Odisha HRD

Cabinet approves two Schools of Planning & Architecture (SPAs) in Vijaywada and Bhopal

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=39796.

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for setting up of two Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and creation of 4 core posts of Director & Registrar for each Institute with immediate effect.

The total cost for setting up of two Schools of Planning and Architecture would be Rs.348.50 cores ( Recurring expenditure Rs.82.90 cores and Non-Recurring expenditure – Rs.265.60 crores). The project would be completed by 2012-13.

These Institutes would integrate graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral education in architecture and town planning while at the same time fostering research of a high order in these areas. Research in such areas can generate significant intellectual properties, which has the potential for generating sizeable revenues.

These Institutes will create a cadre of high calibre faculty members who will be devoted to teaching, research and consultancy in all disciplines that deal with Planning and Architecture. Also, SPAs will be socially responsible institutions providing research feedback to the Government for physical development of human settlements

The Institutes would also contribute to highly competent and trained manpower that would inevitably impact positively on the economic growth of the country.

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HS/RK

1 comment June 26th, 2008

Faculty positions at NISER Bhubaneswar and IISER Pune, IISER Kolkata and IISER Mohali

Recently NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research) Bhubaneswar has advertised for regular faculty positions. (The ad appears in Science.) Many prospective applicants may not have heard about NISER, Bhubaneswar; while they may have heard about the IISERs (IISER Pune and IISER Kolkata which are taking their third batch of students in 2008; IISER Mohali  which is taking its second batch of students in 2008 and IISER Bhopal and IISER Thiruvanthapuram which are taking their first batch of students in 2008). Here is a quick overview of NISER, Bhubaneswar and its status vis-a-vis the IISERs.

• The setting up of NISER Bhubaneswar was formally announced by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on August 28, 2006. In his announcement speech he said the following:

NISER will be at par with the IISER being established in other places but will operate under the umbrella of DAE. It will undertake integrated 5-year Masters courses in core and emerging branches of science to provide world-class education to students after the 10+2 stage. It can also include an integrated M.Sc.–Ph.D. after graduation level.

… When completed, I am confident that the National Institute of Science Education and Research will become a Mecca for science just as TIFR and IISc are today.

• Dr. Manmohan Singh remembered his promise and when the time came for cabinet approval of NISER he did not hesitate to have a bigger initial budget for NISER (823.19 crores) than the IISERs(500 crores). In fact the initial budget of NISER is also more than the budget of the new IITs (760 crores) and the budget of the proposed new world class central universities (720 crores).

• NISER Bhubaneswar admitted its first batch of students in 2007 and is currently (in 2008) admitting its second batch of students.

• NISER Bhubaneswar decided to not follow IISERs in its admission procedure. Unlike IISERs which take students from the extended merit list of IIT JEE, NISER decided to have its own entrance examination called NEST. But both IISERs and NISER have a interview process past the entrance examination to decide on the final list of successful applicants. 

• The scale of pay of faculty in NISER Bhubaneswar is similar to the scale of pay of faculty at IISER Pune and IISER Kolkata, as well as at the IITs. However, it seems, being a DAE funded institute, NISER Bhubaneswar has an additional update allowance of Rs 10,000/year to Rs 30,000/year depending on the scale of pay.

 

• NISER will most likely be constructed by DCSEM of DAE that constructs various DAE structures. It is expected that the quality of construction would be good and done fast.

• Now in regards to the locations, Bhubaneswar (where NISER is located) is definitely less known than Pune and Kolkata. However, if one explores a bit more deeply one may find out the advantages of Bhubaneswar, Orissa. We have elaborated on various aspects of that in the site for IIT Bhubaneswar. Here we briefly touch open on a few of those points.
  • Bhubaneswar is the only metropolitan area of the country which is currently scheduled to have a science institute (in NISER Bhubaneswar), an IIT and a world class central university. In addition a IIIT and an AIIMS-like institution is also being established in Bhubaneswar.
  • The Anil Agarwal foundation is establishing a 12,000 crore Vedanta University in Puri, about 40 kms from the location of NISER. Mr. Anil Agarwal has personally pledged $1 Billion (i.e., Rs 4000 crores) for this. More about this university in their home page, or one may listen to Anil Agarwal in this video.
  • Bhubaneswar metropolitan area has several research institutes: the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Life Sciences, the Institute of Mathematics and Applications, the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, the Central Rice Research Institute, the Central Institute of Fresh Water Aquaculture, Regional Plant Resources Center and the Regional Medical Research Center.

