Following is an excerpt from a report in Zee News.
Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI) on Tuesday said it has proposed setting up of an aerospace university to the University Grants Commission (UGC).
"We have already given a proposal to UGC for establishment of an aerospace university," SIATI president C G Krishnadas Nair said on the sidelines of a helicopter technology conference here today.
The society has proposed to set up the university at Bangalore along with HAL.
He said SIATI is also in discussion with IGNOU for establishing International Institute for Aviation Studies and Management in different parts of the country.
October 30th, 2007
The following is an excerpt from http://specials.rediff.com/money/2007/oct/25sld3.htm.
My concern is that many bright students who would be leading scientists and researchers choose other careers because of misinformation. In talking with non-academic friends, particularly those in the Indian community, I think there are two misconceptions that need to be corrected. First, one does a PhD not so much to teach but to do research that will have a big impact. Many people view professors as skilled teachers – which is one important aspect of the job – but fail to realise that many of the fundamental discoveries in society that make our quality of life better today than in 1900 are made by academics. So I think that the social value of pursuing a PhD may be underappreciated. Second, academia has the reputation of being a very tough life, particularly financially. But I think the monetary rewards of academia are also often misperceived. This is especially true at top universities for quantitative fields, where salaries compare quite favorably with many specialties in medicine or law. Some people ask, "Why are economists and scientists paid so much to sit and think?" I think of the answer one of my colleagues at Berkeley gives: ‘If Milton Friedman’s research helped us avoid another Great Depression, then he’s paid the bill for all the economists in this generation.’ Now of course not every person is going to do what Milton Friedman did… but if one out of every ten thousand does, it’s worth paying researchers a lot. One of my objectives in the longer run is to try to attract more bright students to top PhD programs. For example, there’s an enormous pool of talent at the IITs in India that I think could be very successful. I’d like to think about ways to encourage some of that group to apply to PhD programs in the US.
October 29th, 2007
(For those who do not know, Dhanada is a Ph.D in Civil Engineering from University of Michigan, is in his early forties, was principal of JITM after passing over many offers.)
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/agamiorissa/message/2399.
As I sit in a review meeting of our campaign in the Cuttack office surrounded by eager young faces as zonal cordinators, state office functionaries, state head of projects etc., I am bombarded with passionate arguments about the progress of our efforts in the 180 blocks of 24 districts in different remote corners of the state. As we look in to the number of volunteers mobilised, numbers of those trained, numbers of classes started, the meeting erupts with arguments and counter-arguments. Some one doesn’t believe the numbers, some one defends vociferously as for a while I sit back and let the energy drain and enjoy the passion that people bring to their work as which is perhaps only possible in my new occupation! We discuss and debate our work culture, the need to open up more, to take more people with us in the campaign, the urgency and importance of motivating that grassroots level volunteer, the need for travelling to keep in touch and support each other, the enegy, the passion, the dedication to the cause stands out above the occasional din of arguments and counter-arguments. Welcome to the Read Orissa Campaign at its peak!
As I adjust in to this new life of no office, no 9-5 office hour, no Sundays to take a break, there has been very little opportunity to reflect on this dramatic transition from that of a volunteer to a full-timer, let alone write the experience down. When I relocated suddenly back to Bhubaneswar, to re-occupy my parents’s home leaving my job at JITM, Paralakhemundi behind, my parents as well as Babita’s (my wife) parents were perplexed with a tinge of concern as to what I was up to. I was not sure how to put it to them, other than saying that I am on a sabattical and will be working on social issues full-time. This was not very convincing for most of my family and well wishers and I had to make up some story like I am still working for JITM on their Bhubaneswar campus etc.
Continue Reading October 28th, 2007
Following is an excerpt from Hindu on it.
Education Minister M.A. Baby said here on Saturday that the government would go ahead with the conversion of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) into an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST).
Mr. Baby said the government would make all efforts to secure the Rs.519-crore allocation for the project.
He said the Union HRD Ministry accepted the State government’s request for reserving 50 per cent of the seats for students from Kerala at the IIEST.
The government would get a chance to nominate a person to the IIEST’s governing council.
October 28th, 2007
Hindu magazine has a heart warming story on the Ruchika School and Ruchika Social Service Organization. A documentary film on Ruchika narrated by Robert Redford and shown in PBS is here. Following is an excerpt from Hindu article.
A young housewife, new to Bhubaneswar, started a pre-school in her house with two students: her sister’s daughter and the gardener’s daughter. Soon, she put up a small board, “Ruchika” on the gate. This attracted curious neighbours who got used to seeing a couple of children laughing and playing with a lady in the “posh” Forest Park house. The number of tiny tots soon grew to 11 and then 20.
Soon after, she started a school in a rented building. Ruchika was a school with a difference. Teachers took the students out to post-offices and railway stations, banks and bridges to give them a “feel” of what they learn in books, and “see” how things work. Every day, the lady saw a number of children from nearby slums peeping in at the gate. “But I didn’t have the freedom to open my own gates to those poor semi-clad children. We have stratified our society that way. That really hurt,” she now says.
Whenever she went to the railway station, she saw children with bright faces wiping compartment floors and begging from passengers. Inderjit Khurana’s husband was an engineer in the Army, and the Khuranas had moved to Bhubaneswar in 1970s. When asked what brought them to Bhubaneswar, Inderjit smiles, “Destiny”.
