NIMS (Neelachal Institute of Medical Sciences) ad for its programs in Nursing, Biotechnology and Physiotherapy: Samaja

The ad mentions that NIMS is in the process of opening a medical college and a dental college.

2 comments April 17th, 2008

NTTF offers several diploma courses in Gopalpur

NTTF is the Nettur Technical Training Foundation. It has a center in Gopalpur. It offers the following programs in Gopalpur:

• Diploma in Electronics
• Diploma in Manufacturing Technology

3 comments April 17th, 2008

Ads in Samaja by Institute of Physics and IED (Institute of Entrepreneurship Development) School of Management (ISMT)

The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development is located at Plot No. 123, Sector-A, Zone-A, Mancheswar Industrial. Estate, Bhubaneshwar (Orissa). It is established by the Government of Orissa, but assisted by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of the Government of India. The education wing of IED, IED School of management (ISMT), is offering MBA from 2008-09 and the ad is about that program.

April 15th, 2008

Spreading higher education HRD resources across Orissa through new initiatives

The recent announcements of the locations of the 30 central universities, new IITs and IIMs and earlier announcements of IISERs shows how the Government of India has corrected the earlier imbalance in terms of marquee HRD institution locations and has now spread its HRD institutions all across India. The Orissa  government should do the same. In particular, for Orissa to get to the targeted 15% enrollment in higher education from its current 6.1% it must provide opportunities of higher education across Orissa. With this in mind we propose that while announcing its IIT and central university locations it must do the following:

1. Not be complacent and pursue other undecided issues at MHRD (this includes pursuing one of the proposed 10 NITs, one of the four new National Institutes of Design, an NIFT, one of the 20 IIITs etc.)
2. Establish new universities and institutions across Orissa to fill existing holes in Orissa higher education landscape. In particular it should:

• Establish the IIT at a location a bit far from Bhubaneswar (as far as acceptable to center, and as far as it can still maintain its proximity to Bhubaneswar to be able to be competitive in recruiting good faculty)
• Establish the second central university in KBK with branch campuses across KBK+ districts. The first choice for a HQ could be Bhawanipatna, which is well connected to other places in KBK. Alternatives are Koraput-Jeypore area or Rayagada. If the center does not allow this and requires that the central university be near a city then Rourkela (which is without a regular university) would be a good location.
• The new IIIT should be in location other than Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, and in a  place where there is an STPI. Berhampur would be a first choice. Other choices could be Bhadrakh (between Kalinganagar industrial area and Balasore) and Sambalpur.
• New NIT: If it will be an upgradation, then UCE Burla is the first choice. If it will be a greenfield one then possible choices include industry hubs such as Angul, Kalinganagar, Rayagada.
• A regular university in Rourkela: Rourkela, the second largest metropolitan area of Orissa needs a regular university where students can pursue masters and Ph.Ds in science, liberal arts, etc.
• A medical college in Rourkela.
• A medical college in North Orissa: Balasore has been demanding a medical college for a long time.
• Upgrade UCE Burla to a state university and position it better to make it an IIEST similar to what West Bengal and Kerala did with respect to BESU and CUSAT respectively.
• State universities in KBK region: The government should aim for three universities for the three undivided KBK districts. If a central university is established in one of the three districts then the other two should have state universities.
• The state government should make a few more state engineering colleges in industrial and emerging areas such as Rayagada, Kalinganagar, Jharsuguda and Paradeep. Perhaps the premiere engineering schools in Berhampur and Jharsuguda can be upgraded to engineering colleges.
• A medical college, perhaps in partnership with NALCO and/or MCL and a regular university in Angul-Talcher area may also be considered.

To do the above the state might consider going the PPP route and creating a corpus of 1000-2000 crores.

12 comments April 13th, 2008

Sand art school in Balasore

Following is an excerpt on this from a report in New Indian Express.

a group of artists from Balasore has embarked upon a mission to give sand art a fillip in this district.

"Our main aim is to make people more inclined towards sand art and create new artists and train them," said Kesudas, executive director of Baleswari Kala Kendra (BKK), a local organisation working for the development of ancient art form.

"There are number of artists in the district who want to show their talent in sand art. We have decided to give them scope so that they can excel," he added.

With this idea, a platform to showcase talents of local sand artists has been set up in front of the Gopabandhu park near Gandhismruti Bhavan and BKK School of Sand Art has been opened here.

"Local artists have been creating sand art works here daily and teaching other interested artists. Besides, 10 students who have taken admission in the school are being imparted training," said Kesudas.

