Odisha HRD

Board of Seconadry Education, Orissa Annual H.S.C Exam. Result 2010 (Top 100)

Following is from http://orissaresults.nic.in/MeritList2010.html.

3 comments June 20th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Odisha plans a power management institute along the lines of NPTI and PMI

From http://www.npti.in/about.html:

National Power Training Institute (NPTI) has been set up by the Government of India under the Ministry of Power, to function as the National Apex Body for Human Resources Development of Indian Power Sector. The Corporate Office of NPTI is located at NPTI Complex, Sector-33, Faridabad -121 003 (Haryana). It operates on an all India basis through its Institutes in the different regions/power zones of the country viz.. Neyveli. Durgapur, New Delhi, Nagpur, Guwahati, Faridabad and Bangalore.

From http://pmintpc.com/interface/about_us_overview.shtml:

The Power Management Institute (PMI) was set up by NTPC in recognition of the vital role that management development has to play, in the context of the challenges associated with the growth of the Indian Power Sector. The Institute is involved in the training and development of middle and senior level personnel not only from the power sector but from organizations outside the sector also.

… The institute’s integrated campus at Noida boasts of modern infrastructure and facilities.

Following is an excerpt from a Business Standard report in sify.com.

Keeping in view the huge manpower requirement for the upcoming power plants of the independent power producers (IPPs) in Orissa, the state government is mulling to set up a Power Management Institute on the lines of the National Power Training Institute (NPTI).

All the IPPs have assured their support to the state government for this institute. To implement the project, the state government would form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with IPPs as stake holders.

The location, investment, intake capacity and other relevant details are yet to be worked out as things are at a preliminary stage.P K Jena, the state energy secretary, said, "The state government is planning to set up a power management institute on the lines of NPTI. The proposed institute is still at a conceptual stage and a concept note is being prepared by the state government in this connection."

"The power management institute will offer diploma as well as degree courses in engineering. The institute will primarily focus on various areas pertaining to the power sector", he added.

The objective behind setting up this institute is to prepare skilled and semi-skilled manpower for the upcoming power projects.It may be noted that as many as 27 IPPs have inked MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government. All these 27 IPPs have a cumulative generation capacity of 32,420 MW.These power projects are set to generate around 50,000 direct jobs besides creating indirect employment for 150,000 people.

The page http://www.orissa.gov.in/energy/Mou-IPP/MoU_IPP1.htm lists 21 of the 27 MOUs that have been signed. We reproduce that list below.

4 comments June 20th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Call4care and Sahyog Foundation’s plan for medical colleges in Keonjhar and Jagatpur in Odisha

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer. 

The State Government on Saturday decided to provide 20 acres of land free of cost and Rs 10 crore as incentive to Sahayog Healthcare and Research Foundation for its proposed 650-bedded medical college and hospital at Keonjhar. The city based foundation has estimated to spend Rs 80 crore for the project.

… It is to be noted that the Foundation had earlier signed an MoU with the State Government. The Foundation had given proposal of setting up of two medical colleges and hospitals, one at Keonjhar and the other at Jagatpur near Cuttack.

It was known that the Foundation would set up Jagatpur medical collage and hospital at its own cost. The Government would not give any land or financial incentive for the project.

A medical college in Keonjhar is Godsend. But the number "80 crores" and "650 beds" does not add up. Making a medical college costs much more. Also, in an earlier report that in Business Standard (see also https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3900 ) different numbers were reported. So with doubts in my mind, I looked for any additional information on this foundation. I came across the following links: 

• The company Call for Care (web page at http://www.call4care.org/ ) which is mentioned as a part of the Sahyog Foundation
• The linked in page of Mr. Rajat Mohanty ( http://in.linkedin.com/pub/rajat-mohanty/21/706/52b ) which says he is the Regional Manager at Call for care( of Sahyoga foundation).
• The supposed web page of Sahyog foundation at http://www.sahyagoaindia.org/ which did not work when I checked (Note: A foundation which is planning to make 2 medical colleges should not be listing a web site which does not work)
• The address of the foundation at Sahyog Foundation, 2nd floor, Plot – 6, Unit III, Kharvel Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha – 751001, (O) +91-674-2390033

I sincerely hope that this is for real. Unfortunately, the non-working website of the foundation http://www.sahyagoaindia.org/ is a warning bell. Also the working web site of its unit http://www.call4care.org does not list the management of the foundation and their background. It does have a list of doctors that they say are part of the program and it lists some health insurance products.