Idea that worked
Inderjit often thought of the children outside her gate and those bright faces covered with grime. She hit upon the unique idea of “Platform schools”. If a child cannot come to the school, the school should go to the child! She asked teachers in Ruchika if they would volunteer to teach the “platform children” early in the morning before they started their regular work. Only one, R.P. Dwivedi, the physical training instructor, agreed “provided you don’t sack me if I say ‘no’ after one month”. Ruchika’s Platform School was born, with one frail lady and a physical training instructor marking the boundaries of the “school” with chalk in one corner of the Bhubaneswar railway platform. The duo went with toys, paper, crayons, soap and towels. Platform children flocked in and “it was a joy to see them bathing and laughing. They drew, talked and asked very intelligent questions”, recalls Inderjit 27 years later.
October 28th, 2007
Following is from Tathya.in. Please go there for details.
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will begin its first phase admission process for B.Ed. program from 30 October.
… The admission to the B.Ed. Program will be done for the 10 Program Study Centers of Bhubaneswar Region.
… The first phase admission shall be concluded on 5 November for all centers.
The list of successful candidates has been placed on the Regional Centre website www.ignoubbsr.org.
October 27th, 2007
Following is from Tathya.in.
Accordingly it was decided that each student will have to receive 6 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) out of 10 to be eligible to pass the B.Tech degree.
However in the first year itself the student has to receive 4.5 CGPA, so that he/she can be promoted.
But by the end of the course he will have to get 6 CGPA to receive the degree.
Though B.Tech program is for 4 years but a student will be allowed 7 years time for clearance of the degree.
The student, who will be enrolled in 2008-09, if fails consecutively in 3 semesters will be out of the university, said a spokesman of BPUT.
It was decided to set up a Faculty Training Institute to train the faculty members of the constituent colleges.
The proposed system is probably similar to the system followed at IITs. The year back system is what is followed at most colleges in the rest of the country. In the US universities there is no year back system. However there are pre-requsites for classes. So if subject A is a prerequisite for subject B then one can not normally take B before he/she has passed A. However, the courses that are prerequisites for other courses and are in the critical path to graduation are offered every semester.
One question to the readers: If a student fails in a course in a semetser and takes the exam for that course the next semester, what happens to the internal marks. Does he/she have a chance to improve them? How?
October 27th, 2007
Following is an excerpt from a report on this in topnews.in.
At least 56 children with various mental-disabilities are taking vocational training at a special centre in Orissa’s Koraput to be self-reliant and prove wrong those who doubted their potential.
At the Manas Education and Vocational Training Centre for the Mentally Challenged, operated under the aegis of Koraput district administration since 2001, training is imparted to children between 6 to 18 years of age. …
The institute provides an opportunity to students to develop their hobbies besides attending the inmates for their mental and physical disorders. Student can learn stitching, candle making, spices packing, book-binding and other similar works.
Fourteen of the students at Manas, who had a harrowing time in their immediate society, now are earning a handsome amount of money.
"Here we stitch mosquito nets and sell them in markets. I will take it as a vocation. If I was in my village my life would have been ruined," said Dinesh Sarika, a student.
According to Bidyadhar Paramanik, Principal of Manas Education and Vocational Training Centre for the Mentally Challenged, the centre is facing financial constraint.
"We have started this school with the objective of looking after such mentally challenged children who are not usually accepted by the society. We gather these children from different villages and provide them with right health treatment and vocational training so as to make them self-sufficient,” Paramanik said.
“Although much is being done by this institution, it is facing financial constraints. The Centre provides 75 per cent funds for this school. The rest is borne by the district administration. We need at least Rs. 65,000 a year, but we get much less," he said.
October 26th, 2007
Following is an excerpt from an Economic Times report on this.
If you figure in the list of meritorious 1 lakh students, you will get Rs 1 lakh annually for pursuing university education in science stream and the amount may continue up to five years. The government is planning to institute scholarships to encourage education in science and technology. While modalities of selecting meritorious students are yet to be worked out, it is proposed that the future scientists would be caught young in the 12th class itself.
The financial assistance would be given to such students while pursuing BSc and MSc courses. “We have proposed to give adequate financial support to sufficient number of students to foster talent in scientific research. The government is considering to award 1 lakh scholarships of Rs 1 lakh each.
Meritorious students pursuing university education in science stream would be eligible for the award. The proposal is expected to be incorporated in the 11th Five-Year Plan, and expected to be announced in the forthcoming National Development Council (NDC) meeting,” a source in the government said.
It is understood that the proposed scholarship would be modelled on the line of INSPIRE programme mooted by the department of science & technology (DST).
INSPIRE stands for innovations in science pursuit for inspired research. The programme aims at reaching out to the young talent and help them to pursue their interest in science.
“It is also an intervention devised to redress low entry of students into science and technology streams,” a DST source said. After the programme would get a formal approval, the selection procedure for the meritorious students would be announced.
… It is expected that the budget allocation of scientific departments would be enhanced significantly in the 11th Plan. The plan allocation has been doubled from about Rs 12,000 crore in the 9th Plan to about Rs 25,000 crore in the 10 Plan and it is planned to increased it approximately four fold in the 11th Plan, official sources said.
October 26th, 2007
