Following is excerpted from a report in tathya.in.
- With a heritage of 150 years, it has a vision to grow as a Knowledge Center for the South East Asia, with 25000 residents in campus, by 2025 AD.
- Mr. Chhotray, who joined as the first Vice Chancellor of the Ravenshaw University on 15 November, two years ago obtained UGC approval in a record time of 6 months.
- Ravenshaw has also been restructured into eight Schools of Studies and several Centers on the model of JNU.
- … the new administration has introduced semester system of course work, with flexibility in choice of subjects.
- The university has ensured uninterrupted academic sessions, timely results and excellence in performance.
- Ravenshaw has now opened up 153 new faculty positions for which 6500 applications have been received on line.
- Ravenshaw has started its flagship MBA program from the current year in collaboration with XIMB, Bhubaneshwar.
- In collaboration with ICICI Bank, Ravenshaw has launched a PG Diploma Course in Banking and Insurance Management.
- Activities have been intensified for establishment of School of Aviation Management, jointly with the University of Kremb, Vienna, School of Foreign Languages and Master’s Course in Development Management.
- Initiative for establishment of the Center for Contemporary Music, with a large scale of Music Library and Department of Sound, Center for Understanding Orissa and Spoken English Portfolio is yielding results.
- Government of India has funded Ravenshaw for making the first barrier free University in the State and introducing disability studies.
- Ministry of Tourism has consented to set up a School of Hospitality & Hotel Management.
- Ministry of Communication & IT are considering a project for Language Technology Center, and Ministry of Culture will support a Conservation and Documentation Cell in the Ravenshaw Library.
- The Ministry of External Affairs has set up a Regional Centre for ICCR inside the Ravenshaw Campus and the Ministry of I & B have licensed Ravenshaw to run a FM Channel, as ‘Ravenshaw Radio’.
- In the meantime the State Government has cleared the project for a second campus, ‘Ravenshaw II’, by granting 150 acres of prime land in Cuttack free of cost.
- On the co-curricular front, Ravenshaw has floated 30 forums for students including the Ravenshaw Film Society, and has taken measures to set up Art Centre, Heritage Museum, and Ravenshaw Choir, said sources.
- Writing of the History of Ravenshaw College (1868-2006), has been commissioned.
- Under the Project ‘Ravenshaw -200’, two hundred eminent and elderly Ravenshavians are being captured in camera while reminiscencing their college days, to create a base of oral history.
- Ravenshaw has reinstituted many prestigious events like ‘Borasambar Debate’ after decades of discontinuance.
- Ravenshaw has proposed to set up a publication enterprise, the Ravenshaw University Press (RUP), for serious academic works, as well as peer reviewed research journals.
- It is also negotiating with the Ginger Group of Hotels for a 100 room unit as a public private partnership and utilize a part of the facility as a University Guest House for visiting faculties.
November 17th, 2008
Thanks to Abi for the tip.
As shown below, about $2 Billion Australian Dollar is being spent by about 60,000 Indians for their higher education in Australia. If 1/3rd of it is picked up by Vedanta University then they will be in great shape.
November 16th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in Statesman.
Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the 28th store of Oxford Bookstore here today. The store has a huge collection of books relating to the state, its history and culture from Indian and international publishing houses.
In addition to the popular sections of fiction, literature, travel, and cookery, there are sections dealing with health, yoga, tantra and reiki. The New Age section includes books on religion, children, art and architecture, business, Indians writing in English, reference, vernaculars and nature. A collection of Indian and International magazines is also available at the store.
It is in a 1500 sq ft area and located in Pal Heights which is 500 mts north of the Jayadev Vihar – NH 5 crossing and 500 mts from many other hotels (Mayfair Lagoon, Swosti plaza and Ginger.)
November 15th, 2008
The eligibility criteria has been made to discourage multi-year preparation for IIT JEE. To be eligible for IIT JEE 2009 students must NOT have passed their qualifying exam before Oct 1, 2007 and must not have taken admission to an IIT/IT-BHU/ISMU in the past by paying full fees. They must also have secured at least 60% in their qualifying exam. See details at the IIT JEE 2009 sites such as at IIT Guwahati.
November 10th, 2008
The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri area will have 25 universities. Following is a slide on it from my presentation at the Invest India Symposium.
The color coding in the above slides is as follows:
- Red – Central govt funded universities/institutes
- Navy Blue: State govt. funded universities
- Light blue: PPP
- Green: Privately created universities and deemed universities
- Orange: Mention about colleges that are part of various universities
To compare this with the universities in the major metropolitan areas of the US and the state of California, please see:
- Boston: 18 four year colleges and universities in the city and 24 in the surrounding areas, some listed twice as they have campuses in the city as well as in the surrounding areas.
- New York:83 colleges and universities in New York City, not counting the 22 individual colleges of CUNY.
- Los Angeles:
- Chicago: 43 colleges and universities
- California
The reason we use California as a reference point is that the population of California (34,600,463 in 2001) is close to the population of Orissa (2001: 36,804,660).
November 8th, 2008
The client list at http://www.paulien.com/client_list.htm lists Vedanta University. The following from their "Services" page explains what they do:
Comprehensive Planning
Paulien & Associates can provide detailed master planning for campuses, defining capital improvements needs through the analysis of enrollment goals, academic program mix, and detailed space needs projections.
With the involvement of your staff, we organize and develop strategic plans, helping assure the feasibility and achievement of long-range goals and objectives. We achieve this through environment scanning, community needs analysis and peer institution comparisons.
We can also help you determine, justify and plan for future enrollment demands, working through the master planning process to give you realistic methods for forecasting and adjusting enrollment and program projections.
Facilities and Space Analysis
Paulien & Associates can conduct academic space needs assessments through sophisticated research, analysis and forecasting techniques. From data gathered on course enrollment, students, staff and facilities, we develop guidelines for critical space and facility decisions. This can be used for reallocations of space among campus departments, remodeling to change the uses of certain space, and justification (or challenge) of significant amounts of proposed space. Guideline systems are equally effective for growing or shrinking enrollment conditions.