June 20th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Vedanta University tries to nudge the Odisha government to action by threatening to move out of state

Following is a report by Kalpana Pathak from sify.com.

The estimated $3-bn Vedanta University was to start Phase-I by mid-2011 but is facing stiff opposition from locals.

The Anil Agarwal Foundation’s plan to set up a Rs 15,000- crore varsity in Puri (Orissa), called Vedanta University, has come a cropper. The management is now in talks with two southern states for alternative land to set up the varsity.

The Anil Agarwal Foundation’s Vedanta University is modeled on Stanford University and aims to be a worldclass, multi-disciplinary university with students from across India and around the world. However, the varsity, which was to begin operations by mid-2011, has not even started the basic infrastructure work on the land due to stiff opposition from locals and lack of political support.

… "We sought support from the state government but it is silent. We agreed to set up the university on government’s invitation but now we are very disappointed. We even revised our initial plans of having the campus on 8,000 to 6,000 acres," admits an official from the university who did not wish to be named. The university board has managed to acquire around 4,000 acres of land so far.

A director of a local institute told Business Standard: "The university concept as such is a good one and considering the varsity is facing stiff opposition from locals, the foundation should look for a smaller piece of land and begin operations."

The Foundation says if it’s not able to set up the university in Orissa, the land acquired could be made into an extended arm of the university which, could be housed outside Orissa.

The Foundation and the state government in 2006, had signed a memorandum of understanding to create the University. In July 2009, the government of Orissa passed a bill to allow the massive university to be set up and function with autonomy. The university being built with an investment of Rs 15,000 crore has plans to come up in three phases. Phase one was to be operational by mid-2011 with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore. The first academic session at the university was to begin in 2009 but the project has been delayed for over two years due to land acquisition tussle with the local residents of Puri. With further delays, the university could take longer to get operational.

To begin with, the university expects to start operations with around 1,000 students in the arts and science streams. The student intake, however, will grow steadily to reach an ultimate goal of 100,000 students. The university board however, is still working on the modalities involving admission and fee structure.

The university has awarded construction contracts of the academic buildings as well as the hospital at the project site to companies like Larsen & Toubro, Shapoorji Pallonji, Ahluwalia, B E Billimoria and Simplex. Architects Ayers Saint Gross of Baltimore, USA, have prepared the master plan of the University. Few international scholars like Will Chase, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Sam Pitroda are said to have evinced interest in the project.

The campus will have a super specialty hospital, which will answer a long standing need for providing comprehensive and specialized patient care for the people of Orissa and eastern India. Both the University and the hospital are ‘not-for-profit’ institutions. World-renowned hospital architects are developing the design for the hospital, Perkins and Will from USA. The university will also establish research parks to promote science and technology-based entrepreneurship and support an innovation-driven incubator. E-learning programmes will also be launched in future.

At this point, I am not sure the state government is at fault. The state government has passed the Vedanta University Bill. The construction and further land acqusition is stopped by the environmental ministry of the central government (see here and here), and the high court case. I think for the latter Vedanta University Project and its official bear some responsibility as it seems that in their haste to speed up the process of land acquisition, they might not have dotted the i’s at the right time.

Nevertheless, as per the reported recommendations of the Lokpal, the issue is mostly technical. I hope both get resolved soon and the progress is resumed.

One thing the state government can do now is to initiate a dialog with the PM, HRD M and Ministry of Environment to sort out the environmental issues at the earliest. On its part Vedanta University Project should start taking actions as laid out in its act. It should also seriously consider starting some graduate programs at the earliest.

10 comments June 15th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Status of Sardar Raja’s Medical College and Hospital in Jaring, Kalahandi: Pioneer

Following are excerpts from a report in Pioneer.

Kalahandi’s Sardar Raja’s Medical College and Hospital (SRMCH), the foundation-stone for which was laid by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on February 8, 2004 at Jaring, named Naveen Town, is yet to cater to the needs of the region full-fledged.

