Author Archive

PHFI to establish a public health training center in Bhubaneswar – Sambada. Why not an IIPH?

 

April 4th, 2008

MOU for five textile training centers

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

the State Government and Apparel Export Promotion Council on Thursday signed an MoU to set up apparel training and design centres.

As per the MoU, five satellite centres would be set up at Berhampur, Rourkela, Baripada, Sambalpur and Cuttack. Three centres at Berhampur, Baripada and Rourkela would start on 31st May, 2008. The two other centres at Cuttak and Sambalpur will be taken up in the next phase.

As per the scheme, the initial capital expenditure of Rs 30 lakh for setting up the institution will be provided by State Government. The assistance will come from the State Employment Mission which works with the objective of skill generation for creating employability among rural and urban youths. The Government will also make available for the Centre floor area of 5,500- 7,500 sq feet suitable for undertaking training and housing equipments. The AEPC will be responsible for other recurring expense for running the institutions including recruitment of personnel and other staffs as well as the day-to-day.

The APEC will be responsible for other recurring expenses for running institution including recruitment of personnel and other staffs as well as the day a to day management. In selection of trainees, local candidates will be given priority and selection will be made from the candidates of Orissa only. These five centres will able to generate about 5,000- 6,000 employment in the garment sector only and 20,00 -26,000 over the 11th plan period.

1 comment April 4th, 2008

ASBM to offer PG courses in investment portfolio

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

Leading business weekly ‘Dalal Street Investment Journal’ (DSIJ) has zeroed in on city-based Asian School of Business Management to launch a post-graduate programme in investment portfolio management, the first of its kind in the country.

The journal, owned by Ramdeo Media Enterprises, will provide the course content and other expertise. ASBM … Both the organisations signed an MoU on Thursday to launch the course. It would first be offered in ASBM’s upcoming Hyderabad campus and later on here.

… the magazine had approached ASBM to leverage on its core strength and run the programme which would eventually meet the increasing demand for qualified professionals in the expanding equity market. A recent report by the journal had, in fact, highlighted the acute shortage of managers in handling the swelling base of investment portfolio.

Signing the agreement, director (marketing) Deepak Jhangiani too highlighted the manifold growth of the investment community in the country which has expanded to the tune of 3.2 million within a short period.

As per prediction, about 1,000 mutual fund companies are expected to come up in the subcontinent. The course will stretch over 18 months and have six months of internship programme in investment firms.

April 4th, 2008

Excerpts from “The Higher Educational Transformation of China and Its Global Implications”

Following are some excerpts from the paper "The Higher Educational Transformation of China and Its Global Implications" by Yao Li, John Whalley, Shunming Zhang, Xiliang Zhao.

… The number of undergraduate and graduate students in China has been grown at approximately 30% per year since 1999, and the number of graduates at all levels of higher education in China has approximately quadrupled in the last 6 years.

… Much of the increased spending is focused on elite universities, and new academic contracts differ sharply from earlier ones, with no tenure and annual publication quotas often used.

… The educational transformation underway in China seemingly differs from that in other low wage economies at either similar or earlier stages of development, in focusing heavily on tertiary education rather than on primary or secondary (unlike, say, India).

… A further feature of recent Chinese higher educational policy has been both to promote so-called "elite" universities and also to consolidate other universities and reduce their numbers.

…  The focus of policy is to elevate a small number of Chinese universities to world class status, and both strengthen them and make them bigger.

… In many of China’s major cities there has also been consolidation of universities, with, say, 4 or 5 small universities in the city consolidated into a large single entity as a way of improving their ranking.

… For example, Beijing Medical University was incorporated into Peking University and was formally renamed Faculty of Health Science,
Peking University in 2000. Eventually, the Central Arts and Design College was incorporated into Tsinghua University and was renamed Faculty of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University in 1999.

… institutions of high education in China are now subject to extraordinary pressures to upgrade themselves in terms of objective rankings. High priority is placed on international rankings taken as publications in international journals, citations, and international cooperation.

… It is now accepted as important for universities and related institutions to achieve publication in journals of good ranking and what is generated by publication citations counts equally for Chinese scholars in appointment, maintenance of position, and promotion.

… It is not uncommon for an annual target of three international publications to be set for faculty members, with termination of
employment to occur on non fulfillment.

… The primary stress on education attainment is on traditional academic disciplines, especially sciences, but social sciences and business also enter.