  We request the interested reader to read more about Bhubaneswar’s advantages for a scientist and a science student at the site for IIT Bhubaneswar. 

11 comments June 25th, 2008

AIEEE 2008 Counseling and admission to the NITs

As per the new admission criteria to NITs this year while 50% of seats will be reserved to the students from the state where the NIT is the remaining 50% will be open. In previous years the remaining 50% was broken apart and divided to various states. With this change the previous year (2007) opening and closing rank numbers may not be much helpful. This scheme will benefit the states from where students do well in AIEEE while will have a negative effect on the other states.

81 comments June 22nd, 2008

IIT Bhubaneswar exact site not quite decided

Earlier reports had indicated that the site will be near Banki. But it seems that it is still not fully decided. I guess until the central government gives its seal of approval it won’t be decided. Most likely the central government will approve the site IIT Kharagpur (mentor institution) approves. But which is that site? The following Sambada and Samaja reports display this confusion.

June 22nd, 2008

Andhra Pradesh to have one university in each district: Orissa should have one in each of its undivided districts

Various news reports mention that Andhra Pradesh will be having 6 six new universities so that each of its districts have a university. They have budgeted 16 crores for that.

Orissa should follow this lead and have one university in each of its undivided districts.  The undivided 13 districts of Orissa were: Puri, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Baleswar, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Phulbani, Dhenkanal, Kendujhar, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj. Among those the six districts Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Phulbani, Dhenkanal and Kendujhar do not have a university. The Orissa government should take advantage of the central government’s offer and set up a university in each of these districts.

4 comments June 22nd, 2008

27 acres for IIHT in Baragarh

On June 10th the Statesman reported the following:

The cabinet also decided to provide 27 acre of land in Bargarh district free of premium to the Indian Institute of Handloom Technology.

3 comments June 22nd, 2008

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and its Puri campus

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan is a deemed university fully centrally funded. It has ten campuses; one of them being in Puri. Following is the information about the Puri Campus. 

• Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (Deemed University), Shri Sadashiva Campus, Puri (Orissa)

 This campus was established on 15.08.1971 and is situated under the feet of Lord Jagannath at Puri in Orissa, which is one of four main Dhams. The institution is more than 100 years old.  This Campus has its own building. The Campus is pursuing research work leading to the degree of Vidyavaridhi (Ph.D) and imparting education in Sahitya, Dharma Shastra, Navya Vyakarana, Puranetihas, Jyotish, Advaita Vedanta, Navya Nyaya, Sarvadarshana and Sankhya Yoga at postgraduate and graduate level and Shiksha Shastri at graduate level.  There is computer education facility in the Campus.

The Puri campus is different from the Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University in Puri. Some more information on the Puri campus taken from http://www.sanskrit.nic.in/puri.htm is as follows:

Shri Sadashiva Sanskrit College established in the year 1865 was taken over by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan as one of its constituent units on 15.8.71. The Campus is situated on eastern side of Jagannath Temple nearer to Governor House at Puri. The Campus is situated on a plot of 4.7 acre in its old building.

     The Campus is pursuing research work leading to the degree of Vidyavaridhi(Ph.D.) and imparting education in Sahitya, Dharma Shastra, Navya Vyakarana, Puranetihas, jyotidh, advaita Vedanta, Navya Nyaya, Sarvadarshana and Sankhya Yoga at post-graduate and graduate level. There is computer education facility in the Campus. Ths Campus has 8 publications to its credit.there are 34 individual publications of teachers besides 105 Reaearch Papers and 277 articles. The campus has a library consisting of 34,586 books and 232 manuscripts costing about Rs. 8 lakhs.