Even after six years, the pending work of the hostel construction is yet to be completed.

Initially, the State Government had provided 25 acres of land at Jaring, en route Bhawanipatna to Junagarh, and the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) had sanctioned Rs 10 crore (out of which Rs 9 crore has been received) for the establishment of the SRMCH.

The ongoing work began to slowdown when its chairman was convicted in a case by the Madras High Court ten months ago.

… However, Raja’s two sons often visit the Jaring-based SRMCH from Tamil Nadu and hope for its bright future.

CEO Tarun Mishra told The Pioneer that in the absence of the chairman, all its staffers are apparently losing confidence.

Mishra also informed that the trust has enough funds and all its 83 staff members get their salaries in time, but the pace of the work is yet to pick up.

He said that earlier the WODC CEO Aswini Mishra, Kalinga Hospital director Saheb Sahu, Junagarh MLA Gobardhan Das and Berhampur Medical College principal Sunamali Bag had held a review meeting on the hospital campus for speeding up the work.

The SRMCH had signed an MOU with the State Government to complete it in a five-year period, but the period of the MoU has already elapsed.

… Under the Selvan Educational and Charitable Trust, Vadakangulam in Tamil Nadu, the SRMCH has already spent around Rs 25-30 crore and the WODC has funded Rs 9 crore for the building construction and purchase of equipment.

The hospital’s 100-bed facility was first inaugurated on December 9, 2006.

It was again inaugurated on March 18, 2007 with its 200-bed facility followed by its last inauguration of 300-bed on July 27, 2007.

Facilitated with all types of equipment, the hospital work is now being handled by three doctors only, with a medicine specialist, pediatrician and one dentist on duty.

Nearby villagers come to the hospital and take advantage of it as far as possible. It requires appointment of 12 doctors for full-fledged operation.

… The hospital has facilities of an ICU, two X-ray wards, ECG, ultra sound, 3 OTs, but due to insufficient doctors machines are hardly used.

 

The positive part is that the hospital is somewhat functional and has 300 beds and the trust has spend much more than what it received from WODC. But considering that even the private medical colleges in Bhubaneswar are running at a loss, a private medical college in Kalahandi does not have a good chance of being self-sustaining. The government needs to step in and either take over the infrastructure, add the necessary missing infrastructure and make it a government medical college OR agree to pay the full tuition (at market rates) of at least 20 students/batch for the next five years. The latter will guarantee some cash flow to the trust and perhaps make it easier for them to operate the medical college.

June 15th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Xavier University discussed in Odisha Cabinet; but no bill was presented

Following is from a report in tathya.in about the discussion of Xavier University in the Odisha Cabinet.

Ananga Udaya Singh Deo has favoured Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar(XIMB) to set up Xavier University in the state.

Minister Planning & Coordination speaking in the State Cabinet on 9 June, said if any institution merits for a University status, it is XIMB.

Giving out details Minister said that XIMB is serving the State of Odisha since 1987 has more than 4000 alumni, out of whom more than two third are from Odisha.

Mr.Singh Deo said educational institutions with little known academic excellence are allowed to set up universities, where as proposal of XIMB for a University is pending for a long time.

Cabinet was given details on XIMB by Mr.Singh Deo as he said being a Jesuit Institution, XIMB can easily tie up with other Jesuit Universities from all across the world such as University of Santa Clara, Loyala Chicago, Georgetown, St.Louis and Marquette etc.

Speaking about the credibility of XIMB, he said that for 180 seats of PGDM, XIMB has attracted 20,000 applications.

He said that in 2010 it self 48 foreign students have expressed their desire to come and spend a semester at XIMB and by making it a University more foreign students will be attracted.

XIMB has collaborations with 12 international universities and more are in offing, revealed the Minister Planning & Coordination.

Pointing out about the cent per cent placements of its students and highest placement records in Odisha has proved the credentials of XIMB in the country, said he.

Involvement of XIMB in the development of most backward districts of Odisha in KBK, where it is planning to set up its second campus will go a long way if they are allowed to set up a University, added he.

So Mr.Singh Deo urged Minister Higher Education to place the Xavier University Bill for approval of the Cabinet as soon as possible for the best interest of the state.

Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister Higher Education sounded on a positive note.

Although it is good that Xavier University was discussed in the cabinet, it is really unfortunate that the bill was not brought to the cabinet, while bills corresponding to lesser institutions were brought to the cabinet.

Following is from another article in tathya.in.

Decision makers in Odisha have failed to visualize the implications of delaying the establishment of University of Xavier Institute, which is going to cost the state dearly, feel educationists and intelligentsia.

Xavier is a brand name well known in Odisha (through XIMB), India and abroad and educational institutions bearing the Xavier name are highly regarded in India and abroad. 

While the State Government is sponsoring proposals of  institutions little known for their academic excellence, they have all along ignored the proposal of Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB) for a univarsity. 

Just for comparison purposes, there is no Sri Sri labeled educational institution that is in any rankings. 

Similarly, there is no Vedanta named higher educational institution. 

And last but not the least Krupaluji Maharaj has been given land to set up a University in Odisha!!! 

The Jesuit Society of India has established the XIMB.

XIMB is a top management institute in India and ranked very highly and in fact, it is the highest ranking institute in Odisha in any field. 

The next closest is NIT Rourkela which is ranked in the thirties among all engineering colleges/institutes. 

In India: Besides XIMB, XLRI (Xavier Labor Research Institute, Jamshedpur) is a top 5-7 ranked management institute in the country.

Similarly, XISS (Xavier Institute of Social Services, Ranchi) is also a well-established name. 

In addition there are many other Jesuit institutions that are well regarded in India. 

This includes the various Loyola colleges. 

In US: There are three Xavier Universities in USA in Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisiana. 

In addition there are about 30 other Jesuit universities in the USA which include famous universities such as Georgetown University. 

If a Xavier University is made in Odisha, it will be the first Xavier University in India. 

The above facts make a Xavier University in Odisha very special. 

By being the first Xavier University in India, it will have the first mover’s advantage. 

By virtue of being the first Jesuit University in India, a Xavier University in Odisha will be in a position to get help from the 30 Jesuit Universities in US. 

XIMB is ready to start construction that will make it a university, said sources. 

XIMB had already planned for expansion and was ready to start construction for some time. 

The XIMB Director Father P T Joseph has already received permission from the Jesuit society to set up Xavier University. 

This has been also discussed in the recent board meeting of XIMB. 

Several new programs that will be part of the university are already approved by the XIMB governing board. 

Father Joseph, the Director of XIMB notices the lack of good arts and commerce programs in Odisha (the IIT, NISER, NLUO, XIMB, IIPH, AIIMS etc. take care of the engineering, science, law, business, public health and medicine areas) and would like the Xavier University to have top notch world class programs in arts and commerce.

The top ranked Arts and Commerce programs in the country include many other sister Jesuit institutions such as Loyola Colleges, St. Xavier’s colleges and St. Joseph’s colleges.

Despite all of the above, the Odisha Government is dilly-dallying in establishing the Xavier University in Odisha. 

This is especially bad because a sister institution of Xavier, the Georgetown University of the US is interested in opening a branch in India. 

If only the Odisha government had established Xavier University, it could have approached Georgetown to open its branch in Bhubaneswar.

Because of the lack of foresight of Odisha, the state may not only remain backward in arts and commerce programs, but it may also lose the chance to get a branch of the famous Georgetown University to Odisha.

13 comments June 9th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Georgia Tech’s plan in India; post-graduate research institutions in Andhra Pradesh

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

Infosys Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kris Gopalakrishnan and Georgia Tech’s provost and vice president for academic affairs Gary Schuster recently signed a memorandum of understanding to partner on potential research and educational opportunities, Infosys said in a statement here.

"Georgia Tech is exploring the possibility of establishing a small, high quality post-graduate research institution in Hyderabad. The proposed Georgia Tech facility will include centres for excellence in information technology and information systems, energy systems, biotechnology and infrastructure studies," it said.

As part of the partnership, Infosys will collaborate on research projects of mutual interest in these areas of technology.

"Since Infosys has a presence both in Atlanta and Hyderabad, there are collaborative opportunities in both locations," the statement said quoting Schuster.

An older TOI article elaborates on Georgia Tech’s original plan. Following are some excerpts.

