Odisha HRD

AIIMS-like institution in Bhubaneswar

Following are some details on the AIIMS like institute in Bhubaneswar: architecture competition; RFP for consultancy; Notice inviting tender for survey works; Reply to queries raised by bidders ; More details (Drawing1, Drawing2, Drawing3, Architect’s brief). The "Architect’s brief" is a comprehensive document on what is planned for the AIIMS like institution. In the health budget of 2007-08 there is 150 crores for the 6 new AIIMS type institutes and upgradation of 10 state govt hospitals. In 2006-07 this was 75 crores which was revised down to 10 crores. There is a rumor in Orissa papers that the 150 crores in the 2007-08 is only for upgradation and nothing will be spend on the new AIIMS like institutions. I don’t believe it. Lets wait and wtach.

March 29th, 2007

Universities and University like institutes in the greater Bhubaneswar area

(Last updated: January 31, 2024)
Universities and University like Institutes

1. IIT Bhubaneswar
2. NISER Bhubaneswar
3. AIIMS Bhubaneswar
4. XIM University Bhubaneswar

5. Utkal University
6. OUAT

7. National Law University
8. IIIT Bhubaneswar
9. AIPH University

10. SOA University
11. KIIT University
12. CUTM University

13. Sri Sri University
14. Birla Global University

15. Ravenshaw University
16. Rama Devi University

17. Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University
18. Utkal University of Culture

19. KISS
20. Odia University

21. ASBM University

22. CV Raman Global University
23. Jagaduru Kripalu University – bill passed, construction happening, not functional yet
24. Madhusudan Law University
25. Odisha University of Technology and Research.
26. Odisha University of Health Sciences
27. DRIEMS, Cuttack
28. Silicon University

Campuses of Universities HQed elsewhere

1. ICT Mumbai – IOC Campus Bhubaneswar
2. Central Sanskrit University – Sri Sadashiva campus, Puri
3. Cuttack campus of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad
4. CSIR IMMT – Bhubaneswar
5. RIE Bhubaneswar – Under NCERT which is now a deemed University
6. IIMC Dhenkanal (IIMC is now a deemed university)
7. Bhubaneswar Campus of NMIMS University , Mumbai – land has been leased to SVKM society for this and construction plan is being made; not functional yet

The following should be part of deemed universities.

1. IITTM Bhubaneswar
2. CIPET Bhubaneswar

The following may be established as universities .

1. Radhanath Education University
2. Sports and Physical Education University
3. Veterinary University

(See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/6243 for the time line of higher education institutions in Odisha.)

April 30th, 2018

Logos of national level institutes and universities of Odisha

Below is a collage of the logos of national level institutes and universities of Odisha. (IIIT is trying to get there.) Note that except NIT Rourkela, which started as an REC in 1961 and became NIT in 2002, the rest have been established in the last 5 years:

• IIIT and NISER in 2007,
• IIT in 2008, NLUO in 2008-9,
• CUO Koraput in 2009, and
• AIIMS in 2012.

See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/6243 for a timeline of the establishment of various higher educational institutions of Odisha.

See our collection of logos of Odisha higher education institutions and universities in facebook at here and here.

3 comments September 2nd, 2012

Current and Upcoming Education Hubs of India – Central, State, Private & Deemed Universities and University-like institutions in these places

The list below is culled from mutiple sources: Institutes of National Importance, Central Universities, State Universities, Private Universities, Deemed Universities and news items regarding upcoming universities. The color code below is red for centrally funded institutions, orange for state funded institutions, green for deemed universities, blue for private universities created by the state and black for unclear status. One exception is the "South Asian University" which is created by multiple countries; but inside India it is centrally funded.

11 comments July 27th, 2011

Major higher education and research milestones in Odisha history (work in progress)

(Last Updated on 15th September 2023.)

This grew out of a draft article that I wrote few years ago. I will fill in more details and more items as time permits. Please suggest missing items and links in the comment section. Especially I would like to add information on all the government degree colleges. (A list is at https://sites.google.com/site/orissavision2020/ger-of-ebd-districts.
The list of all degree colleges, about 548 of them, is at
http://dheodisha.gov.in/Defaulter/ReportCollegeProfileSubmitted_DEG.aspx. )

7 comments April 1st, 2011

Update on the Bhawanipatna Medical College

(Thanks to Kalahandia for the pointer.)

Following is from http://expressbuzz.com/states/orissa/medical-college-to-see-light-of-the-day/253254.html.