1 comment April 11th, 2008

Vedanta University current land acquisition of Jagannath trust land leads to 1 crore per annum for the temple

The following report in Sambada mentions that the 500 acres of Jagannath land that Vedanta University has so far acquired is leading to a corpus fund that will result in 1 crore per year for the Jagannath temple.  My understanding is that this land was  occupied by various people who did not contribute  much to the temple. Thus this seems like a win-win situation. Vedanta  University is in the process of acquiring an additional 846 acres land from the temple trust.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Statesman.

The Jagannath Temple Administration is likely to earn at least Rs 1 crore per annum by way of interest against deposits made by Vedanta group of industries towards the temple land that it has acquired for the proposed world class university.

Company sources here said Vedanta has acquired around 500 acres of land in Nalihana, Gaindala panchayats for its proposed university. The administration of Jagannath Temple revealed that the land acquisition for the university has been conducted as per the norms of Land Acquisition Act-1894 and the company has paid more than the current market price. As of now the administration is getting more than Rs 8 lakh per month as interest from Rs 8.33 crore which has been kept as fixed deposit in the bank, claimed the company sources. The interest calculations work out to Rs 1 crore per annum, they added. While the administration has decided to acquire around 1,346 acres of land registered in the name of Jagannath Temple administration in Nalihana and Gaindala villages for the proposed Vedanta University, the acquisition process of 500 acres of land has been completed. The acquisition process for rest 800 acres of land is on.

Reliable sources said there is a proposal to seek Rs 2 lakh per acre for the land that is yet to be acquired.It may be noted here that prior to the land acquisition for the proposed project, the temple administration used to get virtually nothing from the land holding of the Lord.

April 11th, 2008

IMA plans five year integrated M.Sc in Computer Science

Following is an excerpt from a news report in New Indian Express.

Institute of Mathematics and Application (IMA) here is contemplating to introduce a five-year integrated M Sc programme in computer science.

The course would seek to churn out computer scientists who would use their expertise in providing solutions to a number of fields.

All in all, its scope would go far beyond what is taught at the MCA level today. This should lead to a research programme in computer science in the areas of cryptography, digital image processing and bio-informatics.

Institute director Prof. Swadhin Pattnaik said the integrated programme will help students save one year. Students have to put in additional two years after graduation for pursuing such a programme from other institutes.

The success of the programme would immensely help several sectors recruit highly skilled computer professionals as the country is currently facing crisis for such hands.

Even though a number of technical institutes offer similar programmes today, the product they churn out fail to meet employers’ expectations. IMA, with its level of academic standards, promises to solve this problem.

… The Tata Group is supporting in the development of the infrastructure. However, he ruled out any knowledge of naming the institute after the Tata Group.

4 comments April 11th, 2008

Bachelor in Audiology and Bachelor in Physiotherapy program at IHS

Its website is http://ihsindia.org/. Following is its ad in Samaja:

April 10th, 2008

Two new Plus two Science colleges in Bhubaneswar: IHSE of ITER and Naidu’s

Last year’s list is at https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=283. Following are the ads of two new ones:

• IHSE (Plus 2 science college of ITER)
• Naidu Plus 2 science college

1 comment April 10th, 2008

Ravenshaw will offer MBA; XIMB will help

Following is an excerpt from a news report in New Indian Express.

The course would be offered with the active collaboration of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), said registrar Satyakam Mishra.

The premier B-school, apart from providing faculty, will also train teachers of the varsity. It will design the course content and provide consultancy on several aspects including admission and placement. Besides, students can also make use of XIMB’s library facilities, he said.

… Once introduced, human resource personnel felt Ravenshaw’s MBA course will trigger an unprecedented demand among management aspirants, given the brand name both carry.

The programme will undoubtedly set a bench mark for itself in the State. Mishra said the master’s degree programme will comprise 60 seats to begin with. The selection procedure is being worked out. Scores of XIMB conducted test and CAT may be taken into consideration.

However, the understanding with XIMB will be for two years. If the course proves successful, it will be extended, he noted.

The varsity has already initiated steps to set up the department and renovate an existing hostel for the MBA students.

April 9th, 2008

Bill for private university to be set up by Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir Trust cleared by state cabinet

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Telegraph.

The draft bill was cleared by the state cabinet, which was chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, today.

The existing law allows the establishment of only government-run university in the state.

The government has, therefore, drafted a unitary law to facilitate self-financed and self-governed private university to be set up by Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir Trust.

Chief secretary Ajit Tripathy said the bill would be introduced in the Assembly in the next session. There will be a provision in the bill for representation of the government in the management board through a senior officer.

… This would be the first private university to be set up in Orissa for which draft legislation has been formulated.

Meanwhile, the government has allotted 185.97 acres at Naraj on the outskirts of Cuttack for the project.

The university would have a core campus comprising academic and non-academic buildings to cater to the needs of 15,000 students, 1,500 faculty and matching number of non-teaching staff.

