Odisha HRD

Utkal University of Culture and other institutions under the Culture Department of Odisha

The Utkal University of Culture in Bhubaneswar has the following faculties:

	Faculty of Language and Literature
	(I)	Department of Socio Linguistics
	(II)	Department of Foreign Languages
			Japanese
			Germany
			Russian
			French
			Korean
			Thai
			Burmese
			Spanish
			Italian
	Faculty of Visual Arts
			Department of Painting
			Department of Applied Art and Design
			Department of Art History and Aesthetics
	Faculty of Performing Art
			Department of Vocal Music
			Department of Instrumental Music
			Department of Drama
			Department of Dance
	Faculty of Architecture and Archaeology
			Department of Cultural Heritage and Conservation (Self-financing courses)
	Faculty of Culture Studies
			Department of Culture Studies
	Faculty of Orissan Studies
			Department of South and South East Asian Studies
	Other
			Department of Tourism and Hospitality Services (self-financing course)

The Utkal University of Culture has four government affiliated colleges. They are:

In addition the Culture Department has several other sub-ordinate offices under it. They are:

• Orissa State Archives, Bhubaneswar
• Orissa Sahitya Academi, Bhubaneswar
• Orissa Sangeet Natak Academi, Bhubaneswar
• Orissa Lalit Kala Academi, Bhubaneswar
• Orissa Urdu Academi, Bhubaneswar
• Orissan Institute of Maritime and South-East Asian Studies
• S.V. Govt. School of Art and Craft, Jeypore
• Harekrushna Mahatab State Library & Bhubaneswar Public Library, Bhubaneswar
• Orissa State Archaeology, Bhubaneswar
• Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar

The private colleges currently affiliated with the Utkal University of Culture are:

In addition Odisha has some related centrally funded institutions. They are:

• Institute of Hotel Management, Bhubaneswar
• Foodcraft Institute, Balangir
• Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Baragarh
• Bhubaneswar Center of IITTM
• NIFT (National Institute of fashion Technology) Bhubaneswar
• Apparel Training and Design Center (see also here)
  • An Eastern zone hub at Bhubaneswar
  • An Eastern zone center at Rourkela
  • Eastern zone satellite centers at Berhampur, Baripada and Cuttack

In regards to the centrally funded institutions Odisha should pursue the following (please suggest more):

• An Institute of Apparel Management similar to the one in Haryana.
• Upgradation of the Bhubaneswar Center of IITTM to the level of the Gwalior center
• Upgradation of FCI Balangir to an Institute of Hotel Management
• A campus of National School of Drama

In addition the Odisha government needs to:

• Establish some (at least one) government college(s) affiliated to Utkal University of Culture in Western Odisha. Branches of Utkal University of Culture would be even better.
• Establish some research centers in culture and dances of Western Odisha and Tribal Odisha. This includes centers on Sambalpuri dance and music and Mayurbhanj chhau and other tribal  dances and music.

In the culture front, as we mentioned in https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3624: "By looking at the web page of the Eastern Zonal Cultural Center in Kolkata, it seems like all of the infrastructure of this center is in West Bengal. … the system of zonal cultural center is not working. The GOI must expand it to all major states and establish a similar center in Odisha. Odisha CM must lobby for it and make sure it is included in the next five year plan starting from 2012."

Also the national convention of SPICMACAY will be in Ravenshaw College in 2011. The Odisha government should take advantage of that and establish a permanent center (or perhaps something bigger) of SPICMACAY in Odisha.

1 comment July 11th, 2010

13 more industries sign MOU with Odisha government for establishing ITCs

Earlier in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4700 we reported about 8 companies signing MOU with Odisha government to establish ITCs. Those companies were: Orissa Power Generation Corporation (Hemagiri), Tata Power Ltd (Banki), Emami Paper Mills (Balgopalpur), RSB Metaltech (P) Ltd (Kalyansinghpur), Surrendra Mining Industries Ltd (Bonei), Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd (Teleibani), Uttam Utkal Steels (Jhumpura), Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd (Lakhanpur).

