While its main campus gets built IIT Bhubaneswar has built some new facilities in its Samantapuri campus. Following is how one of the new facilities (a hostel) look. (From wikipedia.)
Following are pictures of some of the other building being temporarily used by IIT Bhubaneswar.
SBI Colonly in Kesura: 50-60 apartments are taken on rent here for student accommodation.
IIT Kharagpur extension center in Samantapuri (back of Swosti Premium)
Other AIIMS like Institutes Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana
6 New All India Institutes of Medical Sciences are being established similar to AIIMS, New Delhi. Government of India has decided that the Academic Session in six New AIIMS at Bhopal, Patna, Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Raipur and Bhubaneswar starts in August 2012. The proposal is for an intake of 50 students for each of the institutions. The Ministry after deliberation took the view that for the first academic session (2012-2013), selection for admission should be done through the same entrance examination through which candidates are selected for AIIMS New Delhi. The counselling and admission in Six New AIIMS will be done by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. Any dispute in regard to counseling and admission to six new AIIMS will be dealt with by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi.
1:0 NUMBER OF SEATS & RESERVATION
AIIMS NEW DELHI
A. Each year 77 (seventy seven) seats are available for admission to the graduate medical course, leading to the award of the degree of M.B.B.S. by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences,Delhi. Out of these, 11 (eleven) seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, 5 (five) seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, 19 (nineteen) seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes and 5 (five) seats are reserved for the Foreign Nationals nominated by the Government of India and 37 (thirty seven) seats for General Category. For Indian Nationals, 3% reservation for orthopaedic physically handicapped shall be provided on horizontal basis, in the seats available. If requisite number of suitable candidates are not available to fill the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the same are filled out of the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and vice versa. In case suitable candidates are not available from the above two reserved categories, Orthopaedically handicapped and OBCs, the vacant seats will be filled by the candidates from the general category.
SIX AIIMS LIKE INSTITUTIONS
B. From August 2012, Six New AIIMS like Institutions (viz: Bhopal, Patna, Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Raipur and Bhubaneswar) will start with an intake of 50 students each. The reservation policy followed will be 7.5% ST, 15% SC and 27% OBC. For Indian Nationals, 3% reservation for Orthopaedic physically handicapped shall be provided on horizontal basis, in the seats available.
… The candidate is required to go through the prospectus carefully and acquaint himself/herself with all requirements with regard to filling in of the online application form. Candidates are advised to give order of preference for the Six New AIIMS, apart from AIIMS New Delhi in the Application Form.
… For enquiries relating to Counseling and Admission to Six new AIIMS,please contact from 1st July, 2012 onwards:
PMSSY Section, Room No.22 ‘A’ Wing, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Nirman Bhawan , Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi-110 011 Tel Fax: No- 011-2306187, Website: www.mohfw.nic.in & Email : admissionpmssy@gmail.com
Official sources said nine private agencies have submitted an expression of interest for the ambitious project that would be undertaken in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
According to the proposal, setting up the institute involves an expenditure of Rs 128 crore of which Rs 54 crore will be provided by the Centre. The state government will invest Rs 45 crore and the remaining amount will be contributed by the private agency that takes up the project. The institute will come up on 50 acres allocated by the state government free of cost.
Commissioner-cum-secretary of the state information technology department Pradeep Kumar Jena said the proposal would be sent to the Centre after a private partner for the venture was finalised.
“The location (of the institute) will be decided by the private concern,” said Jena. He said the aim of the institute would be to provide state-of-the-art facilities to produce professionals in the field of information technology.
Since the state is putting 45 crores and giving 50 acres free land, it should pick the private entity that agrees to the earlier announced location of Berhampur.
Five-Point Agenda for Rejuvenating Social Science Research Announced
Shri Kapil Sibal inaugurates International Conference on Indian Social Sciences in the Changing World: Roles, Responsibilities and Reforms Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development announced a five-point agenda for rejuvenating social science research in the country. He was speaking at the inaugural of the ‘International Conference on Indian Social Sciences in the Changing World: Roles, Responsibilities and Reforms’. He said, “Firstly, we need to attract bright minds to social science research in the country. To that end, ICSSR shall proceed to develop a Fellowship scheme for embedding young scholars in the universities interested in pursuit of social science research. Simultaneously, we also need to enhance both the quantum and number of fellowships awarded every year.”
“Secondly, ICSSR can create a network of eminent academics to collaborate on creation of academic content including publications of texts, digests and manuscripts in specific areas in social sciences. These manuscripts would provide an inexpensive aid to teachers and students in social sciences and would be available in different languages. The manuscripts could be delivered electronically leveraging on the gains of the National Knowledge Network which aims to interlink all institutions of higher learning with an information super-highway.”