Basic science, humanities, engineering, medicine, pharmacy, business management, law, bio-science, art, culture and Vedic studies, ayurveda, aviation and maritime training will be on course list.

The campus will house a sports complex, recreational facilities, utility centres and meditation halls.

The university would be fully residential with hostels for faculty as well as students. Necessary infrastructure such as roads, communication, water, sewerage, effluent treatment system, power distribution, medical and banking facilities will be provided by the proposed university management in a phase-wise manner.

April 8th, 2008

CIPET admission announcement: ad in Samaja

1 comment April 8th, 2008

Tatas to take over IMA and call it Tata Institute of Mathematics?

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph. (Thanks to Sanjoy Das for the pointer.)

After Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, it is now the turn of a national-level mathematics institute from the house of Tatas.

The steel major has decided to come up with an advanced institute in mathematical studies in Bhubaneswar. To be called Tata Institute of Mathematics, the project is being launched in association with Utkal University in Orissa.

“The decision behind coming up with the institute was development of pure mathematics as a research subject and also to arouse interest among youngsters for the subject,” said H.M. Nerurkar, the chief operating officer of Tata Steel at Jamshedpur today.

Scheduled to be opened in two months, the centre is based on the lines of institutes of mathematics located in Pune and Chennai. Once functional, it would work in areas like fundamental research in frontier disciplines of the mathematical and physical sciences: mathematics, theoretical physics among others.

“The institute has been envisaged with the vision of promoting advance studies in different mathematical faculties and practices. It will offer postgraduate and post-doctoral research programme in different mathematics disciplines,” said Nerurkar, adding the place would be an architectural delight with the design by Vadodara-based Karan Grover and Associates.

… The centre will also conduct special courses for schoolchildren to help them develop interest in mathematical studies.

April 8th, 2008

NISER tender for barbed wire fencing and MS gate at Jatni

(Editor’s comment: Does it mean that NISER now has the full possession of the land?)

Following is from http://www.dcsem.gov.in/page/pcd202.htm reached via http://www.dcsem.gov.in/Page/Tender.htm.

Government of India                

Department of Atomic Energy

Directorate of Construction, Services & Estate Management

 

NOTICE FOR PREQUALIFICATION CUM TENDER (TWO BID) Tender No DCSE/Head (PCD)/NISER-/Fencing /202/2008       dt  05March 2008

Chief Engineer ,DCSEM, DAE, 3^rd floor, Vikram Sarabhai Bhavan, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai-400 094, on behalf of President of India, invites sealed tenders (in TWO BID) from eligible Contractors for “PROVIDING BARBED WIRE FENCING AND MS GATE FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND RESEARCH (NISER) AT PROPOSED LAND AT Teshil: JATNI, District: KHURDA, ORISSA.”. Estimated cost Rs.55 Lakhs.:  E.M.D. Rs.1.10 Lakhs    Security Deposit      @ 10% of tendered amount (as per Clause 1 & 1A of General Conditions of Contract.    Completion Period  3 (Three months). Pre-bid meeting shall be held on 07-04-2008 at 14.30 Hrs. in the Office of the Engineer-in-charge, DCSEM, D.A.E , Institute of Physics, Sachivalya Marg,  Bhubaneswar 751 006. Tenders shall be received in the Office of the Engineer-in-charge, DCSEM, D.A.E , Institute of Physics, Sachivalya Marg,  Bhubaneswar 751 006 on 11-04-2008 up to 15.00 Hrs and only Technical bid shall be opened on 11-04-2008 at15.30 Hrs. Financial Bids shall be opened at a later date, which will be notified separately. Opening of Financial Bids shall be subject to short listing of the bidders on verification of their credentials and inspection of works carried out by them, through a Technical Committee of experts formed by DCSEM. EMD in a separate sealed cover shall be received at the time of opening of Financial Bids. Tender documents can be had from 12-03-2008 to  02-04-2008 on any working day between 11-00 Hrs. and 16-00 Hrs. from Office of the Project Engineer (EW), DCSEM, DAE, 1/AF, Bidhannagar, Kolkata-700 064  & Office of the Engineer-in-charge, DCSEM, D.A.E , Institute of Physics, Sachivalya Marg,  Bhubaneswar 751 006 on application with the following credentials : 1.  Proof of registration with Government/Semi Government organizations like CPWD, MES, Railways, and State PWDs in appropriate class or having experience in carrying out similar type of works.2.  List of construction plants, machinery and infrastructure facilities to complete the work in time. 3.  List of technical staff possessed etc. 4.  List of similar works in hand and works carried out by them for the last five years indicating annual turnover, the agency for whom executed, value of work, completion time, stipulated and actual or present position of the work. 5.  Performance certificates.          6. Latest Solvency Certificate of minimum Rs.22 Lakhs from any scheduled banks. Parties fulfilling following criteria shall only be considered for issue of tender documents and pre-qualification :  i)  Average Annual Turnover not less than Rs.150 Lakhs during last three years   ending 31.03.2008 indicated in ITCC or Profit & Loss Statement.  ii)  Should not have incurred any loss in more than two years during last 5 (five) years ending 31.03.2007.  iii) Experience of having successfully completed works as follows during the last five years ending on 31-10-07:  1.  Three similar completed works costing not less than Rs. 22Lakhs each     OR    2.  Two similar completed works each not less than Rs. 28 Lakhs each        OR          3. One similar completed work costing not less than Rs. 44 Lakhs.  iv) Similar works shall mean experience in construction of either Compound wall alongwith barbed/chainlink etc or in association with other civil works Fencing works .  In the absence of any documents listed above, the requisition for issue of tender forms will not be considered.  Cost of tender documents Rs. 1000/- (non-refundable) payable in Cash to Pay & Accounts Officer, VECC, DAE, Kolkata.  Chief Project Engineer (N), DCSEM,, Mumbai reserves the right to accept or reject the tender in full or in part without assigning any reason thereof.  Tender with any condition including conditional rebate shall be rejected forthwith.