The last one year has rekindled hopes for Kalahandi waiting since long for a medical college as promised by the State Government. Sardar Raja Medical College at Jaring is expected to start functioning from 2012 academic year, the chief executive officer of the college Tarun Mishra announced at a press meet here.

The project got clearance from the State Government in 2004 after an MoU was signed with a private educational institute Salvam Educational and Charitable Trust, Tamil Nadu. The Revenue Department provided 25 acres at Jaring and Western Orissa Development Council released Rs10 crore for infrastructure development. Work soon picked up on the 300-bed hospital, college and hostel buildings.  

However, the project suffered a setback with the chairman of the trust entangled in a legal battle in Tamil Nadu. The long court battle had raised doubts about the future of the project. Last year, the college also failed to get a nod from the Medical Council of India mostly due to lack of adequate number of doctors, staff and some basic infrastructure. This had led to resentment among the locals.  

With the charges against the chairman of the trust dropped, the project witnessed some positive development this year.  

Mishra said that the infrastructure as pointed out by MCI has been put in place. The Health and Family Welfare Department has already issued essentiality certificate and Sambalpur University given consent for affiliation. MCI permission has already been sought and the team is expected to be here soon. Pending works have been taken up on a war-footing to meet the MCI stipulations, he  added. 

The chairman of the Salvam Educational and Charitable Trust SA Raja, in a press release, said that the commitment for establishment of a medical college and super speciality hospital will be fulfilled and he thanked people for their cooperation for success of the project despite undue delay.

It would be interesting to see whether this one becomes operational first or the AIIMS-like institute in Bhubaneswar gets operational first. Looks like both are scheduled to take in students in 2012. The foundation stone of the AIIMS-like institution was laid in 2003, a year earlier than the medical college in Kalahandi.

2 comments March 4th, 2011

2011-12 budget allocations for various HRD institutions

The 2011-12 budget is available at http://indiabudget.nic.in/ebmain.asp. The HRD budget page is http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2011-12/eb/sbe59.pdf. Following is from those pages.

MHRD: Higher Education:

• Total budget for Higher Education: 21912 crores.   (2010-11: 18206 crores)
• UGC: Total budget is 8675.66 crores. (2010-11: 7530.19 crores) [Includes the budget of the old and new central universities.]**CUO Koraput**
• Educational Loan interest subsidy: 640 crores (2010-11: 500 crores; this program was introduced in 2010-11.)
• 7 old IITs: 2081.68 crores (2010-11: 1771.71 crores)
• Setting up of 8 new IITs: 500 crores (2010-11: 250 crores)**IIT Bhubaneswar**
• IISc Bangalore: 290.41 crores (2010-11: 267.65 crores)
• ISMU Dhanbad: 138.68 crores (2010-11: 122.47 crores)
• 5 IISERs: 580 crores (2010-11: 450 crores)
• 20 NITs: 1378.58 crores (2010-11: 1292.51 crores)**NIT Rourkela**
• Setting up of new NITs: 40 crores (2010-11: 16.81 crores)
• IIEST: 25 crores
• 7 old IIMs (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore, Shillong): 148.93 crores (2010-11: 108.8 crores)
• Setting up of new IIMs: 60 crores (2010-11: 13 crores)
• IIITs:  Gwalior – 39.38 crores; Allahabad  – 52.35 crores; Jabalpur – 40 crores; Kanchipuram – 70 crores.
• New IIITs: 29 crores **IIIT Berhampur ??**
• SLIET: 39.03 crores (2010-11: 27 crores)
• NERIST: 39.66 crores (2010-11: 36.34 crores)

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

• Total: 26897 crores (2010-11: 23300 crores)
• Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi: 345 crores (2010-11: 330.69 crores)
• Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi: 283 crores (2010-11: 257.54 crores)
• Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi: 67 crores (2010-11: 52.03 crores)
• All India Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mumbai: 14.5 crores (2010-11: 11.6 crores)
• Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital, New Delhi: 56.22 crores (2010-11: 53.91 crores)
• Vallabh Bhai Patel Chest Institute, Delhi University: 33.4 crores (2010-11: 30.72 crores)
• Lady Hardinge Medical College & Smt. Sucheta Kripalani Hospital New Delhi: 194 crores (2010-11: 174.72 crores)
• NIMHANS Bangalore: 166.23 crores (2010-11: 140.46 crores)
• All India Institute of Speech & Hearing, Mysore: 41 crores (2010-11: 34.35 crores)
• PGIMER, Chandigarh: 470 crores (2010-11: 407 crores)
• JIPGMER, Puducherry: 250 crores (2010-11: 266 crores)
• AIIMS New Delhi: 1022.35 crores (2010-11: 985 crores)
• 6 New AIIIMS-like institutions and upgrading of state govt. hospitals: 1616.57 crores (2010-11: 747 crores)**AIIMS-like Bhubaneswar**

