Monthly VLSI certificate program at Central Tool Room – ad in Samaja
September 2nd, 2007
Gopabandhu Academy of Administration has a web presence
Tathya.in points us to the web page of the Gopabandhu Academy of Administration. Its great that the web page also has the email addresses of the faculty. The training imparted by this institute is very important as all the Orissa administrative officers (including IAS officers) are trained here. Their current training schedule is there. It seems they are not trained to obtain information and write proposals. That is one of many aspects where Orissa is doing pretty badly.
September 1st, 2007
IMIT, Cuttack may see some improvement
Following are some excerpts from a New indian Express report.
If things move in the right direction, the Institute of Management and Information Technology (IMIT) here, could have a new look replete with infrastructural adequacies.
Biju Patnaik University of Technology Vice- Chancellor Omkarnath Mohanty announced here on Thursday that the ailing institution would have a new campus, land for which is being scouted at Naraj, in the vicinity of the proposed second campus of the Ravenshaw University and the Law University.
However, before that the existing building of the Institute would be renovated and the classrooms spruced up for the comfort of the students. The move to renovate and modernise the institution came as students went on a strike on Thursday over the issue.
The VC also said the college, which offered three-year MCA course and MBA would be provided with 55 computers within a month, 17 of which would be available within 10 days. It presently has 25 computers, all of them outdated.
Further, only 18 of them are functional. Internet facilities would be provided at the earliest The college would also have its library refurbished and computerised. For the first time, the Government-run institution would also have a functional placement cell.
I hope the above happens.
9 comments August 31st, 2007
ITER advertises (in Samaja) for its M.Tech program again
ITER had earlier advertised for its M. tech program. Today there is the following new ad.
August 30th, 2007
+2 for hearing impaired students: an ad in Samaja
Satyabhama Devi College for hearing impaired
August 29th, 2007
Another PIB: Central university in each state
Following is yet another PIB report on this.
Subject to the Plan being finalized, it is proposed to establish 30 new Central Universities during the XIth Plan and the first two years of the XIIth Plan period, and to provide assistance for establishing one college in each district with low Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education.
Action for establishment, in the first phase, of one Central University, in each of the 16 States which do not have a Central University, so far, namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujrat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kasmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerela, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, has already been initiated.
The targeted GER, as against the present level of approximately 10%, is at least 15% by the end of the XIth Plan and 21% by the end of the XIIth Plan.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri M.A.A.Fatmi in a reply to a question raised by Smt. N.P.Durga in Rajya Sabha today.
2 comments August 29th, 2007
NISER in Rajya Sabha
Following is from a PIB report about NISER, Bhubaneswar.
In a Writ Petition (C) No. 10836 of 2005, the Government has submitted before the High Court of Orissa that the Government is taking follow up action for implementation of the announcement made by the Prime Minister on 28.8.2006 regarding setting up of a National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) at Bhubaneswar under the Department of Atomic Energy and that it is proposed to start the academic session from August, 2007. Taking cognizance of this, the Orissa High Court has disposed of the Writ Petition with a direction to the Government to ensure that the NISER is established at Bhubaneswar pursuant to the decision of the Government of India.
The Department of Atomic Energy has informed that 300 acres of land has been allotted by the government of Orissa for setting up of NISER. NISER has been registered under the Societies Registration Act and infrastructural facilities are being put in place. In addition, for admission to NISER, an NISER Entrance Screening Test (NEST) followed by interview has been conducted and admission will commence on 10th September, 2007.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri M.A.A.Fatmi in a written reply to a question raised by Ms. Pramila Bohidar and Shri B.J. Panda in Rajya Sabha today.
August 29th, 2007
IIIT Bhubaneswar has a web page with ad for hiring and RFP from architects
The web page of IIIT Bhubaneswar is http://iiit-bh.in. It has a detailed advertisement for jobs and an RFP from architects.