New reports mention 13 additional companies signing similar MOUs. Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

The companies which signed MoUs on Friday include Action Ispat and Power Private Limited, Adhunik Metaliks Limited, Crackers India (Alloys) Limited, MGM Steels Limited, Posco India Limited, Rungta Mines Limited, SSL Energy Limited, CESC Limited, KVK Nilachal Power Limited, GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited, VISA Power Limited, Essar Steel Orissa Limited and Mahanadi Aban Power Co Limited.

Action Ispat will set up an ITC at Kirimira block of Jharsuguda district while Adhunik Metaliks will have its centre at Koida in Sundergarh district.

Similarly, Crackers India will establish its two ITCs at Kalampur in Kalahandi districts and Champua block in Keonjhar district.

MGM Steels has proposed to set up its ITC at Odapada in Dhenkanal district while Posco’s centre will come up at Erasama block of Jagatsinghpur district.

The Rungta Mines ITC will be set up at Dhenkanala, SSL ITC at Kholikote in Ganjam district, CESC ITC at Dampara in Cuttack district, KVK Nilachal ITC at Krushnaprasad in Puri district, GMR Kamalanga ITC at Bheden in Bargarh district, VISA Power ITC at Bhapur in Nayagarh district and ESSAR Steel at Telkoi in Keonjhar district.

Mahanadi Aban Power Co Limited would set up two ITCs at Binika in Sonepur district and Banarpal in Angul district.

July 10th, 2010

XIMB to get government support of 20 crores for its campuses in Balangir and Sambalpur

Update: Following are excerpts from a report in Telegraph.

“It (the additional centre) will either be in Sambalpur or Bolangir. We might even open centres in both cities. This will depend on where the state government provides land. Once that is over, we will sign a memorandum of understanding with the state government,” said XIMB director Father P.T. Joseph.

… “We are just waiting for Naveen Patnaik’s approval. We can start work on the new centre as soon as we receive his approval,” he said.

… “The management college will come as succour to students aspiring for quality higher education in the neglected areas of western Orissa. Centres of XIMB will come up at both Bolangir and Sambalpur. We are in the process of finalising the land plots. The state government has already sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the project,” said Singh Deo.

Update: Following is from Samaja.

Following is from tathya.in.

… XIMB will open two Centers in Balangir and Sambalpur in Western Odisha to provide Higher Education in Management.

… Both for Balangir and Sambalpur Centers of XIMB, the State Government will provide Rs.20 crore grant from the kitty of Western Odisha Development Council (WODC), said sources. 

The proposal was sent to the Chief Minister by Ananga Udaya Singh Deo, Minister Planning & Coordination and Public Enterprises.

… Chief Minister Mr.Patnaik, who is eager for balanced growth of the entire state, favored the idea and has approved the proposal, said a senior mandarin in the Department of Planning & Coordination. 

Chief Secretary Tarun Kanti Mishra has also favored the idea of supporting XIMB as the top notch B-School is opening its branches at Balangir and Sambalpur.

This is really a good development.  There are several other developments which together provide several lessons.

• Silicon started in Bhubaneswar and last year it opened a branch in Sambalpur. Its branch in Sambalpur was funded by a Silicon Valley group which is now planning to pump 150-300 crores to develop Silicon University which will benefit both its Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur operations.
• GIET Gunupur is the first of the Gandhi institutions and the group now has many  colleges including ones in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Rayagada.
• IIT Bhubaneswar will have an additional marine campus in a location away from Bhbaneswar.
• Hi-Tech sarted its first medical college in Bhubaneswar. It is now making a medical college in Rourkela.

There are two lessons one can draw from this.