We can provide in-depth facilities program plans, including detailed pre-architectural planning data and an analysis of desirable space adjacencies and project costs. These plans could detail the specific facilities needs for a department or area targeted for development or renovation. They could also provide the cost documentation often required prior to design and construction.
We can prepare detailed facility utilization studies, including numerical and graphical representations of classroom and laboratory use by building, time of day and size of room, as well as classroom and laboratory use by department. Our analysis can help pinpoint the size and type of rooms most often used and those rooms where additional use is feasible.
This suggests that Vedanta University is getting closer to implementation. There is also news from Vedanta sources that they have also hired the following two agencies to help in establishing Vedanta University medical college and hospital.
November 8th, 2008
I have been watching and collecting various reports on Vedanta University since an MOU was signed about it with the Orissa government. (See my collection here and here and also Vedanta University’s web page.)
After reading about the forced stoppage of the initiation of the building of Vedanta University, I thought I would write about my perspective on Vedanta University.
May I request you to bear with me on my thoughts on Vedanta University and read till the end of this document, even if you partly or fully disagree with me.
I think Vedanta University is a unique opportunity for Orissa and if we mess it up we will regret for ever and our future generation will not forgive us for this.
Why do I say that?
First I would urge you to watch the following two short videos and an audio interview available in the web:
I know many of you have a lot of concerns and red flags about this endeavor and some of these concerns have been expressed in various Orissa newspapers. Let me try to address some of them based on my knowledge.
Q 1: If many top universities are built on much less land, such as Harvard University, which is built only on 380 acres, why does Vedanta University need so much land. (It has now come down from 8000 acres to 6270 acres, but that is still quite large. 6270 acres is 25.374 sq km)
Answer 1: Let us look at the layout below.
The whole thing is 8000 acres. With the airport part gone it is 6270 acres. The ellipse like main university (see picture below) part looks to be about 2000 acres and comparable to the size of IIT Kharagpur which is of 2100 acres but has only 6625 students . Note that IIT Bhubaneswar is being given 890 acres. So Vedanta University’s 2000 acres for 100,000 students is a very good use of land. Please watch the youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3B7L1S_MAY&fmt8 to get an idea how the buildings are proposed to be quite close to each other with very creative landscaping.
Note that Harvard University with 380 acres supports 19,955 students. So Vedanta University proposing 5 times Harvard’s land for 5 times Harvard’s acreage is not unreasonable.
Q 2: So if the main part of the Vedanta university is only about 2000 acres, what happens to the remaining 6270-2000= 4270 acres.
Answer 2: As is evident from the picture in the previous page there are 8 townships planned for those.
Q 3: If only 2000 acres goes to the university and 4270 acres goes to the townships, why not just focus on the university and ignore the township?
Answer 3: The townships are very important for making Vedanta University a top university at the level of Stanford and Harvard. Following is the reasoning behind it.
its income and expenses are as follows:
Income (2006-07): 3.21 Billion USD
Expenses (2006-07): 3.17 Billion USD
Total Endowment (June 30, 2007): 34.912 Billion USD
From Stanford University annual report at
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/businessaffairs/cgi-bin/downloadpdf_v3.php?file=AnnualReport_2007.pdf
its income and expenses for 2006-07 are as follows.
Income (2006-07): 3.2 Billion
Expenses (2006-07): 2.9 Billion USD
Total endowment (Aug 31, 2007): 17.2 Billion USD
In India the operating expenses for IISc Bangalore, the maximum among the IITs and IISc, in the last budget (item 41 of the Higher education budget) is 130 (plan) + 91 (non-plan) = Rs 221 crores. Rs 70 crore of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.
For operating Vedanta University at the world class level a lot of money will be required. My guess would be that it will be somewhere in between the expenses at Harvard-Stanford ($2.9-$3.17 Billion = about Rs 15,000 crores) and at IISc Bangalore (221 crores). A good guess is that it will be around Rs 1000-1500 crores.
Mr. Agarwal has only pledged 1 Billion USD and most of it will go into just construction. The student tuition fees will not be enough to cover the Rs 1000-1500 crores needed to run the university.
In case of Harvard only 20% comes from student tuition and the student tuition mostly ranges from 30,000 USD/year to 40,000 USD/year. (This is Rs. 15 lakh/year – Rs. 20 lakh/year)
Vedanta University will not be able to charge that outside of medical students.
So there has to be other sources of money beyond the student tuition.
Since Vedanta University does not have an endowment, where will the additional money come from?
My guess is that it will come from the townships in the remaining 4270 acres.
Thus, I consider the townships to be crucial in achieving the dream of making Vedanta University a top world class university. (However we need to make sure that the money earned from the townships is put into an endowment for Vedanta University.)
If there was no township, I would be very suspicious of Vedanta University’s claim that it will be a top world class university, as then it is not clear where the money would come from. (In this regard one must note that the best private institute in India, BITS Pilani, is nowhere in the world rankings. For that matter the IITs are quite low in the world rankings. What Vedanta University is aspiring is way above any existing institute in India and the existing financial model in private institutes such as BITS Pilani will not achieve what Vedanta University is aiming for.)
Q 4: So you are saying township is a crucial aspect of Vedanta University and 4270 acres goes towards that and only 2000 acres goes towards Vedanta University. Why do not then the Vedanta University officials make the township part clear?
Answer 4: They have.
If one goes to their web page they clearly say: "The campus will be developed in a phased manner to nurture a vibrant university township with a population of more than 500,000."
Q 5: Is there a top university which is similar to Vedanta University + associated townships in terms of land requirements.
Q 6: Is Vedanta University’s goal of 100,000 students reasonable.
Answer 6: Following are some large universities in the USA and their student size in Autumn 2007 as obtained from http://www.osu.edu/osutoday/stuinfo.php#enroll_large .
|
|
Student size
|
Times rank
|
SJT Rank
|
|
The Ohio State University
|
52,568
|
121
|
62
|
|
Arizona State University, Main Campus
|
51,481
|
260
|
93
|
|
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
|
50,833
|
87
|
28
|
|
University of Florida
|
50,576
|
165
|
58
|
|
University of Texas, Austin
|
50,201
|
70
|
39
|
|
Texas A&M University, College Station
|
46,542
|
137
|
88
|
|
Michigan State University
|
46,045
|
203
|
83
|
|
Penn State University
|
43,232
|
105
|
42
|
|
University of Wisconsin, Madison
|
42,041
|
55
|
17
|
|
University of Illinois, Urbana
|
41,135
|
71
|
26
|
They are all pretty good universities, all of them ranked in the top 100 in the SJT ranking.
