Odisha HRD

Cabinet approves a much larger estimate for the AIIMS-like institutes and upgradations

Following is from PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59783.

March 20th, 2010

Some future plans of IIT Bhubaneswar

Following are excerpts from a report in expressbuzz.

IIT Bhubaneswar will have four more schools with inter-disciplinary approach by 2011-end.

While the first one would be on mines, minerals and material technology, the other three would include school of chemicals, school of design and creative arts and earth and ocean sciences.

While the campus construction will start by the year-end, within 10- 15 days the contract would be ready for awarding the architectural and design side of the new campus, said IIT-B Director Prof. Madhusudan Chakraborty.

… Prof. Chakraborty said, however, the institute plans to have a marine campus on the coastline for research on rise in sea-level, effects of climate change, extreme weather conditions, changing ecosystems, air quality and pollution and human health.

… The marine campus will be called Centre for Climate Change and would be established on the lines of marine centres of University of Massachusetts and University of California, he said adding even the varsities have expressed their desire to have future collaborations in research and exchange of faculties and students.

As the marine campus will be very close to the sea, the State Government would be requested at an appropriate time to provide adequate land, he said adding it would have specialists in geology, geophysics, atmospheric and ocean sciences, he added.

Following are some excerpts from a report in Telegraph.

IIT, Bhubaneswar, is planning a marine campus as part of its upcoming School of Earth, Ocean and Environment Science.

The campus, probably be the first marine campus in the country, will study climate, sea level rise, extreme weather events, changing ecosystem, fishery development and wildlife, air quality and pollution, water shortage, human health and hydrological cycles.

Such a campus exists for schools in the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and University of California, Santa Cruz, said IIT, Bhubaneswar, director M. Chakraborty.

Expected to come up by 2011, the school will be “interdisciplinary”, conducting research focusing on geology, geophysics, marine sciences, ocean science, atmospheric science, atmospheric change, disaster mitigation and management, he said.

… The IIT also plans to open three other schools — school of mineral, metallurgy and material engineering, school of chemical sciences and school of design and creative art,” he said.

… “IIT, Bhubaneswar, believes in a border-less academic environment. We do not have departments like other IITs. We are trying to break the barrier so that people from various disciplines come together and work in tandem,” Chakraborty said.

The above plan of IIT Bhubaneswar opens up opportunities for the South Odisha people who wanted the IIT to be located there. If they co-ordinate intelligently (and even offer their own land) they could now have a piece of the IIT. Other parts of coastal Odisha may also go after this.

I think similar opportunities will open up with respect to NISER and AIIMS. In particular, a branch of either in Gandhamardan hill foothills of Balangir/Baragarh in Western Odisha focusing on medicinal plants could be a possibility. (Dr. Sanjib Karmee was championing for an institute like that in that area.)

Water and rain forests are big attractors.

Other locations (such as next to Hirakud or Mandira Dam) could vie for a pie of these national institutes by coming up with an idea about an appropriate research center and approaching the leadership of these institutes.

2 comments March 20th, 2010

2010 Odisha budget has 32.5 crores for adding a medical college to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar

See https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3365; in particular https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/wp-content/uploads/image/20100315%20budget.JPG. The later shows that the 2010 budget has 32.5 crores for making the building and the foundation for the proposed medical college associated with the Capital Hospital. This was proposed and announced several years back. Good to see this in the budget. This is a good and inexpensive way to make a medical college as the hospital, beds, doctors and patients are already there.  Adding a few more as required by MCI would lead to a medical college and at least 100 more students per year would then be able to pursue medicine in a government facility at an affordabale cost. These students and the future PG students would be beneficial to the patients. This is a win-win situation at comparatively small additional cost. (The total budget for this was earlier mentioned as 100 crores.)

This approach should be immediately replicated in all the other larger size hospitals in the state; if necessary in a PPP mode, as is being done in Karnataka. (There was a recent news that a team from Odisha was planing to visit Karnataka to find more about how it is being done there.)

In addition as mentioned before SAIL should do the same with respect to IGH in Rourkela.

2 comments March 16th, 2010

IISERs will have their own aptitute test on July 18 2010

(Thanks to the Suryanarayanan’s comment number 147 in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/285).

