deliberations has made the following recommendations about various aspects of revision of pay and allowances, service and working conditions of teachers, Librarians, Directors of Physical Education and other Academic Staff in colleges and universities recognized by the University Grants Commission.

I.          New Nomenclature for various teaching posts

Assistant Professor for   Lecturer

Assistant Professor (Senior Scale) for Lecturer (Senior Scale)

Assistant Professor (Selection Grade) for Lecturer (Selection Grade)

Associate Professor for Associate Professor

Senior Associate Professor     New Position

Professor for Professor

Senior Professor New Position

Professor of Eminence New Position

II.         New Scales of Pay and Allowances

EXISTING AND PROPOSED SCALES OF PAY FOR

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE TEACHERS

Annual Increment

3% of the Basic Salary ( Basic Pay + Grade Pay) with compounding effect

4% of the Basic Salary(Basic Pay + Grade Pay)with compounding effect for 2 years for a select few 25% in the Pay Band Rs. 15600-39100 on the basis of better teaching and research performance.  Fresh appraisals are be made after two years.

Stagnation Removal

An incumbent after reaching the top of the scale in the pay band shall move to the next pay band without any change in the grade pay.

Increments for Higher Qualifications/ on Promotion.

Five advance increments instead of present four to a Ph.d degree holder at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

Three advance increments instead of present two to an M.Phil degree holder at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

Three advance increments to an incumbent holding M.Tech, M.D., M.S. L.L.M. degree at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

Two advance increments to an incumbent who joins as Assistant Professor with basic M.A./MSc./M.Com etc. with NET/SET examination qualifications.

Two advance increments to an incumbent who joins as /Associate Professor in open selection.

Two advance increments to an incumbent on being promoted as /Associate Professor under CAS.

Three advance increments instead of present two to an in-service teacher on completing Ph.D. degree.

Two advance increments instead of present one to an in-service teacher on completing M.Phil degree.

A selection committee may recommend up to seven instead of present five advance increments to an incumbent with higher merit, better publications and more experience etc.

All advance increments to be given on non-compounding basis

Allowances

House Rent Allowance

30% of basic salary for Category X cities (A-1 earlier) population 50 lakhs and above)

20% of basic salary for Category Y cities (A, B-1, B-2 earlier) population between 5 and 50 lakhs)

10% of basic salary for Category Z cities (C and unclassified earlier) (population below 5 lakhs)

Transport Allowance

Rs. 3200/-plus DA thereon per month for A-1/A Class cities (13 notified cities)

Rs. 1600/- plus DA thereon per month for other Cities

Children’s Education Allowance (CEA)

Rs. 1000/- per child per month for upto a maximum of two children

Rs  3000/- per child per month for those residing in hostel, for upto two children.

However, both hostel subsidy and children education allowance cannot be availed of concurrently.

Academic Allowance

Rs. 1500/- per month for Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor(Senior Scale), Assistant Professor(Selection Grade)

Rs. 1200/- per month for Associate Professor, Senior Associate Professor, Professor and   Professor.

Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance and Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance will be allowed as admissible to central government employees. 

Special (Duty) Allowance for Teachers Serving in North Eastern Region including Sikkim and Ladakh

The Committee recommends a Special (Duty) Allowance at the rate of 12.5% on pay plus grade pay to teachers serving in these areas as applicable to Central Government employees.  

Leave Travel concession

LTC travel to Home Town three times in a four year block, not exceeding once in a year.

LTC may be allowed for any place in India once in a block of four years. Thus four LTC in a block of 4 years but not exceeding one in any one year.

No encashing of LTC if not availed of during a block year.

LTC for family members may be allowed to be combined with seminars/workshops and other academic assignments being attended.

Modifications made by the VI Central Pay Commission as notified by the Government may be adopted for teachers as well.

Traveling Allowance

TA rules admissible to central Government employees wherein all those with grade pay of Rs. 5400 and above have been allowed air travel may also be extended to teachers as well. Teachers may also be allowed TA/DA as admissible from time to time to Central / State Government employees, as the case may be.

Medical Insurance

Medical Insurance for all teachers with a teacher contributing 30% of the premium and the rest to be contributed by the employer. UGC to negotiate with leading medical insurance companies to get a better all India deal.

