The state government had initiated the land acquiring process with a 28.30-acre patch under Beladala mouza in the marine drive region.
Sun Green Valley, a tourism promoting company, moved the court challenging the state government’s decision and sought a stay on the allotment of the land to Vedanta Resources Corporation.
Yashobant Das, the counsel for Sun Green Valley, pointed out in the court that a tourism promoting project envisaging a water park and a museum was underway on the 28.30 acre of land when the government issued a notification for acquiring it for the proposed university. Though an appeal was filed for cancellation of the notification, the government turned it down.
The next hearing of the case would take place on November 14, the two-judge bench said, ordering an injunction on the land acquiring process for the proposed university till further orders.
The court also called for submission of the MoU signed between the Anil Agarwal Foundation and the state government to set up the university while issuing notices to the Puri collector.
Other news reports state that the stay order is only for those 28.30 acres. If that is the case then it is a comparatively small hurdle as Vedanta University can continue with its land acquisition sans this particular piece. However, if the stay order is for the whole land acquisition process then it would cause delay to the whole process. Following is Sambada’s report on this.
The Institute of Mathematics and Application (IMA) plans to award as many as 500 scholarships in the fifth Rural Mathematics Talent Search Examination 2007, provided the response is encouraging.
For, lesser than expected turnout has become a reason of concern for all. Last time 200 scholarships were given.
Last year, only about 23,000 class VI students, for whom the test is intended, appeared. Evidently, with 6,000 high schools and 11,000 elementary schools, it was way below reckoning.
Thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the School and Mass Education Department, thousands of schools simply remained unaware of such an event.
The students remained deprived of availing of an unique opportunity. However, institute Director Prof Swadhin Pattanayak said, the Department has got its acts together this year and has instructed all inspector of schools to reach out to each school with the circular. The test would be held on November 11.
The eligible ones would receive Rs 1,500 per year for five consecutive years. The best among the lot also would also get a chance to participate in the Indian National Mathematics Olympiad.
The scholarship amount is funded mostly by NRIs. The 200 number of scholarships is equally divided among eligible students of East, Central and South Orissa.
NaxatraNews (NN): Orissa is poised for a major industrial boom, as the Vice- Chancellor of the nodal technical University of the state what do you think about the synergy between the industry and academics?
Omkarnath Mohanty (OM): In a mature economy, the synergy between industry and academia is spontaneous. However, in a situation such as India’s and Orissa’s, this is not so; one has to make an effort to bring about a serious interaction between the two. An attempt has already been made in the IT sector to have a serious collaboration by identifying common projects at the Post-Graduate level. Further, in many colleges, the Knowledge Center concept will become operational attracting some of the industries to participate. However, this is going to be a slow process for some time as the industry does not necessarily feel that the academia can assist its progress. In the steel sector we are about to witness a quantum jump in production in Orissa and the Post-Graduate Centre in Steel Research has been contemplated at Rourkela for awarding M.Tech. and Ph.D. degrees. It is expected that a number of steel companies will participate in this exercise.
NN: The number of engineering students passing out from colleges each year from the state is far short of the present requirements. Besides, many students go out of the state for greener pastures. How would you address this issue given the projected industrialization in the state?
OM: Yes, it is true that the number of graduates coming out of the forty–plus engineering colleges (close to 15000 each year) may not be sufficient to take care of all the industries in Orissa, particularly in the near future. However it will be difficult to see the number of colleges growing overnight. Further even with the current number of colleges, the quality of faculty is far from satisfactory and is a serious issue. Therefore, we would like to see a balanced growth in the number of colleges in Orissa.
NN: After assuming charge you have brought about many changes in the University administration as well as education system in spite of protests from many quarters. Which one you would rate as the greatest success and why?
