Update: Pioneer also writes about this.
Following is an excerpt from a report in expressbuzz.com.
First Published : 23 Nov 2009 04:16:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 23 Nov 2009 09:17:24 AM IST
BHUBANESWAR: Four senior Congress MPs from Western Orissa have demanded establishment of the proposed ESIC medical college and hospital at Rourkela in Sundargarh district instead of near the Capital for which the State Government is insisting on.
Though the maximum number of industrial and mine workers reside in the area which is tribal dominated, it has been neglected in the health sector since Independence, the four MPs said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The four MPs, former chief minister Hemananda Biswal, former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das, former minister Amarnath Pradhan and Sanjay Bhoi, said that the area includes border districts and industrial belt of Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Bargarh and Sambalpur. Out of the 2.4 lakh ESI insured persons in the State, 1.4 lakh are from this area, they said and added that the first public sector integrated steel plant was established at Rourkela in 1955.
… While the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is going to be set up near Bhubaneswar, another medical recommended by the Human Resource Development Ministry will be set up in the coastal district. Besides, another medical college recommended by the Ministry of Railways will be established at Bhubaneswar. Two more medical colleges have been recommended to be set up Koraput and Talcher. Bhubaneswar city also has three private medical colleges and hospitals, they said.
This could be the turning point on this movement. Thank you MPs for finally doing this; better late than never.
The above report has a new piece of information in the last paragraph that I have underlined. I wonder what that refers to.
November 23rd, 2009
Earlier this year Delhi College of Engineering became a state university and changed its name to Delhi Tech University. On November 10th, after 100 days of its completion as a university its VC had the following to report.
The Vice Chancellor informed the gathering that four new undergraduate courses and six new postgraduate courses have been added from 2009-10 in areas of high relevance to the country. "Nano-Science and Technology, VLSI Design, Microwave and Optical Communication, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Power Systems are the areas in which DTU has made a modest yet committed beginning," he said. The University has also forayed into management education this year by establishing ‘Delhi School of Management’ to offer MBA program in innovative areas like knowledge and technology management.
With a view to encourage excellence in education and research, DTU has established an ‘Innovation Fund’ with a seed money of Rs. 10 lakh and has introduced cash awards of Rs. 10,000 for the toppers of each semester, in each discipline and Reward of Rs 10,000 for faculty members who publish research papers in International Journals of High Impact Factor. The University has also recruited about 22 new faculty members at various levels recently.
… The thrust areas of R&D at DTU are going to be Biofuel and Clean Energy Technologies, Future Automobile Solutions, Nano Scale Devices and Photonics, New and Smart Materials, Conducting Polymers, Broadband on Power lines, Info Security and Network Management and Socially Relevant Technologies
Following are some quotes from another article about this.
"The total student strength in DTU will be almost three times of its current student intake in the next five years", the VC says.
The VC also announced the beginning of new programs including dual degree programs and integrated Master’s programs in areas of relevance to our country in Medical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Bio-informatics, Clean Energy and Environment Technology, New and Smart Materials and Nano-Technology.
Speaking to an NNE correspondent, the VC said that DTU’s board of management has already given its nod to construct a multi-storey academic block; a teaching block housing ICT enabled lecture theatres and additional hostel facilities for both boys and girls.
"As a part of our academic and research plan we shall set up transform selected research laboratories as world class test houses cum research centres, establish a knowledge park cum Technology Incubator in DTU campus to foster i2IP, student and faculty led techno-enterprises and facilitate effective industry institution interaction," Prof. Sharma added.
A finishing school in partnership with the industry and alumni to further boost employability of their graduates is also in the wish list of the VC.
A Staff College for Tech faculty development will also be set up in DTU to support the Faculty Development mission.
Following are excerpts from another recent article on this.
In an endeavour to attract the best talent to teaching and research, a leading technology university here has initiated 25 teaching-cum-research fellowships (TRFs), including 20 at the doctoral level and five at the post-doctoral level. …
Each teaching-cum-research fellow will be enrolled for a full-time Ph D. programme and will take 10 hours per week of teaching work at the B.Tech or M.Tech levels, a DTU statement said.
The incumbents will be initially appointed for two years, which will be further extended depending on academic and research performance.
The expenditure involved in the grant of TRFs has been estimated around Rs.60 lakh per annum, the statement said.