1. Private institutions of education are playing and will continue to play important role in the state and people wanting to develop their area should themselves get involved in establishing institutions. This is in addition to pursuing the government which every citizen has the right to pursue.
2. Development in the state will spread from one area to other. The key is to let development happen without delay. The more it is delayed in one location, it will result in more delay in the rest of the places. For example, a successful Vedanta University in a location would lead to additional branches in other locations. The key is to let the first campus be operational at the earliest.

17 comments July 7th, 2010

A Silicon Valley group to fund Silicon Institute to make it a university

The Silicon Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar is one of the best private engineering college in Odisha. In Orissa JEE, after the government institutions in Burla and Bhubaneswar the next preferred college in recent years has been Silicon Institute (NIST Berhampur is a close second). A Silicon Valley group is planning to put Rs 150-300 crores on Silicon Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar to upgrade it to a University. The group has already invested in SIlicon Institute resulting in the establishment of a branch in Sambalpur.

The new investment plan was announced in the Invest Bhubaneswar Symposium in Palo Alto on July 1st 2010. I was present during the announcement.

5 comments July 2nd, 2010

CM favors Xavier University: Tathya.in scrolling headline

Also heard it from other high ranking sources that the CM has approved Xavier University. So this should come up in the next cabinet meeting and hopefully in the next assembly session or possibly even in the next half of the current assembly session.

Genesis (from sources): The idea for making Xavier University was first mooted in June 2009. It has taken a year for it to get the CM’s official nod. I was told that the time in between was spent in convincing various officials and ministers in the government, drafting the bill and getting the proposal approved by the XIMB board.

June 28th, 2010

Establishment of 20 new centrally funded IIITs may have to wait till the 12th plan

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

Plans for setting up 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) is likely to be shelved with the finance ministry suggesting that the proposal could be considered for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period.

The HRD ministry had suggested that the institutes be set up in the private-public partnership mode during the current five year plan.

The Eleventh Five Year Plan comes to a close in 2012. The ministry had outlined its proposal for consideration by the Expenditure Finance Committee. The Planning Commission had already given an in-principle approval to the proposal.

“The finance ministry did not agree to the proposal of setting up of 20 IIITs in the Eleventh Plan. It has said the scheme can be considered during the Twelfth Plan,” an official said.

3 comments June 28th, 2010

Some universities that are in the pipeline in Odisha

The above report mentions the following universities:

• Jagadguru Kripalu University, near Naraj in Banki tahsil
• Techno Global University
• Amrita University
• Open University for Skill Development

June 27th, 2010

Odisha government’s time line on Vedanta University land acquisition process

Following is from a report from tathya.in.

Replying the adjournment motion on Vedanta University in the Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) here on 26 June, Minister said that before acquiring the land for the proposed Vedanta varsity project at Puri, the Vedanta Foundation was turned to a Public Limited Company.

Before approving for land acquisition the Department of Higher Education asked Vedanta authorities to turn Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) as Public Limited Company.

On 6 November 2006, authorities of AAF applied to Government of India for conversion of Private Limited Company to Public one.

On 22 November, 2006 the Regional Director, Ministry of Company Affairs, Western Region, Mumbai ordered the conversion is granted subject to compliance of condition required for change of structure under various sections of the Company act.

On 23 November, 2006, Anil Agarwal Foundation held its extra ordinary General Body meeting and adopted resolution for compliance of the conditions and converted the Memorandum and Article of Association from a Private to Public Limited Company.

On 24 November, 2006 AAF informed the State Government in this regard.

Quoting the recent Supreme Court judgement, Minister said it is permissible under law.

On 29 November, 2006, the Department of Higher Education informed the Department of Revenue for acquiring the land in favour of AAF for the university project.

On 13 December, 2006, Department of Revenue notified the same for land acquisition.

So no wrong was done on the above matter, reiterated Mr.Mohanty.

See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4196 for our earlier discussion on this.

June 26th, 2010

IIT Bhubaneswar to take over the multi-lakh sq ft Toshali Bhawan?