OM: We have attempted to introduce several practices both in the administration as well as in the academic system of BPUT. In the University administration system the most important step that has been taken is the e-Registration process. This has just been introduced after a considerable amount of thought and efforts. It is expected that this process will get around several instances of "wrong" registration of students. The Semester Registration must be in consonance with the permissible group of subjects that a student can opt for and at the same time scrutinize the performance of the student in earlier examinations (clearance of subject). The new system has developed an algorithm that has embedded the stipulations of academic regulations.
In the area of Academics, I guess one of the most important steps is the starting of Question Bank in each subject. The Question Bank part has just begun; it needs to be strengthened so that every question paper has a semblance of quality and is strictly within the syllabus that is prescribed. In the absence of such a practice, numerous problems with regard to the standard of a Question Paper and its coverage have arisen in the past.
NN: What’s your opinion on the present controversy over capitation fee and separate entrance examination for engineering students of the privately owned engineering colleges?
OM: I do not intend to get into the capitation fees controversy – probably there is no real controversy. For instance, there was never a "declared" capitation fee. The current rationalization of fee structure has attempted to take into consideration all parameters that go into the financial structure of an academic institution. It has also provided for a generous expenditure on developmental activities. Most importantly there is also a handsome annual rate of return for the investment that has been provided for in the fee structure. If it is sincerely and ethically practaised by the owners of colleges, there should be very little scope for any disenchantment among the public.
As regards the separate entrance examination issue, everyone must be aware that the Supreme Court has decreed that the admission to the unaided, private professional institutions be based on:factors including transparency of the method of admission, merit being the only criterion of selection and no financial exploitation of the students
When the above criteria are employed, the merit of a separate entrance examination, to my mind, does not exist. One single entrance examination, today designated as the Orissa JEE, takes care of all the three above attributes.
NN: Keeping the booming steel industry of the state in mind you have planned a steel research institute at Rourkela. What precisely is this institute about?
OM: The Steel Research Institute in Rourkela has just only been born. It is meant for awarding M.Tech. and Ph. D. degree in the area of steel research. The world of steel, over the past decade, has witnessed radical developments both in the production techniques as well as in the application of steel. For instance, the FINEX process (recently adopted by POSCO in their plant in Korea), can use fine ore and has multiple products; this process is going to be watched with a lot of interest. Another example could be the Thin Strip Casting (primarily developed by an Oriya Metallurgist from IIT-Kharagpur, at BHP Australia) is currently in commercial production at the NUCOR plant in USA, involves direct casting from liquid state to 1mm and below strip. Thereby, the cost of steel strips is appreciably, reduced. Similarly, in the application areas extremely high strength (>1000Mpa) combined with reasonable ductility and more importantly high formability steel sheets have now been developed; these are important for automobile body manufacturing. Their use can reduce weight of a car without sacrificing safety.
Our centre at Rourkela is expected to get into some of above areas. This would require a multi-disciplinary approach, quite different from the conventional metallurgy of the earlier period. We have made a modest beginning with advertisement for 5 faculty that have been granted by the government of Orissa. Our plan is to involve the major steel companies operating in India both for support in the faculty and in procuring the sophisticated research equipment. This will however take time.
NN: Safeguarding intellectual property rights has become an important issue in academic world. Do you think research institutes and researchers of the state are giving due regard to the matter?
OM: Yes, the IPR items relating to the University are very important. For one thing, awareness about IPR motivates people to be engaged in innovative and creative research. On the other, the knowledge of IPR can also be utilized for commercial gain through introducing new products or processes. This can engage the attention of creative faculty as well as students.
NN: Better pay package in IT industry has attracted most of the engineering students from core subjects like civil and mechanical trades to IT resulting in non-availability of sufficient number of quality manpower in the core sector. How do you think this trend could be arrested?
OM: It is true that better pay package in the IT industry has been attracting brighter people into the IT sector, apparently making the core sector impoverished in terms of quality manpower. However, it must also be borne in mind that all engineering subjects require an IT-enabled approach. For instance, the Civil / Mechanical / Electrical Engineers of today have to be very well acquainted with many soft computing techniques and optimization techniques. Therefore, there is no real unhealthy competition between these streams. We are attempting to make the core sector more IT-savvy. The new upward trend in the market place for core engineering sector during the past two years has confirmed that IT-assisted core sector will also find excellent employment opportunities in the near future.