The first ordinance of the university relating to B.Tech. courses has already been approved by the government. The ordinance for M.Tech and MBA programmes was approved by the DTU board Saturday.
Highlighting the achievements of the institution during the last three months, DTU Vice Chancellor P.B. Sharma told the board: "Apart from a major R&D tie-up with US aerospace major Lockheed Martin for developing a next-generation unmanned aerial vehicle,the university has entered into a collaboration with the Groupe Des Ecoles Des Mines of France to foster collaboration, provide opportunities for global experience and facilitate advancement of knowledge in the field of engineering."
Overall Delhi plans 6 specialized universities. Following is an excerpt from an article about this.
Titled `Delhi as the knowledge capital’, and jointly organized by the Department of Training and Technical Education, government of NCT of Delhi and Delhi Technological University (DTU), the conference on Wednesday discussed a strategic framework for giving shape to the varsity system. Three out of the six universities are already functional. They include the National Law School University (NLU), IIIT-Delhi and Dr B R Ambedkar University.
"Under the new model of higher education, a number of discipline-focused smaller universities are being set up, which would be managed by a common apex system. The new institutes planned are the University of Science and Technology, University of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, and University College of Medical Sciences,” said Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta.
The conference is being seen as a platform for creating a plan of action for the proposed initiatives of the Delhi government. It also discussed the public-private partnership model (PPP) of education where the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) was cited as an instance. In this system, a majority of the affiliated colleges are privately run.
The above has some lessons for Orissa, its VCs and its higher education task force. In particular, the VC of VSSUT, Burla must take note of the speed at which Delhi Tech U is moving. The VSSUT VC must take the opportunity provided by the document being drafted by the Orissa higher education task force and put into it a visionary plan for VSSUT. In regards to BPUT it may have a new VC soon. Hopefully the new VC will help BPUT Rourkela transition from an administrative unit operating from Bhubaneswar to a real university operating from Rourkela.
The VSSUT VC has announced some plans. Following is an excerpt from http://www.alumniuce.com/messages.asp?id=300.
(1) VSSUT is going to organize its First Convocation to award degrees to its 2009 batch graduands in December -2009/January-2010 in the auditorium with an invitation to a reputed personality from the country to deliver the convocation address as Chief Guest.
(2) A Webgroup with teachers and students be formed to develop and maintain our University website to make it one of the best website in the world.
(3)Construction of one 600 seated Boys hostel and 60 seated guest house.
(4) A digital library and 24X7 internet connectivity in the university campus, students hostels and staff quarters.
(5) Appointment of 39 new teaching faculties in next three months time and Phone, PC and Internet facility in individual faculty office rooms.
(7) Revision and Up gradation of Curriculum taking IIT-Kharagpur as a model.
(8) A Big Notice board at the Entrance near Golden Jubilee gate for coverage and information of all events of the University.
(9)Construction of A Big bounded campus with New staff quarters.
(10) Construction of another big auditorium with 2000 capacity.
Following is an excerpt from http://www.alumniuce.com/messages.asp?id=297.
Our priority will be to make the institution as one of the best of the country and for this we are planning to introduce few new branches of engineering courses. Textile engineering is one among them which will help to strengthen the development of the Sambalpuri fabric. We also plan to introduce Nano-science technology, Bio-medical engineering and surgical engineering soon”, the vice chancellor Dr Tripathy told.
According to him, several modification and changes are to be taken place in the infrastructure of the institution once it becomes university. But since it requires lot of expenditure we want to change it in phase manner. “I am meeting the industry secretary soon to place our immediate requirement. I am hopeful the government would give proper attention to solve the problem of the institution. We have shortage of faculty members. About 44 new faculty members are required immediately. So we advertise this in our website and soon we are able to fill up the posts”, Dr. Tripathy told.
These are good steps. VC Tripathy should take the Delhi Tech Univ plans as well has his own plans to our government and use that to leverage more support from the government.
In this regard I would like readers to comment on some future directions for VSSUT. We will collect those and give it to VSSUT VC as well as to the higher education task force. Thanks in advance.
November 22nd, 2009
I came across this ad in Samaja today.
Looking for more information on this institute I came across the following in the page http://www.thesamaja.com/content.php?key=4.
