The Committee on NationalDefenceUniversity has recommended establishment of an IndianNationalDefenceUniversity. This will include existing institutes namely NationalDefenceCollege (Delhi), NationalDefenceAcademy (Khadakwasia), Institute of Defence Management (Secunderabad) and DefenceServiceStaffCollege (Wellington) and new institutes namely National Institute of Strategic Studies, College of National Security Policy, Institute for Advanced Technology Studies (Bangalore). No final decision on location of the proposed university has been taken as yet.
The courses conducted at the tri-Services training institutions, training institutions of the three Services and the NationalDefenceCollege are recognized for award of diplomas/ degrees by various universities across the country and All India Council for Technical Education. Details are given below:-
NationalDefenceCollege:
All officers undergoing the NDC Course and possessing a Masters’ degree are eligible for admission to the M. Phil programme of the University of Madras.
Tri-services training institutions:
Sl. No.
Name of the institution
Degree
University
1.
NationalDefenceAcademy, Khadakwasla
B.A./B.Sc.
JawaharlalNehru
University
2.
DefenceServicesStaffCollege, Wellington
M.Sc.
University of
Mumbai
3.
College of Defence Management, Secunderabad
M.M.S.
OsmaniaUniversity
Higher Command Course:
Sl. No.
Name of the institution
Degree
University
1.
ArmyWarCollege, Mhow
M.Phil
IndoreUniversity
2.
College of Naval Warfare,
Mumbai
M.Phil
University of
Mumbai
3.
College of Air Warfare
M.Phil
OsmaniaUniversity
(iv)All technical courses being conducted at various training institutions of the three services are also recognized for award of diploma/degree by All Council for Technical Education, JawaharLalNehruUniversity, New Delhi and by various other Universities across the country.
This information was given by Defence Minister ShriA K Antony in a written reply to Dr. K.S. Manoj in LokSabha today.
The Koustuv group which currently has a diploma college (Koustuv School of Engineering) and two operating engineering colleges (CoEB and KISD) has several more engineering colleges in the pipeline. They are Koustuv Institute of Technology (KIT), Khurda in Orissa and KITs in Ranchi and Kolkata. It also operates a plus two science college, Koustuv Institute of Science. It has plans for a medical college to be called Koustuv Research Institute of Medical Science (KRIMS). In regards to the medical college, there is a report in Telegraph regarding Koustuv’s success in its bid for a 400+ acres of land previously occupied by OTM. Following are some excerpts:
Koustuv Group, which recently got clearance from State Level Single Window Clearance Authority for a tin smelting plant at Khurda, has apparently emerged as front-runner in the auction of Orissa Textile Mills (OTM).
The state-owned composite cotton mill winded up in 2002.
Prabhat Ranjan Mallik, the chairman of Bhubaneswar-based Koustuv Group, was the foremost bidder with a fresh offer of Rs 43 crore for the OTM property and assets, including 422 acres of prime industrial land at Choudwar, in the final round of bidding in Orissa High Court yesterday.
The bidding vehicle set up afresh by Koustuv Group before the company affairs bench of Justice I.M. Quddusi plans to use the OTM factory complex for setting up a tin modulation unit.
“Moreover, a medical research centre comprising a state-of-the-art hospital and a medical college have been planned for the future,” said Koustuv Group counsel P. Mukherjee, while making a verbal bidding before the court. Mallik was also present in the company affairs court.
St. Xavier’s high school group has established and is currently establishing many schools across Orissa and neighboring states. As per http://www.stxavierschools.org/aboutgroup.htm they have schools in Berhampur, Bhanjanagar, Cuttack, Balangir, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Balasore, Rayagada, Jajpur Rd and Keonjhar. They are establishing schools in Cuttack-Bhubaneswar and Sunabeda. The Cuttack school is affiliated to CBSE board. The affiliation of the other schools is not clear.
Pledged $1 billion in 2006 from his Anil Agarwal Foundation to set up Vedanta University. Envisions the school as an elite institution modeled on Stanford University and targeting the young Indians who now leave the country in droves to study overseas. Hopes it will boost the lagging economy of Orissa State, in eastern India, where it will be built on a 6,000-acre campus that will ultimately accommodate 100,000 students. Some 1,000 acres have been acquired so far—despite the opposition of locals—and the first batch of students is expected next year.
Orissa has once again been deprived of an IIT as political considerations seem to have governed such decisions remarked ruling BJD-BJP circles here today while reacting to the budget.
… State finance minister Mr Prafulla Chandra Ghadei was also critical of the budget and said "it may cause further inflation" adding "the loan waiver is a pre-poll populist measure which does not make economic sense at all". Mr Ghadei said "the state was not only denied an IIT but was also deprived of additional funds and coverage of the Backward Region Grant Fund scheme".
Following is from a report in Pioneer.
Launching a scathing attack on the Centre for neglecting the cause of Orissa, Patnaik said IIT seems to have done with political consideration. "There has been no scheme for the welfare of the tribal people," he said. Orissa had earlier demanded an IIT for the State and the Chief Minister wrote a number of letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh. But without conceding to the demands of the Orissa Government, the Centre announced setting up of IITs in Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
…. Industry Minister BB Harichandan said this Budget was made keeping elections in mind. The Union Government has adopted a stepmotherly attitude towards the State while announcing setting up a number of IITs.
