Following are excerpts from a report in livemint.com.
In the new IIITs, the government is actively considering a model where a majority stake goes to the private sector, while reducing the government to a minority shareholder. So, on an equity base of Rs30 crore, the government would get Rs14.90 crore maximum; and industry, Rs15.10 crore minimum.
“This is where the concept of autonomy begins. Even IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) and IITs, which are autonomous institutes, can’t decide on fees and number of seats without government approval because they are dependent on it for grants,” said Rajdeep Sahrawat, vice-president of industry lobby group National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), who led the drafting of the detailed project report on IIITs.
The government is also looking at a loan model, prepared by Nasscom, for IIITs to be set up as autonomous bodies, where the government would give loans to the institutes—and not grant funds—to be paid back over 10 years after a five-year moratorium.
The partners in setting up these IIITs would be the HRD ministry, the governments of the respective states where each institute will be established and industry members.
The committee member said it is hoping the model has no management quota. “There will be a board of governors that will decide policy matters for the institutes, and have representations from academia, industry and government,” this person said.
To further clip government interference, the board of governors at these IIITs will have just one government representative, based on the policy of “one seat per investor”.
“Each institution should have three-four industry partners, with a pedigree for research. Even the age of the people to be appointed to the governing board can’t exceed 70 years,” the member said.
With a focus on research, the new IIITs will also have a faculty-student ratio of 1:10, as in IITs. While Nasscom’s public-private partnership model for the new IIITs skips any mention of reservations for students from backward classes, a provision for merit-cum-means scholarships for the students is proposed, where an institute is granted subsidy from the government for the scholarships granted.
This, however, continues to be the toughest call for the government. “The industry wants merit to be the sole criteria, but the government would like to push through reservations, as applicable in other educational institutions. However, the IIITs would have some kind of a relaxation of marks for students from certain backward classes,” the member said.
August 29th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in The Pioneer.
Volunteers of the Art of Living on Sunday organised a preparatory meet at Naraj, 30 km from here, … to serve as a prelude to the arrival of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on September 20.
… Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, during his stay here from September 20 to September 25, would lay the foundation-stone of the university and deliver a spiritual address to over 10,000 devotees expected to gather on the occasion, said AOL faculty Devjyoti Mohanty, adding that over 186 acres of Government lands have already been allocated by the State Government for the proposed university.
This is the first-ever university to be set up by the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidyamandir Trust, and it would be a regular university with a spiritual touch, he said. Local people have been mobilised for their fullest cooperation for the project, and the university would take into account the interests of the State while selecting the candidates, he added.
So far in their web page the only Orissa specific institute that is mentioned is the Sri Sri Institute of Management Studies. That is a good start and I hope soon the other schools will be launched. The web page for Sri Sri Institute of Management Studies, Bhubaneswar says the following.
| SRI SRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES |
Sri Sri Institute Of Management Studies, Bhubaneshwar is the the result of H.H.Sri Sri Ravishankar’s vision of blending high quality education with spirituality and human values. The courses are so designed to train the students in Self Management, Stress Management and Personality Development. |
| Courses Offered |
1. Post Graduate Diploma in Bussiness Management (2 Years)
2. Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication (2 Years)
3. Post Graduate Diploma in Government (1 Year )
The first two courses run for about 20 months each while third is 1 year course. A wide range of meaningful and purposeful elective subjects are offered in each of them.
|
| Salient features of the Institute |
Courses with high job prospects are offered
Curriculum to match demands of the industry
Corporate bodies will be invited to conduct campus interviews
Holistic Education to equip the student to compete with their counterparts at the global level
Value based and stress free education
Art of Living Courses to teach the students to manage their own emotions and interpersonal relationships.
Adequate Infrastructural facilities
 |
:Address:
N-5/421
IRC village, Nayapalli,
Bhubaneshwar- 751012
:Contact
Dr. S.Ramaratnam 944916801 |
|
Qualified faculty
|
Their trust already has a management school running in Goa. It seems to be a good school with good faculty. Thus it is expected that the management school in Bhubaneswar will also be good. Besides offering a 2 yr PG Diploma in Business management (which is the only degree offered in the Goal school), the Bhubaneswar school will also offer a 2 year PG diploma in mass communication. This program is a longer program than the One year Post Graduate Diploma in Print Journalism & Electronic Media offered by the trust’s journalism school in Bangalore. The Bhubaneswar school will also offer a one year PG Diploma in Government which is not offered by any other school of the trust. Thus the proposed Bhubaneswar school will have more programs than the Goa school and Bangalore school combined.