Following is an excerpt from a 2005 report in Hindu.

Toshali Plaza mansion, constructed by the Orissa Housing Development Corporation in 1998 over an area of 3.19 lakh square feet at a cost of Rs 15.65 crore, resembles a deserted palace in a posh locality of Bhubaneswar. The unoccupied mansion has more than 2 lakh square feet of office space.

A page linked from the IIT Bhubaneswar home page (click on Facilities) mentions that some classes will be held in Toshali Plaza this year and the boys hostel will be 5 minutes from it.

The tender at http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/pdf/tender/RFP_Toshali_Satellite.pdf for installing networking and wi-fi in Toshali Bhawan (earlier called as Toshali Plaza) refers to it as a satellite campus. It also gives the floor diagram of the first four floors.

Finally the article https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4801 on progress of the new IITs says the following:

IIT Bhubaneswar: .. claims to be the first IIT out of the eight new IITs to be operating on its own infrastructure. "This is partially our own campus and we are the only IIT to be operating out of our own campus. Even after we move out to our permanent campus at Arugul, this building will continue to be our city centre.

Does this mean that IIT Bhubaneswar has bought or taken a very long term lease on Toshali Bhawan? That is my guess.

I guess they are or will be renovating it and it will look much prettier than the above picture. However, the picture gives an idea on how big that complex is. 3.19 lakh sq feet is huge. That is 29,636 sq meter. As a comparison the size of the planned academic township of NISER Bhubaneswar is 65,000 sq meter. Similarly the size of the planned academic complex of IISER Pune is 34000 sq meters. Thus IIT Bhubaneswar will have plenty of space to grow and hire more faculty until its main campus is ready in Argul.

Toshali Bhawan is also located centrally in Bhubaneswar; only about 2 kms from the Bhubaneswar station. It is four hundred meters from the Forum mall (the first mall of Bhubaneswar; with a Pizza Hut and many other eating places) and fairly close (about 3 kms) to the SBI colony where some of the student and the faculty housing are.

If indeed IIT Bhubaneswar was able to buy this huge complex, besides the current Director (Prof. Chakraborty) and Registrar (Mr. Ray) one must also thank Prof. Damodar Acharya who most likely (my speculation) saved IIT Bhubaneswar tons of money by having the first year classes in Kharagpur at almost zero cost to IIT Bhubaneswar. Also, the second year classes were partly held in the IIT Kharagpur extension center in Bhubaneswar, possibly at a low rent.Those savings may have played a big role in this purchase. All those savings plus the projected rental cost until the main campus is ready probably covers the cost of buying and renovating Toshali Bhawan. Kudos to IIT Bhubaneswar Director and Registrar for this financial and real estate masterstroke.

Down the road, after IIT Bhubaneswar has its main campus ready, this satellite campus in the middle of the city would be very useful in being the venue for offering graduate courses and short courses.

June 26th, 2010

XIMB starts short programs in Delhi; Dubai may be next

Following is from a report in webnewswire.

Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar(XIMB) announces Financial Planning and Wealth Management Program in New Delhi, for graduates, working professionals and enterpreneurs providing services to financial sector and for those who hold keen interest in the same sphere. This program will expose the participants to various theories and practices of Financial and Wealth Management enabling them to equip with the techniques with which they can handle their current business tasks in better and effective manner.

Since, the prime objective of the program is quality education that would help in better career prospects in corporate sector, the core faculty of XIMB would hold the sessions at Lodhi Road imparting both practical and theoratical insights of the financial world. The lectures would be a judicious blend of physical classroom sessions, instructor lead training, quizzes, case studies and project works. Participants would be benefited both academically and professionally as this program would have a high market value and branding among the corporates.