About 80% of the net profit of The Samaja is spent for the welfare activities of the people of Orissa by way of extending stipend to needy students, by helping the patients and victims of natural calamities and through miscellaneous charity and donations. A large amount goes to the Gopabandhu Institute of Medical Science and Research which is in the verge of completion at Athgarh, Orissa.
Looking in Orissa links, I found the following in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/245.
“The Samaja Group (Lok Sevak Mandal)” has shown interest to establish a medical college cum hospital in Cuttack district.
So perhaps Gopabandhu Institute of Medical Science & Research may some day become a medical college.
Just came across the following ad in nijuktikhabar.net. So it seems this institute has or about to start a nursing college.
The following news item from Samaja better reflects the current status.
November 21st, 2009
November 16th, 2009
Update: See also https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/4308.
Rourkela is the second largest metropolitan area of Orissa with an official metropolitan population of 550,668 but perhaps much more (at least 700 K) if one takes into account nearby places like Biramitrapur and Rajgangpur. It is probably the most cosmopolitan area of Orissa. Because of its steel plant it has world-wide name recognition. It has a lot of young talents; I am told that Rourkela youngsters have done much better in entrance exams like IIT JEE than from other parts of Orissa. Rourkela and the Sundergarh district have produced many national hockey players (both male and female), some of whom have gone on to captain the Indian national side.
Being an important station in the Mumbai-Howrah line, Rourkela is very well connected to both. The National Institute of Technology at Rourkela is often ranked among the top 5 NITs of the country; in recent years it has done much better and is in the process of starting a business program. Rourkela also has two private engineering colleges and at least one more is in the works. Rourkela has at least two good magament schools: Rourkela Institute of Management Studies (sometimes ranked nationally) and Indian Institute of Production Management, Kansbahal.
Overall, Rourkela has the potential to be a Tier II city of India at the level of Vizag, Chandigarh, etc. But unfortunately, that has not happened so far and active organized efforts need to be made to achieve that.
So here I will list some of the things that should be pursued so that Rourkela becomes a Tier II city of India.
Knowledge and HRD aspects:
- Metropolitan University: Rourkela is perhaps the largest metropolitan area of the country, or may be the whole world which does not have a general university. This needs to be rectified at the earliest. IMHO, the best model to follow would be of Delhi University. So a Rourkela Metropolitan University should be established with graduate programs as well as with a few constituent colleges spread (offering Bachelors as well as Masters degrees) across the metropolitan area, but with no affiliated colleges. The exisiting government colleges in Rourkela (Govt. College, Rourkela; SG Women’s, Rourkela and Rourkela College) would be made constituents of this university.
- Medical College: Although a WODC sponsored PPP-based medical college is in the works, we must continue pursuing an ESIC medical college here. SAIL, which is making a medical college in Bokaro, should also be pushed to establish a medical college here.
- BPUT: BPUT must become fully operational from Rourkela.It needs to have real departments and centers and offer its own courses. It should be expanded to have programs in Science and Humanities.
- Research Centers: The state should pursue one of the central government departments such as CSIR, DAE, Sc & Tech, etc. to open a research center in Rourkela.
- Centrally funded University: At some point a centrally funded university should be pursued for Rourkela.
- More private institutions: Rourkela has the population base and the amenities that metropolitan areas offer to have more private institutions such as engineering colleges, management institutions etc. A multi-pronged apporoach should be taken.
- Local big industries should be cajoled to participate in this. For example, SAIL is also planning an engineering college in Bokaro. They should be pushed to have one in Rourkela.
- Local people should also open private institutions on their own.
- Educational foundations inside and outside state that have developed good private institutions should be approached and invited to open institutions in Rourkela. Inside Orissa, institutions like Silicon and NIST should be approached.
- STP: The STP at Rourkela should be expanded.
- IT/BPO: Because of the cosmopolitan nature of Rourkela, it would be a good place for BPO and call center operations. This should be pursued.
- Sports Institute/University: Sundergrah district is considered by many to be the Hockey cradle of India, both in men’s and women’s hockey. It has produced both Men’s and Women’s hockey team captains in Dilip Tirkey and Jyoti Sunita Kullu. Orissa government should pursue to establish a National Sports Institute (of the kind in Patiala) in Rourkela. It should include programs in physical training, coach training, official training etc. This would specially contribute in the enhancing the employment opportunities for Adivasis who constitute 50.74% of Sundergarh’s population.