The Bhubaneswar school page has the following information visible only at the html/php code level:
Address: N-5/421
IRC village,
Nayapalli,Bhubaneshwar-751012
Contact: Dr. S.Ramaratnam 944916801
Perhaps that is the address until the campus is built near Naraj.
August 25th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.
Students of University College of Engineering (UCE), Burla, launched their three day hunger strike from today staging silent sit-on dharna in front of the administrative building of the college.
The students are demanding Unitary University Status for the oldest engineering college of the State, on the lines of Ravenshaw University, transfer of 400 acres of government land adjacent to UCE campus, hike in annual grant to UCE to Rs 15 crore and special infrastructure development grant of Rs 100 crore spread over three years. The students had launched a stir in October demanding upgradation of UCE to IIT with support from the Alumni Association of the college and locals.
But with the State Government deciding to house the IIT at Jatni, they are now demanding declaring the college as an Unitary University.
The students had apprised the Chief Minister of their demand vide a petition on August 2 and set August 21 as deadline to fulfill the demand.
But with no communication from the office of the Chief Minister for a dialogue over the issue, they resorted to hunger strike. … A delegation of students will be leaving for Bhubaneswar and will try to get an audience with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Governor MC Bhandare.
August 24th, 2008
Update: See http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/downloads/documents/Letter_World_Class_Universities.pdf for National Knowledge Commission’s take on this.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Indian Express.
An all-India common entrance examination, a student-count not exceeding 12,000, the best of faculty with incentives over and above regular pay, a curriculum revised every three years, a semester system, private sector funding, vice-chancellors with at least decade-long teaching experience, collaboration with universities and institutes in India and abroad, academic creativity free from red tapism — all this and more will go into the making of 14 World Class Universities (WCUs) very shortly.
And these sweeping changes are also likely to be applied to all existing universities and 16 Central universities that have recently been approved by the Cabinet. What will change, however, is the nomenclature for the 14 WCUs. Officials say these are now likely to be christened National Universities and the related legislation will be called the National Universities Act.
The basic blueprint for the WCUs has been formulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the first round of discussions, held in New Delhi today, involved academicians, experts, officials from the Human Resource Development Ministry, UGC and Planning Commission.
“There was a very interactive discussion on the WCUs and a major viewpoint emerged. Participants felt there should be a similar legislation for all Central universities, including the 16 which just got Cabinet approval, and all existing universities. The view was that there should be no hierarchy or disparity in standards amongst universities and the reforms and changes suggested for WCUs should be applied to all universities,” an official who attended the meeting told The Indian Express.
“There were strong reservations against the term ‘world class’ and it was decided they will be called National Universities instead,” the official said.
While more discussions will follow, sources said that the UGC and HRD Ministry hope to be ready with a legislation in time for the Parliament session. …
The WCUs are envisaged as unitary universities, like JNU, without any affiliation and multi-facility based, offering subjects ranging from natural sciences, social sciences and humanities to engineering, technology and medicine among others.
Promised autonomy in matters of admission of students and standards for selection, introduction and revision of contextual and innovative curricula, opening of new campuses and new programmes, intake of students, examinations and evaluation systems, faculty recruitment and national and international collaborations, the WCUs are planned as model institutes that will stand apart from existing universities.
That getting the best of faculty is high on the agenda for these new universities is apparent as the concept paper suggest that individuals with high quality research/training experience could be invited to join the faculty even if they have not applied for the job — as is also done in JNU. The universities, the paper says, should also be allowed to develop own hiring policies and pay higher emoluments and non-salary incentives over and above regular pay scales. The blueprint also recommends that private sector funding be permitted as long as it does not compromise academic integrity and autonomy of the university.
While the UGC’s earlier draft on WCUs did not quite impress the Prime Minister’s Office — it is keenly following the ambitious project — the new concept paper is said to have been found to be more “forward looking”. The legislation will also be so worded that it does not lead to rigid bureaucratic controls that stifle quality and creativity and spell out only “what to do” instead of “how to do”.
August 24th, 2008
Following is the copy of the letter that was sent to me:
Sri Naveen Patanaik ji
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Orissa
Sub: State Govt’s response to our demand for “Unitary University” status to our college.