The IISER admission site at http://www.iiser-admissions.in/ says that there will be three ways to get admission in the IISERs: (i) KVPY (ii) IIT JEE and (iii) Direct.

But by "Direct" they mean through an aptitude test that will be held on July 18 2010. They say: 

Direct Admission is open to applicants who have Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and/or Biology in their class 12 board examination. Aptitude Assessment consists of a written test. It will have multiple choice questions on Physics Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology based on CBSE syllabus up to class 12.

The NISER NEST exam will be on June 6th. Details at http://www.nestexam.in/index1.php. 

IISERs and NISER should have co-ordinated to have a single test. It does not make sense to have separate tests for admission into similar programs. Such lack of co-ordination and foresight is what encourages the government to interfere and issue diktats.

4 comments March 15th, 2010

Education issues debated in Odisha Assembly: Naming of National/innovation University; Government taking over of the medical college in Kalahandi

Tathya.in reports that this time nice debates are going on in the Odisha assembly.Following are some Samaja reports on debates relevant to education.

March 14th, 2010

NIFT Bhubaneswar to cost 58.65 crore

Following is an excerpt from http://www.bharattextile.com/newsitems/2010539.

Ministry of Textiles has received a proposal from the State Government of Orissa for establishment of a NIFT Centre at Bhubaneswar. State Government has also conveyed its commitment for providing land free of cost and funds for creating necessary infrastructure. The approximate cost of establishing NIFT centre would be Rs.58.65 crore. This information was given by the Minister of State for Textiles, Smt. Panabaaka Lakshmi in the Rajya Sabha, in a written reply to a question by Smt. Renubala Pradhan.

4 comments March 12th, 2010

Progress report and current thinking on the proposed AIIMS-like institutes

Update:Following is from PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59525.

LOK SABHA

The Government has approved setting up of six AIIMS-like institutions in the States of Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Orissa (Bhubaneswar), Rajasthan (Jodhpur) and Uttarakhand (Rishikesh) under the first phase of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). It is also proposed to set up two more institutions, one each in the State of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in the second phase of PMSSY.

Each institution will have a 960 bedded hospital (500 beds for the medial college hospital; 300 beds for Specialty/Super Specialty; 100 beds for ICU/Accident trauma; 30 beds for Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and 30 beds for Ayush ) intended to provide healthcare facilities in 42 specialty/super-specialty disciplines.

Bids for construction of hospital and medical college complex for the six AIIMS-like institutions in the first phase are under process. The timeline for completion of these works is the second half of 2012.

This information was given by Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in written reply to a question raised in Lok Sabha today.

Following are excerpts from a report in Indian Express.

… The AIIMS at Bhopal is likely to cost Rs 849.46 crore, Bhubaneswar Rs 820.49 crore, Jodhpur Rs 777.64 crore, Patna Rs 858.43 crore, Raipur Rs 803.84 crore and Rishikesh Rs 820.15 crore.

… the officials suggested that certain operations of these new institutes should be outsourced through Public Private Partnership (PPP). Such operations include outsourcing routine/housekeeping services, hospital information system to a professionally managed agency and outsourcing of nursing orderlies and ward boys and other staff. “This strategy the health ministry officials argued would ensure minimal Group C & D employees,” a Plan panel source said. Nearly 95 per cent of the construction work for residential complexes for Jodhpur and Raipur Institutes has been completed, 45 per cent work has been completed for Patna and Rishikesh, while the construction for Bhopal and Bhubaneswar is gradually picking up,” he said. So far about 152 bids have been received including 57 for hospitals and 95 for medical colleges and hostels. “The technical and financial evaluation would be completed by March 30 and work is likely to commence by June 10,” the source said, quoting health ministry officials.

March 9th, 2010

Bhubaneswar decided as the ESIC medical college location in Odisha: Rajya Sabha answer

March 7th, 2010

Status of AIIMS-like institutes; Progress very slow in Bhubaneswar

Following is from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59071.

