Centurion University of Technology & Management Bill 2010 passed on 5th August: A big boost to the extremely backward and tribal Gajapati district

Following are excerpts from a report in http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4397.

… the Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) passed the Centurion University of Technology & Management Bill 2010 on 5 August. 

The new University, which will be a self financed private university, will come up at Parlakhemandi in tribal zone of the state, Gajapati district. 

The Centurion University, which is being promoted by the Jagannath Institute of Technology & Management Trust (JITM Trust) which runs Jagannath Institute of Technology and Management will run the new University. 

… Minister said the new University aims to provide high quality education and will open the School of Engineering & Technology, School of Natural Science, School of Humanities & Social Science, School of Management & Law, School of Vocational Education & Training and School of Tribal & Development Studies. 

The University will have an endowment fund of Rs.3 crore, revealed the Minister Higher Education, shall be invested and kept invested until the dissolution of the University in long term securities issued or guaranteed by the State Government. 

2 comments August 5th, 2010

Four govt. polytechnics in Malkangiri, Boudh, Gajapati and Sambalpur districts approved

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

The Centre has approved a proposal to set up four polytechnics in Malkangiri, Boudh, Gajapati and Sambalpur districts of the State.

In order to lure the youth of the Maoist-predominant areas towards technical education the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has chalked out a plan to establish more diploma engineering institutions. Orissa being largely affected by Leftwing extremism has been benefited handsomely. Malkangiri is the State’s worst Maoist-hit district.

While each polytechnic will be established at the cost of Rs 12 crore, the MHRD has provided Rs 8 crore as the first installment. Technical Education Director Vir Vikaram Yadav said the State Government is planning to establish polytechnics in all districts. The State now has 13 polytechnics, while there are seven such private institutions imparting diploma in engineering.

With the four new institutions planned, many other districts are still left out. The new districts carved out in the 1990s, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Nayagarh, Nabarangpur and Subarnapur do not have any polytechnic.

Yadav said that the State Government also decided to cover all the blocks with Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). Accordingly, plans are afoot to cover 125 blocks which are yet to have an ITI.

2 comments January 25th, 2009

Excerpts from the IIT Bhubaneswar convocation brochure

Following are excerpts from the IIT Bhubaneswar convocation brochure.

Temporary Campuses

The Institute is currently operating from a number of campuses which include IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre at Samantapuri, Toshali Campus at Satyanagar and Workshop cum laboratory complex at Samantapuri. The Government of Odisha has provided us about one (1) acre of land on which we have constructed the Workshop cum Laboratory complex (3,010 sq. meters). The Government of Odisha has also made available two towers at Toshali Bhawan (10,000 sq. meters) which we have renovated. We are also getting generous support, in more ways than one, from Institute of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT) and Central Tool Room and Training Centre (CTTC). I sincerely thank all the members of these institutions for their continued support.

IIT Bhubaneswar is well equipped with modern class rooms and undergraduate/research laboratories. All the class rooms are fitted with multimedia projectors, internet facilities and wireless connectivity. The Institute has designed and developed three virtual class rooms (VCR) sponsored by National Knowledge Network (NKN). These virtual class-rooms are equipped with high end AV and teaching equipment and are connected to the NKN by means of a dedicated 1Gbps leased line. The VCR facilities provide real time interaction among the students and faculty members of our Institute and those from other institutions.

IITs are known for the de rigueur to have a residential campus in order to facilitate one-to-one human interaction. The Government of Odisha has provided us 14 flats at Government Colony, Gajapati Nagar. We have found cooperation from the housing society in SBI Colony Kesura (10 km from city centre) wherein we have hired 65 HIG/ MIG flats for the accommodation of our students, few of our staff and faculty members. Another hostel at Madanpur (15 km from the city centre) has been provided for M. Tech. students and Ph. D. scholars. In addition, IIT Kharagpur has constructed a new 200 capacity Dr. A. N. Khosla Hall of Residence at Samantapuri for the students of this Institute. I take this opportunity to thank IIT Kharagpur for constructing the hostel which is of great convenience to us. I would also like to put on record my deep appreciation to the students, the staff and faculty members who have to commute regularly between their residence and the various academic campuses. I am aware that this is strenuous. But I am hopeful that our students, faculty and staff members would bear it and be a part of the history in the making.

Permanent Campus

The Foundation Stone of the permanent campus at Arugul (near Jatni) was laid on 12th February 2009. The Government of Odisha allotted 936 acres of land at Arugul for developing this IIT of which the Institute has already taken possession of 598 acres. The Government of Odisha has started construction of a 4-lane access road to the campus from the National Highway No. 5. The work on water and electric supplies to the campus is also in progress. The Government of Odisha has also agreed to provide 75 acres of land on the Puri–Konark coast line to set up an Innovation Centre for Climate Change for the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences.

Out of 19 km, construction of 13 km of boundary wall has been completed. More than 10 bore wells have been sunk to facilitate construction work. The Institute has also taken up tree plantation programme for its new campus.

The master plan of the new campus at Arugul has been approved for 10,000 students, 1000 faculty and 1100 supporting staff and the total construction should be completed in 3-phases in next 12-15 years. The Ground Breaking Ceremony was organized on 14th August 2011. The work for land grading, road and other related construction have started. The Government of India has approved construction of 221,000 sq. meters of covered area in the 1st phase. Our consultant has completed the designing of 130,000 sq. meters of covered areas for various Schools, residential quarters, hostels and other service/administrative buildings for construction based on the availability of fund in the initial phase. Clearances for construction from various statutory bodies have been obtained. The tendering process for part of the construction is over and I am very happy to announce that CPWD has just started the construction of the hostel complex. Our consultant and CPWD are also ready for tendering for the remaining part of construction. The Institute plans to move to its permanent campus by the beginning of 2014.