Respected Sir,
In our letter dated 2nd August, 2008, we had requested you to consider the followings:
1) Pass an Act in State Assembly to declare UCE as a “Unitary University” (like Revensaw Univ.)
2) Transfer the free Government land of 400 acers adjacent to UCE campus to UCE.
3) Hike the annual grant to UCE to Rs 15 crore.
4) Give a special “Infrastructure Development Grant” of Rs 100 crore to UCE spread over three years.
We painfully recall that in 2004, our college was the choice of State Government for becoming “IIT”. But, when center agreed to give “IIT”, it was shifted to Jatni. You have written MHRD for making UCE an “NIT”, but we see least possibility of this as the new NITs will go to the states which don’t have NIT now. Therefore, “Unitary University” is the only feasible route for upgrading UCE. We have sought an appointment with Hon’ble Chief Minister, but unfortunately we are not heard.
The students of UCE have never fought for their self. We never come out in support of any such strike by other BPUT students demanding withdrawal of year-back system or so. Our fight is for the prestige and ‘swabhimaan’ of our college. If we are not assured of fulfillment of our legitimate demand by 21st of Aug,08. we will be constrained to take any step that may be required to fulfill it. We will be forced to come out to street and paralyze entire Sambalpur region including the Railways & National Highways. The people across the civic society, student unions of other institutes & political parties have already come forward to participate in our agitation. If this does not attract to notice , we will march to Bhubaneswar and ‘gherao’ the State Assembly and seek explanation from the representatives of people who will assemble there. Yet, we believe, such moments will not come; you will definitely fulfill our legitimate aspiration.
Warm regards,
Students, UCE, Burla
Copy to: Sri Jayanarayan Mishra, Hon’ble Minister of commerce & Transport
Sri Prasanna Acharaya, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Sambalpur Constituency
Sri Kishore Mohanty, Hon’ble Speaker, Orissa Assembly
Sri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Deogarh Constituency
Smt Pramila Bohidar,MP Rajya Sabha
Sri Sanatan Bishi,Hon’ble Health Minister
Sri Surender Lath, MP Rajya Sabha
The Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Northen Division, Sambalpur
The Collector & District Magistrate, Sambalpur
The Incharge, Police Station, Burla
Superintendent of Police, Sambalpur
Vice-Chancellor, BPUT
Industry Minister, Govt. of Orissa
Industry Secretary, Govt. Of Orissa
Principal, UCE Burla
—————————–
This is a just demand. When and if the students get a chance to meet the CM and/or the govt.officials they must request that UCE Burla must be molded in the model of CUSAT, BESU (both are state universities) and the plan in Maharastra and UP to have state funded universities at the level of an IIT. Besides the demand mentioned in the above letter, to make UCE Burla really a top institution some additional steps need to be taken. For example:
- It should be allowed to hire faculty from all over India (not just from Orissa or Oriyas); and have the payscale of NITs and IITs.
- Its seats should be doubled but a significant percent (say 30% or perhaps 50%) should be open to all India admission either through AIEEE or IIT JEE. Because of the doubling of the seats students of Orissa will not lose out.
- In other words, mold it like an NIT or IIT and it will one day be picked to get that level. (This is the same strategey that was done with, say, Institute of Physics, which was made like a central institute, and after some years, it was picked up by the central govt. Similarly, CUSAT takes students from all over India.)
August 22nd, 2008
Following is from a report in Pioneer.
In the first phase of the Vedanta University Project, a 500-bed super-specialty hospital and a medical college of international standard will be built which will be later expanded to 1,000-bed capacity. The super facilities that are planned cardiology, endocrinology and intensive care while paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology will be added in the next phase.
Besides providing highest quality health care, it will be a ‘Research-cum-Teaching hospital’. An advisory committee will decide on the vision and scope of the medical centre comprising health-care, teaching and research facilities with distinguished medical professionals and academicians from India and abroad.
The Vedanta University Project also announced that director of Medical Education and senior cardiologist of Apollo Hospital KP Mishra and ex-director of the Institute of Immunohaematology and winner of the Biju Patnaik Award for Excellence in Science and Technology Dipika Mohanty had joined as advisors to guide regarding the development of the hospital.
Mohanty, on behalf of hospital, will initiate a major research project in the areas for infants and children having anaemia as well as an identification and treatment for sickle cell anaemia which is more prevalent in Orissa.
