From http://www.charlierose.com/guests/anil-agarwal a interview by a New York area PBS station. (He talks about Vedanta University at 3:20.)
February 24th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
Following is an excerpt from http://www.cnu.org/node/1875.
The Congress for the New Urbanism announces the recipients of its 2008 Charter Awards, the annual prize honoring the best of the New Urbanism. The 14 winning professional submissions and one student/faculty submission were chosen by a seven-member jury of leading urbanists last month, with Andrés Duany serving as chair. In fulfilling and advancing the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism, the projects reveal the power of well-executed urbanism to strengthen communities, achieve broader sustainability and create places worthy of respect and admiration.
The awarded projects are found in the U.S. and four other countries: the Bahamas, India, Saudi Arabia, and Scotland. Among US regions, the Southeast again had a strong showing, followed by the Midwest. All but one of the awarded neighborhood- and block-scale projects in the USA are built or under construction, and none are on true greenfield sites. Several projects directly address quality affordable housing design, including one HOPE VI development from Chicago and a national pattern book for affordable houses. Several projects bring well-executed, innovative housing types to unexpected locations, like small Southern cities.
Duany and other jurors said winning projects demonstrated excellence, often in the face of difficult contexts or other challenges requiring ingenuity to overcome. The awards will be presented on April 5, 2008 in conjunction with the 16th Congress for the New Urbanism in Austin. See images and descriptions of all awardees.
Following are some details from the page http://www.cnu.org/node/1760.
Location: Orissa, India. University
Charter Award Winner:
In India today there is only one seat for every 10,000 university applicants, and those lucky enough to find a seat have limited choices of single disciplinary universities. To meet this unprecedented demand, the project’s design sought to create a multi-disciplinary University for 10,000 students.
As designers their aspiration was to create a campus master plan which would reflect not only the goals and philosophies of this new University, but would be Indian in spirit. The result of these intentions led to a simple ‘parti’ of two overlapping circles inscribed within an oval. The circles represent the balance between the two major areas of discipline, Arts & Humanities and Science & Technology. Intersecting these circles in a spoke are areas for housing and student life, and surrounding these forms are professional schools, a medical school, and hospital. At the core is a crescent open space which is the heart of the University, demonstrating a strong focus on the creation of a sustainable, pedestrian-oriented campus that fully embraces the principles of responsible development.
A total of approximately 500 buildings on 280 sites are identified within the university precinct to accommodate the anticipated student population, all of which will be no more than 5 stories, and have green roofs. Several localized sewer treatment plants will provide grey water for irrigation and toilet flushing and several utility pad sites for water storage, electrical transformers, pumps and cooling towers have been identified to maximize efficiency of utility services.
Transect Zone(s): T6 core.
Status: Plan Approved
Guiding Charter Principle(s): Principle 1, Principle 3, Principle 5, Principle 6, Principle 7, Principle 8
Project or Plan’s Scale: Region
Features: Affordable/subsidized housing, Civic buildings & parks, Green buildings, Live/work, Transit oriented development.
Land area (in acres): 8700
Total built area (in sq. ft.):
Total project cost (in local currency):
Retail area (in sq. ft.):
Office area (in sq. ft.):
Industrial area (in sq. ft.):
Number of hotel units:
Number of residential units (include live/work):
Civic uses (type and size): University, Townships, Exhibition Ground, Airport, Resort, Agricultural Research, Horticulture, Athletics & Sports Facilities, Utility Substations, Conference Center
Parks & green space (in acres): 440
Project team designers: Ayers/Saint/Gross Inc, Architects+Planners
Project team developers: Ayers/Saint/Gross Inc, Architects+PlannersPrevious site status:
Starting/Ending date of construction/implementation: 2009 –
Location: Orissa, India.
February 24th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
From http://iisc.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/scholarship-hike-in-iisc/.
1 comment February 23rd, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
2 comments February 23rd, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
Following is an excerpt from a report in indiainfoline.com.
