Odisha HRD

Hi-tech group to make a knowledge city in the Bhubaneswar area?

Following is from a report in myiris.

Hi-Tech Group of Institutions has drawn up a plan to develop a 150-acre knowledge city on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar at an estimated investment of Rs 20 billion, reports Business Standard.

The proposed knowledge city, a dream project of the Hi-Tech Group, will be developed in three phases with the entire project scheduled to be commissioned by 2012.

In the first phase, the city-based Hi-Tech Group will pump in Rs 5 billion and the first phase is set to be completed by 2010.

The company said it has identified three to four plots close to Bhubaneswar for their proposed knowledge city. The Hi-Tech Group expects to take possession of land and resume construction work within eighteen months.

There have been several recent news about the Hi-Tech groups plans.  See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1496 and https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1203. I hope they are  all real.

September 18th, 2008

Vedanta University invites contractors, suppliers and service providers

Update: Financial Express has a report on this.

The following is from http://vedanta.edu.in/news/?p=11.

Expression of Interest

As a part of vendor selection process for the Vedanta University Project, the Foundation invites reputed contractors I suppliers I service providers with proven track record and sound credentials in the following areas:

• PKGA 01 Construction of Institutional buildings and townships (Firms with an annual turnover of about 250 cr. need only apply)
• PKGA 03 Primary (132 KV) Electric sub-station, outgoing switch rooms, ring-mains, 33KV secondary sub-station with incoming HT switchgears and outgoing LT switchgears,
• PKGA 04 HVAC Systems
• PKGA 05 Interior works and Low end MEP
• PKGA 06 Site Grading and preparation work
• PKGA 07 Roads, drainage systems, pavements, culverts, bridges.
• PKGA 10 Afforestation , Horticulture – roughly 250 acres.
• PKGA 11 External electrification works such as street lighting, pathway lighting, traffic lighting.
• PKGA 15 Site facilities including offices, boundary wall, fencing etc.
• PKGA 16 Temporary power, water supply sanitation, lighting communication etc.
• PKGA 17 132 KV High tension line diversion ( approx 8 Kms.).
• PKGA 18 Landscape design roughly 250 acres.

Interested parties are required to submit their EOI mentioning the Package they are interested in along with their qualification details mentioning the package code, along with List of similar jobs and  turnover during last three years. latest by 30 Sept, 2008.

To submit online please click here.

Please submit the above to:
Head Commercial
Anil Agarwal Foundation
Vedanta University Project
CT Road, Puri, Orissa 5752002.
Phone: +91 9238100367
Email: commercial@vedanta.edu.in

September 18th, 2008

Hi-Tech group’s plan for Khurda, Jatni and Rourkela

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard by Jayjit Dash.

Hi-Tech Group of Institutions has planned to set up two management institutes, one at Khurda and the other at Jatni, both located within 25 km radius of the city, at a combined investment of about Rs 12 crore.

These management institutes are set to be built on surplus land available at the two technological institutes run by the organisation – Konark Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) located at Jatni and the Hi-Tech Institute of Technology (HIT) in Khurda.

While the B-school in Khurda will come up on 15 acres of surplus land on HIT campus, the other B-school will be developed on 10 acres of surplus land within the KIST campus at Jatni.

“Construction work for our two proposed management institutes has already begun and we expect these two institutes to be functional next year. …

Each of these management institutes will have an intake of 60 seats and will offer two-year, full-time MBA programmes from the 2009-10 academic session.

The Hi-Tech Group will also invest Rs 30 crore for introducing new super-specialities, namely, cardiology, cardio-thoracic surgery, neurology, nephrology and trauma care in the Hi-Tech hospital. Hi-Tech Group of Institutions has also got the approval of AICTE to introduce post-graduate courses in engineering at the KIST campus.

The KIST campus will offer MTech in computer science and engineering as well as electronics and telecommunications engineering from the next academic session.

At present, KIST is offering BTech in five streams of engineering with the institute’s total intake being 420 seats. Meanwhile, the group expects to take possession of land for its proposed medical college and hospital in Rourkela within a month.

“We expect to get 25 acres of land for our proposed medical college cum hospital in Rourkela within a month and then inaugurate the hospital six months after acquiring land. Our medical college in Rourkela is expected to be operational a year after the inauguration of the hospital”, Panigrahi claimed.

 

1 comment September 13th, 2008

Three new ITIs to be set up in Kandhamala

Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.