The hospital and medical college are part of the first phase of the Vedanta University Project that will include a core campus with colleges for humanities, sciences, engineering and business. The academic session is likely to start in 2010.
The exact press release of Vedanta University is at http://vedanta.edu.in/news/?p=10. It says the following:
- Super specialty 500 bed hospital and medial college.
- To be upgraded to 1000 bed later.
- Super specialties in Cardiology, endocrinology and acute care.
- Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology to be added later.
- Advisory committee with experts from India and abroad being formed.
- Noted Oriya Cardiologist, Dr. K.P.Mishra of Apollo fame and Dr. Dipika Mohanty, former Director of Institute of Immuno-haematology (ICMR) already joined as advisors.
- Major research projects in interventional treatment of anaemia/iron deficiency and sickle cell anaemia being initiated.
- The first phase of proposed Vedanta University will also include colleges of Humanities and Sciences, Engineering and Business.
- Academic session scheduled to start in 2010.
Puri, August 19, 2008: In the first phase of the Vedanta University project, a 500 bed super specialty hospital and medical college of international standard will be built. This will be expanded to 1000 bed Hospital in the next phase. The super specialties that are planned in the Vedanta Hospital are cardiology, endocrinology and acute care. In the next phase, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology will be added. This Hospital will answer a long standing need for providing comprehensive and specialized patient care and health services for the population of the region and will be a beacon of hope for the common man.
The Hospital is being designed in line with the highest standards set for the Vedanta University Project, and it will be a Research cum Teaching hospital besides providing highest quality patient care. The Hospital will benefit from the highly qualified faculty of the proposed medical college and will be managed by well trained professionals. An advisory committee, comprising distinguished medical professionals and academicians from India and abroad, will be formed to decide on the vision and scope of the medical center consisting of hospital, teaching and research facilities.
Vedanta University Project is pleased to announce that Dr. K. P. Misra, MD, FACC, FRCP, the distinguished Oriya Cardiologist and Director, medical education and Senior Cardiologist (retd) Apollo Hospital, Chennai, and Dr. Dipika Mohanty, MD, Ph.D. FRCP, Ex Director Institute of Immunohaematology (ICMR) and 2006 winner of the Biju Patnaik award for Excellence in Science and Technology, have joined as Advisors to guide setting up the hospital, medical college and medical research centers. On behalf of the Vedanta University Project, Dr Mohanty is initiating a major research project in the areas of interventional treatment of anaemia/iron deficiency in infants and children in Orissa as well as identification and treatment of sickle cell anaemia, which has a double incident rate in Orissa compared to other states where it is prevalent.
The Hospital and Medical College will form part of the first phase of Vedanta University Project that will include a core campus with colleges for Humanities & Sciences, and schools of Engineering and Business. The first academic session is planned to start in 2010.
The Vedanta University will be a world class multidisciplinary University of global scale that will promote greater learning, cutting-edge research and socio-economic development.
For further details contact:Mr. Kishore Chandra Das
Head, Communications
Anil Agarwal Foundation
Vedanta University Project, Puri
Email kishorechandradas@gmail.com
Mobile No. : 91-9437012258
August 20th, 2008
I am told by Prof. Rabi Mahapatra (Chairman of the Trustee) and Dr. Gopal Mohapatra (member Trustee) that BIT (Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology) has now received AICTE approval. This is great news. Since BPUT JEE counseling is already midway, I hope a way is found for BIT to admit students this year.
BIT will be a unique institution is Orissa. The reason I say it is that it is being built by several well-known professors from the US and several other professionals. Following is the list of its promoters as obtained from their web page.
- Prof. Rabi N. Mahapatra, Chairman
Department of Computer Science, Texas A&M University, USA
- Mrs. Sumita Panda, Managing Trustee
Bhubaneswar, India
- Prof. Laxmi N. Bhuyan, Trustee
Professor and Chairman, Department of Computer Science, University of California, Riverside, USA
- Mr. Binoy K. Dash, Trustee
Software Engineer, Cisco Systems, California, USA
- Major General P Pinak Das (Retd.), Trustee
Defense Research Development Organization, New Delhi, India
- Mr. Rabindra Gaan, Trustee
Satellite Radio Broadband Consultant, Bell Labs, New Jersey, USA
- Mr. Neelamadhaba Mahapatro, Trustee
General Manager and Partner, Microsoft Corp. USA
- Dr. Gopal K. Mohapatra, Trustee
Geophysical Advisor, Hess Corp., Houston
- Prof. Prasant Mohapatra, Trustee
Professor and Chairman, Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis, USA
- Dr. Sujata Mishra, M.B.B.S, M.D, Trustee
Consulting Physician, Bangalore, India
August 16th, 2008
Its listed in http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/proposals18-7-08.pdf. Its proposal number F. 9-41/2008-U.3(A) was received 9th July, 2008.