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan’s two other Vidyapeethas have been converted to deemed universities. They are:

• Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha at New Delhi and
• Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha at Tirupati

As  per tathya.in Shri J. B. Patnaik, ex CM of Orissa, and a scholar in his own right, has just been appointed as the Chancellor of the later.

Besides the above mentioned four Sanskrit Universities there are currently seven other sanskrit universities in India, taking the total to eleven.

2 comments June 21st, 2008

2008 Orissa JEE (OJEE) Counseling by BPUT possibly from July 11th: Sambada

From http://orissasambad.com/newsdetails.php?section_id=9 in Oriya.

It basically says that the counseling date of July 11th is not final but most likely. Its not final because the BPUT VC is out of town. The final date will be announced when he gets back on June 22nd. The counseling will start with the lateral entry students.

143 comments June 20th, 2008

Universities and university like institutes in and around Bhubaneswar: a map

Update: The IIT site has been changed. So the new map is as follows:

Old map:

1 comment June 20th, 2008

Is NISER’s pay package better than the IISERs’?

From http://niser.iopb.res.in/careers/ the NISER pay is:

Assistant Professor	12,000-375-16,500
Reader (F)	14,300-400-18,300
Associate Professor	16,400-450-20,000
Professor	18,400-500-22,400

.. In addition to the basic salary, NISER faculty is entitled to allowances as admissible to Central Government Employees stationed at Bhubaneswar and to the DAE’s update allowance, which is currently Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000 per year depending on the scale of pay. They will also receive other fringe benefits (like Relocation Grant, Reimbursement of telephone charges, financial support to attend national/international Conferences/Seminars/Workshops, etc.) which will be comparable to the best in the country.

From http://www.iiserkol.ac.in/career.html the IISER pay is:

1. Professor : Scale of pay : Rs 18,400 – 500 – 22,400
2. Associate Professor : Scale of pay : Rs 16,400 – 450 – 20,000
3. Assistant Professor : Scale of pay : Rs 12,000 – 420 – 18,300
including allowances as admissible to Central Government Employees in Kolkata.

… In addition to pay and allowances the faculty members may be provided with the following:

• Reimbursement of telephone charges up to Rs 750 per month.

• Rs 4000 per year as book grant.

• Reimbursement of 75% of membership fee (restricted to Rs.5,000.00) of two international and two national professional bodies every year.

• Financial support to attend national/international Conferences/Seminars/Workshops, etc.

• Seed money for starting research laboratory.

I wonder if IISERs have something comparable to the DAE update allowance that NISER will pay. Otherwise that could be a selling point for NISER over the IISERs. Perhaps a knowledgeable reader can enlighten us on this aspect.

June 20th, 2008

Hi-Tech may take up establishing a private medical college in Rourkela

Following is an excerpt from a news report in The Statesman.

The proposed medical college and hospital at Rourkela is expected to be set up soon as a team of hi-tech group of institutions, led by its chairman Mr Tirupati Panigrahi paid a visit to the site recently. It is said that the visit was intended for site selection and discussion with the district administration about the ancillary formalities. The group is believed to set up a 300-bed medical college and hospital here.

They visited the Rourkela government hospital (RGH) campus, sector-13 and sector-9.

The team also called on collector Dr K Kumar and discussed with him various aspects of the venture.

Reliable sources said the group, in the first phase, would build the hospital and within six months, would upgrade the same as a medical college.

Thoufh the CM had laid the foundation stone earlier, yet the inordinate delay and changed political scenario had made people believe that the medical college may not see the light of day. But the visit of the team is described as a ray of hope.

The Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) will partly finance the project in the initial stages, sources said. …

3 comments June 20th, 2008

Knowledge commission recommends four centers for advanced legal studies and research

(Courtsey: http://bbiiser.blogspot.com/)

http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/

There is need to set up four autonomous, well networked Centres for Advanced Legal Studies and Research (CALSAR), one in each region, to carry out cutting edge research on various aspects of law and also serve as a think-tank for advising the government in national and international fora. The CALSARs would maintain adequate linkages and institutionalized interaction opportunities with law schools and universities, including continuing legal education for faculty. Some other specific functions and objectives of these centres would include: publishing a peer reviewed journal of international quality; facilitating multi disciplinary approaches to law; institutionalizing arrangements for scholars in residence; organizing workshops and undertaking in-depth research on new and developing areas of law. Each CALSAR would require an initial investment of around Rs. 50 crore to build an academic complex, conference facilities, a world-class library and other infrastructure. These institutes would also need to be provided with an annual budget to the tune of Rs. 5 crore for salaries, fellowships, administrative expenses and related expenses. The initial investment and the annual budgets should be borne by the central and respective state governments (that would host the CALSAR) respectively, but the CALSARs should gradually aim at financial self-sustenance, through innovative financial method

June 18th, 2008

National Institute of Paramedical Science

(Courtsey: http://bbiiser.blogspot.com/)

http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_ser.pdf

For the paramedical personnel there several institutions, in the States but also in the private sector but these are unregulated and there is lack of uniformity in the training imparted. For regulating training of paramedics it is proposed to set up the Paramedics Council and a Bill for the same has already been introduced in Parliament. Separately, there is also a proposal in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to set up a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences (with branches in New Delhi and Chennai) for undertaking and coordinating training programmes in the country in collaboration with State Governments. The Ministry is proposing to use distance education to ensure large coverage of the training programmes.

3 comments June 18th, 2008

UNESCO Regional center in biotechnology in Faridabad, Harayana

The following was reported in bbiiser.blogspot.com.

UNESCO Center
The research carried out at the Centre will be supported by various programmes and collaborations at the national and global levels like Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Autonomus Research & Development Institutions, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Medical Schools, Biotechnology Centres at regional and international level etc. as per the guidelines to be formulated by the Board of Governors. It will consider supporting Research Resource Units (RRU’s) and Centre for Excellence (CoE) with Indian or Regional institutes in strategic areas where partnership is critical for collaborative research. It will also provide access to technology platforms to scientists from other institutes and industry. The extramural collaborations will have provisions for adjunct professorships, visiting professor programmes and scientist exchange programmes etc.

OTHER ACTIVITIES OF THE UNESCO CENTER:
The Centre will have the provisions for Visiting Professorship for Indian Nationals & International Scientists, Adjunct Professorship, Stanford-India Bio-design Programme, Re-entry Grant and Young Investigator Awards.

CENTRALIZED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM:

The platform technologies will be available in the areas of
v Large Scale Sequencing,
v Genetic Analysis,
v Proteomics,
v RNAi,
v Imaging,
v Chemical Biology,
v Bio Bank etc.
This centralized science and technology platform is expected to provide service to the scientists of the research divisions of health science & technology, and provide support to the training activities of the UNESCO Centre and other research institutes in the country.
In due course it will develop liaison with national and international databases and consortia in order to contribute to global scientific resources.

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT UNIT:

The infrastructure of this unit will have ready to use laboratory space for extramural scientists for innovative & translational research projects. In partnership with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), GMP units for cell based therapy and vaccine will be made. The faculty of this unit will have skills in technology transfer, IP managements, finance and enterprise creation.

Organization Structure:

Administration & Finance Unit:

This unit will provide administrative, financial, engineering and other support services to the Centre. Services like security, housekeeping, office attendants, operation & maintenance of services will be outsourced to firms who provide manpower on contract.