… There are three separate sources–government funds, commercial income fiom university-owned companies and entities, tuition and other educational charges such as fees paid by students and parents, …

… In 1998 under a special "985" I’roject,l4 10 of China’s leading universities were given three-year grants in excess of 30 billion RMB (current price) for quality improvements (Wang, 2002). Included in the first round of 985 Project grants were Peking, Tsinghua, Fudan, Zhejiang, and Nanjing Universities. l5 Peklng and Tsinghua universities, the top two ranked institutions, each received 1.8 billion RMB. Afterwards, the Ministry of Education cooperated with provincial or municipal governments and other departments to also develop Shanghai Jiaotong University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Science and Technology University of China and Harbin Industry University …

… In addition to government funding, higher education institutions in China, also generate significant support by engaging in commercial activities. These include companies and other entities owned by the institutions and which the institutions operate.

… Table 9: Education funding for elite universities in China (2004)

… The main tasks for the higher educational development strategy in the 1 lth 5-Year Plan are as follows. The gross enrollment rate of higher education is to reach 25% of each entering age cohort by 2010 and the total enrollment of higher education is to hit 30 million.

… The "211 Projects" and "985 Project" are to be continued, with an emphasis on technology innovation, cultivating talents with creativity, and improving the capacity for self-innovation, so that top universities in China become an important force in an increasingly innovative nation.

… The educational component of the llth 5-Year Plan is clear in providing for large injections of funds into China’s tertiary educational system. Education is a major focus over the 5 year period of the plan, with the proportion of education expenditures to GDP increasing to 4% in 2010, from 3.4% in 2002. Much of the additional spending is focused on the elite universities, a group of around 20 universities in China, which are thought to have the best students and the capability to grow and mature into major global educational institutions which are comparable to those in the OECD. The research component of university activities is also seen as a central element in generating new ideas and eventually process and production methods which will improve profitability. Educational improvement in both research and student generation is thus seen as a central element of a continued high Chinese growth process.

… The prime emphasis which is now placed on international publications in China has already resulted in large increases in paper submissions to international journals and paper submissions are likely to grow further in the next few years. According to a recent study "Key Figures 2007 on Science, Technology and Innovation", China is now one of the largest producers of scientific output as measured by its share in the world total of peer reviewed scientific articles.

… Evaluated by the most frequently cited papers, China is ranked seventh, lower than South Korea, but still higher than other large developing economies, such as India and Brazil.

… The contractual arrangements in universities in China are a further element of China’s educational transformation, and portend future global change.

… , the tenure system for professors in universities and colleges has been changed significantly. The first changes were made by Peking University in reforming its deep-rooted academic tenure system, and this was followed by other Chinese elite universities. These reforms were implemented in February 2004. Taking Pelung University as an example, the reforms are that only professors enjoy lifelong employment, and the university does not offer tenured positions to associate professors, lecturers and assistant professors. Associate professors in arts and sciences and lecturers in all subjects are offered employment contracts up to 12 years. If associate professors and lecturers fail in their promotions after appraisal and examination of their academic attainments within the contracted period, they are dismissed.

… It is now common for researchers and scholars in many Chinese universities to receive only 3 year contracts and these contracts differ sharply by individual circumstance. And individuals receiving contracts are often given quotas in terms of the number of the publications in designated journals which should be attained within a limited period of time. It is not uncommon for these quotas to specify 3 papers per year in international journals, although what is accepted as an international journal varies sharply from institute to institute.

April 3rd, 2008

ICAR Bio-safety level 3 animal lab near Jatni

Following is an excerpt from a report in Kalinga Times.

A high security laboratory, which would be one of its kind in Southeast Asia, will be set up in Orissa this year to fight foot and mouth disease that affects about 470 million domestic livestock annually.

"The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous national organisation under the central government, recently approved the establishment of the laboratory at Jatani on the outskirt of the capital city Bhubaneswar," director of the state animal husbandry department Bishnupada Sethi told IANS Sunday.

It is going to be the first such centre of India and one of its kind in Southeast Asia with the Bio Safety Level (3+) facilities which will work for proper control and containment of virulent, pathogenic and mutagenic foot and mouth disease viruses, he said.

Bio-safety Level 3 facility expands the capability of researchers to conduct research on potential viral agents that do not currently have vaccines or therapies.

… People working in laboratory wear special protective suits with filtered air supply and work within airtight cabinetry.

Foot and mouth disease is endemic in India. It is present almost in all parts of the country and occurs round the year. It also hits free-living and captive ungulates and elephants.