1 comment August 29th, 2007
Tathya scrolling text: Ravenshaw University likely to get Central University Status
7 comments August 29th, 2007
Prof Madhu Mishra takes over as Sambalpur University Vice Chancellor
Update Sept 20 2009: Prof. Mishra did not join. Later Prof. Arun Pujari of University of Hyderbad was appointed and he joined as the VC of Sambalpur University. He is doing a great job.
Following is an excerpt from Pioneer.
Orissa Governor MC Bhandare on Tuesday appointed Professor Madhu S Mishra as the new vice-chancellor of the Sambalpur University for a period of three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Prof Mishra will succeed Prof PC Tripathy, whose two-month extended term shall cease from the date of assumption of office by the new vice-chancellor.
Mishra trained in the disciplines of Economics, Sociology and Development Administration had earlier worked in the Planning Commission, Ford Foundation, Sriram Centre for Industrial Relations and Delhi University.
Prof. Mishra’s latest position was at IIM Calcutta, where his email is listed as madhu_sm@hotmail.com.
4 comments August 29th, 2007
Rejoinder to “Vedanta University: a flawed pipe dream”
Following is a rejoinder to a recent Hindu article titled "Vedanta University: a flawed pipe dream," written by Philip G. Altbach.
While it is possible that Vedanta University, may not turn out as envisioned, it is definitely not a flawed pipe dream. We now show why some of the
arguments given in the above article is flawed.
1. This article talks about $1 billion (the number $3 billion is thrown as an afterthought towards the end of the article) and how it is not a lot money. First, Vedanta University folks have talked about $3 billion, not $1 billion. The $1 billion number is the number that Mr. Agrawal has pledged to contribute; not the number he thinks the university needs. He thinks the later number to be $3 billion. If one wonders where the rest of the $2 billion is supposed to come, then there are two likely sources: (i) the tuition paid by the students and (ii) the use of the real estate in the planned city around the Vedanta University.
Next, lets look at the budget of some of the existing Indian institutions:
- The 7 IITs had a budget of 683.5 crores in 2006-07 and a budget of 1553.70 crores (taking into account the expansion plan) for 2007-08.
- The Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore had a budget of 168 crores in 2006-07 and 283 crores for 2007-08.
- The 6 IIMs had a budget of 74 crores in 2006-07 and a budget of 144 crores for 2007-08.
- UGC had a budget of 2700.17 crores in 2006-07 and 3763.52 crores in 2007-08. This include funding about 20 central universities (does not include IGNOU)
- IGNOU had a budget of 91 crores in 2006-07 and a budget of 98.2 crores in 2007-08.
- SPA (School of Planning and Architecture) had a budget of 10.20 crores in 2006-07 and 22.30 crores in 2007-08.
- National Institute of Design had a budget of 11.25 crores in 2006-07 and 20.25 crores in 2007-08.
- Indian Statistical Institute had a budget of 59.14 crores in 2006-07 and 73.01 crores in 2007-08.
- AIIMS Delhi had a budget of 490 crores in 2006-07 as well as 2007-08.
- The new IISERs are to be made at a cost of 500 crores each (over a period of 5-7 years)
- The new IITs are to be made at a cost of 1000 crores each (over a period of 5-7 years)
- The new central universities are to be made at a cost of 300 crores each (over a period of 5-7 years)
- The new AIIMS-like institutes are to be made at an expense of 322 crores each.
What Vedanta University folks have said is that they will spend $1 billion in the initial phase (i.e. Rs 4000 crores) and $3 billion (Rs 12,000 crores) over the next 10-15 years.
Based on the estimates about Rs 4000 crores can be used to build two new IITs (1000 crore*2) + two new IISERs (500 crores*2) + two new central universities (300 crores*2) + two new IIMs (150 crores estimate) + a new National Institute of Design (100 crores estimate). The recurring cost of these would be at 2006-07 estimates would be 2 IITs (200 crores total), two IISERs (200 crores total), two central universities (200 crores), two IIMs (30 crores), an NID (12 crores) = 650 crores. That is about 650/(8000) = 8.125% of the remaining $2 billion of the Vedanta University estimate which is a fairly small percentage of interest. (The Indian market has been making much more in recent years.)
