Someone asked the above question in Yahoo Answers India! Following was my answer.
Which option is better IISER, NIT or IIST and why?
It depends on what you want. The goal of IISERs and NISER Bhubaneswar is to focus on science and produce good scientists. If you have a choice between these institutes, you are a pretty good student. Whatever you do seriously you will be successful. Be confident of that. Heck, even graduates of private colleges in backwater towns get jobs.
So now, IISERs were made because India was falling behind in Science. In the past India had great scientists some of whom went on to get Nobel prizes. But with the IIT brand name and corresponding hype (I am an ex-IITian) every one, who can, now goes to IIT and most study engineering. Science departments, although exist in IITs, have a second class status. That has resulted in India falling behind in Science.
So the government’s aim in establishing IISERs and NISER Bhubaneswar was to create as good institutes as IITs but focused on Science.
One must realize that basic research in science later leads to developments in Engineering and Technology. So unless good talent also goes to science, the pipeline will become empty.
So, if you want to study science, you should go to IISERs or NISER. If your goal is to get a degree, and a job or to go for MBA (in IIMs) after that, then NITs are better for you.
June 21st, 2007
(Update on June 17 2008: For guidance on what you can get with your Orissa JEE rank in 2008, please see https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1185 I do not have more information than that.)
June 11 edition of Outllook has rankings of engineering colleges, medical colleges, and some specialty colleges. Only two Orissa colleges appear in those rankings. In the ranking of govt. engineering colleges NIT Rourkela appears at number 28 with a total score of 1437. In the ranking of private engineering colleges KIIT Bhubaneswar appears at 37 with a total score of 1073. If one were to combine both rankings then NIT Rourkela would be 32 as four private coleges have a higher score than NIT Rourkela. In the 2006 Outlook ranking of top 100 engineering colleges NIT Rourkela was 34 and KIIT was ranked 100. So NIT Rourkela improved by two positions. To figure out if KIIT improved its ranking one has to count how many private colleges were there in the 2006 top 100 ranking. A quick count, which may be slightly inaccurate as it is not easy to identify all private colleges in a list, shows that in 2006 KIIT was 50 among the private colleges; so it seems to have improved its ranking by 13 positions.
June 14th, 2007
Update: I thought this was new to NIT Rourkela. Based on the reader’s comments it seems it has been there for some time and it is also there at UCE Burla.
NIT Rourkela now allows students to change their branches after first year based on their grades and possibly subject to some rules. The students who were able to change this year are listed here. The top three changed to Computer Science. Branch changes were allowed at IIT Kharagpur based on first year performance and subject to a cap of 10% extra seat in each branch. I assumed a similar cap may be operational at NIT Rourkela. NIT Rourkela has close ties with IIT Kharagpur in that its director, Professor Sunil Sarangi, was a longtime facuty at IIT Kharagpur. Its great that he is bringing in good ideas from IIT Kharagpur and implementing them in NIT Rourkela. One idea, which was somewhat unique to IIT Kharagpur, and which should be brought to NIT Rourkela, if not already done, is the notion of a student budgeted hostel library.
June 11th, 2007
Following is a list of institutions with non-traditional programs that I compiled earlier. They are categorized as follows: Arts and Crafts, Design, Teachers training, Diploma in Engineering, ITIs, Film and TV, Homeopathy and Ayurveda, Hotel management, Journalism, Law, Library Science, Performance arts, Physical Education, Sanskrit and Social work.
Continue Reading June 8th, 2007
Besides the NCERT run Regional Institute of Education in Bhubaneswar there are at least five other institutions where one can pursue M. Ed (Master in education) in Orissa. They are:
1. RNIASE (Radhanath Institute of Advanced Studies in Education), Cuttack
2. DPIASE, Berhampur
3. PMIASE, Sambalpur
4. NDW CTE, Bhubaneswar
5. NKC CTE, Angul
Following is a recent ad for admission into the above five institutions.
Continue Reading June 6th, 2007
Econimic Times reports;
“The Centre plans to privatise select services at its premium hospitals to provide improved healthcare facilities with a professional touch. A beginning will be made at AIIMS-like medical institutes proposed in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Rishikesh, Jodhpur, Patna and Raipur. The six institutes will be set up under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, a source in the health ministry said. The institutes are expected to cost the government about Rs 2,000 crore.”
It futher adds,
“The Union government intends to outsource activities like housekeeping, sanitation, maintenance, kitchen, maintenance of hospital information system and laboratory services to the private sector in the first phase.”
June 5th, 2007
RFP for EPC contractor for Housing Complex for Six AIIMS like Institutes:
- Volume 1: (a) Notice Inviting Bid (b) Instructions to Bidders (c) Terms of Reference (d) Evaluation Process and criteria.