Department of Atomic Energy:

• Total: 7602.41 crores (2010-11: 6535.29 crores)
• BARC, Mumbai: 2554 crores (2010-11: 2338.20 crores)
• IGCAR, Kalpakkam: 711.70 crores (2010-11: 454 crores)
• RRCAT, Indore: 248.15 crores (2010-11: 226.25 crores)
• VECC, Kolkata: 155.69 crores (2010-11: 106.54 crores)
• TIFR, Mumbai: 510.38 crores (2010-11: 417.30 crores)
• Tata Memorial Center, Mumbai: 289.78 crores (2010-11: 286.60 crores)
• Saha Institute, Kolkata:  117.05 crores (2010-11: 116.9  crores)
• Institute Of Physics (IOP), Bhubaneswar: 239.6 crores (2010-11:  76.86 crores)
• Harish-Chandra Institute, Allahabad: 25.8 crores (2010-11: 19.74  crores)
• Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai: 28 crores (2010-11: 27.5  crores)
• Institute of Plasma Research, Gandhinagar: 564.48 crores (2010-11: 384.63 crores)

(IOP’s budget used to be around 20-25 crores, close to the budget of HCI Allahabad and IMS Chennai. The substantially higher amount is because it includes the budget of NISER, Bhubaneswar. I wonder why NISER does not have a line item budget.)

Ministry of Statistics and programme Implementation

• Indian Statistical Institute: 141 Crores (2010-11: 131.76 crores)

Ministry of Textiles

• National Institute of Fashion Technology: 167 crores (2010-11: 108 crores) [Several campuses, including one in Bhubaneswar]

Ministry of Environment and Forests

• Indian Institute of Forest Management: 12.5 crores (2010-11: 12.5 crores)

Department of Space

• Vikram Sarabhai Space Center: 686.03 crores (2010-11: 603.05 crores)
• ISRO-Inertial Systems Unit: 39.74 crores (2010-11: 29.63 crores)
• Liquid propulsions systems center: 314.33 crores (2010-11: 271.32 crores)
• Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology: 100 crores (2010-11: 100 crores)
• ISRO Satellite Center (ISAC): 320.69 crores (2010-11: 348.10 crores)
• Laboratory for Electro-Optics System: 42.85 crores (2010-11: 36.71 crores)
• Semi-Conductor Laboratory: 80 crores (2010-11: 58 crores)
• Satish Dhawan Space Center: 434.77 crores (2010-11: 364.41 crores)
• Space Application Center: 420.75 crores (2010-11: 300.86 crores)
• National Remote Sensing Center: 223.80 crores (2010-11: 222.2 crores)
• Physical Research Laboratory: 80.7 crores (2010-11: 47.13 crores)
• National Atmospheric Research Laboratory: 19.34 crores (2010-11: 9.1 crores

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

• Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology:  39 crores (2010-11: 36 crores)

Ministry of Chemical and Fertlizers

• NIPER (old and several new ones): 132.31 crores (2010-11: 71.22 crores)
• CIPET: 44.32 crores (2010-11: 74.55 crores) [*Several campuses including one in Bhubaneswar*]
• Institute of Pesticides Formulation Technology: 4 crores (2010-11: 3.19 crores)

Ministry of Agriculture

• National Institute of Biotic Stress Management: 20 crores (new)
• Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology: 30 crores (new)
• Central Agricultural University, Bundelkhand: 30 crores (new)

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

• Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development: 10.8 crores (2010-11: 9.9 crores)
• Laxmi Bai National Institute of Physical Education: 24.63 crores (2010-11: 36.63 crores)
• Laxmi Bai National Institute of Physical Education – NE area and Sikkim Initiative: 15 crores (2010-11: 3 crores)

Ministry of Science & Technology

• 23 autonomous S & T institutions and professional bodies: 713 crores (2010-11: 589 crores)
• 14 autonomous Biotechnology R & D institutions: 378.35 crores (2010-11: 330.1 crores) **Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar**
• 37 CSIR National Laboratories and 38 field centers: 2312.68 crores (2010-11: 2083.84 crores)
• Institute of Translational Research (Innovation Complexes): 10 crores (new) [To be created at strategic locations.]