The State Government Thursday decided to facilitate setting up of three more Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Kandhamal district which is limping back to normalcy from communal cauldron. The State-run Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) will be asked to set up two ITIs while the Government is contemplating to request Vedanta to set up the third one as part of its social responsibility for the State.

A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today reviewed the Kandhamal situation and the progress achieved on the rehabilitation front.The Chief Minister reportedly directed the Industries Department to take up the issue with OMC and OHPC for the proposed ITIs which should come up as early as possible. The Government will provide land free of cost. It has been decided to set up the proposed ITIs at the block headquarters of Tumudibandha, Baliguda and G Udaygiri.

At present, the only Government ITI is located at Phulbani while a privately managed Industrial Training Centre (ITC) is also functioning in the district. The Chief Minister also directed the Industries Department to convert the Phulbani ITI into a centre of excellence by pooling assistance from industrial and corporate houses.

September 12th, 2008

Vedanta University advertises in TOI for GM-Projects, Manager-CSR and Manager-Legal-Affairs

Thanks to Jitu Mishra for the pointer in TOI.

 

September 12th, 2008

Vocational Education in Orissa

Following links are from http://www.orissa.gov.in/highereducation/vocational.htm.

1.VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN ORISSA : A BRIEF HISTORY

2.LIST OF  231 Government vocational Junior colleges (GVJCs)

3.ENROLMENT & SUCCESS IN VOCATIONAL  HIGHER SECONDARY EDUCATION (1988-89 TO 2007-08)

4.PROSPECTUS FOR ADMISSION  IN GOVERNMENT VOCATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGES (GVJCs)  IN ORISSA DURING THE SESSION 2008-2009

5.   APPLICATION FORM  

6. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, THE CANDIDATE MAY CONTACT

There are 231 govt. vocational junior colleges in Orissa offering at least 2 of twenty different vocational programs. In 2007-08 3111 students passed from these junior colleges.

7 comments September 11th, 2008

Model Schools (one each in each block) will be better than Kendriya Vidyalayas

Following is from a report in Hindustan Times.

The proposed 6,000 model schools, announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his Independence Day speech last year, will have better infrastructure and teachers’ strength than the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs).

The blueprint prepared by the Human Resource Development Ministry for these schools, which will come up at each block headquarters in the country, says that there will be one teacher for 25 students in these institutions while the ratio in KVs is one teacher to 40 students.

“Not only teacher strength, these institutions will get all advanced facilities, including ICT equipment, facilities for sports, games, music and art and laboratory for mathematics, science and languages,” sources said.

These schools will give equal importance to curricular and extra-curricular activities, including games, music, dance and art. Of the 6,000 schools, 2,500 will be set up on public- private partnership basis while the rest would be established by the government.

The government will provide some grants for these 2,500 schools, while private companies will make contributions. The government is in the process of finalising the modalities for setting up of these schools on PPP mode.

For the rest of the 3,500 schools, the Centre will bear 75 per cent of the establishment cost and state government will provide 25 per cent of the cost. The establishment cost for a school is about Rs 3 crore.

The process of setting up these institutions will start this year while the admission will start from the next session.

September 11th, 2008

Vedanta University presents its vision to teachers in Puri

The following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Vedanta University Project felicitated teachers on the occasion of the Teachers’ Day here. Hundreds of teachers, including former principal of SCS College Somnath Mishra, ex-teacher of Municipal High School Dinabandhu Mishra, ex-teacher of Biswambara Vidyapitha Basanta Kumar Mishra and principal of DAV School Bibhuti Bhusan Parija attended the function.

Project Director Sanjeev Anand Zutshi said …. Children are the future of the nation …, said general manager Prasanta Kumar Hota. The proposed Vedanta University would one day become a milestone in the education sector, where financial constraint would no longer be a problem for deserving students to pursue higher education, he added.

A presentation showcasing the purpose, vision and unique architectural plan of the proposed university was displayed before the teachers. An open discussion was held among the teachers and their queries regarding the university were answered by the project officials.

This is a very good step and they should do this across various clubs and organizations in Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

5 comments September 9th, 2008

Applying for faculty positions at IIT Bhubaneswar

Update: See http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/topfiles/bhub_ad.php for the ad.

As per  Prof. Damodar Acharya, the director of IIT Kharagpur, the mentor school for IIT Bhubaneswar, a specific advertisement for faculty positions at IIT Bhubaneswar will be coming out soon.

Until then interested candidates are requested to send their cv to him with a cover letter saying that they would like to apply for IIT Bhubaneswar. His email address is director@iitkgp.ernet.in.