During the total tenure of 6 months integrated approach to learn various aspects of Finance, Financial Services Insurance(Life, Non-Life), Risk Management, Pension Planning, Estate and Tax Planning would give participants holistic perspective of Financial Planning so that they can shoulder greater responsibilities in their future career. Details of the program is available on www.indialearn.com or www.alethia.in.

Eligibility of the program is minimum 50% in graduation. Participants can attend the lectures without compromising their working schedule. The admission process would include application form+written test followed by personal interview. Participants will be awarded with a certificate from XIMB after the completion of the program.

Total fee is of Rs.50,000+ service tax. The documents required for the admission are certified copy of official academic records, copy of work experience (with attached visiting card) and four passport size colour photographs.

Admission forms are available from Ms Darshana Vyas at darshana@creativecrest.com and these can be obtained free of cost.For further information call 011-46076571 or 9268730013.

I was told XIMB is also exploring offering short courses in Dubai. These initiatives should help further increase the brand value of XIMB. In addition extra money from these initiatives could be deployed in the proposed Xavier University and new XIMB campuses in Khurda and Balangir. Odisha government should fast track the Xavier University Bill and any issue (such as land allotment) associated with the new XIMB campuses.

June 25th, 2010

Innovative Gramin ITC by HDF (Human Development Foundation)

I became aware of this program from the following ad in Samaja. I was not aware of any such program before.

More details about the program is available in  the site http://www.hdf.org.in/graminITC/Introduction.

June 24th, 2010

ICFAI University bill passes in Odisha assembly with minor ammendments

Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in.

The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) University Bill received the green signal of the Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) today.

… Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister Higher Education piloted the Bill, which was introduced in the Monsoon Session of the Thirteenth Assembly.

Mr.Mishra agreed few changes in the Bill and it was passed after discussion.

… According to latest accommodation, two Members of the House and Secretary of the Department of Higher Education(DHE) will in the Board of Management(BOM) of the University.

Mr.Mishra also agreed to the proposal for granting concession to students belonging to ST, SC and OBC students.

Assembly asked the ICFAI authorities to prepare Fee Structure on the Guidelines of University Grants Commission (UGC) and other regulatory bodies.
Similarly the Endowment Fund will be raised to Rs.5 crore, which was Rs.3 crore.

… With the Bill cleared , now the Hyderabad-based ICFAI would invest Rs 150 crore in setting up a university in Odisha.

The university would have strength of about 1,500 students and offer courses in various disciplines like engineering, management, law, science and humanities. 

… ICFAI has identified 30 acres of land between Bhubaneswar and Khurda for setting up its proposed university.

2 comments June 24th, 2010

Open Letter to Mr. Anil Agarwal regarding Vedanta University

Dear Mr. Anil Agarwal:

I am not sure if this message will reach you or not. I hope somebody forwards it to you.

I am very concerned with the lack of progress with respect to Vedanta University and I am sure you are too. I am not sure who is advising you, but with the Vedanta University Bill passed by the Odisha assembly, there is really no excuse, especially for Vedanta (I will explain why), to not commence the university.

The Vedanta University MOU was signed in 2006. That same year the Govt. of India announced an Indian Institute of Science type institute in Bhubaneswar and that institute NISER http://niser.ac.in/ started classes in 2007 and its 4th batch of students will be starting this August (2010). An IIT for Odisha was announced in 2008, and that same year classes started and this August (2010) the third batch will be joining IIT Bhubaneswar http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/ .

In Saudi Arabia KAUST http://www.kaust.edu.sa/ was also announced  in 2006 and classes commenced there in 2009.

I realize the grand plans for Vedanta University and I have seen the masterplan document; it is really a masterpiece and there is nothing like that in India and for that matter in the world. But with the delays happening in land acquisition, getting environmental clearance and construction, please consider starting some individual units immediately while the matters are sorted out by the environment ministry (not Odisha govt. fault) and the Odisha high court.

Let me give a particular suggestion.

India is in dire need of good Mathematics Ph.Ds.