Academics

Academic Schools We began our journey with a mission to promote a borderless academic environment with the concept of Schools, rather than Departments to enable and encourage the academic staff and students to work in an interdisciplinary environment. Initially the following five (5) schools were set up:

● School of Basic Sciences (Bioscience, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics)

● School of Electrical Sciences (Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Energy, Instrumentation, Learning Sciences)

● School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management (Economics, English, Management, Psychology)

● School of Infrastructure (Architecture, Civil Engineering, Town Planning, Traffic & Transportation Engineering Urban Design)

● School of Mechanical Sciences (Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture)

The state of Odisha and neighborhood including the vast coastline is rich in mineral resources and biodiversity. The region is also adversely affected by flood, cyclone and other natural calamities. In view of this, the Institute has set up the following two (2) Schools:

● School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences

● School of Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

The Institute is also setting up an Innovation Centre for Climate Change on the Puri-Konark coast line. The following Schools are proposed to be set up in the second phase of expansion:

● School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (Biochemical, Biomedical and Chemical)

● School of Design and Creative Arts

Academic Activities

The Institute started its journey in 2008 with a total of 94 students in three (3) undergraduate programmes viz. Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, with an intake of 40 students in each programme. The Institute has introduced Ph. D. programme from 2009. From July 2012 we have started postgraduate (Joint M. Tech. – Ph. D.) programmes in Electronics & Communication Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Climate Science & Technology, Applied Geoscience and Materials Science & Engineering. The Institute is going to start Joint M. Sc. – Ph. D. program in Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics and Mathematics from the next academic session.

Currently the Institute has 571 students (B. Tech. 456; Preparatory 2; M. Tech. 41; Ph. D. 72), 70 full-time faculty members, 1 Chair Professor, 6 officers and 40 supporting staff.

It is heartening to note that the pioneer batch of undergraduate students who are receiving their degree today are all placed. Many of the students have received offer of admission/scholarships from prestigious universities abroad: Stanford University, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Cornel University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Texas, Imperial College of London to name a few.

Research & Development

Activities: In-house, Sponsored, Consultancy Our faculty members, research scholars and undergraduate students have been actively pursuing research in varying areas. The Institute has received a number of sponsored projects from various funding agencies like DST, CSIR, DBT and DRDO and consultancy from industries worth more than Rupees 480 lakhs. The faculty members are also engaged in various consultancy activities. Project proposals worth more than Rupees 700 lakhs have been submitted.

IIT Bhubaneswar has been successful in its bid for the following UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) projects:

Joint Masters and Split-Site Ph. D. Programme: An Integrated Doctoral and Masters Programme with the University of Warwick – To develop an integrated suite of postgraduate joint degree programmes.

Thematic Partnerships Programme 1: UKIERI Thematic Partnership in Low Carbon Materials Technologies, Innovation and Application jointly with the University of Warwick – To enable the rapid and effective introduction of new steel and multi-material combinations, for new applications addressing the global imperative of carbon reduction.

Thematic Partnerships Programme 2: UKIERI Thematic Partnership jointly with the University of Southampton and National Oceanography Centre and University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth – To establish the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar and Marine Campus on the Bay of Bengal.

I would like to highlight in brief the ongoing R&D activities in various Schools:

The School of Basic Sciences is a cluster of disciplines namely Bioscience, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. The School is carrying out research in the areas of multimetallic catalysis, organometallic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, coordination chemistry, synthesis of natural products and intermediates. The research work in biosciences is focused on understanding the structure and function of various proteins of eye lenses, leprosy, and tuberculosis. The research in high energy physics is focused on understanding fundamental particles and their interaction using theoretical tools such as string theory, and experimental setup in collaboration with CERN, Geneva. Specific areas include conformed field theory, pure spinor formalism of superstrings, super symmetry and black holes. A number of projects have been undertaken in the area of the plasmonics, photonics, ion-surface interactions, design and development of sensors, magnetic grids, energy storage devices and optoelectronic devices. Multidisciplinary work is underway in the area of nanomaterial-based device design, assembling and clustering. On-going research in mathematics includes complex dynamics and fractals, variational inequalities and complementary problems, queuing theory, mechanics, computational fluid dynamics, algebraic graph theory, neural network and artificial intelligence.

The major R & D activities of the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences includes monitoring, prediction and providing mitigation solutions for natural disasters with sound and precise observational network of meteorological, oceanographic, geological and geophysical instruments combined with data-assimilative modeling in a multi-institutional framework and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), thereby becoming a hub of such activities on the east coast of India with an international presence. The thrust areas are: Climate Modeling, Modeling of extreme events, Cloud Physics, Numerical Weather Prediction, Natural Resources-exploration and utilization, Climate Change and its Effects, Biological Oceanography, Application of the Space Technology for the Study of the Earth System Science, Soil Water Interactions, Waste Utilization, and Pollutant Pathways.