“Thirdly, ICSSR could take the lead to develop a Social Sciences Knowledge and Research Network as an open source, virtual assembly of research papers of quality. This Network could host peer reviewed research papers and Ph.D theses in social sciences, both priced and free, depending on the choice of the author. The SSKRN could also provide authorised translations of hosted research papers in various languages for the community of researchers in the country.”
“Fourth, in order to develop capacity in new and frontier areas of trans-disciplinary research, ICSSR could establish a National Social Science Research Innovation Centre. The Centre could identify innovative research methodologies in frontier areas of knowledge and assist in building a network for carrying forward the research interests of institutions, scholars and teachers.”
“Fifth, while the field of sciences recognises advances through research through the Bhatnagar Awards, there is no comparative recognition to high quality research in social sciences. We propose to institute ten annual awards to recognise advancement of knowledge in social sciences. I hope that due recognition to social scientists and their contributions would spur thousands of aspiring scholars in the future.” These awards will be known as the Amartya Sen Awards.
Shri Sibal also stated that the functioning of the ICSSR has been reviewed by an eminent group of social scientists. He said that the Committee has given valuable suggestions which are intended to be taken forward in the Twelfth Plan. He also underlined the need for greater research in areas such as agriculture and defence, where inadequate research is done at present. He also pointed out that the government would continue funding these research institutes, as at present there is no other source of funding for them.
The fist academic session of the city centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) medical college is set to begin from August this year. The 500-bed multi-speciality hospital is expected to start functioning from December 2012.
“The session for the first batch of students for AIIMS medical college will begin from August 2012 with an intake of 50 seats. We expect the hospital to be operational from December this year. Work on the AIIMS campus is 65 per cent complete,” said P K Pradhan, Union health secretary. On the state government’s demand for funds for seat hike in three government run medical colleges, Pradhan said, “The Chief Secretary has said that the state government intends to raise intake of each of three medical colleges from 150 to 250. This requires an investment of Rs 100-150 crore per college for infrastructure upgrade. We are coming up with a scheme wherein we can provide funds to the state government for upgradation of infrastructure at medical colleges.”
Various Odia papers report that as of today 65% of the Hospital building construction and 70% of the college building construction are completed.
… the 12th Plan period document of UGC has proposed 20 exclusive universities for them and 800 constituent colleges under the Central varsities to ensure equity in access to quality education.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also sought a four-time hike in allocation during the Five Year Plan period from Rs 46,632 crore to Rs 1,84,740 crore to achieve its proposed initiatives.
The initiatives also include upgrading of autonomous colleges with potential of excellence, enhancing intake capacity of institutes of higher education and development of ‘college cluster universities’.
… Giving thrust on women’s education, the plan document has proposed 20 universities facilitating their entry into higher education even from very traditional background and rural and sub-urban areas.
The Central government is proposed to fund their establishment while the State governments may provide the land and help to establish such universities, the document states while holding that the idea was included "because the social dynamics of our system".
In the past there have been proposal for a womens IIT in the current President’s home town. I think the approach of having 20, distributed across the larger states of the country, is more equitable than having a few in the constituencies of powerful people. Inside each state these universities should perhaps be in strategic places, perhaps in their second largest metro areas, thus giving a push to develop additional metro areas.
Initially proposed to be completed by December 2011 with 100 UG seats each, medical colleges are now expected to complete by March 2012. “For this academic session, test will be conducted for 50 MBBS seats. A lot of nitty-gritty is left before the colleges which can take up the target capacity of 100 seats,” a senior health official said.
However, in what could cause trouble to the students, those getting admission in AIIMS at Bhubaneswar and Raipur will be asked to head to the other four medical colleges for their study this academic session while Directors of Patna and Bhopal have been given additional charge of AIIMS in Rishikesh and Jodhpur respectively, informed the official.
The report of the steering committee on health for the 12th five year plan (incorporating reports of all working groups and deliberations in Committee meetings) has suggested opening of four new prototypes of premiere All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( AIIMS) in addition to the eight already approved.
… Union health ministry is in the process of constructing six AIIMS-like institutes in Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur and Rishikesh at a cost of Rs 847 crore each, up from Rs 332 crore that was originally estimated. There are expected to be ready by July, 2012.
The Planning Commission has given approval to two more AIIMS-like institutes in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. …
With 26 medical institutions have been approved for upgrade, the panel has said an additional 30 medical colleges established at least 20 years ago be identified for support through Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna.
“Other medical colleges, in private or voluntary sector may also be considered for upgrade and strengthening for starting new postgraduate disciplines and increasing post-graduate seats,” the report says.
Following are some of the highlights mentioned in the above article.
Utkal University’s rank increased from 44 to 21 in the latest India Today ranking.