Location:

The Centre will be situated in a picturesque location in Faridabad about 25 km from New Delhi (40 minute drive) in the academic and research ambience of the Life Sciences Cluster and an adjacent R & D Centre of another Ministry of the Government of India to be set up in the near future.
The site is also close to other renowned institutions like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Indian Institute of Technology (IIT); International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB); Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); National Institute of Immunology (NII); National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), with whom the centre is likely to establish network and collaborative programmes, are also situated within 20-30km radius of the centre.
v Meeting with National Experts was held on May 18, 2007.

v An interactive meeting on the UNESCO Centre was jointly organized by DBT and UNESCO on June 18-19, 2007 at New Delhi to discuss the focus, activities, organizational structure and linkages of the proposed Centre.

The meeting was attended by eminent scientists, educationists, policy makers and stakeholders from the members countries, counties of the South East Asian Region as well as by representatives from the industries as well.

The experts nominated by UNESCO provided insights into global partnerships and benefit- sharing especially with regard to guest/visiting faculty, fellowships and participation of member countries.

Meeting held on June 18-19, 2007 at New Delhi

v A meeting was organized with Boston University delegation, USA, led by its President – Prof. Robert Brown, towards developing partnerships for education, training and research with the UNESCO Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training & Education and Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) in New Delhi on September 25, 2007.
Current Status:
v An Interim Advisory Committee (IAC) has been constituted to provide Scientific and Academic directions.
v A Management Cell has been created at NII, New Delhi to address the interim issues
v Initiatives for collaborations/partnerships with international institutes/universities have been started. MoUs have been signed with Stanford and Boston University.
v Actions have been initiated for revised Cabinet approval, Legislative Bill for Act of Parliament, constitution of various committees, web-design, building construction etc.

36 comments June 18th, 2008

Latest India Today ranking of tech schools in India: NIT Rourkela at 18 is the 3rd best NIT

58 comments June 17th, 2008

Deemed University applicants from Orissa: current status

Following is from http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/proposals6-5-08.pdf.

1. Krupajal Engineering College, Pubasasan, Kausalya Ganga, Bhubaneshwar – 2, Orissa.

F. 9-17/2007- U.3 (A); dated 15th March, 2007; withdrawn. Fresh proposal received under De-Novo Category. No. F.9-27/2008 dt. 15.4.08

The Institute has withdrawan the proposal under General Category. No. F. 35-7/2007 (CPP-I) Proposal for De-Novo Category is under process.

2. College of Engineering, Bhubaneswar, Under Nabadigant, Educational Trust, Plot No. 1, Sector – 3, Chandaka Nucleus
Industrial Complex, Patia, Bhubaneswar – 751 024, Orissa. De-novo

F.9-30/2007-U.3 (A) dated 15th May, 2007

The Institute has been asked to comply with the deficiencies vide UGC Letter No. F. 35-3/2007 (CPPI) dated 27th August, 2007

3. Asian School of Business Management Bhubaneswar, Orissa. De-novo

F.9-45/2007-U.3 (A) dated 18th September, 2007

Letter for State Govt.’s Views has sent. The file is in process vide UGC File No. F. 35-5/2007 (CPP-I)

4. Vidya Bharti University, Gunupur, Distt. Rayagarha, Orissa

F.9-60/2007-U.3(A) dated 28.11.2007

The Institute has sent the compliance to this office letter dt 28.1.08 and the file is under process. F. 35-6/2007 (CPP-I)

5. Koustav Institute of Self Domain Patia, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. (DE-NOVO)

F. 9-68/2007- U.3(A) dated 9th January, 2008

Information has been called in checklist proforma vide UGC Letter F. 35-1/2008 (CPP-I) dt. 4.2.2008.

6. HI-TECH University, Plot No. A-170, Saheed Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

F. 9-4/2008-U.3(A) dated 15th January, 2008

Information has been called in checklist proforma vide UGC Letter F. 35-2/2008 (CPP-I) dt. 6.2.2008.

7. C.V. Raman University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

F. 9-67/2007- U.3(A) dated 9th January, 2008

The Institute has been asked to comply with the deficiencies vide letter dt. 30.4.08 F. 35-4/2008 (CPP-I)

3 comments June 17th, 2008