NCP convenor Bijay Mohapatra described the Budget as pro-farmer. The relief given to the farmers is a bold step, he said. The extension of NREGS to all districts and increased allocation under the BRGF will benefit the underdeveloped district. Except for not announcing an IIT for Orissa, the Finance Minister has catered to all sections.
He, however, said the Centre should have considered the demand for the establishment of an IIT in Orissa.
Even as Finance Minister P. Chidambaram dished out a populist Budget in an election year, Orissa missed out on several key announcements as usual.
What has hurt it most is that the Centre has once again ignored its demand for establishment of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) even as Chidambaram announced three IITs to be set up in Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh
NISER/IOP: The IOP+NISER budget (item 9.04 of the DAE budget) is 69 crores in plan + 9 crores in non-plan = 78 crores. The nornal IOP budget is about 20 crores. Hence, 50-58 crores is the budget for NISER in 2008-09. (Note that in 2007-08 IOP was allocated 32.75+7 crores and it spent 27.6+8 = 35.6 crores. I..e, Probably 15-18 crores were spent for NISER. )
IISER: There is a budget of 150 crores (item 61 of the Higher education budget) for the five IISERs. (The budget for three of them was 125 crores in 2007-08, out of which only 60 crores was spent.)
new IITs: There is a budget of 50 crores (item 60 of the Higher education budget) for the establishment of three new IITs. (The budget for them was 80 crores in 2007-08, out of which only 0.01 crores was spent.)
AIIMS-like: There is a total budget of 490 crores (item 26 of the Health ministry budget) for the establishment of 6 new AIIMS-like institutes and upgradation of 10 other institutes. In 2007-08 the budget for this was 150 crores out of which only 90 crores was spent; most of it went to the upgradation part.
NITs: The budget for the NITs (item 69 of the Higher education budget) is 808 (plan) + 285 (non-plan) = 1093 crores. Rs 608 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
IITs: The budget for the IITs (item 38 of the Higher education budget) is 1171 (plan) + 525 (non-plan) = 1696 crores. Rs 771 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
IISc Bangalore: The budget for the IISc (item 41 of the Higher education budget) is 130 (plan) + 91 (non-plan) = 221 crores. Rs 70 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
UGC: The budget for UGC (item 3 of the Higher education budget) is 3095.5 (plan) + 2009.4 (non-plan) = 5104.9 crores. Rs 875 crores of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
NIRTAR and other 6 institutes for blind, deaf, mentally retarded and orthopaedically handicapped: The budget for them (item 21 of Ministry of Social Justice budget) is 47+27.05 crores.
IIST (Indian Inst. of Space Sc. & Tech): Its budget (item 12 of ministry of space) is 65.25 crores. 25 crores out of a budgeted 75 crores was spent in 2007-08.
Tourism: Its budget for training (item 5 of Tourism ministry) is 71 + 0.8 crores. It includes 26 Institutes of Hotel management, 7 Foodcraft institutes, IITTM, and NIWS (National Institute of Water Sports).
National Institute of design: Its budget for (item 3 of ministry of commerce) is only 0.25 crores. It was 20.25 crores in 2007-08. It seems the funding pattern has been changed. There is now 50 crores (item 7 of ministry of commerce) for project based support to autonomous institutions which includes NID and several other institutions.
The proposed Vedanta University is aiming to roll out its first course in 2009, if everything falls into place.
The varsity project, which envisages a whopping 100,000 students and 10,000 faculty members in a multi-disciplinary research-driven campus, has moved slower than expected but things now seem to be moving in the right direction.
Land acquisition has picked up and it has launched its rehabilitation and benefits plan.
“We plan to start the first course in engineering research in 2009. It will be a symbolic beginning and would be followed up by programmes in arts, science and medicine in the first phase,” Vedanta University Project CEO CV Krishnan told this paper on Thursday.
The varsity has started working on how to launch the engineering education. In this connection, a two-day workshop was organised at University of Pennsylvania where top deans and professors from across North America took part. According to Krishnan, the University will admit research students since research only can drive the varsity to ‘a different level altogether.’ The identified research areas will be wireless communication, material science, biotechnology, energy and infrastructure. By 2010, the University aims at admitting students into the entire gamut of disciplines. The varsity has already acquired 1,200 acre. The Phase I of the project could entail an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.
Vice-president of the varsity project Ajit Kumar Samal announced that Vedanta would provide employment to all graduates of the area by the end of 2009 and run public schools to educate the students living in the villages coming under the project area.
Besides, it would operate door-to-door medical service for humans and for the livestocks in the area, he said.
Samal said job cards would be issued to all landless farmers who make out their livelihood by cultivating other’s land. This apart, scholarships would be granted to the meritorious students with special care to the girl students, he added.
A number of schools and colleges would be established for capacity building of the students of the area and all primary schools would have the mid-day meal service, Samal said.
… A special survey of the temple land measuring over a thousand acres under the acquisition process for the project would be conducted within 10 days to ascertain the status, Sarangi instructed the revenue officers present in the meeting.
… The District Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee meeting would be held on March 4 to settle the outlines and modalities for rehabilitation of the villagers likely to be displaced from their villages coming under the project area, the RDC announced.
As per the package, an affected person would get ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh besides the government valuation of his land. That apart, he/she too will be entitled to a minimum compensation of Rs 2 lakh per acre. Besides, occupiers of Jagannath land would be given Rs 1 lakh per acre while compensation for encroachers of government land would be as per the Orissa Government’s new R&R Policy.