NN: Similarly the exodus of good students to IT industry in last few years has also resulted in shortage of good faculties. Do you have any plan to create a faculty pool or any special measures to upgrade their skills?
OM: There are several measures that we have contemplated in order to build a pool of good faculty. These include: Collaborating with IITs in order to get their course-content that are web-based or DVD-based which in turn will also involve training of BPUT faculty by IIT teachers at regular intervals. Besides we are in the process of creating an Academic Staff College under the aegis of BPUT using our own experienced faculty spread over several colleges. Moreover there are training programmes for engineering faculty undertaken at advanced centres, both at IITs and other central universities such as Jadavpur University. We would be taking advantages of each of the above channels open to us.
NN: As private engineering colleges keep mushrooming in the state are you happy with the quality of students coming out under the BPUT banner? Do you think measures like abolition of year-back system you had initiated have yielded desired results?
OM: The first batch of the students under the BPUT banner has come out this year. Some of these students, I am sure, are bright judging by their quality of placement and their grade points. As far as "abolition" of year-back system is concerned there seems to be a misinformation. BPUT has never abolished the system of promoting students to next higher year based on their performance; indeed, many students were not promoted last year. There has, however, been only some modification in the criteria / stipulation.
Incidentally it must be understood that the University does not have a "year-back" system as such; what has been stipulated is the fact that weaker students will take longer than 4 years to complete a B.Tech. programme, that is ideally of 4-year duration.
NN: What else is in store for BPUT in the coming days?
OM: The coming years would witness a greater emphasis on Ph D. and M.Tech. programmes of the University. It is now realized across the globe that in order to run a quality B.Tech. programme, M.Tech. and Ph.D programmes are necessary supports. Research publications by faculty is another area which is going to be stressed upon in the coming years. Another item of importance would be the quality text books, primarily written by BPUT faculty for its own syllabus. This is going to be financially supported by the University in order to provide the necessary incentive to our faculty for engaging themselves in this area; that of text-book creation.
1. It is much easier to become a state university as the Orissa assembly can make that declaration. Deemed university status is given by the center and is much more of hassle to get it. Lobbying is needed in Delhi for that.
2. Most deemed universities are not funded by UGC, so there is not much benefit of becoming a deemed university. On the other hand a state university, after getting the tag of "funded by UGC" will get funding by UGC.
3. Ravenshaw became a state university last October and in less than a year it has now got the "funded by UGC" tag. UCE Burla should follow the same path.
The Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, established as Civil Engineering College, Calcutta, way back in 1856 with the idea of introducing engineering education in the country, has a long and checkered past. The University was known as Calcutta Civil Engineering College on and from 24th November, 1856, when there were only 10 students and a few instructive staff. From 12th February, 1920 the name was changed to B.E. College Shibpur. The word Shibpur was deleted from 24th March, 1921. Till 1992, it was a constituent college of the Calcutta University. In recognition of its service to the nation for all these years, the college was elevated to the status of a Deemed University in 1992 and the Honourable President of India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, formally inaugurated Bengal Engineering College (A Deemed University) on March 13, 1993. On 1st October, 2004, the deemed university was elevated to the status of a University with its present name.
Thus BESU first became a deemed university and then became a state university.
So if BESU thinks its better to be a state university than a deemed university, why is UCE Burla trying for the inferior (but harder to get) deemed university tag while becoming a state university is easier and better.
6. Thus, UCE Burla should try to become a state university rather than a deemed university.
7. But, after becoming a state university, UCE Burla will need a good administrator like the VC Devdas Chhotray of Ravenshaw University, who can get it the "funded by UGC" tag quickly.
Following are excerpts from Statesman‘s reports on this.