Group Insurance

The VI Central Pay Commission recommendations of raising an employee’s contribution from Rs. 120/- to Rs. 720/- for a group insurance may be adopted for all university and college teachers throughout the country. UGC should once again negotiate with leading insurance companies to get a better deal for all institutions.

Consultancy

Teachers in universities and colleges should be encouraged to accept Consultancy, Directing Projects, registering patents, R&D products and technology transfers. Resources earned to be in the following manner:

Amount received upto 30% of the gross salary

(basic salary+grade pay+academic allowance) No sharing

Amount received beyond 30% and upto the Sharing of 

gross salary amount beyond 30% in the ratio 70% and

 30% between the teacher and the Institution

Amount receive beyond the gross salary 50-50 of the

amount received beyond the gross salary between the teacher and

the institution

This arrangement should work for five years thereafter it should be reviewed in view of future developments.

Superannuation, Reemployment, Pension, Provident Fund and Gratuity

The age of superannuation of all college and university teachers throughout India to be 65 years.

In the interest of students Individual teachers should however be allowed to continue as contract teachers till the end of academic session.

Reemployment of Teachers

Teachers may be reemployed selectively after superannuation on contract basis upto the age of 70 years.

Pension

Teachers should be eligible for full pension after 20 years of qualifying years .

UGC should take up the matter of restoring triple benefit scheme for teachers employed after 2004 with the Central Government.

The revised rates of family pension to the family of the deceased employee- minimum of Rs. 3500/- per month and a maximum of 30% of the highest pay in the Government of India should be extended to teachers as well.

Additional quantum of pension to senior pensioners and family pensioners should be allowed as notified by the Government of India.

Provident Fund

Teachers governed by Contributory Provident Fund should be given another chance to opt for General Provident Fund.

Gratuity

The upper limit of gratuity to be paid to teachers should be revised to Rs. Ten lakhs from present three and half lakhs as has been done for central Government employees by the government of India.

Ex-Gratia Lump sum compensation in case of Death on Duty

Financial Support for implementation of the Pay Review Committee recommendations.

Central government to provide 100% assistance for additional expenditure for five years for implementing the recommendations of the Pay Review Committee.

Addition assistance to the extent of 50% for next five years for only those states that implement the recommendations successfully in toto. UGC to review the implementation in the fifth year for the additional assistance.

Implementation from a single date

All recommendations to be implemented in toto as a package with effect from 1.1.2006.

However, various allowances except DA to be admissible with effect from 1.9.2008.

Service and Working Conditions of Teachers       

All institutions should fill vacant positions on urgent basis.

All bans on recruitment of teachers imposed by states should be lifted immediately and UGC should monitor this situation.

UGC to make special efforts from attracting persons from socially challenged sections to teaching.

Contract Teachers

Teachers should be appointed on contract only if absolutely necessary and their qualifications and procedure of selection should be the same as for a regularly appointed teachers.

The fixed emoluments to be paid per month to a teacher on contracts should not be less than the monthly gross salary of a regularly appointed teacher.

Guest Teachers / Part Time Teachers

If there is a need for appointing a teacher as a guest teachers/part time teachers, he should be paid @ Rs. 1000/- per teachers and the total payment during a month should not exceed Rs. 25000.

Retired teachers could also be involved in teaching as guest teachers.

Eligibility Conditions for Appointment in Universities and Colleges

Besides the other qualifications laid down by the UGC for the post of Assistant Professor, qualifying in the NET/SET examination shall be essential for being eligible to apply for the post of Assistant Professor.

However, those who possess a Ph.D degree in the subject shall be exempted from the NET/SET qualifications, provided the Universities, however, carry out reforms to raise the standard of Ph.D. degrees.

Those possessing M. Phil degrees shall be no more exempt from qualifying the NET/SET examination.

Selection Process/ Selection Committees 

The UGC should draw up exhaustive lists of experts in each subject and put them up on their website. It should be incumbent on institutions holding selections to include at least one of the subject experts on the selection committee from this list.

The UGC should monitor this for compliance.