The research activities in the School of Electrical Sciences includes the following: Antenna Design, Smart Antenna Techniques for MIMO Systems, Radio Frequency Identification System Design & Application, Non-Destructive Testing Methods, Digital Signal Processing, Speech & Real Time Interactive-Audio Processing, Active Noise Control, Cognitive Radio, Sensor Networks, Intelligent Instrumentation, OptoElectronic Devices, Long-haul Optical Communication System Design, Optical Sensor, Communication & Wireless Communication System Modeling & Design, Semiconductor Material & Device Characterization, Wide Band Gap Semiconductor Devices, MMICS, Decoupling & Robust Control, Periodic Feedback Control, Power Quality Analysis, Custom Power Devices, Renewable Energy Sources, Application of SoftComputing Techniques to Power Systems, Intelligent Protection to Transmission Systems-Facts, Micro & Smart Grids, Distributed Generation & Dynamic Security Assessment in Large Power Network, Structural Health, Integrity Analysis & Monitoring (SHIM).

The School of Humanities, Social Science & Management is pursuing research in the areas of Environmental Economics, Natural Resources Economics, Macroeconomics, Development, Economics & Rural Development, Indian Writing in English, Post-Colonial Literature, Travel Writing, Business Communication, American Literature, Canadian Literature, ELT, Cross Cultural Communication, Autobiography, Consumer Behaviour, Cyber Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Psycholinguistics, Psychology of Personality, Marketing.

The present research in the School of Infrastructure are in the thrust areas of Concrete Technology, Earthquake Engineering, Traffic Flow Modeling, Travel Demand Modeling, Travel Behaviour Analysis, Transportation System Planning & Policy Address, Energy Geotechnology, Soil-Structure Interaction, Fluvial Hydraulics, Waste Water Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Study of Unsaturated Soils Behavior.

The School of Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering is actively pursuing research in the areas of Solidification Processing, Metal Matrix Composites, Ti-Based Alloy, Automotive Applications, In-situ Metal Matrix Composites, Semi-solid Processing, StructureProperty-Processing Correlations in Metals, High Cycle Fatigue and Fracture in Metals, Friction Stir Welding/Processing, Modeling & Simulation, Structural & Magnetic Frustration of Materials, Synchrotron and Neutron diffraction, 3-D Atom probe (LEAP), Metallic Glasses, Process Modeling & Study of Diffusion in Solids.

The School of Mechanical Sciences conducts R&D activities in the following areas: Computer-Aided Design & Manufacturing, Robotics & Controls, IC Engines, Multi-Phase Flow, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Conjugate Heat Transfer, High Reynolds Number Turbulence, Optical Flow Diagnostics, Turbulence Modeling & Simulation and Acoustics, Composite Materials, Sandwich Structures, Fracture Mechanics, Material Science, Green Supply Chain Management.

Publications

Within 3 years of existence in the city of Bhubaneswar, the faculty members and students have contributed to creating new knowledge by publishing 230 original research papers in National and International Journals of repute, and 20 books/book-chapters. Besides, 128 papers have been presented in various National and International Conferences in India and abroad. Our undergraduate students have also made technical presentations in conferences, nationally and internationally.

Endowment

Industries have come forward to join us in developing this new IIT. The MGM Minerals Group has established a perpetual “MGM Chair Professorship” in the School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering with an endowment of Rs 300 lakhs. In addition the MGM Minerals Group has instituted two awards for best B. Tech. theses (Electrical and Mechanical Engineering) in memory of Tejaswi and Dinesh, two budding students of our Institute, whom we lost in a tragic train accident in March 2011.

October 10th, 2012

12th plan envisions to have a medical college in each of the 641 districts of India??

Following are excerpts from a report in dnaindia.com.

In order to bring down the shortage of doctors and improve healthcare services at the minutest level, the government is planning to have medical colleges in each district.

It has plans to convert district hospitals into training institute the paramedical personnel as well.

Besides, the government also plans to integrate AYUSH doctors and have capacity building programmes for other traditional healthcare providers such as Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) so that traditional care practices and local remedies are encouraged.

… As of now medical colleges are concentrated in only 193 districts of the country … The rest 447 districts do not have any medical college.

Against 335 colleges, there are about 319 Auxiliary nurses and midwives (ANM) training schools, 49 health and family welfare training schools and only 34 LHV (Lady Health Visitor) schools.

The present doctor patient ratio 0.6 per 1000 while the ratio of health workers (including midwives, nurses etc) is 2.5 per 1000.

“To fill the gap in training needs of paramedical professionals, the 12th Plan proposes to develop each of the district hospitals into knowledge centres, and 4,535 CHCs into training institutions,” says the Planning Commission report.

Odisha with its 30 districts will greatly benefit by this plan. In Odisha only 4 of its districts currently have medical colleges: they are Cuttack, Khorda, Sambalpur and Ganjam. The 26 districts in Odisha that do not yet have medical colleges are: Angul (*), Boudha, Bhadrak, Balangir, Baragarh, Balasore, Deogarh, Dhenanal, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Jajpur, Jagatsignhpur, Keonjhar, Kalahandi (*), Kandhamal, Koraput, Kendrapada, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nawarangpur, Nuapada, Nayagarh, Puri, Rayagada, Subarnapur, Sundergarh (*). Among these 26, private medical colleges are under construction in Angul (by MCL and NTPC), Kalahandi (WODC), and Sundergarh (in Rourkela by Hi-Tech).

1 comment August 30th, 2011

Status of IIT Bhubaneswar three years after its inception – excerpts from its Director Prof. Madhusudan Chakraborty’s address on its 4th institute day celebration on 22nd July 2011

Today, the 22nd July, is a very auspicious day for us. It is on this day in 2008, the society of IIT Bhubaneswar was registered. Further, the date assumes more significance as we began our academic programme from the city of Bhubaneswar for the first time on 22nd July 2009. I wish to avail this opportunity to congratulate our students, staff, officers and faculty, who all are working as a dedicated team to develop this new IIT, for successfully completing 2 years of existence in the city of Bhubaneswar.