The US-based Georgia Institute of Technology has signed up with the southern state to set up two campuses at an estimated investment of $100 million over the next few years.

… Georgia Tech will set up a campus in Hyderabad and later at Visakhapatnam by 2009-1010, on land purchased from the AP government.

The institute will initially start with a faculty of 10 and 200 doctoral students. There are further plans of setting up a special economic zone that will ensure successful industry-university interaction.

Experiences elsewhere, like Harvard and Wales in the UK suggest that such an interaction acts as a catalyst for research, economic development and technology commercialization.

There are ambitious ramp up plans. Says Vijay Madisetti, executive director of Georgia Tech’s India initiative and professor in its School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, "The campus is expected to grow over 10 years to about 100 faculty and 2,000 students co-located with a university-industry research park. We expect to work with private donors and the US and Indian industry to raise the necessary funding (approximately $100 million)."

Georgia Tech’s India campus will offer degrees recognized in the US, identical to those offered by its US collegiate counterparts. This will make Georgia Tech the first global university to do so in India. The initial set of master’s and doctoral programmes will be in the areas of information technology and hardware systems; biotechnology and healthcare; infrastructure research; and energy systems.

Says Madisetti, "The degree programmes will be taught by tenure-track and tenured Georgia Tech faculty, who are expected to possess the advantage of having study and research time spent on both US and Indian campuses."

While most students are expected to come from India, some would be from the US as well. Just as in the US, most students are likely to support through graduate research assistantships.

June 9th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Virginia Tech’s plan in India – a campus 2 hrs away from Chennai in Tamil Nadu

Following is an excerpt from a report in http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2010&itemno=162.

Virginia Tech is taking a significant step toward establishing a new campus overseas through the execution of an agreement with a large private sector group. The proposed Virginia Tech, India campus will be located on at least 30 acres in the state of Tamil Nadu in southeast India initially encompassing a 70,000-square-foot campus facility. Master’s and Ph.D. programs are planned for approximately 300 students in engineering and the sciences.

The institution – called Virginia Tech MARG Swarnabhoomi, India – fulfills Virginia Tech’s desire to have a credible presence in India with ample land for future growth and proximity to a major metropolitan city. The proposed campus will be located within a two-hour drive of Chennai (formerly known as Madras), India’s fourth largest city and the capital of Tamil Nadu.

… The agreement represents more than three years of research and preparation on the part of a high-level team involving Steger, representatives of several of Virginia Tech’s academic colleges, and John E. Dooley, vice president for Outreach and International Affairs. The enterprise is expected to draw on Virginia Tech research resources such as the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech also will be involved.

“Learning, discovery and engagement – the three pillars of scholarship at the Blacksburg campus – will be in force at Virginia Tech India,” Dooley said. “Graduates with master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Virginia Tech India will help fulfill the country’s need for quality faculty members to teach in ever-expanding engineering and science colleges in India.”

Virginia Tech will manage the campus and design its academic programs, research facilities, and labs. The university will also promote the idea of education abroad at the new campus and arrange for faculty exchanges. The new campus is expected to become the site of high tech seminars, workshops, and symposia.

… In 2007, a government commission in India urged that the country increase its number of universities from 350 to 1,500 by 2015. In 1999, Virginia Tech became the first U.S. institution to offer a degree program in India – a master’s in information technology offered in conjunction with the S.P. Jain Institute. Harvard, Yale, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology are also pursuing centers in India.

Following youtube video talks about Virginia Tech’s plan.

June 9th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

IIIT Bhubaneswar to become a state university; Centurion University of Technology and Management (a private state university) in Parlakhemundi in the offing

Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in. (The website of the Centurion group is http://www.cgi.ac.in/.)

… Proposal to establish the Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM) by the Department of Higher Education (DHE) has received green signal of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

… And latest is Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM) in Gajapati will go a long way in serving the state in general and KBK in particular, said a senior official.

Once the proposal receives clearance of the State Cabinet, a bill will be presented in the Odisha House to enact a law to establish the university by JITM Trust.

This is a great move by the Odisha government. In recent years JITM of Parlakhemundi has had many innovative programs. Making it a university is a just reward and a big boon to the backward Gajapati area.