The ad will have additional details. But until the ad for IIT Bhubaneswar comes out the ad for IIT Kharagpur at http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/topfiles/faculty_top.php may be considered as a rough guideline. The salary scales will be same as that of IIT Kharagpur as well as all the other IITs. 

22 comments September 8th, 2008

153 Faculty poistions at Ravenshaw University, Cuttack

The details are at http://ravenshawuniversity.com/common/recruitment-for-faculty-positions.htm.

•    How to Apply
•    Details of Posts, Qualification, Specialisation, Scale of Pay etc.
•  Application Format

Following is from http://ravenshawuniversity.com/File/Recruitment%20for%20Faculty%20Positions.pdf.

 

a) It will be open to the university to consider names of suitable candidates who might not have applied. b) Merely fulfilling the minimum qualification does not entitle a candidate to be necessarily considered or called for interview. c) Applications received after the last date may be considered. d) University reserves the right not to fill up any of the vacancies advertised if the circumstances so warrant. e) Relaxation of any of the qualification may be made in exceptional cases on the recommendation of the selection committee. f) Separate application is required for each post. g) No deputation allowances shall be paid h) No TA / DA will be paid to attend the selection committee or to join the first appointment. i) Canvassing in any form by or on behalf of the candidates will be considered as disqualification.

 

 

5 comments September 7th, 2008

Expert committee report on 374 model colleges in educationally backward districts

The expert committee report is at http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/dpr374modelcolleges.html. The list of 374 districts contains 18 districts from Orissa. They are:  Malkangiri, Baudh, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Nabrangpur, Gajapati, Koraput, Sonapur, Bargarh, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Balangir, Anugul, Rayagada, Kendujhar, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal. Of these, Malkangiri and Baudha are in Phase 1 with CPI (colleges per lakh population) below 4, Kandhamal and Nuapada in Phase 2 with CPI 4 to 8, and the rest in Phase 3 with CPI 8.1-12.4.

Following are some excerpts from that report:

The criteria for identification of location within the district may be the following:
a. The college has to be located in an area of the district having no college in the vicinity of 10 km radius.
b. Predominantly rural location where the proportion of rural population in area is higher than the State average
c. A new college as an additional one in the vicinity shall be permitted only if the existing college has more than 1000 students, or there is no separate college for women in the area of 10 km. radius.
d. Accessibility : The location of the college should be such that it is accessible, i.e. reasonably well connected by transport facilities so that the college may serve a larger catchments area.
e. Population density: The proposed college should be located subject to fulfillment of the above-mentioned criteria in locations having higher population density in comparison with other contending locations.

4.1. Non- recurring Budget requirements:

4..1.1. Land : Since the Model colleges are to be established in rural, hilly, forest, tribal and other priority areas as per the criteria already described in chapter.2., a minimum of 10 acres of land need to be provided by the State Government concerned to each of the college in the identified low GER district.
4.1.2. Non recurring infrastructure requirements per college:

4.1.2.1. Academic & administrative buildings (3000 sq.mtrs) : 2.5 crores
4.1.2.2. Campus development : 2.0 crores
4.1.2.3. Hostels for 100 students : 1.0 crores*
4.1.2.4.Teachers’/Non teaching quarters – 20 each; : 2.5 crores
4.1.2.5. Laboratories : 0.2 crore
4.1.2.6. Library : 0.2 crore
4.1.2.7. Computer Centre : 0.2 crore
4.1.2.8. Health centre : 0.1 crore
4.1.2.9. sports facilities : 0.1 crore
4.1.2.10 Miscellaneous : 0.2 crore
Total per College Non-recurring :9.0 Crores.
* the expenditure towards hostel could be sanctioned through the UGC special scheme for “ hostels”. The net Non-recurring requirements would thus be Rs.8.0. crores per college.

4.1.2. Recurring Budget requirement: It would involve the salary requirements for 25 teaching and 25 nonteaching personnel for each college and the college maintenance expenditure of Rs.50.0 lakhs per annum to be provided by the State government concerned.

4.1.4.1. Model I: Fully Government supported Colleges:
Non-Recurring : 100 % by Central Government, while the required land for the colleges has to be provided by the State Govt.
(This pattern of financial support by Central Govt. is necessary to motivate the State Governments to
establish these model colleges in the Low GER districts adhering to the criteria suggested for actual location of these Colleges within the LOW GER districts) Recurring : 100% by the State Government;

September 7th, 2008

Land acquisition status of Vedanta University

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The total land needed for the Rs 15,000-crore university is 6,000 acres. The company has to date acquired 3,155 acres and taken possession of 2256.49 acres, which includes 385.15 acres of government land and 1871.34 acres of private land.