The new IITs, IISERs and NISER are having difficulty in finding good Mathematics Ph.Ds to hire as faculty. You can verify this by talking to their directors. I have. There are only few institutions in India which have good graduate programs in Mathematics. They are Chennai Mathematical Institute http://www.cmi.ac.in/ , Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai) http://www.imsc.res.in/, TIFR, Indian Statsitical Institute and some of the IITs. But their output is not able to match the demand.

So what Vedanta University could do is to immediately open a "Vedanta Institute of Mathematics" in a temporary rented accommodation in Puri or Bhubaneswar.

It can then hire young mathematics Ph.Ds from top institutions in US and western countries. Note that, while it is hard to find good Math Ph.Ds in India, in the US, even Math PhDs from top universities like Stanford, MIT, Princeton and Berkeley have difficulty finding good academic job. Many end up teaching in community colleges. Many Ph.Ds from these top institutions will jump at the chance to have a good academic job in a university like the one Vedanta University aims to be. Vedanta Univ can take advantage of this and within TWO months can easily hire 20-25 such faculty and become the best Mathematics Institute in India or perhaps Asia. Within 4 years after that this "Vedanta Institute of Mathematics" would graduate Ph.Ds who will then join top institutions across India.

Imagine if you had done this in 2006. Vedanta graduates would now be faculty in all IITs.

The above is just an example. Vedanta University could identify 2-3 such areas that do not need huge infrastructure and that have the kind of mismatch mentioned above and start graduate programs in them within THREE months.

This will bring the much needed credibility and everyone will take notice. It will also silence many of your critics who make all kinds of allegations. Most of these allegations are baseless, but they did push the Environment minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh to stop progress.

The way to counter that is to show them that you are really serious. You can do that by immediately opening a few graduate institutes of Vedanta University.

You have done this in other context. The Lanjigarh factory is an example.

Please consider a similar approach here. Please do not wait any longer in commencing the Vedanta University.

sincerely,

Chitta Baral
Professor
Arizona State University
http://www.public.asu.edu/~cbaral

8 comments June 23rd, 2010

Update on the upgradation of the Dr A C Homoeopathy Medical College in Bhubaneswar to a national institute

Following is an excerpt from a report in pharmabiz.com.

The Department of Ayush has initiated efforts to upgrade nine more institutions in Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy as National Institutes of Ayush under the central sector scheme to uniformly improve quality of tertiary level healthcare and improve facilities and standards of medical education to meet global demand of Ayush.

The institutes, which would be upgraded to National Institutes through the current and the next Five Year Plans are the Institute of Post Graduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, Gujarat, Govt Ayurvedic College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Govt R A Poddar Ayurvedic College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Govt Ayurvedic College, Patna, Bihar, Rajiv Gandhi Govt PG Ayurveda Colege, Paprola, Himachal Pradesh, Govt Ayurvedic College, Guwahati, Assam, Govt Ayurveda & Unani Tibbiya College, Karol Bagh, New Delhi, Govt Dr A C Homoeopathy Medical College, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa and Govt Nizamia Tibbi College, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Detailed project reports on requirements to upgrade these institutions, aiming to achieve the optimum infrastructure in the next five years, would be prepared soon. The project would be divided into two phases, where in the first phase would cover the capital work at equipment required and the salary, stipend and cosumables to be put in place in the current Five Year Plan, posted to end in the financial year 2010-11.

The second phase of upgradation to develop infrastructure to achieve optimum requirements, would commence in the 12th Five Year Plan, starting from the financial year 2011-12. Since these are existing and functioning institutions, the two-phased project would be appropriate for the proposed upgradation, comments Dept of Ayush sources. A call for eligible consultant firms to engage in preparing detailed project report has been issued by the department of late.

Post upgradation, the Ayurvedic institutions could accommodate 100 BAMS, almost 100 MDs and PhDs and 25 nursing students per year, even as the Unani and Homoeopathic institutions would have 100 BUMS/BHMS seats and 35 MD seats for seven subjects per year, uniformly.