…

Infrastructure:

Temporary Campuses
We started our journey in 2008 from the campus of IIT Kharagpur. As mentioned earlier, we commenced our operation from the city of Bhubaneswar from 22nd July 2009. Currently, we are operating from a number of campuses which include IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre, Toshali Plaza at Satyanagar and Workshop cum laboratory complex near IIT Kharagpur extension Centre. Government of Odisha provided us about one (1) acre of land on which we have already constructed a new workshop cum laboratory complex (22000 sq. meters). The Government of Odisha also provided us two towers of Toshali Bhavan which we have already renovated. In addition IIT Kharagpur has constructed a new 200 capacity Dr. A. N. Khosla Hall of Residence near the Workshop cum Laboratory Complex for the students of this Institute. I must avail this opportunity to thank IIT Kharagpur for constructing the hostel which is of great convenience to us. We are also getting support of some of the sister Institutes like IMMT (CSIR) and Central Tool Room and Training Centre.

The class rooms and the laboratories are in place in our campuses at IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre, Toshali Plaza and the New Workshop cum Laboratory Complex.

IIT Bhubaneswar is well equipped with modern Teaching rooms and Teaching and Research Laboratories. All the class rooms are fitted with Multimedia Projectors, Internet Facilities and Wireless Connectivity. Besides the Normal teaching rooms, The Institute designed and developed three Virtual Class Rooms (VCR) sponsored by National Knowledge Networks (NKN). These rooms facilitate Real time on campus and Off-campus teaching learning process. These rooms are equipped with high end and high resolution equipment to facilitate the real time interaction among the students and teachers of the campus and as well as off campus students and faculty members. These class rooms are connected to the NKN Network by means of a dedicated 1GBPS Leased Lines.

The Government of Odisha has provided us 14 flats at Government Colony, Gajapati Nagar. We are fortunate to have found cooperation from the Housing Complex in SBI Colony Kesura wherein we have hired about 60 HIG 3 bed-roomed flats and few MIG flats for accommodation of our students and faculty. While the 3rd and 4th year male students have been being accommodated in the A. N. Khosla Hall of Residence, we have to accommodate others (all the girl students, research scholars and 1st and 2nd year students) in SBI Colony Kesura, 10 KM away from our academic campus. I may avail this opportunity to put on records my deep appreciation of the students, the staff and faculty who have to commute regularly between their residence and the various academic campuses. I am aware that this is strenuous. But I am sure our students, faculty and staff will accommodate the strains and be a part of the history in the making.

Permanent campus
The Foundation Stone of our campus at Arugul was laid on 12th February 2009. The Government of Odisha has allotted 936 acres of land at Arugul (near Jatni) for developing this new IIT of which we already have taken advanced possession of 598 acres. The Government of Odisha has started construction of 4 lane access road to IIT Campus from the National Highway 5. The work on water supply and electric supply to the campus is also in progress. The power supply systems for construction are virtually ready. The Honourable Chief Minister himself as well as the Chief Secretary of the Sate are taking active interests in the developmental work and are addressing issues that need their constant attention. It may not be out of place to mention that the Government of Odisha has also agreed to provide us 75 acres of land on Puri–Konark coast to set up an Innovation Centre for Climate Change.

Out of total 19 KM, we already have completed construction of 8 Km of boundary wall. About 10 bore wells have been sunk to facilitate construction work. IIT Bhubaneswar has also taken up tree plantation programme for its new campus.

The master plan of the new campus at Arugul for 10, 000 students, 1000 faculty and 1100 supporting staff has been approved and the total construction should be completed in 3 phases in next 12-15 years. The work for land grading, road and other related construction are expected to begin in August 2011. While the Government of India has approved construction of 2, 21,000 sq meter of covered area in the 1st phase, our consultant has already completed conceptual design of 1, 20, 000 sq meters of covered areas for various schools, residential quarters, hostels and other service/administrative buildings based on the availability of fund in the initial phase. Applications for clearance form statutory bodies (e.g. forest, BDA, environment) are under process and such clearance are expected shortly. We expect the tendering process to be over and hope that CPWD would be able to start the construction work by the end of this year or early next year. We are planning to move to our new campus by end 2013 or beginning 2014.

Academics

Academic Schools
IIT Bhubaneswar promotes a borderless academic environment: We have the concept of Schools, rather than Departments. We encourage academic staff and students to work together in an interdisciplinary environment. Initially we had set up the following five (5) schools:

• School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Bioscience, Mathematics)

• School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management

• School of Mechanical Sciences (Mechanical, Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Naval Architecture)

• School of Infrastructure (Civil Engineering, Architecture, Urban Design, Town Planning, Traffic & Transportation Engineering)

• School of Electrical Sciences (Electrical Engineering, Electronics Communication Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Energy, Learning Sciences, Instrumentation)

The Institute has just set up the following two (2) new Schools:

• School of Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering – Materials, Metallurgy, Mining (Relevant to the Rich Resources of metals and minerals in the region)

• School of Earth Ocean and Climate Sciences (Relevant to the region keeping in view the vast Coast Line, Rich Biodiversity and mineral resources, need for Disaster Management and Mitigation arising out of Flood, Cyclone etc.) As a part of this School, the Institute will set up an Innovation Centre for Climate Change on the Puri-Konark coast line.