2 comments March 5th, 2010

IIT Bhubaneswar landscape – next to picturesque and historical Barunei hill

March 1st, 2010

NISER Bhubaneswar building plans

March 1st, 2010

NISER Bhubaneswar Campus Layout

March 1st, 2010

CIPET adds two exclusive R & D hubs: One of them, Laboratory for Advance Research in Polymeric Materials (LARPM), established in Bhubaneswar

The advertisement http://www.cipet.gov.in/pdfs/advt.2010.pdf mentions that CIPET is upgrading its centers to High Learning Centers to impart B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D programs with exclusive R & D hubs ARSTPS & LARPM. (Note: I think LARPM was the first R & D hub to be created by CIPET and was mentioned in a Jan 2009 PIB report. But both were also mentioned in a May 2008 Economic Times article.)

As per http://www.cipet.gov.in/research.html:

Technology innovation through dedicated research work by a Core team has been the philosophy of CIPET, which led to the establishment of 02 R&D centres – Laboratory for Advance Research in polymeric Materials (LARPM) & Advance Research School for Technology & Product simulation (ARSTPS) at CIPET Bhubaneswar & Chennai respectively. …

The vision for these R&D Centres have been conceived with objectives of transforming CIPET as a Global research Centre on Polymeric Materials as well as a Resource centre for newer concept development & conversion of concept into reality by Product development on commercial scales. Technology transfer, creation of Intellectual Property (IP), knowledge base with validated documentation would be the key aspects of functioning of R&D entities.

The significance of LARPM & ARSTPS is evident from the fact that they will be chaired by Director General and functioning independently under the Technology & Business development department of Corporate Office. The targets for both R&D centres have been set to pursue the objectives in mission mode. The experienced & competent faculties have been drawn from the existing pool of CIPET along with newly inducted researchers.

Operating model of LARPM & ARSTPS would be influenced with 03 “Rs”- Relevance to industry needs, Result-oriented output, Resourceful base to operate as ‘Centre of excellence”. It is worth mentioning that LARPM has already been sanctioned 03 sponsored projects from Funding agencies of Govt. of India. Similarly, ARSTPS has already initiated industry sponsored projects for Automotive, Medical & Aerospace Industries.

The identified focus areas of LARPM & ARSTPS are as follows:

	LARPM   ARSTPS
	Biopolymers   Innovative Product Design for Medical, Automobile, Aerospace and Packaging Industries
	Polymer Composites & Nanocomposites   Product and Tool Design Conceptualization (modeling, analysis, process optimization & simulation approach )
	Functional Plastics, Carbon nanotubes   E- Manufacturing of Prototypes.
	Polymer Membranes, Conducting polymers   Reverse Engineering for metal and conventional material substitution.
	Development & Characterization of Engg. Polymers, Blends/Alloys   –
	Fuel Cells

The home page of LARPM is http://cipet.gov.in/cipetr&d/. As per http://cipet.gov.in/pdfs/research.pdf there are already 5 students pursuing Ph.D at LARPM. Following are concept drawings of their upcoming building.

The 2010-2011 admission ad shows the B.tech and M.tech programs that will be offered in 2010-2011. The program that will be offered at CIPET Bhubaneswar are:

• B.Tech in Plastics Engineering/Technology (Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Chennai , Lucknow, Haldia – proposed)
• B.Tech in Manufacturing Engineering & Technology – proposed (Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Lucknow)
• M.Tech in Plastics Engineering/Technology (Bhubaneswar, Chennai , Lucknow, Hajipur)
• M.Tech in Polymer Nano Technology (LARPM – Bhubaneswar)
• M.Sc M.Tech in Material Science &  Engineering (Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Lucknow).

The only program not listed to be offered at Bhubaneswar, but offered elsewhere, is

• M.Engg in CAD CAM (ARSTPS – Chennai)

Besides the above; all the 15 CIPET centers offer the following diplomas and PG Diplomas:

• Diploma in Plastic mould technology (3 yrs)
• Diploma in Plastics technology (3 yrs)
• PG Diploma in plastic mould design (1 yrs)
• PG Diploma in plastic processing & testing (1.5 yrs)

Finally, the Mancheswar branch of CIPET offers the following programs:

• ITI-Fitter, ITI-Electrician, ITI-IT&ESM and ITI-Welder
• and various short term courses and CAD/CAM courses.