The proposed National Institutes are part of the departments effort to upgrade the educational standards in the Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy colleges in the country, strengthen existing research institutions and ensure a time-bound research programme on identified diseases for which these systems have an effective treatment, draw up schemes for promotion, cultivation and regeneration of medicinal plants used in these systems and to evolve pharmacopoeial standards for ISM and Homoeopathy medicines.

… The existing bed strength will be upgraded to 200 for Ayurvedic and Unani institutions and to 100 for Homoeopathy institutions with adequate treatment and diagnostic facilities and full-fledged testing laboratories with complete computer facilities will be in place in each of these institutes to bring in development of the segment in regional level.

At present, the department has eight apex educational institutions established to promote excellence in the Ayush segments – The National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, Rajasthan, National Institute of Siddha, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, National Institute of Unani Medicine, Bangalore, Karnataka, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi, National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune, Maharashtra, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata, West Bengal, Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth, New Delhi and the Institute of Post Graduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, Gujarat.

While it is good that Dr A C Homoeopathy Medical College in Bhubaneswar will be upgraded to a national institute, I wish it was an aurvedic college instead of a Homeopathy college. Thats because I do not think "Homeopathy" is backed by science. See for example the videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFtJgCzPgL0, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpvLCkajxc0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jqP_1beVXQ&feature=related.

1 comment June 23rd, 2010

Odisha Chief Secretary proposes government medical colleges at Balasore and Bolangir

Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.

Chief Secretary Mr.Mishra along with Balangir has also suggested setting up another Government Medical College at Balasore.

He said at present there are 3 Government Medical Colleges at Cuttack, Berhampur and Burla in Sambalpur.

There are 3 private Medical Colleges at Bhubaneswar and Hi-Tech Medical College has been allowed to set up a Medical College at Rourkela.

Central University of Odisha has been requested to set up a Medical College at Koraput.

Sahayog Foundation has shown keen interest to set up a Medical College at Keonjhar.

Ministry of Steel has been approached for a Medical College funded by SAIL at Rourkela by upgrading Ispat General Hospital (IGH).

Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL) is setting up a Medical College at Talcher.

So a Government Medical College at Balangir seems the only option available.

With another Medical College at Balasore, there will be harmonious spread of Medical Colleges all over Odisha, felt the top most administrator of the state.

The proposal is pending with the Chief Minister and he will take the final call on the issue, said sources.

What about Kalahandi? The WODC medical college there is stuck for some time. The Odisha government should consider taking over what has already been constructed and make it a government medical college too.

If a medical college in Kalahandi is also made and all the above mentioned medical colleges come through then the following 11 undivided districts (out of 13) will have at least one medical college: Cuttack, Ganjam, Sambalpur, Puri, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Balangir, Kalahandi, Sundergarh and Balasore. The only two that will be left out are: Baudha-Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj. They can be addressed in the next round.

June 21st, 2010

Progress report of the new IITs

Following are excerpts from a report in sify.com.