Q 7: How do we know that the University is not a ruse and Mr. Agarwal just wants the land?
Answer 7: Mr. Agarwal’s net worth in early 2008 was $6 Billion.(see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html )
His net worth in 2006 was $2.8 Billion. (see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/WDNS.html )
Now what is the most important asset of a rich man? His reputation in the eye of the world.
Mr. Agarwal has told the whole world about his university.
Articles praising his pledge to donate $1 Billion towards Vedanta University have appeared in major national and international venues such as:
Time, USA – http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100powergivers/article/0,28804,1616375_1615711_1615671,00.html
Economist – http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9539815
Independent, UK – http://news.independent.co.uk/education/higher/article3045374.ece
Forbes, USA – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html
Forbes Asia – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/56/biz_philanthropy08_Anil- Agarwal_WDNS.html
PBS TV USA – http://www.charlierose.com/guests/anil-agarwal
He has met the Prime Minister of India and told him about his pledge to donate $1 Billion for the university.
I do not believe that after so much publicity Mr. Agarwal will back out, as he will lose face and that is the most important thing for a person of his net worth. (It should be noted that many billionaires, especially in the US, do make huge donations. Bill Gates donation of tens of billions USD and Warren Buffet’s donation of about $30 Billion are exemplars. In higher education, Leland Stanford established Stanford University and Andrew Carnegie established Carnegie Mellon University; both top universities now. )
However, if the current opposition continues, it is very much possible that at some point Mr. Agarwal may get fed up with the hurdles created by some people of Orissa and will move Vedanta University to a state (such as Gujarat, Andhra or Karnataka) where he will be welcomed.
Q 8: How come Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka did not woo him earlier.
Answer 8: I do not know why. May be at that time they did not take him seriously and Orissa did. But now after the design of the university and lot of other groundwork has been done, they will woo him like anything.
In my opinion, Orissa lucked out that it signed the MOU in 2006. It also helped that Mr. Agarwal has other business in Orissa. But then many other companies, private and public have business in Orissa. How much have they given to Orissa in comparison? A good example is 12 crores by Tata Steel for the Inst. of Math and application, and few other smaller donations. Compare that to $1 Billion which is now Rs 5000 crores.
Going back to Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka, we know what Gujarat did with respect to Nano. If given a small opening they will do the same with respect to Vedanta University.
Andhra Pradesh is in the process of developing Odyssey Science city with an area of 65,000 acres. The first phase is of 10,000 acres. Few months back Andhra CM signed a deal whereby APIC will acquire the land.(See http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/09/stories/2008010958760800.htm ) Given a chance Andhra Pradesh will pick up Vedanta University in a heartbeat. I am told that they already contacted Vedanta officials regarding that.
IT people have a responsibility that they are yet to fulfil. If they’re making so much money, why shouldn’t they create an outstanding private university equivalent to Stanford or Harvard? Had they done something like that they would have compensated for the other problems they have created. If IT people are making money, what do I get out of it, unless I am employed in Infosys with Narayana Murthy? The trouble is, we have given them a lot, but have got nothing in return.
Q 9: How does Vedanta University help Orissa and India?
Answer 9: Let consider the world ranking of universities.
In the Times ranking at http://www.topuniversities.com/ the top ranked universities in the world and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:
1. Harvard, USA
2. Yale, USA
3. Cambridge, UK
4. Oxford, UK
154. IIT Delhi
174. IIT Bombay
274. Delhi University
303. IIT Madras
50. Peking University, China
56. Tsinghua University, China
113. Fudan University, China
141. Univ of Sc. & Tech, China
143. Nanjing University, China
144. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, China
In the SJT ranking at http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/Top500_EN(by%20rank).pdf the top ranked universities and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Berkeley
4. Cambridge
5. MIT
303-401 IISc Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur
201-302 Nanjing University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Tsinghua University, Univ of Sc. & Tech, Zhejiang University
As the above shows, Indian Universities including IITs and IISc are way behind the top universities of the world. They are even much behind the top universities in China.
So what Vedanta is aspiring is to be a university ranked in the top 50 of these lists, if not in the top 25. If that is achieved it will have a huge impact on India, and not just Orissa.
There will be also a lot of impact on Orissa.
a. It will pull up the institutions near Vedanta University such as IIT Bhubaneswar, NISER
Bhubaneswar, the proposed world class central university (WCCU) in Bhubaneswar, IIIT Bhubaneswar, and even Utkal, Ravenshaw, OUAT, etc. The reason it will pull up the other universities is that many otherwise great professors, who will miss out getting a job at Vedanta, would like to be nearby Vedanta and thus would take a position in one of the above universities in the area. The reason they would like to be near Vedanta is that being nearby will allow them to collaborate with the faculty at Vedanta. For the same reason, many of the Ph.Ds coming out of Vedanta Universities would prefer to stay in the area universities.
Note that without Vedanta, IIT Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom IITs, NISER Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom IISER/NISERs and the WCCU Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom WCCUs. This is evident from the admission numbers of IIT Bhubaneswar this year. In terms of student preferences it was only better than IIT Patna. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1303 . This will not improve easily.
Moreover the existing IITs and central universities have been there for years and are established in terms of their infrastructure and they also get a lot of support (including cash donations) from their alumni. The new institutions in Bhubaneswar (IIT, NISER, WCCU) will normally take multiple decades to get to that level.