Ministry of Culture

• National School of Drama: 21.2 crores (2010-11: 21.95 crores)

Ministry of Shipping

• Indian Maritime University: 41 crores (2010-11: 26 crores)

Ministry of Tourism

• Training (22 institutes of Hotel Management; 5 Food Craft Institutes; IITTM; National Institute of Water Sports): 123 crores (2010-11: 109.22 crores)

Department of Information Technology

• National Informatic Centers: 679 crores (2010-11: 628 crores)
• C-DAC: 185.4 crores (2010-11: 163 crores)

Ministry of Corporate Affairs

• Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs: 28 crores (2010-11: 87.36 crores)

Ministry of Commerce

• National Institute of Design: 9.5 crores (2010-11: 11.49 crores)
• National Institute of Intellectual Property Management: 8.4 crores (2010-11: 10.3 crores)
• Central Manufacturing Technology Institutes: 5.5 crores (2010-11: 4.24 crores)

I have not been able to figure out which ministry funds the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. Also, if I am missing some institutes which I should include, please let me know.

1 comment March 1st, 2011

Pushing for central institutions and universities for the Twelfth five year plan (work in progress)

Update: Odisha must push for a second campus of Indian School of Mines. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/6076 for the reasoning that can be used for this.

The twelfth five year plan starts from 2012. It is only two years away. The eleventh plan fetched us a NISER (Bhubaneswar), IIT (Bhubaneswar), Central University of Orissa (Koraput), and plans for an innovation university (Bhubaneswar) and a centrally funded IIIT (Berhampur). Since all of these are in their earlier stages and there were 5+1 IISER/NISERs, 8 new IITs, 16 new/upgraded central universities, plan for 14 innovation universities and plan for 20 IIITs across the country I do not think there will be new ones of them in the 12th plan.

However, there are other kinds of centrally funded institutes and universities that were not much covered in the 11th plan, but yet there were instances of them in some parts of the country. I think if we focus on them from now it is possible that we can influence the inclusion of their establishment across the country in the 12th plan with some locations in Odisha. It is important to push these ideas as pan-Indian ideas rather than Odisha specific. Within Odisha by focusing on "backward districts" we can achieve a good distribution.

Following are some pan-Indian ideas that come to mind.

1. Several Central Agricultural Universities in backward areas of the country, including one in Kalahandi: Currently there is a Central Agricultural University HQed in Imphal. (http://www.cau.org.in/). I came across the news item in http://bundelkhand.in/portal/NEWS/Centre-clears-an-AIIMS-like-institute-for-Jhansi-Bundelkhand that says "the Union agriculture ministry had given the go-ahead to develop a central agriculture university in Jhansi". I think a good case can be made that instead of just Jhansi (in the backward Bundelkhand district) such universities should be made in several backward district clusters in India. In Odisha at one time Kalahandi was known as the Rice Bowl of Odisha. Also, with the central government’s role in harming the industrialization of Kalahandi they may be sympathetic to establish a CAU there.
    
2. Several Central Institutions of Technology in backward areas of the country, including one in Balangir: Currently, a Central Institute of Technology exist in Kokrajhar, Assam. Similar ones exist in Longowal Punjab (SLIET),  and one being made in Malda (GKCIET). These are all centrally funded institutions, have rural focus and are aimed at 3-tiers: workers, technicians and engineers. See https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3911 for some more details on these colleges. I think a good case can be made that such institutions be made across India in the various backward district clusters. In Odisha, Balangir may be suggested as the location as the third district cluster of the famed backward KBK region. With CUO in Koraput and and a CAU in Kalahandi, Balangir is the right place for a CIT.
    
3. Upgradation of several engineering colleges to IIESTs, including the upgradation of VSSUT, Burla: Now that go ahead has been given to upgrade BESU (Bengal Engineering and Science University) to an IIEST (Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology), this idea should be expanded to another dozen or so colleges across India. In Odisha, VSSUT is the one most suitable for this upgrade. In this regard one may note that as per the evaluation in http://www.npiu.nic.in/PDF/Govt-25-1.1.zip and http://www.npiu.nic.in/PDF/Govt-58-1.1.zip only two government colleges (one in Pondicherry (75) and one in Hubli (77)) in India have a higher score than VSSUT’s  score of 73. Even among the colleges listed in http://www.npiu.nic.in/PDF/Govt-71-1.2.zip only BITS-Mesra (76), Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore (82), Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (80) and NIT Surathkal (77) have a higher score than VSSUT’s 73. [I am not sure if the colleges in the last list were scored on the same parameters as VSSUT.]