August 12th, 2008
Following is from Tathya.in.
The Government of Orissa has identified the site at Argul under Jatni tahsil near Bhuabneswar. The entire area is 891 acres out of which 230 acre is forest land. While there will be delay in forest clearance, the Government of Orissa has opted for free patch of land. So the State Government has decided to earmark 500 acres of clean land for the IIT-Bh. Accordingly the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to the Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh to begin construction work in the site.
How ever the experts feel that the entire 891 acres of land, which has been crisscrossed by train lines and black top road have to be given a geometrical shape in keeping the future of the institution in view. Whole area is to be developed as a compact area and infrastructure development has to be taken up immediately, advised an expert. Black top roads are to be rearranged, so that when the IIT is completed than there will be no through fare. To begin with there is the need of the water supply to be augmented at the first instance. At least 3 million gallon per day (MGD) water is needed and laying pipelines from Naraj will cost around Rs.46 crore. Laying pipelines to Naraj will take at least 2 years, feel the experts. Similarly, power supply to the area through 33 kv line is necessary and drawing the power line will cost Rs.6 crore. So at the first instance Rs.52 crore is needed for the basic infrastructure facilities, said an official.
The State Government earlier located 4 places like Garabandhu (Malipada), Banki (Dampara), Mundali (Ramdaspur) and Argul (Jatni). Out of the 4 places Argul has been chosen keeping in view all the aspects, said an official. How ever it is advisable to step up infrastructure development before handing over it to the Centre, feel an expert. And the State Government should fund the improvement expenditure, said he.
Following is from Sambada.
August 11th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard on this.
HCL’s Founder and Chairman Shiv Nadar is making a second foray into university education having sought 300 acres of land in Noida, near New Delhi, to set up a Rs 300-crore multi-disciplinary university.
Former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramaniam is said to be advising Nadar on this venture. The university will be residential and is expected to be operational by 2009.
The Forbes-listed Indian billionaire joins Mukesh Ambani and Anil Agarwal in committing funds to a major university project (see table).
… This university will be Nadar’s second major venture in education after Chennai-based SSN Institutions, which offers graduate courses and research programmes in engineering, biomedical engineering, IT and management.
“Education is a sunrise sector. Investments in this sector are limited, but the returns are very promising. This is why even companies are finding this interesting,” said another source, who is part of Nadar’s university development team.
India’s higher education sector is worth Rs 100,000 crore today and is expected to treble over three to five years, said industry players, as faster economic growth raises the demand for qualified people.
In 2006, Anil Agarwal, chairman, Vedanta Resources Plc, announced plans for a multi-disciplinary university in Orissa, where it is setting up an aluminium smelter, with an endowment fund of up to $1 billion and modelled on Harvard, Stanford and Oxford.
Mukesh Ambani is also reportedly planning a university in Pune at an investment of Rs 100 crore to offer courses in science, arts and professional disciplines.
August 11th, 2008
Update: As per http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=41316&kwd= possible location of 9 of the 10 NITs are:
? … Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
ï‚· The NIT at Goa may also cater to the needs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.
ï‚· Pudducherry or Andaman & Nicobar may have one common NIT, which will cater the needs of each.
Following are excerpts from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=41190.
… The initiative to set up eight new Indian Institutes of Technology is on course with the first academic sessions starting in 2008 in six of the new IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa, Punjab and Gujarat . The session for IIT Orissa has already been started at lIT Kharagpur in July 2008 and classes will begin for IIT Punjab at lIT Delhi in Sept 2008. And the academic session for the other 4 new IITs, will begin during August 2008.
Out of the 7 new Indian Institutes of Management proposed the IIM at Shillong has already commenced its first academic session from July 2008. The remaining six IIMs will be established in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.