The Economics, Philosophy and Anthropology departments have received the Center for Advanced Studies designation for its research.
The Psychology department has had the Center for Advanced Studies designation for the last 25 years. This is a first with respect to any state university in India.
English and Odia programs are specially funded by UGC.
With the help of UGC, the programs of Tourism management, Journalism and Yoga under the departments of Ancient history of Utkal, General administration and Sanskrit, respectively, have created their independent identity.
All the Science departments of the university get independent funding from Department of Science & Technology of the Central government.
The Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology and Geology departments have UGC funding and are part of the FIST program.
It has been announced that the Biotechnology department will get full support from the Department of Biotechnology of the central government for the next two years.
To recreate their own experience of learning at US universities, a group of professionals have come together to set up a new university of liberal arts in India. Well known names in Delhi and Mumbai circles — Ashish Dhawan (ChrysCapital), Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Naukri.com), Pramath Sinha (9.9 Mediaworx), NV “Tiger” Tyagarajan and Vineet Gupta (Jamboree), among others, are part of the International Foundation for Research and Education.
To be located in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Kundli, Sonepat, across 25 acres, Ashoka University has sought “private university” status from the Haryana government and will be not-for-profit. A total of Rs 50 crore has been paid for the land, and the first phase is expected to cost about Rs 200 crore. The seed capital has been put up by the trustees, apart from donations from individuals.
Dhawan, senior managing director, ChrysCapital — who recently announced he was stepping down — plans to get into school education in a big way. However, with Ashoka University, the “idea is to offer a greater focus on languages, humanities and social sciences and to offer breadth rather than just depth as in the British system. Instead of studying one subject in depth for 3-4 years, the idea is to study many subjects across disciplines,” says Dhawan. He says it will offer courses and areas of study on the lines of universities such as Yale, Princeton and Amherst.
… Pramath Sinha, founder of 9.9 Mediaworx, brings his experience of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, to the new venture. Some of the IFRE founders were keen to set up a quality engineering institute, while others wanted “more holistic” liberal arts courses. “We decided to marry the two and brought everyone together to set up a more ambitious project,” Sinha says.
Says an advisor in the Planning Commission: “Given the paucity of public funds, we need many such initiatives to bridge the demand between quantity and quality in higher education.” The founders, he says, can raise funds through various means. Given the founders’ past experience, raising capital should be the least of their problems.
3. Shiv Nadar University: The Shiv Nadar University is up and running in Delhi area. See http://snu.edu.in/.
4. Reliance University: There have been several news item regarding Nita Ambani heading the establishment of a Reliance University through the Reliance Foundation. See the announcement here.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.
The Reliance Group is setting up a ‘world-class’ university as it seeks to promote education and research in sectors ranging from liberal arts to technology .
Reliance Foundation, which will spearhead the project, is expected to start the university either in Mumbai or Delhi. Nita Ambani, the wife of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, will head the new project.
India’s largest business conglomerate has started the process of identifying land for the proposed university , according to persons familiar with the development.
The university, modelled on the lines of American universities such as The University of Pennsylvania, will tie up with foreign universities. "It will be international in scale and in best practices, but with an Indian soul," said Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Group.
Nita Ambani told ET that the proposed university would be located either outside Mumbai or Delhi. "We are looking for sufficient land to set up a world-class university," she said.
Mr Ambani made this announcement while making the acceptance speech at Mumbai’s Tident Hotel after receiving the Dean’s medal from the University of Pennsylvania’s engineering school. His father Dhirubhai Ambani was earlier conferred Dean’s medal from Wharton School of Management.
The university will initially offer undergraduate courses. It will later offer postgraduate and doctoral courses, Ms Ambani said. India’s big business houses are strengthening their focus on education as it is poised to become a $80-billion opportunity by 2012. Indian spend $50 billion on private education annually, according to a research report by IDFC. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16%, said a CLSA Pacific study.
Q: So could we possibly see a Bharti University being setup anytime soon? And now you can also bring in foreign partners and collaborate with them.
Mittal: For us education will never be a business and therefore whatever we do will have to be done through grants and contribution from the group and friends. And I don’t know whether foreign universities would want to come in for the philanthropy part of it. But we will bring them in at our cost and price but they will not be a foreign university, it should be a Bharti University funded endowed by the contributions that we have made.