The following schools are proposed to be set up in the second phase of our expansion:

•School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Chemical, biochemical, biomedical, biotechnology

• School of Design and Creative Arts

Academic Activities
We started our journey with a total of 94 students in three (3) undergraduate programmes namely civil, electrical and mechanical engineering with an intake capacity of 40 each in 2008. We already have introduced Ph. D. programmes from 2009 and have about 35 Research Scholars. We are planning to start our postgraduate (MS/M. Tech.) programmes from July 2012. Currently, we have about 500 students (UG and Ph. D.), 50 full time faculty members 7 officers and 40 supporting staff.

Awards and Honours
We are proud that our Chairman Board of Governors, Professor P. Rama Rao, has received the second highest civilian award “Padma Vibhushan” of the Government of India this year.

Prof. S. C. Datta of the School of Infrastructure was awarded Fulbright-Nehru Sr. Research Fellowship and he visited the University of California at Davies, USA. He has been awarded the prestigious Occasional Lecturer Fund by Council for International Exchange of Scholars, US Department of State, for delivering two invited lectures at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, during his Fulbright Grant period in USA. Dr. Sumanta Haldar of the same School received the Prof. Leonard’s best Ph.D. thesis award from Indian Geotechnical Society. Dr. C.S. Bhende of the School of Electrical Science received the best Ph.D. thesis award from Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Mr. Pyari Mohan Pradhan, Mrt. Satyasai Jagannath Nanda and Mr. Vikas Baghel, Research Scholars of the School Electrical Sciences were awarded the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Government of Canada, “Commonwealth Graduate Student Exchange Programme” fellowship. Dr. Subhransu R. Samantaray of the same School won the Samanta Chandra Sekhar Award for 2010 from Orissa Bigyan Academy for his contribution to Engineering and Technology by Oriya Scientist working in Odisha. Dr D. Sahoo of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management received the Best Paper Award at the International Workshop on Regional Competitiveness and International factors Mobility at Oriens France. Professor M. Chakraborty received the Best Technical Paper Award 2010 from the Indian Foundry Journal of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen.

Mr. Raghav. R, 3rd Year Student of Mechanical Engineering won the All India essay competition for college students conducted by the NGO: Nandini Voice for the Deprived

Publications
Within 2 years of our existence in the city of Bhubaneswar, the faculty members have already contributed to creating new knowledge by publishing about 115 papers in National and International Journals of repute. Besides, 85 papers have been presented in various National and International Conferences in India and Abroad that have made our presence felt all over the world. Our doctoral and undergraduate students have also published a few papers in journals and made presentations in conferences. Our faculty members have also published 17 books/ chapters of books in Humanities, Science and Technology.

Sponsored Projects and Consultancy and Endowment
The Institute already has received a number of sponsored projects from various funding agencies like DST, CSIR and DRDO and consultancy from industries worth more than 320 lakhs.

Industries are coming forward to join us in developing this new IIT. M/s MGM Minerals Group has already established a perpetual “MGM Chair Professor” for the School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering with an endowment of Rs 300 lakhs.

International Collaborations
IIT Bhubaneswar has started collaborative activities with a few Universities abroad. We already have signed MOU for faculty exchange programmes with the University fo Massachusetts at Dartmouth USA, and the University of Western Ontario Canada. Professor Lord S. Kumar Bhattacharyya of the Warwick Manufacturing Group, of the University of Warwick has been appointed as Distinguished Visiting Professor of IIT Bhubaneswar while Professor Richard Dashwood of the same university spent two weeks at IIT Bhubaneswar as visiting Professor in March 2011. Professor Asit K Biswas, President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Winner of Stockholm Water Prize (2006) has also been appointed as Distinguished Visiting Professor of this Institute.

Workshop/Conferences
The Institute organized a one day workshop “An Academy – Industry Interface” with participation from the Warwick Manufacturing Group, the University of Warwick, UK, IIT Bhubaneswar, Tata Steel, Infosys, IBM, WIPRO, L&T and others on 17th September 2010. Another workshop “Multivariate Statistical Analysis” was organized by the School of Humanities, Social Science and Management on 24th March 2011. The Training and Placement Section had organized a Panel Discussion “Managing Generation Y in workplace – A Challenge to the Indian Industry” on 12th March 2011. The Institute has started organizing “Research Scholars Day” on the National Science Day on 28th February every year.

Summer Internships
Our students have received support from various Universities and Industries in India and Abroad for summer internships. Some of these Universities and Industries abroad are the University of North Texas, Oklahoma State University, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Northern Arizona University in USA, University of Warwick UK, McGill University Canada, University of Cologne Germany, University of Padua Italy, Flanders Mechatronics Centre Belgium, ExTechNa GmbH Switzerland, University of Zacadecas Mexico, Tianjin University China, Ming Chi University Taiwan and University of Technology Malaysia.

… Student Activities
Our Students under the Students Gymkhana are quite active and are organizing various activities. They already have formed several societies like Robotics Society, Entrepreneurship Cell, Dramatic Society, Music Society to name a few. They have been organizing cultural (Alma Fiesta) and Techno-Management (Wiessenaire) festivals successfully with support from many sponsors/industries drawing participations from various colleges/institutions of the country.

July 28th, 2011

Orissa Model Tribal Education Society (OMTES) has so far set up 11 Ekalabya Model Residential Schools and manages 19 Educational Complexes; However, KISS is much more effective

The web page of Orissa Model Tribal Education Society (OMTES) is http://www.omtes.org. Following are excerpts from its "Background" page.