But with Vedanta University nearby, the situation would change; IIT Bhubaneswar could become among the top IITs; Same about NISER Bhubaneswar and WCCU Bhubaneswar. In other words, the establishment of Vedanta University has the possibility of turning the Puri-Bhuaneswar-Cuttack area a bigger knowledge hub than Pune and Bangalore.
b. With a top IIT, NISER and WCCU near Vedanta, the whole area from Cuttack-Puri will become a huge knowledge hub. Orissa will be able to go much beyond attracting WIPRO, TCS, Infosys, Satyam to attracting companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft etc. Currently such companies come mostly to Bangalore.
c. Recently Mr. Agarwal said that (see https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1105 ) they will work towards giving 25% seats to the students from Orissa who will be taken on merit basis. This means besides Vedanta University, they will invest in schools so that the above happens. They already have started in that direction by enrolling children of the area in DAV schools and funding their educational cost.
d. Vedanta University is starting off with a hospital and medical college. This will definitely benefit the locals.
e. Another way to look at Vedanta University’s impact is as follows.
It has been said that 3 Billion USD will be spent in making Vedanta University out of which one Billion USD will given by Mr. Agarwal. One Billion USD is Rs. 5000 crores. Recently the central government has announced IITs, IISERs, world class central universities, etc. and the budget for making each of them has been announced. See http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37684 . The budget of a new IIT is 760 crores, new IISER is 500 crores, AIIMS is 332 crores, IIM is 210 crores, and world class central university is 720 crores. They add up to 2522 crores. In other words, with 5000 crores one can almost make 2 new IITs, 2 new IISERs, 2 new AIIMS, 2 new IIMs and 2 new world class central universities. And that is what Orissa will lose out if it throws out Vedanta University.
Q 10. I am opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities. How can I support Vedanta University?
Answer 10: Even if one is opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities, he/she should not oppose having Vedanta University in Orissa as opposing Vedanta University for not liking its mining operation is like "cutting of the nose to spite the face."
Q 11. The MOU was signed in 2006. What has happened since then to indicate that Vedanta University is serious?
Answer 11: I do not know all that has happened, but let me elaborate on the design and architectural front. (In addition they have made progress in land acquisition, hired people in implementing R & R, hired architects and engineers etc.)
They have hired a top architecture company in the USA who has a track record of participating and shaping almost all major universities in the USA. The company is Ayers Saint Gross. Its web site is http://www.asg-architects.com/ . Following are some links to their web pages which refers to Vedanta University.
The design of the master plan of Vedanta University has been featured in many US architecture venues and it has also won some awards. Following are some links on that.
Some pictures of the designs are at http://chronicle.com/media/flash/v53/i45/vedanta/ and videos are at :
Besides the above architecture company, the other companies that Vedanta has hired include:
Most recently, they were ready to start construction but were turned away by about 500 people.
So that is part of their current status.
In summary, Vedanta University has the potential to turn the area from Cuttack-Puri into a bigger knowledge center than Bangalore and Pune and perhaps into the biggest knowledge center (with associate knowledge companies such as Google research, Microsoft Research, IBM research etc.) in India. As a result, it can completely change Orissa. (Imagine the impact if Bangalore was in Orissa.)
We should not play politics with it; otherwise like Tata Motors moving from Singur to Gujarat, Vedanta University will move to another state and for centuries our descendants will blame us for missing an opportunity that may come once in many centuries.
November 8th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.
…XIMB had sought 60 acres of land from the Orissa government in Bhubaneswar for developing its second campus but the B-school’s plans was marred by inordinate delay on the part of the state government in allotment of land.
“We have already taken up the issue of allotment of land with the state chief minister, industries secretary and other relevant officials. However, we are yet to receive any communication from the state government on allotment of land”, Joseph clarified.
The institute was open to set up its second campus in alternative locations of the state like Cuttack and Khurda if land was unavailable in the city.
Meanwhile, it had also started scouting for private land in Cuttack and Khurda apart from within the city owing to delay in allotment of land by the state government and the B-school was aiming to take possession of the land by the end of this year.
The institute aimed to make its second campus operational by 2012 to mark the 25th year of formation of XIMB.
In another development, XIMB is set to roll out the part-time doctoral programme in management in its existing campus from the next academic session.
This programme is being designed for those work executives who cannot pursue full-time doctoral course in management.
… At present, XIMB offers Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) with an intake of 15 participants every year.
… XIMB had recently entered into a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the US-based Eastern Michigan University for offering dual degree programmes to its students.
According to the MoU, the students of XIMB will spend two semesters at the Eastern Michigan University and they will be awarded certificates in post graduate programmes like MS degree in Information Systems and MS in Organisational Behaviour apart from the conventional MBA course.
XIMB is awaiting the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for offering the dual degree programmes to its students.
With an annual intake of over 1,000 students, XIMB currently has tie-ups with ten overseas B-schools in Germany, France and Spain.
Talking to some people who are in the know, the govt. is trying to give 60 acres of land to XIMB for its second campus. The delay is due to several reasons, but the govt. is definitely trying. The possible location of this is near Naraj Mundali in the area called Ramdaspur. This is within a km or two of the Sri Sri University location. That area is slowly becoming a knowledge hub with the following proposed institutions:
- Sri Sri University, Govindpur (near Arilo), Naraj side
- National law school, Brajabiharipur, Cuttack side
- XIM Second campus, Ramdaspur, Naraj side
- Ravenshaw University second campus, Bidanasi, Cuttack side
November 4th, 2008
Update 2: Telegraph also reports on it.
Update: A report in Hindu has some more details. Following are some excerpts:
AIPH is starting with small programmes such as Certificate in Public Health Management. The institute would be located over a 50-acre land near Jatni, on the outskirt of the capital city. Promoters of the institute plan to invest Rs. 15 crores immediately to start the programme with the help of some guest faculties from the USA.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, David J. Ramsay, president of University of Maryland, said “We will build different centres of excellence under the umbrella of AIPH. I have allocated matching funds in our efforts to secure financial support for infrastructure building. Very soon, AIPH will bring US-based faculty and experts to Orissa for teach, training and conducting research.”
AIPH Secretary Pinaki Panigrahi claimed the institute would be the first of its kind as India had 209 medical colleges whereas there was no full-fledged public health school. But in USA there were 129 medical schools and 33 public health institutes, he added. “The institute will prepare workforce to help formulate and implement health programmes in the country,” Dr. Panigrahi said.