Connectivity Aspects:
- Rail Connectivity -Trains: While the connectivity to Mumbai and Kolkata is marvelous, connectivity to other places needs improvement. Dilip has a good list of new trains needed for Rourkela at http://rourkelarail.wetpaint.com/page/DEMANDS. This list is:
- Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express( Day Time)
- Rourkela-Berhampur Gajapati Express
- Rourkela-Secundarabad/Hyderabad Express
- Trains to New Delhi from Bhubaneswar via Rourkela OR Rourkela-Nizamuddin/New Delhi Express (Any extension of Ranchi-Hatia or Tatanagar trains will also work)
- Trains to Patna and Eastern U.P.
- Rail Connectivity-Others: The Talcher-Bimlagarh line must be fast-tracked.
- Roads: The 4-laning of the state highway 10 connecting Sambalpur and Rourkela must be expedited.
- Air Connectivity: Rourkela airport must be made functional with commercial flights at the earliest.
Metro area:
- A larger metropolitan area for Rourkela that includes Kansbahal and Rajgangpur in the west and Biramitrapur in the North must be formally established.
- The state government should pursue Rourkela to be included in JNNURM.
(The above is from Google Maps.)
(The above is from "sarini: Occasional papers, No. 4, Adivasis of Rourkela")
Work in Progress…
November 15th, 2009
Update: A Business Standard report has some additional information on this. Following are some excerpts.
International Management Institute (IMI), a New Delhi-based B-school, will invest Rs 50-crore in setting up its campus on 15.8 acres of land at Gothpatna on the outskirts of the city.
… Initially, IMI-Bhubaneswar would have an intake of 60 students for the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) programme which will be introduced from July 2010.
To start with, there would be 10 full-time faculty members besides visiting faculty for the maiden PGDM batch of IMI-Bhubaneswar. IMI-Bhubaneswar would have a maximum student intake of 500 and a pool of 50 full-time faculty members once it is fully commissioned after four years. Addressing media persons here, C S Venkata Ratnam, director, IMI-New Delhi said, “We will commence our first PGDM programme at the Bhubaneswar campus from July 2010. The campus will be fully residential with a separate hostel for working executives.”
Students will have to pay around Rs 10 lakh for pursuing the full-time management programme which includes the cost of the hostel. Apart from PGDM programme, the Bhubaneswar campus of IMI would offer executive PGDM programme for working executives. Plans are also afoot to introduce a porgramme in services marketing.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.
New Delhi
: Commemorating its 30th anniversary during 2010-2011, the International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi, has announced the launch of its second campus at Bhubaneshwar in Orissa. Located at the IDCO Institutional area in Gothapatna, Bhubaneshwar, adjacent to IIIT, Bhubaneshwar and NALCO Research Centre, the new campus is spread over 16 acres of land.
Speaking on the occasion, C.S. Venkata Ratnam, director, IMI New Delhi, said, “Subject to getting approval from AICTE, we will commence the first PGDM program in July-Aug 2010.” The campus will be fully residential and function as an autonomous business school. “Besides PGDM programs, IMI Bhubaneshwar will also have centers for research and executive education,” he further added.
… The new campus will also focus on entrepreneurship development and applied research on public policy into socio-economic issues and best practices in management and governance.
Prof N C Patnaik, IMI, said “We plan to be operational in a short span of 8 months, and the building will reflect the Architecture of Orissa.”
IMI Delhi is among the top business schools in India. I hope the Bhubaneswar campus will achieve similar or greater success.
November 13th, 2009
Following is an article written by respected (I respect him a lot) columnist Sharat Kumar Rout. I found it at http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=15350.