The Orissa Model Tribal Education Society (OMTES), a registered Society supported by the ST & SC Development Department, aims to make positive interventions in the field of tribal education. Since its inception in March 2000, it has been instrumental in setting up 11 Ekalabya Model Residential Schools in different parts of the State with assistance from Government of India. Besides that it also manages 19 Educational Complexes set up for providing education to ST Girls belonging to Primitive Tribal Groups. OMTES continues in its endeavour to serve the tribal population of the State by ensuring them to avail best opportunities in education at par with the non tribal population.

Following are some Q & A from its FAQ page.

How the schools are managed at the district level?

A school level management committee headed by the Collector of the respective districts, members including two educationist of the area looks after the overall development of the schools. Here the collector is the chairman and concerned Principal of ERMS is the Member Secretary.

I am a Tribal, what is the benefit the society has for me?

You benefit, when your child qualifies entrance of the school and receives free qualitative education. The society provides for improving the quality of tribal by promoting educational schemes for tribal community and improves the quality of life of tribal by Ashram Schools, Hostels for Tribal Boys Educational complexes, Post- Matric Scholarships and Book Bank Schemes, etc.

Whom do I contact for more information?

For information you are requested to contact ST & SC Development, Govt. of Orissa.

The 11 schools are listed in the page http://www.omtes.org/Yearwise_establishment_EMRS.html. They are in the districts of Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Sundergarh (3), Rayagada, Koenjhar, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, and Jajpur.

The 19 educational complexes are listed in the page http://www.omtes.org/Yearwise_establishment.html. They are in the districts of Keonjhar (3), Rayagada (2), Nuapara, Mayurbhanj (2), Deogarh, Angul, Kalahandi, Ganjam, Gajapati (3), Malkangiri (2), Sundergarh and Kandhamala. Each of these complexes have a capacity of 250 making a total capacity of 4750.

In contrast, as of today, KISS has a student body of 15,083, which includes 3553  students pursuing +3. KISS had a student body of 1500 in 2005. I am sure the performance of the students is better at KISS than of the students at the OMTES schools and educational complexes.

So the Odisha government should just give land, seed money and grants to KISS and let them establish and manage much larger facilities in the districts with significant tribal students.

In http://www.kiss.ac.in/admission.html it is mentioned that every year KISS gets 30,000 to 40,000 applications per year for admission and admits between 2000-3000 of them. The government should fund KISS so that if not all who apply are admitted at least half of them are admitted.

It is a pity that other states have taken note of KISS and are inviting KISS to open replicas in their states while Odisha does not seem to be taking similar steps. Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer on other states approaching KISS for replicas.

A branch of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) has been set up in Bastar, a tribal dominated and Maoist infested region of Chhattisgarh with assistance from the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).

An MoU to this effect was signed between the KIIT and the KISS founder Dr Achyuta Samanta and NMDC director GB Joshi in the presence of the NMDC chairman cum managing director Rana Som at the the latter’s Corporate Office in Hyderabad on June 24.

As per the agreement, the NMDC has provided 30 acres of land along with all financial assistance to the KISS in order to set up its replica in Kankar region of north Bastar district in Chhattisgarh. In the first phase, 1000 tribal boys and girls will be admitted in this school. However, a total of 4,000 students from five districts in and around Bastar will get the opportunity of quality education here in course of time.

After Bastar, the Governments of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi are keen to set up such model schools bearing all financial implications. They have requested Dr Samanta accordingly.

The page http://www.kiss.ac.in/fmngt.html explains how KISS is funded. The total amount there adds up to 18 crores. If 10 such KISS replicas are established in 10 tribal districts of Odisha at an additional cost of 200 crores/year, that will be the best use of such money for Odisha.

July 8th, 2011

Excerpts from the February 2011 newsletter of Central University of Orissa Koraput

The newsletter is at http://www.centraluniversityorissa.ac.in/Downloads/Newsletter_Feb.%202011.pdf.

Page 9: From the Vice-Chancellor’s statement:

From the forthcoming academic session the University proposes to introduce five new subjects under New Schools …

As for the progress of our physical infrastructure of the main campus, the construction of the Boundary Wall is almost through and the construction of buildings in the first phase, the Girls’ Hostel, the Boys’ Hostel, the Guest House and the Academic Block I are likely to start towards the end of March.

… As a Founding Vice-Chancellor my vision of this composite University has two well-defined thrust areas in terms of priorities: One is healthcare and subsequently the introduction / dissemination of medical education and the other is related to the development and welfare of the tribal community.

Page 12: Development of Campus (progress of the Boundary Wall)

The main campus of our University is coming up at Sunabeda. The construction of boundary wall undertaken by CPWD is in progress. Out of actual 9.3 kms of boundary wall about 8.6 kms work is completed. The pillar excavation, raising columns on rocky terrains of the boundary is almost over. The brickwork and plastering of the Boundary Wall is going on in full swing.

The master plan has also been approved by the University Building Committee. Recently the Chief Engineer of CPWD has visited our main campus in Koraput and inspected the progress of construction work.