6 comments September 4th, 2008

Punjab retreats from its earlier proposal to make Punjab University a central university

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

“I have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh not to grant central university status to PU,” Badal said on Monday. He said he has revised the decision because of “misgivings in the minds of the intelligentsia,” a shameless euphemism that basically meant that the government had totally misread the people’s sentiments …

Among the Punjab scholars, academicians and public spirited men who opposed the Badal government’s initial decision, said such a move would have adversely affected not only Punjab’s claims overChandigarh but also the university’s commitment to propagation of Punjabi language, culture and tradition.

They said the Punjab Government will no doubt save Rs 16 crore every year but will cause incalculable harm to Punjab.

Some senior academicians and former vice-chancellors formed a ‘Save Panjab University Forum’ and met in Ludhiana’s GGN Khalsa College where former secretary Higher Education, Dr Manmohan Singh, explained the disadvantages of the central takeover of the varsity.

Guru Nanak Dev University former vice-chancellor Dr S.P. Singh said the Panjab University had a closely-knit relationship with Punjabi language, culture and distinct Punjabi identity which would be lost with the Central status.

Punjabi University former vice-chancellor Dr. J.S. Puar averted that Central status to varsity will neither enhance its status nor academic standard. “It would have dwarfed the university by weaning it away from its legitimate heritage.”

Other academicians present were GNDU former pro vice-chancellor Prof Prithipal Singh, Punjab School Education Board secretary Prof J.S. Sidhu and former principals of government colleges and schools. Dr Darshan Singh, aChandigarh based scholar often consulted by the SGPC, also strongly opposed the move.

Some professors from Panjab University tried to gain support of Prof Randhir Singh, the giant among academics in India and a scholar of Marxism, but he refused saying the PU, Chandigarh academics were only interested for their narrow gains of salary and funds, not for any better reason.

As per a report in Indian Express, Punjab would now request the central university to be in Bathinda; the national university is already scheduled to be established in Amritsar.

 

---

I think the above has a lesson for Orissa in regards to identifying the location for the announced national university in Bhubaneswar, and whether pushing for an exisiting university in Orissa to become the national university is a good idea or not. 

 

 

1 comment September 3rd, 2008

Bokaro steel plant sponsored medical college almost ready in Jharkhand; Orissa can not convince RSP or NALCO for a similar effort

Earlier we mentioned Bokaro Steel plant agreeing to set up an engineering college and a medical college in Jharkhand. Following is an update on that from a report in Telegraph.

Bokaro Ispat Institute of Medicine at Bokaro General Hospital, which was supposed to start its academic session this year, is still awaiting a nod from the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The college also needs an approval of the board of directors of the Steel authority of India Limited (SAIL) for availing infrastructure of the Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL).

…  Health minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi had in 2006 promised that he would clear the project within 24 hours if he received any proposal from BSL for setting up a medical college. He had also assured that the college would become functional by 2008. However, the pace of paperwork for setting up the college has raised doubts on whether the academic session would begin even in 2009.

Sources said that MCI had completed its survey of the general hospital, which would be used for training students. It has surveyed other infrastructure that BSL is willing to extend. However, the council has not given its nod yet. …

After getting the approval of the Jharkhand government in November 2007, the managing director of BSL, V.K. Srivastav, had told The Telegraph that he was anxiously waiting for the MCI team’s survey of the hospital, one of the best in eastern India.

To speed up work, the BSL also constituted the Bokaro Educational Trust headed by its executive director Jivesh Mishra. …

4 comments September 2nd, 2008

Brief updates on NISER Bhubaneswar

1. NISER Bhubaneswar has a redesigned web page with information on faculty.
2. A competition for Architects to design the NISER campus will be announced in the near future.
3. NISER is going through the faculty applications that it received and checking the references. It expects to invite selected candidates for interview in the coming months.
4. The Director appointment is still waiting for the final seal of approval from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. However, the identified Director, Prof. T K Chandrasekar visits NISER once in a while and is in the loop regarding major decisions. The approval from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is expected to come any time.
5. NISER is in touch with IIT Bhubaneswar officials to co-ordinate some of the infrastructure requirements, such as a water line to the campus.

September 2nd, 2008

3314 Merit-cum-Means national scholarships for Odisha high schoolers: Samaja

The following Samaja article details the procedure of how these scholarship awardees will be selected in Orissa.

 

1 comment August 30th, 2008