Odisha HRD

Anna University takes top slot in research publications

1 comment December 18th, 2008

Each Institute for Nano Science and Technology will cost 100 crore: 3 in India

December 14th, 2008

Higher Educational Institutions in Neighbouring Cities of Orissa (Incomplete List)

• Vidyasagar University

• Indian Institute of Technology

• Indian Statistical Institute
• Indian Institute of Management
• Calcutta University
• Jadavpur University
• Bengal Engineering College (upgraded to be IIEST)
• Rabindra Bharati University
• West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences
• Kolkata National Medical College
• Medical College Kolkata
• RG Kar Medical College
• Nilratan Sirkar Medical College
• (plan on upgrading a state medical college to AIIMS like institution)
• Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
• World Class Central University (National University)
• Ghanikant Choudhury Engineering Science and Technology

• Birla Institute of Technology
• Bisra Agriculture University
• Ranchi University
• Central University
• Indian Institute of Management
• Rajendra Medical College

• National Institute of Technology
• MGM Medical College (under Ranchi University)

• Andhra University
• Andhra Medical College (under Andhra University)
• Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (private)
• Andhra Engineering College under Andhra University (upgraded to be IIEST)
• World Class Central University (National University)

• Govt. Medical College Jagdalpur
• A new state university proposed by Chhattisgarh Government

• Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University
• Indira Gandhi Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya
• Hidayatullah National Law University
• Pandit Sunder Lal Sharma Open University
• Pandit JNM Medical College
• Indira Kala Snageet Viswa Vidyalay
• National Institute of Technology
• Indian Institute of Management
• AIIMS like institution
• IIIT (proposed by NTPC and Central Government)
• Medical University (newly proposed by state Government)
• Kalinga University (private, newly proposed)

• Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanad Technical University
• Bhilai Institute of Technology

• Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) (private, newly proposed)

• Guru Ghsidas University (up graded to Central University)
• Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Science (under Guru Ghasidas Univ)
• Engineering College (under Guru Ghasidas Univ)

1 comment December 10th, 2008

Faculty Positions at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology

http://www.iist. ac.in/IIST/ compRepository/ mediagallery/ recruitment/ recruitment3. html

November 25th, 2008

Curriculum change in Orissa schools likely

The Hindu reported the following.

Teaching in the State schools will no longer remain a one-way affair. The State government is all set to introduce new syllabus and innovative approach of schooling from the next academic session when students will take the lead in classrooms and teachers will play the role of facilitators.

As a first step towards making education interactive, new textbooks would be introduced in Class I, III, VI, and VIII from the next academic session. In the subsequent year students of Class II, IV, VII and IX would get new set of textbooks. In the third year, case of left out classes V and X would be taken up.

1 comment November 21st, 2008

TIFR plans campus in Hyderabad

This is an abstract from Times of India.

The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has decided to set up its campus in the city. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to lay foundation stone for the campus soon. This will be the second campus in the country after Mumbai.

TIFR director Mustansir Barma called on chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on October 12 and presented a proposal to set up the campus during the centenary birth year of its founder Dr Homi J Bhabha.

The TIFR, according to official sources, sought about 210 acres of land at the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) for the campus and has projected an investment of over Rs 2,500 crore over a period of 12-15 years.

NOTE: Andhra Pradesh has done excellent in attracting high quality institution of higher learning. Recently it received  IIT, WCCU (National University),  NIPER, SPA, BITS campus (private),  ISM campus (proposed),  and now a new TIFR campus with 2500 crore investment. Central University Hyderabad, IICT, CCMB and DRDO research Lab have already mentained a nationally high standard in their respective field. With all these facilties coming over, Hyderabad would emerge as top center for higher education and research in India. Like Chief Minister of AP, Orissa CM should be proactive in attracting independent institution like TIFR, BARC, DRDO, IISc, BITS etc  to establish campus in Orissa.

1 comment October 15th, 2008

Centre to send a team to assess proposed IIT sites

Press Trust of India reported the following.

Unhappy with the sites offered by four states for setting up the new IITs, the Centre has decided to make an assessment about the "suitability" of the locations for the elite institutions.