 

4. Several National Sports Institutions/Universities, including one HQed in Rourkela: Currently there are two such institutes: Lakshmibai National University of Physical Education (LNUPE), Gwalior and Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala. Recently, a proposal was received by GOI from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports to convert Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for Youth Development, an institution deemed to be university, at Sriperumbudur into Rajiv Gandhi Central University/National Institute of Youth and Sports. I think a good case can be made that such institutions be made across India in districts and locations that are catchment areas for various sports. In Odisha Rourkela would be the right choice with a possible branch campus around Kendrapada (women’s soccer) and Jagatpur (Rowing).

 

5. Additional branches of IGNTU (Indira Gandhi National Tribal University) including one in Kandhamala: Indira Gandhi National Tribal University is HQed in Amarkantak, MP. Its act mentions that the university will have branch campuses in various locations across India. The government of Odisha has proposed Kandhamala as the location of one such branch campus. This should be pushed and perhaps another campus may be proposed for the tribal areas cluster of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj.

In addition we need to continue to push for a medical college and an engineering college as part of the Central University of Orissa, Koraput. The state government and the CUO Koraput authorities are already doing it.

2 comments December 15th, 2010

Initiatives for more Nursing colleges and institutions across the country: PIB

Following is from a PIB release of November 19th 2010. 

Nursing Colleges

The following are the steps taken/proposed by the Government: –

i) In order to update knowledge and skills of nursing personnel, assistance is provided for continuing nursing education programme in various specialty areas. This assistance is raised from Rs. 75000/- to Rs. 1.65 lakh per course during XI plan period.

ii) In order to increase the availability of graduate nurses assistance is provided to states for upgradation of schools of nursing into colleges of nursing. This assistance has been increased from Rs. 1.50 crores to Rs. 6.00 crores per institution during XI plan period.

iii) Assistance of Rs. 25.00 lakhs per nursing institution is provided to states for the strengthening of nursing schools/ colleges towards procurement of Audio Visual System, improvement of library, furniture, additions and alterations of hostel building.

iv) Grant of Rs. 1.00 crore has been provided to selected Nursing Council and Cell in states for strengthening and upgradation of nursing services.

v) M.Sc. section has been established for faculty development of Government sponsored candidates from high focused states in 5 Nursing Colleges. Annually 60 candidates per year would get trained to join as faculty in School/Colleges of Nursing in high focus states.

vi) Establishment of 132 Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) and 137 General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) schools in Government Sector in those districts which are not having ANM and GNM training Schools.

vii) Establishment of 6 Colleges of Nursing at the sites of AIIMS like institutions.

viii) Indian Nursing Council has also taken proactive measures to encourage opening of more nursing institutions (Annexure).

Proposals have been received from 6 high focus states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand for opening of schools of nursing during the current year. No proposal has been received from the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Grant of Rs. 98.50 crores has been provided to the State Governments for opening of 43 such institutions. The detail is as given below: –

PROACTIVE MEASURES TAKEN BY INDIAN NURSING COUNCIL TO ENCOURAGE OPENING OF MORE NURSING INSTITUTIONS

(i) Student patient ratio has been relaxed from 1:5 to 1:3

(ii) The land from 5 acres has been relaxed to construct building of 54,000 sq. ft. for School/College of Nursing and Hostel.

(iii) Relaxed norms for teaching faculty to start B.Sc. (N) Programme.

· At least 2 M.Sc. (N) faculty to be available

· Qualification and Experience of the Nursing Teachers has been relaxed up to 2012.

· Sharing of teaching faculty for both Diploma and Graduate Programme.

(iv) Relaxation for opening M.Sc. (N) programme. Super specialty Hospital can start M.Sc. (N) without having under graduate programme.

i. Relaxation of student teacher ratio for M.Sc (N) programme has been relaxed from 1:5 to 1:10

ii. Essentiality certificate to open M.Sc. (N) programme from State Government is not required for those institution which are already having Indian Nursing Council recognized programme like Diploma or Degree.

iii. If an institution is having INC recognition for one programme then there is no need to have Essentiality Certificate for starting another nursing programme.

(v) Admission for Nursing allowed for married candidates.