… The disease samples will be received from the entire country as well as from abroad for proper identification and characterisation of the biological pathogen that caused the disease.

It will also serve as a repository unit for various serotypes – a grouping of viruses of the foot and mouth disease, Sethi said.

The research will help in manufacturing of foot and mouth disease vaccine through proper inclusion of emerging strains of concerned virus, he added.

… The state government has already identified an area of 116.325 acres located 25 km away from the state capital to be given to ICAR for the laboratory.

The centre, which will also serve as a referral laboratory for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), will be more technologically advanced than the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, said B. Patnaik, a scientist.

April 1st, 2008

Samaja editorial on center announcing an IIT for Orissa

2 comments April 1st, 2008

DTET Orissa’s diploma entrance test: Ad in Samaja

61 comments April 1st, 2008

MHRD presentation to the parliamentary standing committee: PIB

See http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36999.

March 31st, 2008

NITs and IIESTs

The 11th plan intends to establish 10 NITs. Following is a list of the existing 20 NITs and the 5 4 proposed IIESTs which is proposed to be part of the NIT act. (IT BHU, which was earlier proposed to be an IIEST, is now slated to become an IIT.)

  1.   Andhra Pradesh: NIT Warangal, IIEST Visakhapatnam (Andhra Univ. Eng. College), IIEST Hyderabad (Osmania Univ. Eng. College)
  2.     Assam and 7 other north-eastern states: NIT Silchar
    1. Arunachal Pradesh:
    2. Manipur:
    3. Meghalaya:
    4. Mizoram:
    5. Nagaland:
    6. Sikkim:
    7. Tripura: NIT Tripura
  3.    Bihar: NIT Patna 
  4.   Chhattisgarh: NIT Raipur
  5.   Goa:
  6.   Gujarat: NIT Surat
  7.   Haryana: NIT Kurukshetra
  8.   Himachal Pradesh: NIT Hamirpur   
  9. Jammu and Kashmir: NIT Srinagar
  10.     Jharkhand: NIT Jamshedpur 
  11.     Karnataka:  NIT Surathkal
  12.     Kerala: NIT Calicut, IIEST Kochi (CUSAT) 
  13.     Madhya Pradesh: NIT Bhopal
  14.     Maharashtra: NIT Nagpur 
  15.     Orissa: NIT Rourkela
  16.     Punjab: NIT Jallandhar
  17.    Rajasthan: NIT Jaipur
  18.     Tamil Nadu: NIT Trichy 
  19.     Uttarakhand: 
  20.     Uttar Pradesh: NIT Allahabad 
  21.     West Bengal: NIT Durgapur, IIEST Howrah (BESU) 

1 comment March 31st, 2008

Minister Chandrasekhar Sahu’s take on the IIT and world class central university

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

Sahu claimed that the sanction of two central institutes was possible because of his persistent demand for an IIT in a backward but mineral-rich State like Orissa. The IIT will be established with an estimated cost of Rs 760 crore and the Central University Rs 1,000 crore.

4 comments March 30th, 2008

Coverage of Vedanta University in the international media

Vedanta University is covered in major news papers and magazines across the world:

Vedanta University master plan has won awards

March 30th, 2008

Glimpse of GOI’s plan for attracting good faculty to top institutes and central universities

Following is an excerpt from Economic Times.

Giving details of the measures, Secretary Higher Education R P Agarwal said Indians teaching abroad will be offered Ramanujan fellowship.

The fellowship would offer Rs 5 lakh for five years as research grant to them. Apart from this, they would be given a pay package of Rs 60,000 that would now be revised keeping the sixth pay commission in mind.

The acclaimed faculty teaching in India would be given the Bose fellowship. There would also be grants for paper presentation for all the faculty members, Agarwal said.

To strengthen the science stream, the research grant in the field would be increased.

"In India, only 2.9 per cent people are into research. Where as in US the percentage is 15 and in UK the figure is 25 per cent. Canada tops the list with 36 per cent and all these research works are done through their university system only in these countries," Agarwal added.

March 29th, 2008

Prof. L. M. Patnaik is the new VC of Defense Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36987.

Professor L.M. Patnaik today took over as the Vice Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune. Sixty-one year old Prof. Patnaik served as a Professor with the Department of Computer Science and Automation at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore since July 1986 before taking over the new assignment.