The HRD Ministry has set up a committee, headed by its Additional Secretary Ashok Thakur, which will visit the sites offered by Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh for inspection.

"The committee will visit and ascertain the suitability of the sites. If they do not give convincing reports, states will be asked to offer new sites," a senior HRD Ministry official told PTI.

The other members of the committee are A K Dey, former director of IIT-Bombay, K Narayan Rao, member secretary of AICTE, and the directors of the IITs who have been given the responsibility of mentoring these institutes.

2 comments October 8th, 2008

Academicians demand new Central varsities in backward regions

Press Trust of India reported the following.

The proposed 12 new Central universities, which received the Union Cabinet’s nod on Friday, should be set up in backward regions of the respective states to meet the collective aspirations of people, academicians have said.
Such a move would lead to socio-economic integration of the regions and give the traditionally deprived ones a unique opportunity to compete with confidence at the national level, they said.

The new universities will be set up in Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Orissa and Rajasthan.

Teachers in Jarkhand, Orissa and Rajasthan were especially vociferous in their demand for setting up these universities in backward districts, with a professor of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, stating that such a move would fulfil the long-cherished dream of marginalised people.

"For long, Orissa has been demanding a Central university. Now, that it has got one, it should either come up in Koraput or in the KBK region," he told PTI.

The Orissa government has evinced keen interest to set up the university in Koraput district.

Optimism was also expressed by the teachers about the proposed 374 ‘model colleges’ which would also come up in educationally backward districts of the country.

Teachers’ institute in the states concerned would act as a catalyst in bringing the deprived students to the mainstream education, they said.

October 6th, 2008

UGC pay hike proposal has rider

Times of India reported the following.

As the UGC-pay review committee has recommended over 70 per cent hike in the pay scale of university teachers, the faculty members would be required to put extra efforts in teaching and research.

Apart from taking general classes, the teachers will have to hold tutorials, guide research and carry out co-curricular activities, Prof G K Chadha, the chairman of the committee, said.

"The intention is that at the end of the day, the teacher should feel that he has done justice to his job," he said.

The practice of dual workload — one for directly appointed teachers and another for promoted teachers — in particular is abolished. All teachers in the category should carry out the same prescribed workload.

The committee said institutions should fill the vacant posts on urgent basis and the ban on recruitment should be lifted immediately.

About contract teachers, the committee has said such teachers should be appointed when there is a dire necessity and their qualification and procedure of selection should be same as for a regular teacher.

There will be multi-source evaluation system for judging the performance of university teachers. They are self assessment, assessment by students and assessment by the academic heads.

There will be several assessment parameters like regularity in classroom teaching, holding tutorials, availability to students for consultation, participating in faculty meetings, guiding and carrying out research and participating in academic activities like seminar.

The assessment should be made once a year and should be made available to the teacher concerned. The assessment should be placed before the selection committee at the time of teacher’s promotion, Chadha said.

The UGC should evolve parameters relevant to universities and colleges respectively for carrying out such evaluations uniformly throughout the country.

The eligibility for assistant professorship will be qualifying NET/SET examinations. However, those posses Ph.D degrees will be exempted from NET/SET qualifications, he said.

October 6th, 2008

Panel to identify varsity locations

Howrah News Service reported the following.

A high-powered committee constituted by the Centre is all set to begin state-hopping in order to identify locations for the 16 Central varsities that the UPA government has promised to the country in the Eleventh Plan. While the states have already been identified, now the crucial exercise of identifying the towns or cities where these universities will come up is slated to start soon.

July 3rd, 2008

After NIT Rourkela it’s now KIIT’s turn at number 18

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

… the Synovate survey of the Outlook magazine has put KIIT School of Technology, a constituent of KIIT University in the 18 the position among the top 100 private technical colleges of the country in the same league as prestigious institutes such as BITS of Pilani, PSG College of Technology of Coimbator, BIT of Mesra, Thapar University of Patiala and VIT University of Vellore. It is the only institute from Orissa to feature in this elite list of private engineering colleges.