Page 24: The List of forthcoming Centres and Schools of the Central University of Orissa duly approved by the Academic Council and the Executive Council

The Academic Council and the Executive Council of CUO have approved the establishment of the following new Schools and Centres:

Page 31: Centre for Tribal Welfare and Community Development

Extreme poverty has its own typical features and adverse impacts on any society. Migration in search of survival for livelihoods is gradually becoming a common phenomenon in the KBK region as well as in the other parts of the country. For the survival of local people, the traditional skill based occupations are gradually becoming uneconomic options. On the other hand the same traditional skills have a flourishing market value in neighbouring states. This creates situations for mass migration, often with the family, in search of a livelihood even under stressful conditions. In the recent trend of economic development, the traditional skill based occupations have also became largely resource dependent. With the depletion of natural resources, the traditional occupations of tribes are fading away, though these are also the outcome of the occupational mobility.

The Koraput District comes under the tribal sub-plan area and PESA. As per the provision, PESA promises devolution of power to Panchayats completing the tribal self-rule. While larger accountability for the utilizing the provisions under the Act is vested in the Panchayats, due to poor understanding of the Act by the Panchayatiraj functionaries the Act seems to have lost its legal tooth in this area. This calls for wider accountability of government and civil society bodies to build the capacity of the PRIs thereby enabling them to utilize the power and authority vested in them for the development of their area and the communities. The customary rules existing even today provide a framework to compare the provisions of PESA and a suitable blending of two can contribute towards good governance to spearhead developmental process.

According to the report of the Committee on the Constitution of Separate Development Board in Orissa, 96% of Community Development Blocks in KBK districts are either ‘very backward’ or ‘backward’. According to the UNDP Human Development Report 2004, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Koraput, Nabarangpur are the bottom five districts in terms of HDI values, three of which are in KBK region.

Considering the above issues, the Centre for Tribal Welfare and Community Development (CTWCD) has been established as University’s first initiative of Corporate Social Responsibilities to foster the needs and take up the issues of the tribals of KBK region as well as other tribal groups of India.

The Centre for Tribal Welfare and Community Development at Central University of Orissa is functional since 5th June,2010. A batch of tribal youth has already received training on mushrooms cultivation. New initiatives are under progress and it is hoped that various trade identified by the Centre will benefit the tribes.

Page 47: Progress of new Campus

April 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

Higher education moves by the Odisha state government outside of the Capital area during the last 5 years [work in progress]

To get a clear picture on higher education moves by the state government (during the last 5 years) outside of the capital area (Khurda, Cuttack and Puri districts) we try to list the moves. Many fully centrally funded institutes are mentioned as the state contributes by free land and in making the location decision. (Note that Odisha has 30 districts.)

What has been done so far (including under construction):

1. Central University of Orissa, Dist – Koraput
2. Upgradation of UCE Burla to VSSUT, Dist – Sambalpur
3. Private University status to Centurion, Dist – Gajapati
4. Government Engieering College, Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi
5. College of Agriculture, Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi
6. WODC funds and free land for Private Medical College, Jaring, near Bhawanipatna, Dist – Kalahandi  (significant part of the construction is complete)
7. Pushed Vedanta to establish Vedanta Science College in Lanjigarh, Dist – Kalahandi
8. Parla Maharaj Engineering College, Berhampur, Dist-Ganjam
9. Special SUIIT institute as part of Sambalpur University, Dist – Sambalpur
10. WODC funds for Hi-Tech Medical College, Rourkela, Dist – Sundergarh (under construction) 
11. Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Baragarh
12. College of Horticulture, Chipilima, Dist – Sambalpur

The districts involved above and the number of items for them are: Baragarh (1), Gajapati (1), Ganjam (1), Kalahandi (4), Koraput (1), Sambalpur (3), Sundergarh (1). If one takes the funding amount as the criteria then Koraput comes at the top.

Some of the announcements that are most likely to happen in 1-3 years as reported in the news:

1. Pushed MCL to agree to make a medical college in Talcher
2. Pushed NTPC to agree to make a medical college (location not announced)
3. Pushed NTPC to agree to make a Power Institute (location not announced)
4. Announced that all three medical colleges (includes Berhampur, Sambalpur) will be autonomous starting with the one in Sambalpur.
5. Announced that Khallikote College Berhampur will be made to a university
6. Proposed that one of the 20 IIIT should be in Berhampur.
7. Pushing to upgrade FCI Balangir to an Institute of Hotel Management
8. Grants to XIMB to open a campus in Balangir
9. Grants to XIMB to open a campus in Sambalpur
10. Support for a CIPET campus in Balasore
11. Upgradation of GM College, Sambalpur to a university (announed by Higher Education Minister)

The districts involved in the above two lists and their number of items are: Angul (1), Balasore (1), Balangir (2), Baragarh (1), Gajapati (1), Ganjam (4), Kalahandi (4), Koraput (1), Sambalpur (6), Sundergarh (1).

The districts that are left out are: Bhadrak, Bouda, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kandhamala, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada and Sonepur.

Besides the above there have been reports about government willing to give grants to several private medical colleges in various places and the WODC has tried (but failed) to entice (through grants and free land) a private party to establish a medical college in Balangir.

Also, I think the government will implement some of the recommendations made by the higher education task force.

Please suggest missing items in the comments section. Any capital-bashing comments will be deleted as the purpose of this post is to get a clear picture of what is happenning and not happening in the higher education side outside of the capital districts of Khurda, Cuttack and Puri.

Again, this list is to get a clear picture of what has happened in the non-capital area districts so that one can make an informed decision if the government is biased towards some non-capital districts over other non-capital districts. (There is no argument that the bulk of the moves have been made favoring the capital area. So no discussion on that.)

In regards to my personal view on what the government ought to do, it is listed in details in the site http://orissa2020.org.