 

1 comment April 6th, 2008

HDF (Human Development Foundation) making a B-School with difference

The Chairman of HDF is Dr. Dhanada Mishra, Ph.D in Civil Engineering from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Among other credentials, Dhanada is the state coordinator of Pratham, an AID Saathi, SEEDs board member and a decent human being. He is the Chairman of the Human Development Foundation (HDF), which is in the process of establishing a business school with difference. With him at the helm of the HDF School of management, HDF’s vision of "an empowered and proactive community enriched by quality human resources" and mission of "facilitating a participatory movement to strengthen development initiatives by promotion of quality human resources and encouragement of shared leadership", and with Dhanada as the chairman of the board of trustees of HDF, I think this B-School will not only be a top-notch B-School in the country but will also be a B-School with difference. To understand what I mean by a B-school with difference, let me copy and past the Chairman’s message below.

Dear prospective students;

Welcome to HDF School of Management!

As you consider your choices for higher education in Management Studies, I would like you ponder for a moment about the kind of institution that you would like to spend two precious years of your life in. As you look at the options I am sure you will realise that you are faced with two very stark choices. On one hand you have public sector institutions offering programs at affordable costs to students selected in highly competitive admission process. It is no doubt that some of these institutions are world-class. Unfortunately, most of the public sector institutions provide poor environment for overall growth of the individual in the sense that they lack the entrepreneurial spirit which is reflected in weak placement effort, lack of up-to-date curriculum, weak industry linkage and so on. These aspects are more pro-actively addressed by the second group of growing number of institutions promoted by edupreneurs in the last one and half decade. However, it may not be an exaggeration to say that most of these second set of institutions are characterised by high fees, unethical commercialisation, lack of transparency and poor quality.

In the above scenario, Human Development Foundation (HDF) is making an attempt to create a third alternative where the best characteristics of public and self-financed education can be offered to the students. The Foundation itself is based on the deep concern of a set of individuals for the over-all development of the society through creation of high quality and ethical human resource to tackle our myriad problems. The School of Management is but one of the several ventures to offer students high quality education at a modest fee. It is driven by highly qualified and motivated faculty. It provides opportunity to students for exposure to social sector development projects for hands-on feel for one’s responsibility towards society beyond career aspirations. Thus, it aims to create a balanced, competent and wholesome individual equipped with the best tools of the trade, ready to engage with the society be it through the corporate sector or through the development sector.
The vision of the foundation, ‘an empowered and pro-active community’, can only be achieved by creation of high quality human resource on a scale matching the enormity of our future needs. We believe that through our passion for this vision, hard work, team effort and dedication we will create an environment where you can achieve your true potential as a management professional of highest caliber ready to take on the world.

I look forward to meeting you in near future.

Dhanada Kanta Mishra, Ph. D. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)

1 comment April 5th, 2008

School of Life Science, four star colleges and an infectious disease research unit

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer. (See also this report in New Indian Express.)

Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal on Friday said a School of Life Science would be established in one of the universities of the State.

Addressing a Press Conference here, Sibal said the Centre would provide all help in establishing the Infectious Disease Research Unit in the premises of the SCB Medical College, Cuttack. He was here to lay the foundation stone for a new research building of Institute of Life Science

Sibal further said that the Research Unit would be set up with the help of the Institute of Life Science. "Four existing colleges will be given the status of star college in Orissa," he announced, adding that the star college would be equipped with all sorts of modern facilities and technology. Students would be encouraged to take up research works particularly in the field of bio-technology. "Biotechnology has to play a key role in the country’s development," he said.

April 5th, 2008