I hope other areas of Odisha take note of this and try to learn from this. It is easier for a government to help, if people take their own initiatives.

Another institution that deserves similar reward is the Gandhi group of institutions, with its initial (and the best) college GIET in Gunupur, also in a backward district (Rayagada). I hope the Odisha government also upgrades the GIET in Gunupur, the largest engineering college in Odisha, to a university. 

NIST Berhampur also deserves similar reward as it is located in Ganjam (also considered a backward district and part of the backward South Odisha) and is among the top engineering colleges in Odisha.

Based on quality, Silicon Bhubaneswar also deserves to become a university. Similarly, Hi-tech because of its medical college also deserves to become a university. (Note: The two other private medical coleges of Odisha are part of deemed universities.)

In general, the government should make universities out of any engineering college that is in a backward district but yet is among the top 20 (with respect to student preferences), groups with private medical and engineering colleges in any location, and top 5  private engineering colleges in any location. This should be done every 4-5 years so that every college does not become a university.

Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in on IIIT Bhubaneswar. 

State Government has decided to accord the Unitary University status to IIIT-Bh so that it will enjoy academic, administrative and financial autonomy.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given consent to the proposal of Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Minister IT in this regard.

… State Cabinet will take a call on the issue on 9 June, said sources. 

3 comments June 8th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

National Inland Navigation Institute Patna

Its web page is at http://www.iwai.gov.in/niniweb.htm. It offers the following courses. (See http://www.iwai.gov.in/niniweb_files/Page771.htm.)

A. Two months duration Course

B. Four  months duration Course

With a big part of NW-5 passing through Odisha, a branch of the above institute should be located in Odisha and it should offer similar courses. The following map is from http://www.iwai.gov.in/.

2 comments June 4th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

NIT Rourkela offers MBA, MA in Developmental Studies and direct admission to 2nd year of Integrated M.Sc; deadlines for applying to these programs extended

See details at http://application.nitrkl.ac.in/ and  http://www.nitrkl.ac.in/admission_docs/Extension%20of%20dates_6_1.pdf. Following is an ad about this that appeared in some newspapers today.

It is great to see that NIT Rourkela is offering MBA and 2 yr and 5 yr M.Sc programs. Also impressive is its offering of programs in Life Sciences and Biotechnology and Medical Engineering.

In the future it should aim for a program in Intellectual Property Law (as is offered in IIT Kharagpur), more programs in liberal arts (such as in Economics), and possibly even an MBBS in collaboration with one of the local hospitals.

VSSUT Burla should follow NIT Rourkela’s path in expanding its offerings.

3 comments June 4th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

NISER Bhubaneswar advertises for faculty positions

Update:The expanded ads are now in the NISER web site. See the links below.

• Regular Faculty Positions- Humanities
• Regular Faculty Positions- All Schools
• Non-Academic Staff Positions (10)

One thing to note is that NISER is likely to implement the PRIS (Performance related incentive scheme) of DAE under which there is provision for monthly incentive of 20% of basic salary. This is already implemented in some DAE institutions. See for example http://www.saha.ac.in/cs/adm.cs/ADM/PRIS.pdf.

The expanded version of this ad is not yet in NISER website. The ad from last year is at http://niser.ac.in/notices/2009/new-faculty.php and gives an idea of how much the initial salaries will be. following is an excerpt.

ASST. PROFESSOR : Pay Band Rs 15,600 – 39,100 + Grade Pay 7,600
Basic pay on initial appointment will be Rs 29,920 + 22% D.A at current rates + 20% HRA on basic pay. Total emoluments will be approximately Rs 44,438/- per month.

READER (F) – Pay Band Rs 37,400 – 67,000 + Grade Pay 8,700
Basic pay on initial appointment will be Rs 46,100 + 22% DA at current rates + 20% HRA on basic pay. Total emoluments will be approximately Rs 67,414/- per month.

Currently NISER has the following numbers of faculty in the various disciplines:

• Chemical Sciences: 12 permanent + 5 visiting
• Biological Sciences: 10 permanent + 5 visiting
• Physical Sciences: 10 permanent + 4 visiting
• Mathematical Sciences: 5 permanent + 3 visiting
• Others: 4 visiting

This adds up to a total of 37 permanent and 21 visiting faculty.