Vedanta University in Orissa: A victim of selfish politicking
Sharat Kumar Rout
Recently, the central team of a political party visited the Vedanta University project site near Puri and participated in a meeting of the group opposed to the project. The team leaders flayed the BJD government of Orissa to their hearts’ content and declared their firm opposition to the University project. They criticised the state government vehemently for giving away ‘prime agricultural land’ at ‘throw-away’ prices for the proposed University, expressed ‘shock’ at selling of Lord Jagannath’s land for the same purpose and also questioned the very logic behind establishment of a world class University in the Puri-Konark area. Well, they came, they saw and went away happily, believing perhaps that they conquered too. But, apart from providing some grist for the media mill, the whole exercise has gained nothing for the party concerned. What actually has come to fore is its glaring double standards. Inviting this mega University project to Orissa in 2006 was the decision of the erstwhile coalition Government in which three important Ministers, namely, law, Revenue and Higher Education, were from the said political party. Obviously, departments under these three Ministers played a very proactive role as far as the University MOU and the related matters were concerned. For all one knows, these particular Ministers were the main votaries of the University project. The central team of this party is surely not unaware of this fact. But now, because of the political dynamics before and after the last election, the party is no longer in the Government and so, it has just decided to play the role of the opposition to the hilt! This, among other things, clearly underscores the overly political nature of the opposition to Vedanta University project.
If one closely follows the anti-Vedanta University opponents and their modus operandi, it will be apparent that out of the 18 revenue villages coming within the proposed University site, only one particular group of people belonging to a particular village has been at the forefront. That they were never against the University project at the beginning and have been brainwashed by some local politicians to form an antagonist group, is also common knowledge. But this anti-Vedanta University group and its local political leaders have been emboldened over the last two years, because of the sustained support of different political parties, groups and personalities who, for various reasons, are opposed to the Naveen Pattnaik- led Government of Orissa. These political vested interests have naturally been able to create a whole lot of hype and hoopla about an anti-Vedanta University ‘movement’ and this, in turn, has been occupying so much of media space and time The usual shouting brigade consisting of the foreign-funded NGOs, their high-flying activists and the celebrity ambassadors they manage to rope in, has only made matters worse. Irrespective of the merit or propriety of the project opponents’ remonstrations, they succeed in creating or increasing doubt in public mind. The intelligentsia is also easily swayed by the media hype, more so because, in these stressful times no one practically has the time or inclination to be properly informed or think about any particular issue no matter how important it is for the society or the country at large. The cumulative result is that fear, suspicion or anxiety of the local community, whose life will be affected directly or indirectly by the project, is intensified creating more elbow-room for further politicking and the project work is delayed.
It is not to say that the people of the project area do not have any genuine grievances. But, surely there are ways and means of taking care of the grievances without stopping the project work. Besides, if the compensation package for land acquisition and other benefits to be made available to the land losers as per the R&R policy are dispassionately analysed, one can very well see that the possible pros far outweigh the cons. And, it will also be clear that most of the allegations of the project opponents are unfounded and unreal. It is high time that the intelligentsia, the youth, the student community and especially, the impartial opinion makers, shunned the shenanigans of the self-serving politicians and raised their voice in favour of the early establishment of a world class University in our state. It is learnt that an IIT could not be established in our state in the 60’s, due to the lack of foresight of our political class and the decision makers. Now, after more than four decades, one IIT has come to us. If we let go an opportunity like the Vedanta University now, perhaps we will never get another in the next hundred years.
[Sharat Kumar Rout, columnist, cell No: 9337369448, Maytree Enclave,Naharakanta,Bhubaneswar.]
There is also another recent article by Swati. It is at http://www.merinews.com/article/bjps-dissembling-policy-on-vedanta-raises-eyebrows/15787962.shtml. Although I mostly agree with her point of view, all her write-ups in Merinews have been about Vedanta University.
November 13th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer. (A similar version also appears in tathya.in)
Leading non-resident Odia (NRO) Sandip Dasverma continues to bat for an ESI Medical College at Rourkela, though the State Government has turned a blind eye to the demand of the people of the steel city. Thanks to the alleged poor leadership of Rourkela, MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak, who is the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, the demand has not been heeded by the Government. However, justifying his stand, Dasverma has come out with a detailed memo to the Government.
Dasverma says that Odisha’s development should take into account development of all regions of the State. But such a thought process is sadly missing, for which Rourkela as location of an ESI Medical College is being ignored. And this has resulted in regional resentment and regionalism, warned he.
He says Rourkela should have been recommended for the first ESI Medical College rather than the second by the State Government, as recently reported in the media. With Bhubaneswar being the destination of nine other medical colleges, one more would not mean much to the capital city whereas it would certainly matter a lot for Rourkela, which has none, he argues.
Dasverma further adds that Rourkela has the main concentration of Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Insured persons, which is about 60 per cent, while the other 40 per cent live in and around Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Rourkela should, therefore, get the priority as location of an ESI Medical College and Hospital, he strongly feels.