The new institute has roped in several Indian-based teaching faculties as well as US-based experts to take forward different specialized programmes in its campus.
Among others AIPH President N. K Ganguly, who was former director-general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), was present on the occasion.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.com.
With disease burden not showing any signs of decline despite advancement in therapeutic sciences across the world, the focus of public health has shifted to prevention.
The future of a healthy society hinges on securing the populace from afflictions by way of inducing suitable changes in lifestyle and societal atmosphere and also, very importantly, increasing immunity through vaccination, said President of University of Maryland Baltimore, (UMB), USA, David J Ramsey today.
Ramsey told this paper that worldwide, intensive efforts are on to develop vaccines for diseases that have the greatest impact on the population and not on individuals. The UMB has already developed a vaccine for cholera, which is being successfully implemented in South American countries. Progress is being made in the efforts to formulate a vaccine for malaria, AIDS and several other prevalent diseases in the stateof- the-art facility at the University.
But the challenge lies in implementation of the interventions to check outbreaks. Public health is still not considered a different domain from medical or clinical streams in most parts of the world, particularly developing countries including India.‘‘
The realm of public health basically involves collating biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health services administration, and social and behavioural sciences so that prevention and treatment initiatives and policies would be well-directed and most effective,’’ the head of the prestigious institute said.
And, in an initiative aimed at strengthening the public health sector in India as well as the sub-continental countries by producing skilled professionals to carry out operational research to develop sustainable health-care delivery models, the Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH), a partner of UMB, is set to take shape here from Sunday.
The first of its kind institute in the country, with support of the Orissa Government, would offer courses on Public Health Management, Management development programmes on ‘Surveillance, Epidemic Preparedness and Response’, ‘Biostatistics and Research Methodologies’, ‘Biomedical Waste Management and Handling’, ‘Good clinical Practice of Clinical research’ and ‘Emerging issues in public health’. The target scholars would include medical officers, AYUSH doctors, personnel from health agencies, Government health administrators, social scientists, corporate sector managers dealing with health programmes, paramedics, sanitation workers, NGOs, etc. The courses have been designed and be certified by UMB, AIPH secretary Dr Pinaki Panigrahi said.
The above articles do not mention the Indian Institutes of Public Health being built in India, three of which mention that they are offering post-graduate diploma starting fromn the 2008-09 session. Following is an excerpt.
The Indian Institutes of Public Health at Delhi, Gandhinagar, and Hyderabad would be offering the following Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) Programs in the academic year 2008-09:
| IIPH, Delhi: |
PGD in Health Economics and Policy |
| IIPH, Gandhinagar: |
PGD in Public Health Management |
| IIPH, Hyderabad: |
PGD in Biostatistics and Data Management |
If done right the AIPH can surpass the IIPHs, mainly because a well known professor Dr. Pinaki Panigrahi is behind it and his university, The University of Maryland at Baltimore, is an active collaborator on this. The Orissa govt. may take advantage of the AIPH and push for an IIPH next to it. They have discussed with PHFI, but its plan (see here and here) in Orissa is not clear.
Also, note that in the PHFI/IIPH model companies, state and the center (through PHFI) fund the IIPHs. Orissa government should help AIPH in a similar manner: contribute a similar amount, ask companies to contribute and ask the center to contribute. To get an idea of the PPP nature and the amount used to fund IIPH, following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.
Industry leaders came forward to pump in Rs. 30 crore to make Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), an arm of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), commence its first-ever postgraduate diploma course in biostatistics and data management from July this year.
The Union Government through PHFI had sanctioned Rs. 60 crore, while the State Government allotted 43 acres in Rajendranagar and sanctioned Rs. 30 crore for the IIPH. The new governing council assumed charge on Saturday. Addressing a press conference here, G.V. Krishna Reddy, chairman of the governing council, said he, along with G.V. Prasad of Dr. Reddy’s Labs, G. Mallikarjuna Rao of GMR Group, N. Prasad of Matrix Labs, B. Rama Raju of Satyam Group, and SriniRaju of iLabs, would together donate Rs. 30 crore.
November 2nd, 2008
November 2nd, 2008
From the various IIT sites, such as http://www.iitg.ernet.in/jee/.
October 30th, 2008
Following is from http://www.srisriuniversity.org/.
Taking care of the future
Sri Sri University is conceptualized on a vision of Holistic Inspired Education that aims to ready its students for the demands of the Industry and market economy, along with making them into well rounded human beings. Sri Sri University intends to do this by giving them deep roots in the supple and fertile earth of Indian Value Systems, its cultural history and philosophy while helping them look beyond the horizon towards a Global Perspective.
By doing this we hope to give them the strong foundation that they will need to grow sturdy and rise above the milling forest of humanity and be able to give shade to the teeming billions of tomorrow. In them we do not just see tomorrow’s richest but tomorrow’s leaders and pillars of society on whose shoulders the world of the future will be built.
Industry Relevant Courses
Higher education is critical to India’s aspirations of emerging as a major player in the global knowledge economy. The global competitiveness of Indian industry and also its employment generation potential is clearly dependent on availability of required skills and trained personnel. Higher education trains people to take up different economic roles in society and spurs technological innovation that drives economic growth.
After China and the USA,India has the third largest higher education system in the world. Given the sheer number of qualified professionals India produces, the possibility of finding people with the right skill sets should have been a lot stronger than it is in reality. But companies are finding it increasingly difficult to get the right talent, especially at the middle-management level. Only a small fraction of the qualified labor force can be considered suitable for employment in companies operating in the global arena.
This low employability could be attributed partly to the mismatch between the industry requirements and the academic curricula of most of the professional colleges.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s vision is to TRANSFORM THROUGH EDUCATION and this is specially kept in mind while putting together a curriculum of Global Standards in the Sri Sri University. Therefore, along with courses that will help the students to be "industry-ready" and make their mark on a Global platform, it will also provide them with all means of self-improvement – like access to yogic philosophy, Art of Living Courses in self realization and conflict resolution, etc. which will make them well rounded Global Citizens.