The government proposal to set up five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research is on schedule. Of these two IISERs at Pune and Kolkata were inaugurated in 2006-07 and are now fully functional, and the IISER Mohali started its first academic session in 2007-08. Two more IISERs at Bhopal and Thiruvanthapuram will commence their first academic sessions in August, 2008.
Two Schools of Planning & Architecture (SPAs) are being set up at Bhopal and Vijayawada . Classes in both the new SPAs will begin with the academic session of 2008 through temporary campuses. The SPA Bhopal will be mentored by NIT Bhopal while the SPA at Vijayawada will be mentored by SPA, Delhi .
The strengthening of Polytechnics is under way with steps being taken to set up 1000 polytechnics (300 in Government Sector, 300 through PPP mode and 400 private polytechnics); Further 500 existing polytechnics are being expanded and the Community Polytechnics scheme being revamped and their number being increased from 669 to 1000.
Steps are being taken establish 10 new National Institutes of Technology. The likely location of these NITs will be in States/UTs which at present don’t have an NIT.
Sixteen Central Universities are being set up under the initiative seeking to established a Central University in states not having a Central University . Four existing universities; Sagar University in Madhya Pradesh, Bilaspur University in Chhatisgarh, Garhwal University in Uttrakhand and Goa University, are proposed to be taken over and upgraded as Central Universities. The remaining 12 new universities are to be set up in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab , Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Kamataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
14 World Class Central Universities (WCCU), are proposed with the locations being firmed up in consultation with the Planning Commission. The State Governments have been requested to identify suitable land.
A total of 373 degree colleges will be set up in the districts having GER lower than the national average as identified by the UGC. Out of these districts, about 90 districts have been shortlisted which have less than 6% GER, have less than 4 colleges per lakh of population and are also minority concentration districts. It is proposed to fast-track the starting of the degree colleges in these shortlisted districts this year.
Twenty Indian Institutes of Information Technology are planned with NAASCOM having submitted a project report. The setting up of the IIITs under the PPP mode has been discussed with the States and most of the States agreed to tap not-for-profit private investment, while ensuring that PPP should not lead to any erosion of access to the poor sections of society.
Scholarships for College and University students, based on merit, to non-creamy layer students numbering about 2% of the. student population will be given to those who pass out from various intermediate boards. The scholarship will be Rs.l,000 per month for the first 2 years after which it will be of Rs.2000 per month for the balance period of the professional or other courses in Higher Education. Every year about 41,000 boys and 41,000 girls will benefit from the scheme.
The government is working on an Education Loan Interest Subsidy Scheme. It will be a Central Sector scheme for providing interest subsidy during the moratorium period on the educational loans taken by students belonging to "non-creamy" layer for pursuing professional education in India.
All the Central Educational Institutions are implementing OBC reservations as per the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 from this year onward on a staggered basis and the necessary funds have been released to all of them, after holding the meetings of the Empowered Committees. All the IITs, IIMs and the Central Universities that are covered under the Act have started giving reservations to OBCs in a staggered manner. As a result of the implementation of OBC reservations in this academic year, there is an increase of over 20500 in the intake capacity in the Central Educational Institutions.
The states and union territories that do not have NITs are:
- Delhi
- Uttarakhand
- Goa
- Dadra and nagar haveli
- Pondicherry
- Andaman and Nicobar islands
- Lakshadweep
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Manipur
- Nagaland
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Sikkim
So, I guess the majority of the 10 new NITs will be in these states. My guess would be 2, 3, 5, 8-13. (I skipped 1 because I wonder if there is any space left in proper Delhi for an NIT. The rest that I skipped, 4,6 and 7, are very remote as well as hard to reach places.) That makes 9 NITs. It would be interesting to see where the 10th NIT will be located.
August 8th, 2008
Following is from a report in Pioneer.
The classes for the proposed Law University will commence from the next academic year 2009-10.
A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting convened by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday. LN Mitra from the National Law University (NLU) attended the meeting. The proposal for the university was announced by the Union Law Minister in 2005.
The classes would commence either at the Madhu Sudan Law College or in the campus of Ravenshaw Law College.
The proposed university would be set up at Naraj in an area of 50 acre. The State Government has already acquired 30 acres of land for this purpose.
The Chief Justice of India will function as chancellor of the University while the Bar Council of India will run the entire curriculum of the university.