Nicholas Piramal India Ltd. said on Friday that NPIL Research & Development Ltd. (NRDL) has signed an agreement with the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi on ‘Screening for Bio-molecules from Microbial Diversity Collected from Different Ecological Niches’, thereby initiating an industry – university / national institute partnership programme in drug discovery.
An agreement was signed on Feb. 22, in the presence of Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of Science & Technology between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi, and NRDL of Nicholas Piramal, Mumbai, to initiate an industry – university / national institute partnership programme in drug discovery.
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has recently initiated a network project called ‘Screening for Bio-molecules From Microbial Diversity Collected From Different Ecological Niches’. The public private partnership project involves nine institutes, with NRDL, Mumbai, as an industrial partner. The total cost of the project is about Rs250mn, Rs180mn of which will be contributed by the Government and Rs70mn by NRDL.
The participating institutes are: National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur. National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune. Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi. University of Delhi, South Campus (UDSC), Delhi. Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneshwar. M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai.
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar. Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphal. National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Panjim. The project envisages a mega-scale screening programme for various environmental isolates. This is the first project in the country in which industry and academia will work together to screen such a large number of bacterial isolates.
Different academic institutes will isolate organisms specific to diverse ecological niches. For each sample, isolation of bacteria will be carried out on 30 different growth media. This multi-institutional effort will generate approximately 7000 isolates / month (~1000/institute), which will be regularly sent to NRDL, the industrial partner of the project. Each of these institutes is an expert in niche areas of microbial biodiversity. The microbial isolates have not been tested for potent medicinal properties, if any.
5 comments February 23rd, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
February 22nd, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
Following are excerpts from a PIB release on this.
In a significant development towards setting up a world- class petroleum technology institute in India, Smt Sonia Gandhi, Member of Parliament and UPA Chairperson laid the foundation stone of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) at Jais, near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh on 20th February 2008. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas piloted the enactment of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) Act 2007 with a view to incorporate RGIPT as an ‘Institute of National Importance’ under an Act of Parliament having a governance structure as well as legal empowerment to grant degrees in a manner similar to that enjoyed by the IITs.
…The total estimated capital cost of the project is Rs.435 crore which would be met partially through budgetary support of Rs. 285 crore and Rs.150 crore from Oil Industry Development Board. The total estimated recurring expenditure of Rs. 260.58 crore would be met from the accrual of interest on Endowment Fund of Rs. 250 crore to be created with the contribution of Oil Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), student fees, donations and other earnings of the Institute through Research & Development, consultancies, students’ placement fees, etc. The Institute is envisaged to be self sufficient and self-reliant by the year 2015-16.
… The Institute will commence its academic operations by admitting students from the academic year 2008-09. To start with, there will be two undergraduate courses namely B. Tech. in Petroleum Production & Reservoir and B. Tech. in Petroleum Refining and one MBA course on Petroleum Management. The Institute will become fully operational in 2015-16and would have 7 B. Tech, 6 Integrated Masters Degrees, 8 M.Tech/MBA and 12 PGD and Ph.D programmes.
It is proposed that RGIPT would have a high degree of autonomy in terms of its academic, administrative and financial functioning. RGIPT would have legal empowerment in its own right to enable it to grant degrees and other academic distinctions and titles. Furthermore, it is envisaged that RGIPT would enjoy the patronage and support of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India. It is in the interest of the nation that the Government nurture the Institute in its nascent and crucial stage of development to enable the Institute to launch and run its programmes without compromise and set up world-class infrastructure while offering courses of a high standard. According RGIPT the status of the “Institute of National Importance”, is expected to help attract eminent faculty members and meritorious students to the Institute.
208 comments February 20th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.
The State Government has so far been provided 1418.10 acre of land to the management of the upcoming Vedanta University near Puri. Out of this 264.27 acre are Government land and the rest 1153.83 acres of land are private land, said Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal.