He points out that people of four districts, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Jharsugda and Sambalpur would benefit due to an ESI Medical College and Hospital at Rourkela. Some more insured persons of the contiguous State of Jharkhand would also be benefitted.
He says Rourkela is the heart of Odisha’s tribal north-west and dotted with dirty mining industries.
The following two pieces appear in Sambada and Dainik Bhaskar. They have been obtained from http://www.odiasamaja.org/esic-medical-college-odia-samaja-odisa-development-teams-official-press-release/.
November 13th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a PTI report in Hindu Business Line.
At least three more Apparel Training and Design Centres (ATDC) will be set up in Orissa. The proposed centers will be set up jointly by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (APEC) under union ministry of textiles and state government at Baripada, Cuttack and Sambalpur very soon.
…according to handlooms and textile secretary, Ms Arati Ahuja.
The APEC is now running three ATDCs at Bhubaneswr, Berhampur and Rourkeal with 100 per cent placement guarantee.
… Almost all the students who passed out from the Bhubaneswar centre have got placement, said Ms Lopamudra Das, head of the Bhubaneswar center.
The placement was made in reputed garment companies, she said.
In a related news in Expressbuzz, the recently established Indian Institute of Handloom Technology at Baragarh seems to be going through teething problems. Following is an excerpt.
… The IIHT was established here after much struggle last year as there was an inordinate delay in identifying and handing over the land for the institute. As work on the required infrastructure is far from over, it is now being mooted to hold the final year classes for the IIHT course at Salem. Ever since its inception, the IIHT has been operating on Panchayat College premises here.
As required by the IIHT officials, the institute was provided with classrooms, hostel for students besides four staff quarters. It was hoped that the infrastructure would be readied soon and the institute would be shifted to its new premises at Bhatli Road. But more than a year has passed and only a boundary wall has come up.
… Meanwhile, District Collector Suresh Prasad Padhy has apprised the Secretary, Higher Education of the slow pace of work at IIHT which is likely to be completed by 2013. …
November 10th, 2009
Thanks to Kanhu Roul for the pointer. The following is an excerpt from http://www.mbauniverse.com/aspirantinn.php?id=2534.
The Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) held its 21st Annual Convocation on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Greater Noida campus of the MBA institute. The Chief Guest was the former President of India, Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam.
The Convocation ceremony started with the welcome address by Jayashree Mohta, Chairperson, Board of Governors, BIMTECH.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director, BIMTECH, informed that the institute is planning to open new campuses in Bhubaneswar, Orissa and Sonepat, Haryana.
Said Dr Chaturvedi, “I am glad to report that we have been invited by two state governments, Haryana and Orissa to open campuses in their states. BIMTECH has been recently allotted 29 acres of land at Bhubaneswar, Orissa and 7.5 acres at Sonepat, Haryana.” …
BIMTECH is decently ranked among private management institutes. I think this is different from the BITS Pilani group which planned to establish an IIM type institute and both Orissa government and AP government had pursued it. Orissa was also pursuing a BITS Pilani campus. I don’t know what happened to that. Two years back when we and the CM contacted Sir KK Birla about it we received individual responses which suggested that we wait till BITS-Pilani Hyderabad is operational. Now that BITS-Pilani Hyderabad is operational, I think it is time to broach the topic again with the right people. (Sir Birla has since then gone to the heavenly abode and since then Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla is in charge of BITS Pilani.)
November 10th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given green signal for the RVS Educational Trust to set up the proposed medical college and hospital in Balangir. Approving the recommendations of a high-level committee, he has asked the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) to go ahead with an MoU for the purpose.
… Coimbatore-based RVS Group of Institutions, led by Dr KV Kuppusamy, is managing 87 educational institutions in the country. … The WODC had invited expression of interest for the medical college and hospital in Balangir last year in view of Shree Balaji Education and Charitable Trust backing out of the project.
The RVS Group would invest at least Rs 100 crore, while the WODC would provide a Rs 10-crore grant and 25 acres of land in Balangir. The medical college would have an intake capacity of 100 with a 300-bed hospital at its initial stage. Subsequently it would be enhanced to a 500-bed hospital and gradually to a 1,000-bed super speciality hospital, said sources in the WODC.