August 7th, 2008
LOCATION FOR THE PROPOSED UNIVERSITY:
The proposed university will be developed at Banki, near Cuttack, Orissa, in multiple stages. Kripaluji Maharaj has lakhs of followers in Orissa. In the first stage, 110 acres of land has been finalised, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by the Trust and the Govt. of Orissa.
PROPOSED COURSES AT THE UNIVERSITY:
1. B. Nat (Ayu) – Bachelors of Ayurved in Naturopathy.
2. B. Nat (Yogic Sciences) – Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences
3. Rural Economics
4. Rural development on Health, Hygiene, Homes, Human Values and harmony in diversity
5. Rural Management
6. B.A – Bachelor of Arts
7. B.B.A, M.B.A – Bachelor and Master of Business Administration
8. B.C.A – Bachelor of Computer Application
9. Bachelor and Master of Oriental Learning
10. Bachelor of Professional Studies
11. Bachelor and Master of Social Work
12. B.Sc – Bachelor of Science
13. B.E – Bachelor of Engineering
14. Yog Therapy
Continue Reading August 6th, 2008
Recent news in Tathya and earlier news in Samaja mention that the IIT in Bhubaneswar may be located in Argul near (3kms away) Khurda Rd/Jatni station. If that happens with NISER also 2 km away (in a different direction) from Khurda Rd, the Knowledge SEZ near Khurda, multiple private engineering colleges in the vicinity, and with the possibility of a campus of the highly rated management institute IMI near the IIT, this area will become a major knowledge hub. The govt. of Orissa plans to join all these together as an ITIR. The proposed Vedanta University will only be 40kms or only 30minutes from this area.
August 6th, 2008
Following is from a news report in Statesman.
Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik suggested the establishment of the proposed Central university might be at Koraput and demanded for setting up IIT near Bhubaneswar to start as soon as possible.
In two separate missives to Union minister for human resources development Mr Arjun Singh today, the chief minister noted the establishment of proposed Central university at Koraput would reduce the existing disparity in education in the state. Maintaining that Koraput has been a backward region as far as education is concerned, Mr Patnaik said that besides 500 acres of land, the proposed site has water, power, road and rail connectivity.
"The Jeypore airstrip is just 30 km away from Koraput," the CM pointed out. "The Union government should send a technical team and start the university work soon," Mr Patnaik suggested.
He also put emphasis on the early set up of the IIT. The state government has identified 500 acres of land for this purpose and can make available more land. Assuring that the state government would provide all sorts of required support, the chief minister urged for early start of construction work.
August 6th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.
For the first time, the State Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal for enactment of a law for establishment of a private university in the State.
The Vedanta University Act-2008, which received the Cabinet nod, will be placed in the State Legislative Assembly in its monsoon session beginning from August 20. The Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) has come up with a proposal to set up a world-class university with an investment of Rs 15,000 crore.
The multi-disciplinary, self-financed university will be set up with a modern self-contained township near Puri having a core campus to cater to the needs of 1 lakh students, 20,000 faculty members and a matching number of non-teaching staff. It will offer academic programmes like Basic Sciences, Humanities, Performing Arts, Law, Engineering, Medicines, Bio-Sciences, Business Management and Agriculture.
In order to allow it to function as a world-class university like Harvard, Oxford and Stanford Universities, the State Government will provide contiguous land of about 6,000 acres. Earlier, the AAF had asked for 10,000 acres, but due to unavailability of land the Government has agreed to provide 6,000 acres by the side of the Puri-Konark marine drive. …
Following is an excerpt from a report in Zee News.
The cabinet’s approval in this regard would be placed in the coming session of the Assembly as Vedanta University Bill-2008, sources said.
Describing the proposed private varsity to be developed by Vedanta Foundation subsequently known as Anil Agarwal Foundation, as an ‘ambitious project’, the cabinet approved the proposal, the first of its kind in the state.
The proposed multi-disciplinary university would be set up with a modern self contained township near Puri having core campus to cater to the needs of nearly one lakh students, 20,000 faculty members and matching number of non-teaching staff.
The varsity, which would offer academic programmes like basic science, humanities, performing arts, law, engineering, medicine, bio-science, business management and agriculture, would be self-financing.
"The state government will provide about 6,000 acres by way of acquisition and alienation," Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy said.
… Replying to a query on the state’s control over the private university, Tripathy said the state might exercise any control on the affairs of the proposed university in the interest of the students as and when required.
August 5th, 2008
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