The Mission of the University is:
- To create, preserve and at the same time disseminate knowledge and understanding by teaching; research, training and extension activities by effective demonstration and influence; and to create centers of excellence for providing knowledge, education, training and research facilities of high order in the field of science, technical and other related professional education as per its current status and such other means as may develop in future, including continuing education.
- To develop training facilities in higher education including professional education and allied fields; provide for inter-relationships for national and global participation in the field of arts, commerce and science and technology and other fields.
- To function as learning resource centre.
- To provide for arrangement for national and global participation in the field of higher and professional education including technical education.
- To establish close associations with industry.
- To make teaching, research and training at the university relevant to the needs of the economy at a national and global level.
- To affiliate colleges with similar objects or willing to adopt similar objects in and outside the state to further the cause of higher learning with modern and global teaching techniques university may adopt time to time
- To Institute 44 courses in next 5 years across disciplines.
- To have 8 fully functional and completely equipped departments in next 10 years.
- To initially admit approximately 350 students and approximately 3000 students by its fifth year
- To Employ 35 faculty members in its first year and 145 by its 5th year.
The choice of courses in the Sri Sri University Curriculum will be guided by these factors:
- Growth in economic sectors, potential for employment within the sectors and commercially viability of the course.
- Current and anticipated demand trends for specific courses.
- These are not linked to any specific economic sector.
- Inspirations from His Holiness and foreseeable needs for further development of the state of Orissa.
- Certification Courses that are of short duration and impart quick and marketable skills.
Sixteen major sectors of the Indian economy were examined. They are:
i. Automobile
ii. Banking and Financial Services
iii. Construction
iv. Electronic Components and Assemblies
v. Health Care
vi. Insurance
vii. Textile and Apparels
viii. Retail Services
ix. Telecom Services
x. Transport Services – Shipping and Ports
xi. Transport Services – Railways
xii. Transport Services – Civil Aviation
xiii. Transport Services – Roads & Highways
xiv IT / ITES / BPO
xv. Machinery and Equipment
xvi. Media and Entertainment
For each of the above sectors the following aspects were considered:
• The size of the sector and its growth rate
• Key trends in the sector
• Projected employment
Projected sector growth rate was mapped to the projected employment growth rate. Based on this analysis, the high employment and growth sectors were chosen and courses were instituted according to what was felt would fulfill their needs.
Emphasis on soft skills and values
In the 21st Century every young individual stepping into the “Professional World”, pursues one common goal: Success And Money. From the first day these young minds get busy mapping out their roads, lanes and bye-lanes to the very top.
Lost in this rat race, busy running at their best speed to achieve the materialistic pleasures of our age, they lose out on what some consider the most important qualities of life: Peace of Mind, Ethics, Moral Values and Connection to their fellow being. Lost in the Machinations of life, they forget their place in the bigger scheme of things whether in the corporate world, in the families or even in the universe at large.
Can they really be blamed for following what they have been taught by the world around them, when the media and socio-political structure of our societies preach the creed of materialism? Where will they, our nation’s future, learn to follow the path of higher and finer values?
Corporate houses spend huge amount of money to impart soft skills in their work force which they think will help their employees to:
a) manage their own emotions
b) manage relationships
c) take responsibility of their own actions
Short term courses on soft skills do not change the attitude but just give an idea about them instead. It then depends on the person to practice and bring about the change. Building the course in curriculum will provide ample time and opportunities to bring about lasting shift.
Sri Sri University is fully conscious of its social responsibility to contribute towards the education that shape personalities in such a way that in the students, we do not just see tomorrow’s richest, but tomorrow’s leaders, and pillars of society on whose shoulders the world of the future will be built.
Sri Sri University intends to provide World-Class Holistic Education to its students which will facilitate Cognitive, Physical, Emotional, Social and Spiritual Growth. Its Philosophy on Education revolves around the overall development of a student and not merely academic excellence. The salient features of this philosophy are:
1. Be Child-centered, Culture and Tradition Rooted
2. Key trends in the sector
3. Integrate Love, Care and Compassion into the Education Process
4. Be Curiosity Driven rather than Information Based
5. Instill Self Esteem and Creativity
6. Individual Attention, based on the Uniqueness of Each Individual
7. Interactive Class-room Processes & Experiential Field Trips
8. Discipline through Self-Awareness
9. Teachers as Facilitators, not Instructors
10. Environment Develops Interest, Skill and Likings in the Student
11. Cordial and Friendly Teacher-Student Relationship Emphasis on soft skills and values
Benchmarks
The trend in Indian Education is for large sections of under-graduate and post-graduate students to leave the country for what is perceived as more integrated education in foreign shores. Even though a lot of initiative has been taken in the recent past in terms of private education, public opinion is still swayed by what they believe as the non reliability factor of unconventional private degrees.
To gain confidence of this sector, Sri Sri University intends to become a centre of Excellence matching International Standards in Education with participation of industries which are globally present and with academic experts from developed countries.
The Sri Sri University will match the best standards of the higher education sector for deeper penetration of information and individualized training and comfort for faculty and students alike. Some of them are:
Library 10 books per students
Printer 1 for every 10 students and 1 for each faculty
Computer 1 for every 3 students and 1 for each faculty
Space; 150 sq ft for each student in academic area
Students-teacher ratio 20 : 1
Journals per college 22
Workshop / seminars per academic year per discipline 54
Academic Facilities
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s vision is to TRANSFORM THROUGH EDUCATION, and this is specially kept in mind while putting together a curriculum of Global Standards in Sri Sri University.
Therefore, to facilitate its courses the following facilities are provided:
• Advanced laboratories
• Extensive libraries
• Student centers
• Technically advanced teaching aids
• Alumni association
• Hostels
• Hospital
• Housing and guest house
• Templeof knowledge
• Transportation
• Sports complex
• Meditation hall
• Residential complexes
• Married students accommodation
• Advanced communication and data management systems
• Community centre
• Art and creativity centre
October 26th, 2008
At present there are two Sri Sri entities in Orissa:
The first one offers the following courses:
1. Post Graduate Diploma in Bussiness Management (2 Years)
2. Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication (2 Years)
3. Post Graduate Diploma in Government (1 Year )
The first two courses run for about 20 months each while third is 1 year course. A wide range
of meaningful and purposeful elective subjects are offered in each of them.