The survey, which conducted every year to reveal the names of 100 topmost colleges of the country, focuses on five basic parameters such as intellectual capital, pedagogic system, industry interface, infrastructure and facilities and placements. However, while most of the colleges figuring in the list have a history of 50 to 100 years, KIIT is only ten- years-old. KIIT has substantially improved its rank this year compared to the previous years. It was ranked 37th in 2007 and 100th in the year before.

1 comment June 21st, 2008

Second central university in Tamil Nadu to start functioning from this year: Orissa is far behind

The Hindu reported the following.

The Central University, Tiruvarur, will begin functioning from this year.

Since the Centre has come forward to commence the operations of the university, the government will identify temporary buildings to locate the university.

………..it was decided that expeditious action would be taken to identify and allot land to the Central University in Coimbatore and the Indian Institute of Management in Tiruchi.

NOTE: Orissa Govt. has not yet taken any initiative for the proposed second central university in the state. It seems Orissa Govt. is far behind regarding the second central university in the state compared to other states.

5 comments June 20th, 2008

IIMC will be upgraded as an International Media University

PIB press releases the following.

Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Shri P. R. Dasmunsi has said that ‘I am very happy to announce that we have decided to upgrade the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) as an International Media University. The Planning Commission has already approved the proposal and my Ministry is working to make this Institute into a world class media education, training and research University, by an Act of Parliament. This will fulfill the growing demand of the media industry to provide more trained and qualified professionals. He was delivering the convocation address at IIMC here today.’

NOTE: I am not sure about fate of IIMC Dhenkanal. In another development, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University has advertised for Vice-Chancellor post.

1 comment June 12th, 2008

Mathematics Institute to come up as a world class institution

The Pioneer reported the following.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the Institute of Mathematics and Application would be made a world class institute. "The new buildings of the institute and other infrastructure would be ready within one month," he said.
 
Patnaik said this while distributing prizes to the winners of the regional mathematic Olympiads in a glittering function at Jaydev Bhawan. "Mathematics plays an immense role in development of science and technology," he said, adding that the Mathematics Institute should play a pro-active role in spreading the knowledge of mathematics in the tribal dominated areas. "More tribals would come up to take up mathematics as a subject," he said.
 
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the eminent mathematician Professor Gokulananda Das. Science and Technology Minister Duryodhana Majhi, Professor Venkata Chela of Indian Science and Technology, Bangalore also delivered their speeches. Director of the Institute Professor Swadhin Patnaik delivered the welcome speech.
 
The Chief Minister gave away first prizes to Debakanta Mallick (1st) Anup Biswanth Dixit (2nd) of Bhubaneswar, Siddharth Satpahty ( 3rd) and Abinash Das (4th)

3 comments June 12th, 2008

IIT Bombay mentoring IIT Indore?

Update: As per Economic Times, IIT Bombay has expressed its inability to mentor the IIT in Indore this year as it is already mentoring IIT Gandhinagar.

Business standard reported the following.

……the human resource development ministry is planning to do away with the "society" system for the new IITs to hasten the process.

To award degrees, a body must be a university that is created under the central or state legislature. IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) were created by a special Act of Parliament permitting them to award diplomas. They existed as "societies" and were later converted into an institute of national importance by calling them IITs and IIMs.

By doing away with the "society" requirement, the ministry can directly incorporate the new institutions into the IIT Act and declare them institutes of national importance, equivalent to universities capable of awarding degrees.

…….IIT Bombay will be mentoring two new IITs to come up in Gujarat and Indore, while IIT-Kharagpur will be mentoring IIT-Orissa for three years.

12 comments June 6th, 2008

Undergraduate admission at national university of singapore for higher secondary student

Admissions News

Applications to all nationalities presenting the Singapore-Cambridge GCE A Level qualification has opened. For more inform IB Diploma holders should apply for admission from 1 February to 1 April 2008. Application for NUS Undergraduate Scholarships is now open.  For international applicants with international qualifications, admission exercise opened on 15 October 2007. Application deadline for Category D applicants (eg Indian Standard 12) have been extended. To apply, please click here [Thanks to Mr Trilochan Patra for the information]

March 11th, 2008