New Positions

Positions of Professor should be sanctioned for direct recruitment in colleges for disciplines which have post graduate teaching.

There should be at least one post of Professor in each of these disciplines where there is post graduate teaching.

The basic qualifications and the procedure for selection of Post of Professor in colleges shall be the same as for the post of Professor in a university department, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor or his nominee.

Position of Adjunct Professor and Concurrent Professor should be created in universities in order to encourage mobility between institutions and industry/corporate world and also between one institution and another.

Up to 15% of the total strength of the teaching faculty in a university may be Floating Positions for making appointments in a department where no vacancy exits.         

Promotion of Teachers through Career Advancement Scheme (CAS)

A new position of   Associate Professor should be created as a third avenue for promotion for college teachers under CAS.

A new position of Senior Professor should be created in the universities for promotion of Professors.

The title of Professor of Eminence may be conferred on not more than 10% of the total strength of professors in a university.

Process of Promotion of teachers under CAS

The process of promotion of a teacher under CAS should be started at least three months before s/he becomes eligible for promotion.

For College teachers, greater emphasis should be laid on class room teaching, holding tutorials, conducting examinations and evaluating answer scripts and less on research work while considering their cases for promotion under CAS.

Various Kinds of Leave admissible to teachers

The duration of leave admissible to teachers under FIP for pursuing a Ph.D programme may be increased from present three years( two +one) to four years (three+ one)

Also restricting such leave up to the age of 45 years should be removed. A teacher may be able to get this leave any time in her/his career till five years before the superannuation.

A teacher in a university or a college should be entitled to study leave for a span of two years to pursue an approved research project.

A teacher would be entitled to study leave only once in her/his career.

Both university and college teachers should be entitled to Sabbatical leave which should be available to any teacher for a year after six years of teaching or for a semester after three years of teaching.

A teacher should be entitled for sabbatical for only two years or four semesters during her/his entire career.

There should be no bar on a teacher getting both sabbatical and study leave against approved research projects.

Maternity leave may be granted to a female teacher for 180 days and twice in one’s career.

Paternity leave of 15 days may be granted to teacher father.

Child care leave for 2 years (730 days) may be granted to a female teacher.

Admissibility of other kinds of leave remains unchanged.

Teaching Workload

A teacher must spend five hours everyday for five days in a week in the institution for teaching, holding tutorials, guiding research or carrying out co-curricular activities.

The practice of dual workload—one for directly appointed teachers and another for promoted teachers—in a particular category is abolished. All teachers in a category should carry out the same workload prescribed for their category.

UGC must make large scale inputs to improve the infrastructure and support services for teaching and research in institutions, particularly in post graduate colleges.

Evaluation of Teachers’ performance and academic accountability

Multi-source evaluation—self assessment, assessment by students who have been taught a course by the teacher and assessment by the academic head/s.

Multiple parameters like regularity in class room teaching, holding tutorials, availability to students for consultation, participating in faculty meetings, guiding and carrying out research, and participating in other academic activities like seminars, etc should be taken into consideration while assessing a teacher’s academic accountability.

The assessment should be made once a year and should be made available to the teacher concerned.

The assessment should be placed before the selection  committee at the time of the teacher’s promotion.

UGC should evolve parameters relevant to universities and colleges respectively for carrying out such evaluations uniformally throughout the country.

Librarians and Directors of Physical Education

Deputy Librarians and Deputy Directors of Physical Education should be considered for promotion to Librarian and Director of Physical Education respectively under CAS.

The senior most Librarian and Senior most Director of Physical Education should be redesignated as Chief Librarian and Chief Director of Physical Education respectively.

In colleges, College Librarian (Selection Grade) and College Director of Physical Education (Selection Grade) should be eligible for promotion to Senior College Librarian (Selection Grade) / Senior College DPE (Selection Grade) six years’ service in the grade.

Those Sports Officers and Physical Instructors who possess qualifications equivalent to Directors of Physical Education and who have been selected against regular posts according to the procedure laid down by the UGC should be given the UGC scales and should also be redesignated as College Director of Physical Education.

Principals of Colleges

The scale of pay of a Principal of an undergraduate college should be equivalent to that of a Associate Professor. His basic pay should be fixed after granting her/him two advance increments.