The second one is the real deal. (I guess at some point the first one may become an extension center of the second one.)
Following is the layout map of the Sri Sri University, near Naraj overlooking Kathajodi river.
Currently the following programs are planned to be offered by the Sri Sri University.
Under Graduate and Post Graduate Courses
Contemporary Courses
These courses have a good demand in the market and are likely to be well received in the future due to the demand-supply gap. They are a mix of courses that have traditionally enjoyed a good demand (e.g. engineering and law) as well as those that would be successful in catering to the requirements of an increasingly liberalized modern economy e.g. entrepreneurship.
Inspirations from His Holiness
These courses cover a wide expanse of knowledge. On the one hand they include courses in Indology, Ayurveda and Vedic Sciences, while on the other they include courses for Advanced Research in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. This versatility is in keeping with the holistic philosophy of the University and what it hopes to achieve. This series of courses also includes courses in Government, which The University believes will help turn out future leaders for Orissa, India and the World.
School of Management
2 Years Degree courses in Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, and Banking and Finance.
School of Law
5 Years Undergraduate Degree course in Law.
School of Government
2 Years Post Graduate Degree course in Government.
School of Cultural Studies
2 Years Post Graduate Degree course in Tourism and Indology.
School of Engineering
4 years Undergraduate Degree courses in Electronics and Telecommunications, Computer Sciences, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation, Electronics and Electrical Engineering and Civil Engineering.
School of Biotechnology
2 Years Post Graduate Degree courses in Pharmacology and Biotechnology.
School of Sciences
2 Years Post Graduate Degree courses in Textile Designing and Transportation.
School of Ayurveda
4 Years Post Graduate Degree courses for Research in Ayurveda.
School of Vedic Sciences
4 Years Post Graduate Degree courses for Research and Development on Vedic Science.
School of Research Sciences
4 Years Post Graduate Degree courses for Research in Advanced Physics, Research in Chemistry and Research in Mathematics
The University also offers various certificate courses for the students. These would generate qualified employable individuals in a short period of time. They are also expected to be cost effective. These courses are projected to increase from 5 in the Second Year to 14 by the Fourth Year. Emphasis on soft skills and values
A student at the Sri Sri University would be able to aim for a certificate in the following subjects:
· German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, French
· Computer Application, Multimedia and Graphic Animation, Computer Hardware Technology and Web Designing
· Welding, Electrician, Plastic Technology
Following is from the web page of Sri Sri University, which gives a broader picture of the vision.
Formal education trains people to take up different roles in the society in pursuit of economic growth and social order. With the Indian industry poised to take off as a global economic power, the demand for skilled youth to guide and carry on this pursuit can not be underestimated. Paradoxically, it is confronted with an ever increasing number of educated youth, with mismatched skill-sets: youth with an abundance of technical knowledge but clearly lacking in focus on inner joy, initiative and creativity.
Sri Sri University is an international initiative to address this anomaly by developing tomorrow’s leaders, managers of change, trained to the industry requirements, with an attitude and skill-set transcending specific disciplines. Inspired by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, students will look beyond their own limitations and share bigger responsibilities as worthy citizens and brim with confidence. In them we may see not just the smartest, but the leaders, the pillars of society on whose shoulders the future world will be built – Truly global citizens with traditional and moral niceties, broadening the vision… deepening the roots.
Under the aegis of the Art of Living, through its educational arm Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir Trust (SSRVM Trust), Sri Sri University, situated on the serene banks of the Kathjori River near Cuttack in Orissa, India, will be a multi-disciplinary university matching international standards on education. Amply responsive to the industry requirements and committed to all-round development of students’ personality and value systems, it will nurture professionals with relevant information, updated skill-sets and an attitude for understanding their social responsibilities and leadership roles in all walks of life.
As part of the overall university initiative, it is also proposed to set-up a separate world-class MedicalCollege within the campus to produce qualified doctors with a deeper sense of commitment and responsibility towards this noble service. The college shall also have an adjacent Super-speciality Hospital with the latest state-of-the-art facilities and equipments to facilitate total practical experience to the students to complement the excellent theoretical education, and also to provide comprehensive treatment facilities for the needy from far and wide.
October 26th, 2008
Following is from http://164.100.24.209/newls/textofdebatedetail.aspx?sdate=10/23/2008.