Hundreds of students of the University College of Engineering (UCE) at Burla are up in the arms against the authorities of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) and the junior staff of the industries department of the Orissa government.
“When our main demand is to get IIT status for this college, the deemed university status should be granted. Even the chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik and the secretary of industries in particular is highly interested for according this status to the UCE. But there is no effort, either on the part of BPUT or the junior level officers of the industries department,” said one of the students.
“In order to be eligible for the University Grants Commission (UGC) status, BPUT needs to have five government engineering colleges under it. But at present it has got only four colleges.
The students further said that to get a deemed university status, any engineering college has to fulfil eight criteria and the UCE satisfies seven.
During a strike in 2005, BPUT’s vice chancellor Mr Omkar Nath Mohanty promised action in three days. But more than one-and-half-year has already passed since then,” one of the students said.
But the comment of the VC of BPUT is different altogether.
“BPUT has already given clearance for deemed university status to UCE 10 months ago. At the same time it has given academic autonomy to UCE. Hence, the question of any apathetic attitude to UCE doesn’t arise,” said Mr Omkar Nath Mohanty. BPUT needs five post graduate departments, and not government colleges under it to get eligible for the UGC aid.
“It has already got 12 such departments, excluding UCE,” Mr Mohanty said.
I have two remarks on this story.
I personally believe that the UCE students would be much better of trying with state government to make UCE Burla a state university. Getting a deemed university tag is much more difficult, and I am not sure that it has any advantages over becoming a state university. What is important is to be a university and get the "funded by UGC tag." The Bengal Engineering and Science University (formerly Bengal Engineering College, Howrah) is a state University and has the funded by UGC tag and it go selected to become one of the IIESTs. UCE Burla students must also note that Ravenshaw was made a state university only last year (2006 October) and it already got the "funded by UGC" tag. In regards to getting the "deemed university" tag, it is a central government decision and is much harder to get than convincing the Orissa state legislators to declare UCE Burla a state university. We wrote about this earlier in https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=60 and https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=23 and even talked about this to many UCE Burla alumni. I am not sure why they don’t see the light. If BESU (Bengal Engineering and Science University) and CUSAT (Cochin University of Science and Technology) are state universities and have the “Funded by UGC” status (See the UGC West Bengal and Kerala pages here and here respectively) and both have become IIESTs, why is UCE Burla trying the harder and not necessarily better path?
Why BPUT still does not have a "funded by UGC tag" yet? What is BPUT’s VC doing? This is a disgrace.
(Request to readers associate with Orissa: Please send a request to cmo@ori.nic.in with cc to hedsec@ori.nic.in, "indsec@ori.nic.in" <indsec@ori.nic.in>)
Fatmi said that the Central Government proposed to set up a Central University in Bihar as part of its plans for 30 new Universities. Though the University Grants Commission (UGC) suggested the upgradition of Patna University, the Government wanted to set up Central University, besides upgrading Patna University.
However, although we have sent several communications to the Orissa government on making a similar effort for a second central university for Orissa — beyond the automatic one presumably in the KBK region, the Orissa government has been silent. Tathya.in reports on our efforts and the resulting frustration.
Following are mails that we have sent to the CMO.
Dear Esteemed Chief Minister:
On August 15th the PM announced that there will be 30 new central universities, with 16 of them in states that do not have any. (That means Orissa will get one and since Orissa has been asking for a central university in KBK, it should go to KBK.)
Since India already has 23 central universities (none among them is in Orissa) and the new 30 ones will take the total to 53, Orissa deserves not just one but two central universities. (Note: Orissa is the 11th largest state of India in terms of population and 9th largest in terms of area.)
But as the PM clearly said, the 14 (30-16) central universities will be decided on a competitive basis. THUS, Orissa govt. must send a proposal on this to the HRD ministry and the PM. This needs to be done as soon as possible as the PM gave 2 months time to the planning commission for deciding on the locations and close to 3 weeks has already gone by.
I would like to propose that the Orissa govt., send a proposal immediately to upgrade Ravenshaw University as a central university.