The scale of pay of a Principal of a postgraduate college should be equivalent to that of a Professor and the basic pay should be fixed after two advance increments.

The essential qualifications for the post of a principal for an undergraduate college should be Ph.D. plus ten years’ teaching /research experience.

The essential qualifications for the post of a principal for a postgraduate college should be Ph.D plus fifteen years’ teaching/research experience.

Appointment and Scale of Pay of Vice Chancellor

Appointment of a Vice Chancellor should be made through a search-cum selection committee.

The Committee should, among others, hold consultations with the senior faculty of the institution.

The term of appointment of a Vice-Chancellor should uniformally be for five years and no person should hold the term of Vice Chancellor for more than twice altogether—whether in the same institution or elsewhere.

The scale of pay of Vice Chancellor should be Rs. 80000/-

A Vice-Chancellor may be allowed lump sum terminal benefit on prorata basis of Rs. 1.00 lakh for every completed year of service as Vice-Chancellor.

Anomalies and Non-Implemented Parts of the last PRC

All teachers should be given the benefits of the last pay revision w.e.f. 1.1.1996.

Teachers should be paid arrears of salary w.e.f. 1.1.1996.

Teachers who were in the scale of Associate Professor/Assistant Professor(Selection grade) on 1.1.1996 and who completed five years between 1.1.1996 and 27.7.1998 should be placed at Rs 14940/- basic.

Dual emoluments of Associate Professors under CAS and MPS should be abolished and all teachers should be placed in the same scale of pay of Associate Professor.

All teachers who are promoted as Associate Professor under CAS should be given two advance increments at the time of promotion.

Teachers promoted under CAS should be given the news scales of pay with effect from the date of their eligibility and not from a later date.

All those teachers who were promoted earlier under MPS should be considered eligible for a subsequent promotion  under CAS.

A teacher who has applied for an open position should not be debarred from applying for a position under CAS.

Other Academic Categories   

System Analysts who possess qualifications equivalent to that of a Assistant Professor or MCA/ M.Tech.(Computer Science or Information Tech.) should be placed in the scale of pay of Assistant Professor and be considered for promotion under CAS as has been recommended by the Committee for Librarians and DPEs.

11 comments October 3rd, 2008

Cabinet approves 12 new central universities (one in Orissa) and four upgradations

Following is the PIB report on this from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=43391.

The Government today gave its approval for establishment of 12 new Central Universities in 12 States and taking over and conversion of 4 existing State Universities.

A new Central University is to be established in each of the twelve States, namely, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, with Central Government funding, at such location within each State as may be notified by the Central Government.

Further, the Cabinet also approved the proposal for taking over and conversion of Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar in the State of Madhya Pradesh, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur in the State of Chhattisgarh, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar in the State of Uttarakhand, and Goa University, Goa into Central Universities, with Central Government funding.

The Government proposes to introduce the Central Universities Bill, 2008, in Parliament during the forthcoming session.

In Orissa, the state government has proposed that this university be established in Koraput.

October 3rd, 2008

UCE Burla gets conditional nod to be made to a state university

Following is a report from someone who attended the meeting.

Yesterday we (students + alumni + faculty) had a satisfying meeting with CM. salient points –

(1) Ordinance shall be moved to amend BPUT Act to delist UCE as Constituent College of BPUT

(2) CM agreed to move an Act to convert UCE as an Unitary State University subjected to condition given below

(3) CM asked his officials to examine how much acres can be given to UCE

(4) CM said he will look into our claim for Rs 300 crore infrastructure fund which includes Central Funding of 1/3rd.

CM asked what are the benefits of State University. We talked about 12(B) grant from UGC. We talked about an independent Governing Body who can augment the courses/students/faculty/research. We gave examples of BESU & CUSAT.

 

This was contested by VC and Industry Secretary Mr Aditya Padhy. They said that –

(a) UGC fund is very small – may be to the tune of Rs 1 to 2 crore a year. 

(b) Guindy College is affiliated to Anna University, Pune Engg College is affiliated to Pune University and yet they are quality college. Why UCE wants University status, and resisting affilitaion to BPUT.