2. The article says: "No research university in the world has 100,000 students or even anything close."
As per, http://www.osu.edu/osutoday
| Arizona State University, Main Campus | 51,612 |
| University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | 51,175 |
| The Ohio State University | 50,504 |
| University of Texas, Austin | 49,696 |
| University of Florida | 49,693 |
| Michigan State University | 45,166 |
| Texas A&M University, College Station | 44,910 |
| University of Illinois, Urbana | 41,862 |
| University of Wisconsin, Madison | 41,447 |
| Pennsylvania State University, University Park | 40,709 |
As per http://www.asu.edu/enroll/news
So Vedanta’s goal of 100,000 students around the same time is not that different.
3. Location: It seems the author does not have much idea about the location. The Vedanta University location is about 30 miles from the outer periphery (read Khurda) of Bhubaneswar metropolitan area (the capital of Orissa) . Bhubaneswar is very well connected with the rest of the country both by train ( BBSR , Khurda Rd Schedules, Puri Schedules) and by plane and it is expected to have international flights within a year or two . The Bhubaneswar metropolitan area has a current population of 1.6 million and at the rate it is growing (both in area and population) it is likely that by 2020 it will be more than 3 million and its periphery would be close to (if not completely engulfing) Vedanta University.
4. India is hungry for good higher education and people are willing to pay for it. May be the example of KIIT, Bhubaneswar (Orissa) will open the eyes of the author. KIIT was started in 1992 by three young people with an initial investment of few thousand rupees. In 15 years it has programs in multiple fields (engineering, management, medical science, Rural management, biotechnology, Social Sciences, Dentistry, Diploma, ITI, international high schoo l) and is a deemed university. The growth and revenue of ICFAI and Amity also illustrates the revenue potential. Although none of the above are research universities, Vedanta University can collect similar revenues and spend a big part of it in research.
So it is not unreasonable that Vedanta University will have enough students paying enough in tuition to sustain it. Moreover, one should not take the real estate aspect of Vedanta University lightly. With 6000 acres, there will be enough land left beyond the core university, to earn a handsome income, which can then be ploughed into Vedanta University’s research programs. Currently, Bhubaneswar is a destination for many IT companies for their development centers. It has the big 4 of India (Wipro, Infosys, TCS and Satyam), IBM and many small and medium sized IT companies. With a top-notch environment the research park around Vedanta university should be able to attract research divisions of international companies.
Bhubaneswar metropolitan area has 26 engineering colleges (at least 5 more will start operating in the coming year) , 7 existing universities, several more in the making, etc. etc. Please see the right column of https://www.orissalinks.com/ to get an idea of the existing and expected educational infrastructure of greater Bhubaneswar.
7 comments August 29th, 2007
Another new engineering college gets AICTE approval
The founders of this new engineering college, TempleCity Institute of Technology and Engineering, includes a founder of KIIT (not Achyuta Samanta) and a US based initial financier of KIIT who is also very well respected in the US Oriya community. At least one (not me) north American based Orissa origin professor is involved in this project. Thus I think this will turn out to be a good college.
August 24th, 2007
Ranking of K-12 schools in India
Education worldwide on-line has a ranking of schools. None of the schools in their list are from Orissa. In recent years some name brand schools have come to Orissa. This includes Loyola school and DPS Kalinga; both in Bhubaneswar. Performance wise DAV Chandrasekharpur in Bhubaneswar has been doing very well in the CBSE class X and XII exams, but not great in IIT entrance exams.
(Thanks to Piyush Patnaik for the pointer to the ranking.)
2 comments August 21st, 2007
Indus College of Engineering receives AICTE approval for taking students from 2007-08
I got an email from Dr. Ravi Reddy, Director(Academic) and Trustee of Indus college of engineering informing me that their college has received AICTE approval for taking admission for academic year 2007-8. Earlier we covered them in https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=382 and https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=509. As I mentioned earlier, "Dr. Reddy is a B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur and a Ph.D from University of Houston, USA. He was one of the main person at NIST, Berhampur. Based on this information, I think this will also become a good engineering college."
4 comments August 20th, 2007