November 8th, 2009
Update:
HRD Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal spent last several days in the US trying to convince top US universities to collaborate and open branches in India. His talk at MIT is here http://techtv.mit.edu/tags/5218-sibal/videos/4310-mit-india-forum-2009. (Thanks to a commentator at Abi’s blog for the pointer.)
I wish some people of Orissa had not created road block for Vedanta University. If it had made progress as scheduled then it would have put the Bhubaneswar-Puri area in the map of top knowledge centers of India and there would have been a higher chance of some good foreign (especially US) universities thinking about having some operations in Orissa. As it stands now Orissa may lose the window of opportunity it has. Unless Orissa quickly positions itself among the top knowledge centers of India, the top foreign universities will give it a skip and it may again take a long long time for Orissa to catch up.
November 5th, 2009
Following is from http://www.barandbench.com/index.php?page=brief&id=248&full=.
The National Law University, Orissa (NLUO) was formally inaugurated by the Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, I. M. Quddusi, State Higher Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra and Minister of Law Bikram Keshari Arukha were present at the ceremony.
Bar & Bench talks to the dynamic Vice Chancellor of National Law University, Orissa, Dr. Faizan Mustafa, on his vision for NLUO and why NLUO is different from the other national law universities (NLUs).
Move from Interdisciplinary approach to integration of knowledge
NLUO is the first University in the country to integrate the B.A., LLB (Hons.) program with the BBA, LLB (Hons.) program. Students can opt for courses from both disciplines of study, and thus, can combine humanities courses with a human resources and marketing course. NLUO has also introduced innovative new courses in legal journalism and mass communication, in conjunction with the law degree.
Students from over 22 states and excellent infrastructure
In the first year, students from 22 states have joined NLUO. Our admission test has been rated as one of the best and some people have said it is tougher than the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). We hope to receive a better response next year when people see our infrastructure and campus. Currently people think Cuttack is far away from the "Metros" and won’t have good faculty and infrastructure facilities. We have spent more than Rs. 1 crore ($208,000) on the books alone. Our hostel facilities for students are amongst the best. The legal education space in the eastern part of India was in shambles. We hope to make a difference here.
Best of both worlds- Senior Faculty, alumni from NLUs and faculty from foreign law schools
During our times, teachers were good while students were bad, since law was the last option for many students. But with the advent of the national law schools, the quality of students has become excellent. I need thank my Senior from college, Dr. Madhav Menon, for his efforts in bringing change into the legal education space. Self-financing Law Universities like us cannot continue to run without quality faculty. There is an unwritten rule in our Universities where we encourage alumni from other NLUs and people who have taught abroad to come and teach in NLUO. We already have faculty who have had experience in other western countries, along with Senior Faculty from other NLUs. For example, the former Vice Chancellor of NLSIU, Bangalore, Dr. N.L. Mitra is one of the faculty members, as is Senior Professor Ajjappa, who has taught at various Law Universities. We want to bring the best of both worlds together, so students can benefit from such vast experience.
Also, I think Law Faculty should not be judged on UGC or other pay scales in self-financing institutions like ours. We need to provide other incentives to faculty to lure them away from private corporations or high paying jobs. If we have to be a third generation Law University, we need to provide the best for the Faculty and students.
NLUs are producing ‘Soft’ Lawyers
The CJI in his welcome speech said, "The NLUs have failed in so far as producing lawyers for the Bar." Constant criticism against the NLUs is that they are producing ‘Soft’ lawyers who opt for Air Conditioned office spaces instead of joining ‘real ligation’ and or opting for judicial services. If we want to increase the quality of our Judges, we also need to increase the quality of the lawyers. One space where NLUO intends to bridge this divide is to concentrate on "traditional lawyering" and not merely corporate law.
New Areas of Legal Practice
NLUO will focus on mining law, water law, food law, energy law and agriculture law. Our country continues to be driven by agriculture and yet, very little importance is attached to agriculture and the legal issues around it. While Corporate Law and IP Law are important for the economy, equal importance has to be given to other areas of practice. Orissa is losing Rs. 20,000 crores ($4.16 billion) every year due to the center-state divide on resources. We plan to have centers on these areas to conduct exhaustive research and recommendations.
I want to build a socially relevant Law University. I encourage people to come, see the University and provide us with comments on improving it.
November 3rd, 2009
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