In response to a question of BJD member Baidhar Mallick, Revenue Minister Samal said 1257 acres of land have been acquired from the 13 mouzas. "Government will acquire another 443.26 acre of government land and 4,288.37 acre of private lands for this purpose," he said. He further informed the House that 707.52 acre of lands and 5545.38 acres of private land private lands are there in the 18 mouza of this area.
February 20th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
(Note: IDCO tenders are available at http://www.idcoindia.com/idco/tenders.asp. )
Sealed tenders are invited for the works
(i) Construction of Mining & Mineral Deptt. Building ( Block I) for OSME(Degree Stream) at Keonjhar-
Estimated cost Rs. 367.00 lakhs.
(ii) Construction of Electrical & Mechanical Deptt. Building
(Block II) for OSME (Degree Stream) at Keonjhar-
Estimated cost Rs. 367.00 lakhs.
from Special & Super class contractors registered under State PWD/ CPWD/ MES/ Railways including registered vendors of IDCO in the category of Rs.100 to 500 lakhs & above having experience in similar building works. The tender paper will be sold at a cost of Rs. 10,000.00 only from 14.02.08 to 21.02.08 between working hours on working days in the office of the Superintending Engineer, IDCO, IDCO Towers, Bhubaneswar. The completed tender documents should reach Superintending Engineer, IDCO, IDCO Towers, Janpath, Bhubaneswar-22 on or before 29.02.08 by 5.00 P.M. through registered post / speed post only. The technical bid will be opened on 03.03.08 at 11.30 A.M. For details please contact Sri Deepak Ranjan Tripathy, Deputy Manager (Civil) IDCO, IDCO Towers, Janpath, Bhubaneswar-22, Tel.0674-2546894 during office hours or see our website www.idcoindia.com The tender documents can also be down loaded from the above website upto 5 p.m. on 21.02.08.
Superintending Engineer (Civil)
1 comment February 17th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
Latest from http://www.mohfw.nic.in/tenders.html (see also http://mohfw.nic.in/tenders.htm):
Tender for Construction of Housing complex for AIIMS like institutions under PMSSY at BHUBNESHWAR(ORISSA)
Some details about the tender:
Earlier links are at https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=749.
February 17th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
1 comment February 17th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
Following are some excerpts from the article in The Herald, UK.
I found one building particularly attractive: the canteen in the style of a Buddhist temple. But when I went inside to try the fare, I was disappointed: the food was insipid, the interior dreary and the acoustics such that conversation was drowned out by a called order or moving dishes. One of the lecturers said to me: "This is your new college: all facade and no substance."
…
Typically, the colleges provide the education while an external university provides the actual degree. Thirty per cent of the final marks are assigned internally, and this led to a unique experience in my 30-year career in education: watching a colleague choosing numbers at random between 60% and 90%. No assessment was actually carried out.
Some departments ran what the students referred to as an "autograph" system: the lecturers actually prepared an exam paper, to be shown to the university if necessary, but the students gained their marks – usually a minimum of 70% – if they turned up and signed their names. …
Although some lecturers told me the chairman was simply posturing, accompanied by a senior professor, I went round all the classes advising that the days of fake marks were over. I prepared an elaborate set of internal assessment devices that were duly and diligently used by the lecturers. Some students clearly didn’t take my warnings seriously and absenteeism remained at its normal high level. A fair number of students received fail marks.
But what marks were actually sent off to the university by the college? What I do know is that, when the university published the final results, students who had been given 5/30 somehow or other got 20/30.
The colleges are responsible for 30% internal assessment but the remaining 70% is controlled by the external university. However, in Orissa, the "external university" exists in name more than reality and consisted only of a vice-chancellor and a few office staff. Crucially, the externally supervised end-of-semester exams were invigilated by a mixture of college staff and colleagues from other colleges and all of the colleges were in the same boat: they sank or swam together.
The Indian college system is a huge cesspit: bribery is the norm. …
1 comment February 15th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
Currently the CBSE regional offices are in Chennai, Guwahati, Allahabad, Delhi, Ajmer and Panchkula (Harayana).
February 13th, 2008 Author : Chitta Baral