A doctorate in Computer Systems and Architecture, Prof. Patnaik brings with him a rich experience of 37 years at the IIS, Bangalore in Parallel and Distributed Computing, Computer Architecture, CAD of VLSI Systems, Theoretical Computer Science, Real-Time Systems, Soft Computing and Computational Neuroscience. He has published over 600 papers in international journals and conference proceedings and has been intimately involved in a large number of government-sponsored research projects. Besides Prof. Patnaik is a co-author of ten books in the areas of VLSI System Design and Parallel Computing. He has also been the President of the Advanced Computing and Communications Society and the Computational Intelligence Society of India.

Prof. Patnaik has won several awards and laurels including the Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research Award in 1989, the Fourth Sir C V Raman Memorial Lecture Award in 2000, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru National Award for Engineering and Technology in 1999, the FICCI Award for Innovation in Material Science, Applied Research and Space Science for 2001-2002 and the Indian Science Congress Association’s Srinivasa Ramanujan Birth Centenary Award for 2007-2008.

1 comment March 28th, 2008

State-wise exisiting and proposed marquee institutes and central universities

Below we list the existing the existing IITs (7), IISc (1), IISERs(5)/NISER(1), IIMs(6), Central Universities and the proposed new ones (9 IITs, 7 IIMs, 14 world class central univs -WCCU, 16 central univs). (We also list a few other marquee institutions.) The recently established ones are in green and the  new ones are in red.

  • 28 States               
    1.     Andhra Pradesh: CU Hyderabad, CU: Maulana Azad National Urdu Univ, CU – CIEFL; Workers Technical University – CU, IIT in Hyderabad, WCCU Vizag Kadapa Vizag
    2.     Assam and 7 other north-eastern states: CU: Assam University, CU: Tezpur University, IIT  Guwahati, WCCU GUwahati
      1. Arunachal Pradesh: CU
      2. Manipur: Central Agricultural University – Imphal, CU: Manipur University
      3. Meghalaya: CU – NEHU Shillong, IIM Shillong
      4. Mizoram: CU – Mizoram University Aizawl
      5. Nagaland: CU – Nagaland University
      6. Sikkim: CU – Sikkim University
      7. Tripura: CU – Tripura University
    3.     Bihar: IIT in Patna, WCCU Patna, CU
    4.     Chhattisgarh: IIM (Raipur), CU – Guru Ghasidas University Bilaspur
    5.     Goa: CU- Goa University
    6.     Gujarat: IIM Ahmedabad, IIT, WCCU Gandhinagar, CU
    7.     Haryana: IIM, CU
    8.     Himachal Pradesh: IIT, CU
    9.     Jammu and Kashmir: IIM, CU
    10.     Jharkhand: ISM Dhanbad, IIM, CU
    11.     Karnataka: IISc Bangalore, IIM Bangalore, WCCU Mysore, CU
    12.     Kerala: IIM Kozhikode, IISER Trivendrum, IIST Trivendrum, WCCU Kochi, CU
    13.     Madhya Pradesh: IIM Indore, IISER Bhopal, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University – Amarkantak, IIT in Indore, WCCU Bhopal, CU – Hari Singh Gaur University in Sagar
    14.     Maharashtra: CU: Mahatma Gandhi Antarashtriya Hindi Univ. Wardha,  IIT Bombay, IISER Pune,  WCCU Pune,
    15.     Orissa: NISER Bhubaneswar, IIT, WCCU Bhubaneswar, CU
    16.     Punjab: IISER Mohali,  IIT, WCCU Amritsar, CU
    17.     Rajasthan: IIT, WCCU Jaipur, CU
    18.     Tamil Nadu: IIT Madras, CU – Indian Maritime University, IIM Trichy, WCCU Coimbatore, CU
    19.     Uttarakhand: IIT Roorkee, IIM, CU
    20.     Uttar Pradesh: CU- AMU, CU – Allahabad University, CU – BHU, CU – Ambedkar Univ Lucknow, IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow, RGIPT, Rae Bareilly, IT BHU -> IIT , WCCU Noida
    21.     West Bengal: CU – Viswa Bharati University Shantiniketan,  IIT Kharagapur, IIM Calcutta, IISER Kolkata, WCCU Kolkata

             

  •  Union Territories        
    1.      Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    2.     Chandigarh
    3.     Dadra and Nagar Haveli
    4.     Daman and Diu
    5.     Delhi: IIT Delhi, CU: Delhi University, CU: JNU, CU: IGNOU, CU: Jamia Milia Islamia
    6.     Lakshadweep
    7.     Puducherry: CU – Pondicherry University

5 comments March 28th, 2008

IIT in Orissa, a world class central university and another central university (hopefully in KBK) announced by the center : PIB

Following is from a PIB press release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36955.