• IIT Mandi: … nestled in the lowermost climatic zone of the serene Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh.The institute plans to involve its research scholars in teaching to enhance its faculty strength. It will launch doctoral programmes this August and plans to request the ministry to fund research scholars who will be involved with teaching at the institute."… At present, recruitment of full-time faculty is underway. Nine faculty members have accepted the offers. Additional 10-12 faculty members are expected to do so shortly. …" says S P Gupta … has received 513 acres of land for its main campus …
• IIT Hyderabad: … is banking on its faculty members to consolidate its research activities. According to U B Desai, director of IIT-H, faculty members have not only begun receiving research grants from DST, MCIT/DIT and other organisations, but have also begun publishing research papers in international journals. … 100 for M Tech programmes and 50 for PhD. Moreover, as against a full-time faculty strength of just over 40 last year, IIT-H is expecting the number to go up to 50 faculty members in its 10 departments. … "About 531 acres of land has been given by the state of Andhra Pradesh. While master planning of the new campus is done, we have called for expression of interest by architects. The new campus should be ready in about two years."
• IIT Indore: … expects its permanent campus to be ready by the end of 2011. "At present, the need for independent infrastructure, including lab facilities, is an issue. However, it does not imply that we will compromise on quality" … The institute does not plan to start the MTech programme at least for the next three years. As for faculty, the current capacity is 26 while the required capacity is 30 per year at all IITs.
• IIT Rajasthan: Apart from its B Tech programme getting its third batch since inception, IIT Rajasthan is also initiating PhD programmes for the first time from this year. Running from MBM Engineering College in Jodhpur, IIT Rajasthan has also been provided 300-odd PWD quarters for offering residential facilities to faculty members, staff and students alike. While IIT Rajasthan has been able to admit 120 students per batch so far, with its own campus coming up on a sprawling 900 acre land, the institute expects the numbers to rise.
• IIT Gandhinagar: … currently functioning from a makeshift campus at Vishwakarma Engineering College near Ahmedabad, saw the latter’s students protesting to shift the temporary campus of IIT-Gn from their college premises. The Gujarat government has now zeroed in on a 385-acre plot for the purpose of building the campus for IIT Gandhinagar.
• IIT Bhubaneswar: .. claims to be the first IIT out of the eight new IITs to be operating on its own infrastructure. "This is partially our own campus and we are the only IIT to be operating out of our own campus. Even after we move out to our permanent campus at Arugul, this building will continue to be our city centre. We have also selected project management consultants who will design our permanent campus and we expect the construction to begin by the end of this year and to be completed by 2014," says BK Rai, registrar at IIT Bhubaneswar. The institute has been allotted 936 acres of land by the Orissa government for its permanent campus designed to have a self contained campus for 10,000 students and 1100 faculty and an estimated amount of Rs 780 crore will be spent in next few years to develop this institute. A science park will be part of this institution. IIT Bhubaneswar will also the first IIT to set up a separate marine campus in 2011 for conducting interdisciplinary research in rising sea levels, ecology, disaster management, marine ecosystems, fishery development, and other areas.
• IIT Ropar: … has 10 PhD candidates at present and will add another 15 by January next year. IIT Ropar currently runs BTech and PhD courses. As it faces hostel accommodation constraints, the institute is "not ready" to start MTech courses in the immediate future. This year, 25 faculty members will be joining the institute by July adding strength to the institute which has 27 faculty members at present.  …At present, the IIT is functioning from its Ropar-based transit campus, which was earlier The Polytechnic College for Women. The Government of Punjab has provided 500 acres of land near the banks of Sutlej river which is expected to be ready by the end of 2010 or beginning of 2013.
• IIT Patna: The institute has recruited 47 faculty so far and has 240 students including 11 PhD students till date. As it readies to welcome its third batch of students, IIT-P has new building ready on the premises of the New Government Polytechnic, from where the institute is currently functioning. As for the labs, IIT-P has hired the building of Software Technology Park of India (STPI), Patna.

The current faculty strength of IIT Bhubaneswar is 40. (It was 16 as per its webpage in October 24, 2009 and 37 on April 26, 2010.) I am not sure how many new ones are expected to join in Fall 2010. While browsing the websites of the various websites some things jumped out. (i) IIT Ropar has a large number of faculty with foreign Ph.Ds. (ii) IIT Hyderabad is recruiting faculty in departments other than basic sciences, Humanities and the three disciplines in which it offers B.Tech. It is offering M.Tech programs in these additional departments. (iii) IIT Patna has hired the maximum number of faculty (47) closely followed by IIT Hyderabad (45) and IIT Bhubaneswar (40).

1 comment June 21st, 2010