- Volume 2 (a) Conditions of contract.
- Volume 3 (a) Client’s Requirement (b) Surveyed Site Plan (available with HLL)
RFP for Design DPR Consultants for Six AIIMS like Institutes:
- Volume 1 (a) Notice Inviting Bid (b) Instructions to Bidders (c) Terms of Reference (d) Evaluation Process and criteria.
- Volume 2 (a) Conditions of contract.
- Volume 3 (a) Client’s Requirement (b) Surveyed Site Plan (available with HLL) (c) Geotechnical investigation report (available with HLL) (d) Zoning Plan. (available with HLL)
May 31st, 2007
The Directorate of Construction, Services & Estate Management of DAE has published tenders for both the academic and the residential complex of NISER. The following table shows the Name of the work, the associated number, the sale period and the tender documents.
Continue Reading May 31st, 2007
These days the NISER, Bhubaneswar website seems to be very slow. We are putting a copy of their application form and information brochure in another location so that people having a hard time downloading it from NISER website can down load it from here (application form, information brochure). Both can be also obtained from the Homi Bhabha site of NISERNEST.
Please note that the last date of receipt of application form is June 8′ 2007.
Following is my archive of the NISER web pages as archived on April 25′ 2007.
Continue Reading May 31st, 2007
Following is a list of management institutes in Orissa which I earlier compiled in http://orissalinks.com.
Continue Reading May 31st, 2007
Following is a list of research institutes in Orissa which I earlier compiled at http://orissalinks.com.
Continue Reading May 31st, 2007
Daily News and Analysis reported that the central government plans to set up five new Centres for IITs of Basic Sciences in the country, to churn out the best minds in basic sciences. Following is an excerpt.
“These centres are being set up in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Mohali. The Department of Atomic Energy Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (UM-DAE CEBS) at Mumbai University, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)-Kolkata, IISER-Mohali and the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER)-Bhubhaneshwar in Orissa will be the new major centres for basic sciences,â€
Added by Chitta: This news item forgets about IISER Pune, does not mention the announced IISERs in Bhopal and Trivendram and puts UM-DAE at the same level as NISER/IISER. At this point it is not clear if UM-DAE will be at the level of NISER/IISER. The above news item does confirm that out in Mumbai some view NISER and IISER at the same level. Such perception is perhaps important from NISER’s point of view as there will be five IISERs (compounding their publicity and alumni size) but one NISER.
May 31st, 2007
Business standard reports on XIM’s future plans. Following is an excerpt:
At the Xavier’s Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar, the fresh batch will start on June 15. The institute has got an All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approval to all its programmes and has thus decided to roll out new courses in econometrics, financial modelling and regulatory finance.
The institute will also start fresh courses in executive development programme through satellite training.
This academic year is significant to us as we got all our programmes approved by AICTE. We will be rolling out many more courses and will also be recruiting new faculty members this year, said Brijraj Mohanty, acting dean, XIM-B. XIM-B is also looking for a new campus in Orissa.
May 31st, 2007
New Indian Express reports that Institute of Mathematics in Bhubaneswar is taking a lead in creating a new and improved high school Mathematics text in Oriya. Following is an excerpt from that report.
… the citybased Institute of Mathematics and Applications (IMA) has come forward with a project on textbook in two volumes in Oriya.
“The USP of these books are their content: Need-based, contemporary and specially written for those HSC passouts of Oriya medium schools,†says IMA Director Prof Swadhin Pattnaik.
The project, which began earlier this year would be completed in June so that by July the students will get the books through the Textbook Bureau, he says adding these books, apart from inspiring the students to take the subject more seriously, would help in easy understanding of the subject without going for tuitions.
The panel of writers include eminent mathematician and former vice-chancellor of Utkal University Prof Gokulananda Das, Prof PC Das of IIT Kanpur and Prof Pattnaik and mathematicians drawn from the apex colleges of the State.
From the psychological point of view, students can do better if they understand the subject in their mother tongue.
May 29th, 2007
New Indian Express reports that during the discussion between the World Bank and the Orissa government in regards to a loan of 1406 crores for construction of roads in Orissa, the idea of setting up a “construction academy” in lines of the one in Hyderabad was mooted. Following is an excerpt from the New Indian Express article.
The World Bank has decided to provide financial assistance of Rs 1,406 crore for the implementation of Rs 2,121- crore Orissa State Roads Project (OSRP).
There is also a proposal to set up a Construction Academy akin to one in Hyderabad to assist the capacity building activities of the State Government.
The academy will train contractors and workers with modern construction techniques.
The Arizona State University, where I am currently at, also has a top-notch school of construction that offers M.S in Construction. May be the Orissa government can go beyond what is in Hyderabad and borrow ideas from the School of Construction at ASU.
May 25th, 2007
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