(c) Deemed University status is no inferior to State University as both get UGC grant against 12 (B) and get nearly same grant.

(d) Indian Institute of Science is Deemed University and yet the best institution.

(e) After Revensaw became University, the situation has not improved. They are still struggling for faculty & fund. VC said he is Revensaw’s Seante Member and knows the conditions better than all of us.

Though CM agreed our demand for State University, he asked us (as well Industry Secretary) to prepare a note with examples of other institutions as to how State University will help UCE to grow. Report should contain references to the growth of some Unitary State Universities (in addition to BESU & CUSAT) including Revensaw University. Report has to be submitted within a week.

6 comments September 25th, 2008

Foundation stone of Sri Sri University laid; web site unveiled

The website of the university is http://www.srisriuniversity.org. The courses that are on offer now (hope they start working on the engineering and medical school soon) are as follows:

Following is an excerpt of the news item from the Statesman about the foundation laying .

The foundation stone for the Sri Sri University was laid at Naraj in Cuttack district today. The University is going to be set up by Sri Sri Ravisankar Vidya Mandir Trust.

Speaking at the occasion, chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik said the world-class research-based University will have streams in basic science, arts, engineering, business management, law, art and culture, ayurveda and others.

… The government has provided 186 acres of land for the Sri Sri University and will bring a special law for it.
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravisankar said the whole world looks to India for guidance in the present turbulence across the glove.

“The human values are the best gifts of our country to the world”, he said.

On the university he said that that this will be a common man’s university. “There is an urgent need to change the educational system and the prime necessity is the teaching of human values”, he added.

September 25th, 2008

Bill to ammend IIT act (to include the new IITs) to be placed in the next parliament session

Following is an excerpt from a news report in Indiaedunews.

The Central Government will amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 to make the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) eligible to award degrees to students.

The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2008 will be tabled in the coming session of the Parliament.

The new IITs are currently operating as registered societies and to be able to award degrees to its students, their names will have to be incorporated into the existing Act.

"A society does not have the power to award degrees to students. For the new IITs, currently operating as societies, their names will have to be incorporated into the Act", an official from the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry said.

The new IITs are coming up in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. …

September 23rd, 2008

NASSCOM and MHRD tussle over the 20 new IIITs

Following are excerpts from a report in msn.com.

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

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

But the HRD ministry wants control of that partnership.

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

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

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

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

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

September 22nd, 2008

Some central universities to come up earlier than the others?

The following excerpt from a news item from the statesman is confusing. It talks about MHRD starting 6 central universities. It is not clear what is happening with the other 24 proposed central universities.

The Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry has decided to allot Rs 6,200 crore to six states including West Bengal, for setting up Central universities. 

The funds would be disbursed to the respective states after the plots are identified. Funds will be provided under the eleventh five-year plan, HRD ministry officials said.  …

Other than West Bengal, universities will be set up in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Uttaranchal. These states have already identified lands for the proposed institute and have accordingly informed the HRD ministry. A senior official of the ministry said the universities are supposed to come up on 700 to 1,000 acre of land, which are easily accessible.

… The proposed residential university will lay more emphasis on courses in foreign languages such as Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Subjects like engineering, medical science, computer science, arts and management will also be taught in the university. Students from Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Tibet and Singapore are expected to seek admission to the university. The university will also offer courses in Buddhist  philosophy, Chinese philosophy and Tibetan philosophy.

September 20th, 2008

IIT Bhubaneswar advertises for faculty positions and for registrar

The following is from http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/topfiles/bhub_ad.php. (Thanks to Saumya for the tip.)

Advertisement for Faculty Positions and Registrar of IIT Bhubaneswar

• Invitation for Faculty Positions

  Download Application Form PDF / DOC

• Invitation for the post of Registrar

  Download Application Form PDF / DOC

The faculty ad starts as follows:

IIT Bhubaneswar (Orissa) invites applications for faculty positions at the level of Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor in the following disciplines.
Disciplines : Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Humanities & Social Sciences (Economics, English, Psychology)

This suggests that next year they will admit students in Computer Science, in addition to Civil, Electrical and Mechanical to which they admitted students this year.

5 comments September 18th, 2008