(vi) Age increased for Teaching Faculty up to 70 years

(vii) Maximum of 100 seats will be given to those parent hospitals with 300 beds without insisting Medical College

(viii) Distance from school to hospital has been relaxed from 15 km to 30 km

(ix) Eligibility Criteria to admission i.e. (Marks) for Diploma and Degree has been relaxed 5% (GNM – 40%, B.Sc. – 45%).

This information was given by Minister for Health and Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in written reply to a question raised in Lok Sabha today.

DS/GK

2 comments November 19th, 2010

NIMHANS Bangalore to become an institute of national importance

Following is from the PTI report in http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/nimhans-declared-institute-of-national-importance/430046.html.

The Government today declared the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, as an institute of national importance on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The proposal was cleared by the Union Cabinet, according to an official release.Apart from AIIMS, the two other institutes which were designated institutes of national importance are Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry.The Cabinet also approved introduction of the ‘National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences Bill, 2009’, in Parliament.

2 comments October 29th, 2010

NISER formalizes collaboration with KIDS and Institute of Life Sciences

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two city-based institutes for analysing the origin and progression of stress and metabolic syndrome (SMS) and its links with diabetes. 

The NISER signed an MoU with the Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities (KIDS) to carry out a collaborative project on clinical, behavioural and epidemiological data on SMS and diabetes yesterday.

It also roped in the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) to use the KIDS’ expertise in genomic studies, laboratory facilities and library for research.

… Chairman and managing director of KIDS Dr Alok Kanungo said: “While India has the highest prevalent diabetes – about 20 per cent of the total diabetic population in the world, there are 40 lakh diabetics in the state. As per statistics released by the state health department, the number of patients has been increased upto 5 lakh in the past five years.”

… “Currently more than 20 per cent of the adult population are suffering from stress related diseases due to change in lifestyle. This also leads to the pre-diabetes stage. However, we are yet to get the Indian database either on SMS or pre-diabetes. This collaboration is expected to let us know the role of Indian genetics in diabetes,” he added.

“The KIDS has a state-of-the-art super speciality diabetes centre with latest infrastructure,” he said.

“Our focus area of research will be SMS leading to diabetes and other physiological abnormalities at molecular level. The clinical, behavioural, epidemiological and susceptibility aspects of the patients of the KIDS will be studied to understand the link in Indian genetic perspective. The research is based on the private public entrepreneurship model of the NISER,” said Palok Aich, the chairperson of School of Biological Sciences, NISER.

“The ILS, being a leading centre of studies in genetics, will help our students and researchers regarding infrastructure and library use,” he said.

This is really great. Once the AIIMS-like institution gets operational it will further increase such collaboration the Biology, Life science and Human Health areas.These kind of collaborations is one of the motivation behind having clusters of institutions nearby. Their impact gets multiplied and the overall impact becomes many times the sum of their individual impact. However, Odisha needs multiple such clusters. Hence my suggestions on several tiers of clusters. See http://www.orissa2020.org/home/area-wise-plan. 

Some past relevant articles:

• Mathematics researchers in NISER and in the Bhubaneswar area.
• Status of AIIMS like institutions.
• NISER local collaboration plans.
• Ad for faculty positions at NISER.
• Faculty composition comparison across NISER and IISER.
• NISER campus layout (an older version).

August 9th, 2010

Is Minister Jairam Ramesh scheming to take the 15,000 crore Vedanta University to the south?

It seems like Vedanta University is seriously considering to move to a location in the Southern states. (For those who may not know much about Vedanta University; it is a university proposed by London based industrialist Anil Agarwal who has pledged $1 Billion = 5000 crores of his own money towards this university which will have an overall budget of 15,000 crores. Note that the budgte of a new IIT is about 800 crores, a new AIIMS is about 850 crores, a new IIM is 215 cores, a new IISER is 500 crores. So just the 5000 crore is greater than having 2 IITs, 2 AIIMS, 2 IIMs and 2 IISERs. See http://vedanta.edu.in/ for more details.)

Following are some excerpts from recent news items:

Although there has been opposition from inside Orissa mainly because some people are against Vedanta due to its Kalahandi operations and partly because some people are against the huge land requirement for this university, the last straw seems to be the action taken by the Minister of Environment in Delhi Mr. Jairam Ramesh. His action stopped the construction that was about to happen. See http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/env-crz-vedanta.pdf.