The above list should not be interpreted in isolation. For example, one should not conclude that Kalahandi got too much. It got several institutions because it started from very little and the education conscious people of Kalahandi have been rightly demanding for higher education institutions for a long time. But at the same token, arguing that Kalahandi has been neglected by this government with respect to higher education just goes against the facts above and I worry that the well-meaning people who are making such arguments may be harming their cause. I guess the argument comes from losing the central university to Koraput. But then every district other than Koraput (and the capital districts) can use that argument. [If there is interest I will explain more on my take on this in the comments section.]

As an analogy, in 2005 we could rightly argue that the central government neglected Odisha with respect to centrally funded higher education institutions. But if we now say that the UPA government  neglected Odisha with respect to centrally funded higher education institutions, we will be laughed at, and our efforts will have negative impact. So we plan to use finer arguments and location specific arguments to push for central institutions in Odisha for the 12th plan.

Kalahandi people wanting more institutions in Kalahandi should think of other ways to make their case and irritating the state government and its bureaucrats with arguments that go against the facts (see list above) may help some politicians but has a higher potential to harm Kalahandi’s case than help its case.

44 comments March 29th, 2011

The 100 Engineering Colleges under BPUT

This list is from the page http://www.bput.ac.in/colleges_bput2010.html.

Soon two of the above colleges will move from BPUT to be under Centurion University. Also IIIT is scheduled to become a state university.

The other places to study engineering in Odisha are:

1. KIIT Bhubaneswar (Deemed university)
2. ITER Bhubaneswar (Deemed university)
3. VSSUT, Burla (State University)
4. NIT Rourkela  (Institute of National Importance)
5. IIT Bhubaneswar (Institute of National Importance)
6. College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology (CAET), OUAT, Bhubaneswar

3 comments February 3rd, 2011

Private State Universities of India as listed in the UGC site as of 18th Jan 2011

Following is from http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/privateuniversity.html.

January 24th, 2011

Various private universities in the pipeline in Odisha

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The proposed institutions are: Vedanta University at Puri-Konark marine drive, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar University at Naraj in Cuttack, Institute of Charted Financial Analysts of India (Icfai) University in Bhubaneswar and Centurion University of Technology and Management at Parlakhemundi in Gajapati district.

According to agreement, the Vedanta University was to be given 6,000 acres and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar University 185 acres.

The Vedanta group has already been given 3,500 acres. The quantum of land for the other two universities is yet to be decided.

The proposed Sri Sri University will cater to the needs of 15,000 students with 1,500 faculty members.

While the Centurion University will concentrate, among other things, on distance education, the Icfai University will “provide instruction, teaching, training and research in specialised areas”.

According to sources, apart from the four varsities, the government has received 11 more proposals from the private sector.

These are Jagatguru Krupalu University (Jagatguru Krupalu Trust), Xavier University, Techno Global University (Calcutta-based Techno Indo group), Maa Anandamayai Viswavidyalaya (Maa Anandamayi Trust), Synergy University (Shivani Educational Charitable Trust from Orissa), Women’s University Technology (Sarala Foundation, Orissa), Private University of Rai Foundation (Rai Foundation), University of Corporate Excellence (Infotech Park Limited), Amity University, Silicon University (Silicon Valley investment, Orissa) and ASBM University (HRD group, Bhubaneswar).

State higher education secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi said the government had agreed “in principle” to the proposals of Xavier University and Maa Anandamayai University.

Padhi said that the NRIs were in touch with the state government to invest in the field of education.

“NRI Groups from San Francisco are interested in investing Rs 150 crore in higher education. Preliminary discussions have already been held and another round of talks will be held in December,” he said.

November 17th, 2010

Business India on Centurion School of Management in Parlakhemundi

The article starts as follows:

The Harvard-educated home minister P. Chidambaram could learn some valuable lessons at this campus located in the heart of the Naxalinfested tribal district of Gajapati in Orissa, bordering Andhra Pradesh. Centurion School of Rural Enterprise Management (csrem) is run by two management professors – Mukthi Mishra and D.N. Rao – who quit their jobs at Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (ximb) to set up their own B-school barely seven years ago. They have made a tremendous impact in this poor and restive region. “Over the past few years, we have managed to produce over 10,000 graduates in engineering and management, and vocational certificate holders in a range of trades from the region,” says Mishra, co-founder of csrem.

Following is a scan of the whole article.

4 comments November 13th, 2010

BPUT Colleges in 2010-2011

The following is from http://www.bput.ac.in/colleges_bput2010.html.

100 B.Tech Colleges:

2 B.Arch Colleges

16 B. Pharm Colleges

60 MBA Colleges

45 MCA Colleges

1 comment October 15th, 2010

Junior College preferences to study Plus 2 Science among students of Odisha

This is based on the cut-off data in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/5020 and is only about the 169 junior colleges for which there is e-counseling. Note that there are now more than 100 private plus 2 science colleges across Odisha (with more than 50 in Bhubaneswar-Cuttack area alone) and they are not part of this list. An example is the Kalinga Bharati College that did very well in Plus 2 exams this year. In 2007 we had made a list of the new breed of private +2 science colleges at https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/283. By now the number of such colleges has more than doubled.

The above data is consistent with anecodotal stories that I heard regarding most students from areas like Bhawanipatna going off to other places (including Raipur and Visakhapatnam) to pursue their +2 science and get coaching.

2 comments July 21st, 2010

First phase cutoff marks for 169 junior colleges across Odisha

Following is from http://dheorissa.in/sams/JuniorCutoffMarks.aspx.