This is because Ravenshaw matches the best with respect to all the conditions that the PM mentioned in his address to the planning commission. In particular:
Ravenshaw is a unitary university. i.e., Like world class universities such as most universities in the United States, and like most of the existing central universities in India (such as JNU, BHU etc.) Ravenshaw does not have any affiliated colleges.
Ravenshaw‘s location at the heart the millennium city of Cuttack and also in the middle of the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack metropolitan area makes it easy to access and the presence of top-notch educational and research institutions near it makes Ravenshaw a good candidate for becoming a world-class knowledge hub; i.e., a world class central university. (The PM mentioned this criteria explicitly.)
Ravenshaw had made plans for its expansion in directions that are in unison with the goal of a world class university that the PM talked about.
Among all universities in India that may be considered for an upgrade, Ravenshaw is in a unique position by virtue of its recent designation as a university. The existing faculty of Ravenshaw are Government of Orissa faculty and are not automatically entitled to be Ravenshaw faculty. So Ravenhsaw can be choosy in retaining only the ones that are qualified to be a faculty in a world class university. The others may revert back to the Government of Orissa to be posted to other colleges in Orissa.
Finally, Ravenshaw is one of the oldest higher education institutions of India with a glorious past. Its alumni is almost who’s who of Orissa.
In closing, I would urge you to not miss this opportunity for making a case for a second central university in Orissa. Otherwise we will continue to remain behind, while other states will have 2, 3 or more central universities.
The positions are in Social Sciences (Political Science, Economics and Sociology) and Applied Ballistics (Physics, Computer Application and Ballistics).
… library now has a fullfledged computer lab with free access to the children. The lab with computer systems donated by international IT major SUN Microsystems would facilitate use of interactive multimedia resources for educational purposes. "It would be fun and learning for the children, making their visits more exciting," said Bakul Foundation (BakulFoundation@yahoogroups.com) secretary Sujit Mohapatra.
On the occasion, Krutibas Biswal of SUN Microsystems said, "It is the first time SUN has donated to an organisation in Orissa. The company is quite impressed with the work Bakul has been doing and decided to support it."
… Started as a small step towards getting a library done through individual contribution under "Donate Books: Build a Library" programme, Bakul has come a long way since inception in April this year.
Today, it is … with over 7,000 books including some of the most interesting educational resources of children available in the world. The library does not charge any money from the children.
… The NIT’s alumni, who are placed in high and respectable places, have raised serious concern over the nomination of the chairman of its Board of Governors. The names recommended by the authorities for the post do not go well with the alumni, who are concerned about the future of the NIT.
The name of a Congress leader of little standing has been recommended by the Government for the top post, revealed Sandip Das Verma, a leading non-resident Oriya (NRO) and an alumnus of NIT. According to sources, Pramod Pradhan, who belongs to the Congress from Rourkela, has been recommended by the Government for the post of chairman along with two other persons.
The sources said three names such as Drona Rath, CMD of MECON and an alumnus of NIT, BN Singh, Managing Director of Rourkela Steel Plant and Pramod Pradhan have been recommended to the President of India. One these names will be picked up for the post.
In his reaction, Das Verma has raised serious doubts over the Government’s sincerity in raising the status of the NIT by recommending the name of a little-known politician for the top post of the premier institution. The NIT’s Board now has two eminent engineers, who are Padmashree and one of them NR Mohanty could have been recommended for the Chairman’s post, said a leading industrialist.
The immediate past chairman was Dr Banshidhar Panda, a top industrialist of the State. Biju Patnaik was also once the chairman of the NIT Board.
It now seems abundantly clear that Orissa is going to miss an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) for the second time. While one after another State is receiving the green signal from the Centre for an IIT, Orissa continues to lag behind.