As a comparison IIT Bhubaneswar currently has 37 permanent faculty and 4 visiting faculty with the following break-up.

• Basic Sciences (14 permanent: Chemistry -7; Math -3; Physics – 4; and 2 visiting)
• Electrical Sciences (5 permanent)
• Infrastructure (6 permanent)
• Mechanical Sciences (8 permanent)
• Humanities, Social Sciences & Management (4 permanent and 2 visiting)

1 comment June 1st, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

VSSUT Burla (Sambalpur) benefits from being a unitary university: able to declare results in 17 days

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Vir Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) declared the results of all its semesters for the year 2010 on Sunday, just 17 days after completion of the examinations, claimed to be the quickest time for any technical university across the country. The results are also available on www.vssut.ac.in, the university’s website.

Vice-Chancellor Deba Kumar Tripathy thanked all the teachers for their sincere efforts in making this feasible and said this would help the students, especially the final year students, continue their future plans and pursue higher studies.

It is a matter of pride for the teachers and the students of the VSSUT since the Vice-Chancellor, who also was the Odisha-JEE chairman for this year, proved the worth of the Unitary University status given to this college in the recent past and also stood up to its expectations of conducting the JEE as well its own exams as smoothly as it could have been, admitted the students. It is a fact that the VSSUT conducted its all end-semester exams and published its results before the BPUT exams.

13 comments May 31st, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Odisha’s second flying training institute being explored in Rangeilunda near Berhampur

Following is an excerpt from a PTI report.

Plans are afoot to develop Orissa’s second flying training institute at Rangeilunda airstrip near here.

The ministry of Civil Aviation wants to use Rangeilunda airstrip as a flying training institute. Binodini Devi, a senior captain from the ministry, visited the airstrip recently and discussed the project with engineers of the works department here, Ganjam district collector V K Pandian said.

… A senior pilot of the ministry also visited the site last week and asked the works engineer to develop it as a Visual Flight Rule (VFR) airstrip and to provide at least two rooms to conduct the pilot training institute.

"We have agreed to provide all necessary infrastructure facilities to the ministry to use Rangeilunda airstrip as a flying training institute," K Pandian said.

3 comments May 30th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Tender invitation (again) for construction of hospital complex for the six new AIIMS like institutions

Update: The press release corresponding to the ad below is now available at http://www.mohfw.nic.in/31Press%20relaease.doc. It does not have any additional info though.

The advertisement below appeared in various newspapers today. Although the ad mentions that more details are in the http://www.mohfw.nic.in/ site, nothing is there yet. (It may take a few days for more details to appear there.)

A similar tender invitation was issued in November 2009. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3610 and https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3408. Earlier in May 2008, tenders were floated for the housing complex. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1121.  (Even older links related to tenders for the AIIMS-like institution in Bhubaneswar are at https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=970.)

The PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59071 (see also https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3962)  gives the status of the construction of residential complex until March 2010.

May 30th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral

Odisha signs MOUs with 8 companies for Industrial Training Centers (ITCs)

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

To bridge the gap between the available skilled manpower and demand from the upcoming industries, the Orissa government today signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with eight mega industries for setting up quality Industrial Training Centres (ITCs) in the state.

… The companies which inked the agreement with the government are Orissa Power Generation Corporation (Hemagiri), Tata Power Ltd (Banki), Emami Paper Mills (Balgopalpur), RSB Metaltech (P) Ltd (Kalyansinghpur), Surrendra Mining Industries Ltd (Bonei), Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd (Teleibani), Uttam Utkal Steels (Jhumpura), Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd (Lakhanpur).

Though twenty seven industries and public sector undertakings had evinced interest to set up ITCs in the state, eight have signed the MoU in the first phase.

The remaining industries are expected to sign MoUs with the state government in phases.

As per the MoU, the government would identify and transfer the land required for setting up the ITCs. The sponsoring companies would have to develop the required infrastructure in those centres as per the norms of National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT). However, the mega industries would have to pay for the land whether it is government or private land.

… the admission to the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), polytechnics and degree engineering colleges has increased from 30,000 to 1.2 lakh per annum in the last decade.

1 comment May 25th, 2010 Author : Chitta Baral