After granting conditional clearance, it has now put on hold the clearance. Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindustan Times:

While the environment aspects of a mine is understandable, using environment as an issue to stop a university looks somewhat fishy. Especially, consider the following:

Jairam Ramesh’s bias against Orissa was earlier evident when in 2007 when he questioned how an IIT would benefit Orissa. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/286 .

I worry that Mr. Ramesh may be scheming to take the 15,000 crore Vedanta University to the south. He is originally from Karantak and is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh. Regardless, losing this would be a great loss for Orissa.

I know oppositions in Orissa have raised many questions about Vedanta University. I have tried to answer their criticisms and questions. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1696

My basic point is that this university with a budget of 15,000 crores out of which 5,000 crore is personal money pledged by Anil Agarwal (who has a net worth of several billion pounds, thus making this believable) can completely change the situation of Orissa and make the Bhubaneswar-Puri area a viable competitor to Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad in terms of being a knowledge hub. This is a once in a century type of opportunity and letting it go would be foolish for generations to come.

Sorry for being so long, but this is a complex issue and I had to explain the background. We need to do something about this so that Vedanta University is established in Orissa, if not Puri, somewhere else in Orissa is fine too. If we let it go to some other state generations of Oriyas will repent for having lost this opportunity.

What can we do?

To start with please consider sending a version of the following letter (make changes to your liking).

13 comments July 31st, 2010

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

Xavier University bill getting fine tuned; plans to offer undergraduate programs

Sources suggest that the Xavier University Bill is getting finalized and may be introduced in the Odisha assembly in the upcoming assembly session. There is plan that the proposed Xavier University (which will be established by the XIMB people) will have undergraduate programs including in Arts and Commerce.

This would be a Godsend. While Odisha now has top notch programs in Engineering (at IIT, NIT, VSSUT, CIPET), Science (NISER), Law (NLUO), Business (XIMB), Social Work (NISWASS), Public Health (AIPH, and soon IIPH) and Education (RIE), and soon will have a top notch program in fashion design (NIFT) and medicine (AIIMS-like Institute), it does not have top programs in Commerce and Arts. Thus the proposed Xavier University offering these programs will fill a huge lacuna. There are several reasons I believe that the Arts and Commerce programs at the proposed Xavier University will be top notch.

• They have track record in Odisha and India. Their XIMB is among the top ranked business schools in the country.
• 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.
• Xavier University being a university will be able to modernize and revise its programs at will and thus will have advantage over other colleges that need to work with their universities. (Some of the top ranked colleges are now autonomous though.)
• Many of the other top ranked colleges are uni-disciplinary. Xavier University will be able to share faculty among multiple programs and thus able to create more multi-dimensional programs.

The proposed Xavier University offering top notch arts and commerce programs would help the other institutions to improve their arts and commerce programs and may even encourage other groups (such as KIIT and ITER) to establish good programs in Arts and commerce.

Thus the Odisha government should not delay and speed up the creation of Xavier University.

Following is from India Today’s 2009 list of top ranked Arts and Commerce programs in India.

May 2nd, 2010

Some future plans of IIT Bhubaneswar

Following are excerpts from a report in expressbuzz.

IIT Bhubaneswar will have four more schools with inter-disciplinary approach by 2011-end.

While the first one would be on mines, minerals and material technology, the other three would include school of chemicals, school of design and creative arts and earth and ocean sciences.

While the campus construction will start by the year-end, within 10- 15 days the contract would be ready for awarding the architectural and design side of the new campus, said IIT-B Director Prof. Madhusudan Chakraborty.

… Prof. Chakraborty said, however, the institute plans to have a marine campus on the coastline for research on rise in sea-level, effects of climate change, extreme weather conditions, changing ecosystems, air quality and pollution and human health.

… The marine campus will be called Centre for Climate Change and would be established on the lines of marine centres of University of Massachusetts and University of California, he said adding even the varsities have expressed their desire to have future collaborations in research and exchange of faculties and students.

As the marine campus will be very close to the sea, the State Government would be requested at an appropriate time to provide adequate land, he said adding it would have specialists in geology, geophysics, atmospheric and ocean sciences, he added.

Following are some excerpts from a report in Telegraph.

IIT, Bhubaneswar, is planning a marine campus as part of its upcoming School of Earth, Ocean and Environment Science.

The campus, probably be the first marine campus in the country, will study climate, sea level rise, extreme weather events, changing ecosystem, fishery development and wildlife, air quality and pollution, water shortage, human health and hydrological cycles.