The Centre on Tuesday announced that it would open a Central university and an IIT in Himachal Pradesh. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told me to announce a Central university and an IIT," said Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram at Shimla. The announcements come ahead of the Assembly elections in that State due in February next.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said opening up of a Central university and an Institute of Technology (IIT) would boost the educational standards in his hill State.
Earlier, in the last week of August, Virbhadra Singh had presented a memorandum to set up a Central university and an IIT in Himachal Pradesh to the Minister of Human Resource Development and the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister had announced on August 15 that there would be eight new IITs in the country.
After Manmohan Singh’s announcement, at least Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana approached him to set up IITs in their respective States. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is yet to finalise whether to ask for up-gradation of an existing engineering college to an IIT or to go in for a new IIT, said sources.
… Unless the Orissa Government takes an early decision, the State will miss the IIT bus once again, said an IITian. And this would seal the fate of the State so far receiving a new Institute of Technology (IIT) in future, he added.
Following is an excerpt on it from Pioneer. (My understanding is that it is not yet an engineering college, but is on its way to become one.)
… former Union Minister Devendra Pradhan.
Inaugurating the first session of the Pabitra Mohan Institute of Technology (PMIT) at Talcher on Tuesday, he said local people are not getting proper employment opportunities as they do not have the required technical education. Pabitra Mohan Institute of Technology, which is named after the great freedom fighter and former Deputy Chief Minister, would solve this problem, he said.
Local MLA Mahesh Sahu also emphasised the need of technical education in the area. He criticised the vested interests who are opposing the establishment of the only private engineering college at Talcher.
Among others, the meeting was addressed by Atul Ku Sahu, Principal, Orissa School of Engineering, Bichhand Pradhan, freedom fighter, LD Nayak, Principal, PMIT, …
The Centre on Tuesday announced it would open a central university and an IIT, besides carrying out an over 100 km railway line project in Himachal Pradesh.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told me to announce a central university, an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), over 100 km Bhanupalli-Bilaspur railway line and extending Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in remaining eight districts of Himachal Pradesh," Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said after launching the "Aam Admi Bima Yojna" here.
The announcements come ahead of the assembly elections in the state due in February next year.
… Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said opening up of a central university and an IIT in the state would lift the educational standards in the hill state.
"The Bhanupalli-Bilaspur broad gauge line has been a long pending demand of the state from the railways. As per the agreement, the Centre would bear 75 per cent of the cost while the remaining 25 per cent would be spent by the state," Singh said.
… the Orissa High Court on Monday directed the State Government to initiate fresh centralised counselling for filling up the seats in the different professional colleges and complete the entire exercise in two weeks.
The single-judge bench of Justice AS Naidu, however, asked the Government and the JEE authorities to declare the total number of seats available in different colleges first and within three days. Students already taken admission would be allowed to exercise their option to switch to available seats of their choice in preferred colleges first and they have to be fixed by JEE in three days after declaration of total seats and this should be followed by the fresh counselling.
The ruling came in response to a batch of writ petitions filed by different college bodies and the Orissa Private Engineering College Association praying for initiation of steps to fill up the seats in the institutions. They submitted that while counselling was on the AICTE granted approval for establishment of new colleges with a combined intake capacity of 240 in each discipline and enhanced seats in different old colleges.
As per norms, 30 percent of the seats were to be filled up by management and AIEEE qualified students by equal share. The rest was to be filled up by JEE qualified students. But despite assurances, the authorities have taken no steps towards filling up the added and enhanced seats.
The petitioners had submitted that AICTE approval was for two years only and the colleges would sustain huge financial loss along with loss of image topped by threat of withdrawal of approval by AICTE during scrutiny. The State Government had earlier and even last year allowed admissions way into October in some institutes but this time it is unyielding, they alleged.
Considering the submissions, the Court observed that discrimination was writ large in the action of authorities and debarred them from taking a different stand this year while allowing admissions to enhanced seats last year.
So as to not cause any prejudice to the students who had already taken admission in different colleges, Justice Naidu said they should be given the chance first to exercise options in seeking switches to colleges or disciplines of their choice.