From the above it looks like CIPET Chennai and Bhubaneswar are among the leaders.  However neither Odisha nor Tamil Nadu have a NIPER. (The original NIPER is near Mohali and Chandigarh.  As part of the 11th plan, new NIPERs were made in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Hajipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Rae Bareli.) I hope Odisha pursues and gets one during the next five year plan.

1 comment February 20th, 2010

Center willing to have Odisha’s third CIPET campus in Balasore

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

Patnaik said that the Union secretary also said the Centre is willing to set up a branch of the CIPET (Cental Institute of Plastic Engineering Tehncology) at Balasore in the state. For the institute, the state government has agreed to provide 15 acres of land, he disclosed.

The information regarding the other two Odisha campuses of CIPET are in the following web sites.

• Main Campus in Patia, Bhubaneswar
• Campus II at Mancheswar Industrial Estate

The proposed 3rd campus in Balasore is mainly due to the efforts of Central Minister and Balasore MP Srikant Jena. The other campuses of CIPET in the rest of India are shown in this map.

3 comments February 20th, 2010

Sahyog Foundation plans a medicity (with a medical college) in Jagatpur and a medical college in Keonjhar

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Sahyog Foundation, a city-based non-profit organization, would invest Rs 1100 crore in setting up a medicity spread over 300 acres at Jagatpur near Cuttack as well as a medical college and hospital at Keonjhar.

The amount will be raised by the foundation through a mix of debt and contributions from the promoters and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).

The Keonjhar project which is being taken up on the public private partnership (PPP) mode at an investment of Rs 200 crore will have a medical college with an intake of 50 seats to begin with and a 300-bed hospital.

Debasis Sahoo, director, Sahyog Foundation said, “We will sign the MoU … with the Orissa government for setting up the medical college and hospital at Keonjhar by the end of this month. Apart from alloting 20 acres of land free of cost, the state government has also given us an incentive grant of Rs 10 crore for the project.”

Construction work on the proposed medical college and hospital at Keonjhar is set to take off in April this year and the first batch of students for the MBBS course will be admitted in 2011.

“While the hospital at Keonjhar will offer treatment in various super specialties, the focus will be on malaria ad tuberculosis. Seventy per cent of the beds in this hospital will be reserved for the BPL (Below Poverty Line) families.”

… The medical college and hospital at Keonjhar will offer direct employment opportunities to 3000 people.

For its Rs 900-crore medicity project at Jagatpur, Sahyog Foundation has started the process of land acquisition. The medicity project is expected to be operational by 2014.

Besides a 150-seater medical college and a 700-bed hospital, the medicity will have a homeopathic college, an Ayurvedic college and other public amenities like a shopping mall, gymnasium, swimming pool and food court.

…  Apart from generating around 5000 direct jobs, the medicity will also create indirect employment for 150000 people.

Similar news was reported earlier (for example here) but the numbers in those early reports did not make sense.

Similarly there have been news reports (see here and here) about a US based group called Euthenic Group consortium that wants to set up a 1000 bed super speciality hospital in Orissa. However, after seeing the webpage of Euthenic Group (see http://euthenicgroup.com/) I don’t have a good feeling on this. Also I don’t understand what is meant when expressbuzz says the following:

After completion of the project, it will be handed over to the State Government. The hospital will be the property of the State Government. 

It does not quite make financial sense that this group will make an hospital and then hand it over to the state government at the end of the completion of project. May be by  "at the completion of project"  they mean after a long long time; say 30 years. 

February 18th, 2010

Prof. Amiya Kumar Pattanayak appointed VC of Utkal University of Culture

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Prof. Amiya Kumar Pattanayak has been appointed as the new vice-chancellor of the Utkal University of Culture. …

Born in 1949, Prof Pattanayak started his academic journey in 1972. He holds a Ph.D in history and was professor in Berhampur University during 1994-2008. He was Registrar of Berhampur University, served as a warden, was also the Director of Distant Education Centre, Director of College Developmental Council and Director’s Women Studies Research Centre.

Prof Pattanayak has written six books, edited 12 books, has sixty-five research publications. 15 scholars have been awarded Ph.D under his guidance. Nine are continuing research under him at present. He has produced 37 M.Phil. scholars.

3 comments February 16th, 2010