Such a campus exists for schools in the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and University of California, Santa Cruz, said IIT, Bhubaneswar, director M. Chakraborty.

Expected to come up by 2011, the school will be “interdisciplinary”, conducting research focusing on geology, geophysics, marine sciences, ocean science, atmospheric science, atmospheric change, disaster mitigation and management, he said.

… The IIT also plans to open three other schools — school of mineral, metallurgy and material engineering, school of chemical sciences and school of design and creative art,” he said.

… “IIT, Bhubaneswar, believes in a border-less academic environment. We do not have departments like other IITs. We are trying to break the barrier so that people from various disciplines come together and work in tandem,” Chakraborty said.

The above plan of IIT Bhubaneswar opens up opportunities for the South Odisha people who wanted the IIT to be located there. If they co-ordinate intelligently (and even offer their own land) they could now have a piece of the IIT. Other parts of coastal Odisha may also go after this.

I think similar opportunities will open up with respect to NISER and AIIMS. In particular, a branch of either in Gandhamardan hill foothills of Balangir/Baragarh in Western Odisha focusing on medicinal plants could be a possibility. (Dr. Sanjib Karmee was championing for an institute like that in that area.)

Water and rain forests are big attractors.

Other locations (such as next to Hirakud or Mandira Dam) could vie for a pie of these national institutes by coming up with an idea about an appropriate research center and approaching the leadership of these institutes.

2 comments March 20th, 2010

New dynamic VCs lead the Sambalpur region towards a knowledge hub

UCE Burla becoming VSSUT and the hiring of dynamic vice Chancellors at VSSUT (Prof. D K Tripathy from IIT Kharagpur) as well as at Sambalpur University (Prof. Arun Pujari from the University of Hyderabad) has given a huge momentum in making the Sambalpur area a knowledge hub and together with similar progress at Rourkela a western knowledge corridor is now in the making. In this write-up we will focus on the greater Sambalpur area ranging from Bargarh in the west of Sambalpur to Jharsuguda and Sundergarh in the north and north east.

• Universities: Two exists; 2 more in the making
  • There are two universities with dynamic leadership at their helm: VSSUT and Sambalpur University
  • Sambalpur University has received approval and funding for a SU-IIT (Sambalpur University Institute of Information Technology) and is pursuing a sports institute.
  • VSSUT has significant expansion plans.
  • There is a proposal to upgrade GM college to a unitary university.
  • The health minister had announced to upgrade VSS Medical College to a university.
  • Branch of OUAT in Chipilima.
• Engineering Colleges: Besides VSSUT, there are five more engineering colleges in the area. 2 in Baragarh, 1 in Jharsuguda, 1 in Sundergarh and 1 in Sason (Silicon West).
• Management Institute: XIMB plans a campus in this area.
• Centrally funded Institutes: IIHT (Indian Institute of Handloom Technology) in Baragarh.
• Research Institute: CIFT Burla.
• Other Colleges: Panchayat College Baragarh, NSCB College Sambalpur, Govt. Womens College Sambalpur, Govt. College Sundergarh and Govt. Womens College Sundergarh.
• Demography: See https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2715
• Infrastructure:
  • Rail Connectivity: See https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2005
  • Airport: Jharsuguda airport is under construction.

The above gives the current status of this area. In addition to the efforts mentioned above, following should also be pursued.

• The VSSUT must be upgraded to a national level institute such as an IIEST (Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology)
• An STP must be established in Sambalpur.
• Operationalization of Jharsuguda airport must be expedited.
• One of the central government departments such as CSIR, DAE, Sc & Tech, etc. needs to open a research center here.
• The Orissa government should push to upgrade the VSS Medical College to the AIIMS level.
• Establishment of private medical colleges in this area must be encouraged.
• The OUAT college in Chipilima needs to upgraded and expanded
• A regional university (similar to the old regional engineering colleges, with 50-50 partnership between the state and the central govt.) should be established in Jharsuguda. (This could be part of the 12th five year plan starting from 2012.)
• A state university should be established in Jharsuguda during the 13th plan. (by 2020)
• A state university should be established in Baragarh during the 13th plan. (by 2020)
• Considering the rapid industrialization of the area, the Govt. Engineering School in Jharsuguda should be upgraded to an engineering college, perhaps as a constituent college of VSSUT.

NOTE on Comments: Only constructive comments will be allowed. Please do not submit comments that advocate separatism, conspiracy theories, shifting, badmouthing, etc.

March 14th, 2010