शà¥à¤°à¥€ राम कृपाल यादव (पटना) : उपाधà¥à¤¯à¤•à¥à¤· महोदय, मैं आपके माधà¥à¤¯à¤® से माननीय सà¥à¤µà¤¾à¤¸à¥à¤¥à¥à¤¯ मंतà¥à¤°à¥€ जी का धà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¨ आकरà¥à¤·à¤¿à¤¤ करना चाहता हूं। पूरे देश में छह अखिल à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤à¥€à¤¯ अनà¥à¤¸à¤‚धान संसà¥à¤¥à¤¾à¤¨ (à¤à¤®à¥à¤¸) खोलने की बात हà¥à¤ˆ थी। मेरे संसदीय कà¥à¤·à¥‡à¤¤à¥à¤° पटना में à¤à¥€ à¤à¤®à¥à¤¸ खोलने की बात कही गई थी। दà¥à¤°à¥à¤à¤¾à¤—à¥à¤¯à¤ªà¥‚रà¥à¤£ सà¥à¤¥à¤¿à¤¤à¤¿ है कि लगà¤à¤— पांच साल पहले इसका काम शà¥à¤°à¥‚ हà¥à¤† था, लेकिन आज तक केवल चाहरदीवारी का ही निरà¥à¤®à¤¾à¤£ हà¥à¤† है। शिलानà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¸ के समय à¤à¤®à¥à¤¸ को कारà¥à¤¯à¤°à¥‚प में शà¥à¤°à¥‚ करने के लिठवरà¥à¤· 2009 तक का समय रखा गया था। बिहार में कोई à¤à¥€ उतà¥à¤•à¥ƒà¤·à¥à¤ असà¥à¤ªà¤¤à¤¾à¤² नहीं है। इस कारण दिलà¥à¤²à¥€ के à¤à¤®à¥à¤¸ असà¥à¤ªà¤¤à¤¾à¤² में 60 परसेंट बिहार के लोग अपना इलाज करवाने आते हैं। बिहार में गरीबी है, फटेहाली है इस कारण कई लोग इलाज कराने के लिठदिलà¥à¤²à¥€ आ à¤à¥€ नहीं पाते हैं। बिहार के लोगों को सà¥à¤µà¤¾à¤¸à¥à¤¥à¥à¤¯ लाठलेने के लिठबहà¥à¤¤ दिकà¥à¤•à¤¤à¥‹à¤‚ का सामना करना पड़ता है। अगर बिहार में à¤à¤®à¥à¤¸ असà¥à¤ªà¤¤à¤¾à¤² खà¥à¤² जाà¤à¤—ा, तो न सिरà¥à¤« बिहार के लोगों को, बलà¥à¤•à¤¿ बिहार से सटे नेपाल, असम तथा आसपास के इलाकों के लोग à¤à¥€ लाà¤à¤¾à¤‚वित हो सकेंगे। कई बार हमने सदन के माधà¥à¤¯à¤® से माननीय मंतà¥à¤°à¥€ जी का धà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¨ आकरà¥à¤·à¤¿à¤¤ कराया है। आशà¥à¤µà¤¾à¤¸à¤¨ मिलने के बावजूद à¤à¥€ आज तक इस बारे में तेज रफà¥à¤¤à¤¾à¤° से काम नहीं हो रहा है। पता नहीं यह काम कितने वरà¥à¤·à¥‹à¤‚ में पूरा होगा।
उपाधà¥à¤¯à¤•à¥à¤· महोदय : आपने अपनी बात कह दी है। अब आप समापà¥à¤¤ कीजिà¤à¥¤ You are now repeating the same thing.
शà¥à¤°à¥€ राम कृपाल यादव (पटना) : कई लोगों के पास दिलà¥à¤²à¥€ इलाज के लिठआने के लिठà¤à¤¾à¤¡à¤¼à¥‡ के पैसे नहीं होते हैं। मंतà¥à¤°à¥€ जी यहां बैठे हैं, मैं आपके माधà¥à¤¯à¤® से माननीय मंतà¥à¤°à¥€ जी से कहना चाहता हूं कि वे इस बारे में उतà¥à¤¤à¤° दें कि कब से काम शà¥à¤°à¥‚ होगा और कब काम खतà¥à¤® होगा। बिहार जैसे गरीब देश में लोगों को इलाज कराने में बहà¥à¤¤ परेशानी होती है।
SHRI KHARABELA SWAIN (BALASORE): Sir, hon. Minister is here. He should reply not only to the hon. Member’s question but other questions also. I have asked a number of questions.
MR. DEPUTY-SPEAKER: I cannot compel the Minister to reply.
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS): Sir, under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana the Government of India intends to start six new AIIMS like institutions in States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. The CCA had given approval only in 2006. Since then we have been going through a lot of process. One tender was un-responsive. Another tender was a single bidder. We had to go through the project management consultants. In all we have to go through a lot of process and there was a delay. I accept the responsibility for delay on part of my Ministry. Nevertheless, I had again asked them to quicken the process. Finally, I could say that the construction work has started in five out of six AIIMS like institutions, including Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan. Except Bhopal, work at other five sites has already begun and at Bhopal the work will start in the beginning of November.
I categorically assure that the work has started and the entire construction work will be over in another two-and-a-half to three years and it will be fully functional. Not only that, we also want to upgrade some more institutions in Northern part of the country. We have added some more institutions, which again after getting the approval we will inform the hon. House.
SHRI J.M. AARON RASHID (PERIYAKULAM): Sir, since the hon. Minister belongs to Tamil Nadu, he should see to it that Tamil Nadu also has such an institution.
SHRI P.S. GADHAVI (KUTCH): Sir, I would like to raise a very important issue concerning my constituency regarding the development of Jakhau Fishery Harbour Project.… (Interruptions)
शà¥à¤°à¥€ राम कृपाल यादव (पटना) : महोदय, मैं सà¥à¤µà¤¾à¤¸à¥à¤¥à¥à¤¯ मंतà¥à¤°à¥€ जी को तमाम राजà¥à¤¯ के लोगों की तरफ से धनà¥à¤¯à¤µà¤¾à¤¦ देना चाहता हूं, जिनको इनà¥à¤¹à¥‹à¤‚ने उपहार देने का काम किया है। सà¥à¤µà¤¾à¤ˆà¤‚ जी आप à¤à¥€ मंतà¥à¤°à¥€ जी को धनà¥à¤¯à¤µà¤¾à¤¦ दे दीजिà¤à¥¤
शà¥à¤°à¥€ खारबेल सà¥à¤µà¤¾à¤ˆà¤‚ (बालासोर) : मैं कई बार मंतà¥à¤°à¥€ जी को धनà¥à¤¯à¤µà¤¾à¤¦ दे चà¥à¤•à¤¾ हूं।
Orissa should push for the upgradation of MKCG Medical college to the level of an AIIMS.
October 25th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in thaindian.com.
A new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) coming up in Hyderabad will see close Japanese partnership at the post-graduate level in key areas, including setting up of a Japanese-style business management course, and increased funding for purchase of technical and research equipment to make it into an institution of excellence.A working group that has submitted its report for establishing such an institution with Japanese-Indian collaboration said environment and energy, digital communication, design and manufacturing, nano-technology and nano-science, and civil engineering would be fields that would given a fresh thrust.
Former prime minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set up a working group in August last year to zero in on a new IIT that would see Japanese assistance.
… In addition courses on Japanese-style business management, a key strength of the country’s industry, will also be introduced. While faculty and student exchanges will happen regularly, the premier institute will also set up a Japanese language course for students that could help them find jobs in Japan in the future.
… "Collaboration on the new IIT will be implemented with a long term perspective in mind based on human exchange an joint work. This will be viewed possibly as a ten-year programme,” said a senior official.
October 22nd, 2008
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