PRESS NOTE – STATES IDENTIFIED FOR LOCATING NEW CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE 11TH FIVE YEAR PLAN

11:55 IST

The 11th Five Year Plan, endorsed by the National Development Council in December, 2007, envisages, inter-alia, establishment of the following new higher education institutions in the Central sector:

A          Technical Education Institutions

·         8 Indian Institutes of Technology

·         7 Indian Institutes of Management

B          Central Universities

·         14  Universities aiming at world class standards

·         16  Universities in States which do not have a Central University at present

 

2.         Out of the above new institutions, location decisions had already been taken in the case of 4 IITs and one IIM. Hon’ble Prime Minister has since approved the proposals made by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, for the location of the remaining institutions as per the details given below.

Location of new IITs/ IIMs.

3.         Location of 4 IITs  (in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh),  and one IIM (at Shillong) have already been announced. The Central Government has now decided to locate the remaining 4 IITs and 6 IIMs in the following States :–

IITs –  Orissa, Madhya Pradesh (Indore), Gujarat and  Punjab

 IIMs –    Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Uttarakhand and Haryana In addition, it is also proposed to convert the Institute of Technology of the Banaras Hindu University   into an IIT.  Admission to this Institute is already based on the  IIT – Joint Entrance Examination.

Location of 14 World Class Universities

4.         As regards 14 Central Universities aiming at  world class standards, it has been considered necessary that these are located in or near selected large cities which would automatically have the kind of connectivity and infrastructure  which such universities would need.  Accordingly, it has been decided  to locate one such University in each of the 14 States/Region  as shown  in the  enclosed List, and to request concerned State Governments to identify adequate land in or near the  selected  cities.

Location of 16 Central Universities in Uncovered States        

5.         16 States which do not have a  Central University at present, and which will get one  Central University each  in the  11th Plan are  Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa.   Of these, in three States, existing State Universities will be taken over by the Central Government and converted into Central Universities. These   three Universities are   Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar (in Madhya Pradesh), Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur (in Chhattisgarh), and Goa University.

6.         Establishment of IITs, IIMs and Central Universities in the above States is subject to State Governments offering adequate   land at suitable locations, free of cost, for the purpose.  Each of the concerned State Government is being requested to offer land accordingly.  Actual establishment of these institutions would however depend, among other things, on how quickly the concerned State Governments respond  by allotting adequate land at suitable locations.

State-wise List of Cities Identified for locating 14 Central Universities during the  XIth Plan  which would aim to achieve  world class  standards

State                                        City

1.         Maharashtra                  –          Pune

2.         West Bengal                 –           Kolkata

3.         Tamil Nadu                    –           Coimbatore

4.         Karnataka                     –           Mysore

5.         Andhra Pradesh             –           Vishakapatanam

6.         Gujarat                          –           Gandhinagar

7.         Rajasthan                      –           Jaipur

8.         Bihar                             –           Patna

9.         Madhya Pradesh            –           Bhopal

10.        Kerala                           –           Kochi

11.        Punjab                          –           Amritsar

12.        Orissa                           –           Bhubaneshwar

13.        Uttar Padesh                 –           Greater NOIDA

14.        North Eastern Region  –  Guwahati

                                                            …..

Department of Higher Education, Ministry of HRD

PIB, New Delhi; Chatra 08, 1930,March 28, 2008

HB/VL/SB/conference28.3

5 comments March 28th, 2008

National Research Institute of Ayurveda Drug Development (NRIADD) to establish its complex in Bhubaneswar

Following is an excerpt from a news report in New Indian Express.

The National Research Institute of Ayurveda Drug Development (NRIADD) would establish its own complex over three acres of land in the city.

… The institute was earlier functioning as the Central Research Institute (Ayurveda). Das, speaking on the occasion, stressed the importance of standardisation of medical research. She said that ayurvedic research should be upgraded by application of latest knowledge and should be linked to modern medical sciences for advancement.

On the goals of the institute, she said, it should develop into a centre of excellence in ayurveda where integrated team approach by the staff is important.

3 comments March 27th, 2008

Next Posts Previous Posts

Calendar

April 2025
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  

Posts by Month

Links

Posts by Category