The foundation stone of the permanent campus of the Institute was laid on 12th February, 2009. On the eve of the 65th Independence Day, on 14th August 2011, Sri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Odisha formally launched the construction of the Phase-1 of the permanent campus of the Institute near Aragul (Jatni) in the presence of Director Professor M. Chakraborty, Deputy Director, Deans, Registrar, Faculty Members, Officers, members of the Staff and students of the Institute and other dignitaries including Hon’ble Member of Parliament Dr P. K. Patsani, and Hon’ble MLAs of Jatni and Khurda. This was preceded by a Bhumi Pujan Ceremony at the site by the Registrar. The Government of Odisha has allotted 936 acres of land for the purpose and 16 acres of private land is being acquired by the Government for making the land contiguous. The Master Plan of the Campus has been designed for 10,000 students, 1000 teachers, and 1100 non-teaching employees besides 1000 plus outsourced support staff including security personnel. The Institute has also a plan for a Research Park. However, the initial construction in the first phase (Phase-1) would cater to 2500 students, 250 faculty members and about 300 other employees. The total investment for the phase-1 has been estimated to be about 800 crores. The construction would cover 2, 21,000 m2 (63000 m2 for academic complex and 1, 58,000 m2 for residential complex) which would include Main Administrative Building, Lecture Hall and Class Room Complexes, Laboratory Complex, Four Academic Schools, Central Workshop and Students’ Activity Centre in the Academic Complex whereas the Residential Complex shall consist of 800 capacity single seater boys’ hostel, 200 capacity girls’ hostel, 80 numbers of Grade A quarters for faculty members and officers and 40 numbers of Grade C quarters for supporting staff, Shopping and Community Centre, Guest House, service centre etc. The Main Building shall be a structure of 6 storeys and that of the other Academic Schools shall be of 4-storey construction. The hostels as well as the residential quarters shall be of G + 7 storey constructions. The Institute plans to start operating from its permanent campus by 2013-14.
Prof. P C Pandey Joins IITBBS
A doctorate in Physics (Microwaves) from Allahabad University, he is credited with the initiation of the satellite borne microwave remote sensing of Ocean Atmosphere and Cryosphere research in India. Professor Pandey was the Founder Director of National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa from 1997 to 2005. He has spent a major part of his career at Space Application Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad, and has worked for about five years at the NASA’s world famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA. Professor Pandey has carried out extensive research in the areas of satellite oceanography, atmospheric science, climate change and polar science. He has published more than 100 papers in reputed national and international peer reviewed journals and also written and edited many books. He has guided eleven Ph.D. students. Professor Pandey is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore) The National Academy of Sciences (Allahabad), Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Indian Geophysical Union, Geological Society of India and a host other societies. Besides, Professor Pandey has been Member/Chairman of various Committees of Govt. of India from ISRO, DSTM CSIR and has led or participated as member of delegation to various international Forums, notably the International Polar Year (2007- 09). He was also a member of the delegation led by Hon’ble Kapil Sibal to Antarctic, the first ever ministerial delegation to visit Antarctica. Professor Pandey has represented India in various International symposia related to Polar Science and Logistics such as Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) etc. Professor Pandey is the recipient of the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1989), Professor Vikram Sarabhai Award and Gold Medal, Om Prakash Bhasin Award and Vigyan Ratna Samman Award of U.P. Council of Science and Technology as well as the NASA award.
New Faculty Members joined
Dr. Arun Ghosh joined the School of Electrical Sciences in the month of April 2011. His research areas include Robust Control, Periodic feedback Control.
Dr. Subhransu Ranjan Samantaray joined the School of Electrical Sciences in the month of April, 2011. His research areas include Intelligent protection to transmission systems including FACTs, Microgrids with Distributed Generation and Dynamic security assessment in large power network.
Dr. Neti V. L. N. Murty joined the School of Electrical Sciences in the month of May 2011. His research areas include Semiconductor material & Device characterization, Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Devices, MMICs.
NInC is focused on encouraging and facilitating the creation of an Indian Model of Innovation by looking at five key parameters: Platform, Inclusion, Eco-system, Drivers and Discourse. The aim is to re-define innovations to go beyond formal R&D parameters and look at innovation as a broader concept that breaks sectoral silos and moves beyond a high-tech, product-based approach to include organisational, process and service innovation. The core idea is to innovate to produce affordable and qualitative solutions that address the needs of people at the Bottom of the Pyramid, eliminate disparity and focus on an inclusive growth model.
… Some key initiatives that NInC has focused on in the past year include: (a) Developing a framework to finance innovation for the Bottom of the Pyramid through the creation of an India Inclusive Innovation Fund; (b) Creating an eco-system for seeding innovations in regional industry with a focus on MSMEs, by facilitating the creation of Industry Innovation Clusters to drive job creation and productivity; (c) Leveraging our demographic dividend for innovation by creating a connected India through the spread of rural broadband in two years time to all 250,000 panchayats; (d) Nurturing innovation in the education system through action in schools and colleges by intervening in curriculum, talent-spotting of innovators among students and award of Innovation Fellowships, creation of a Meta University, as a global first, that rides on the National Knowledge Network to promote multi-disciplinary learning, facilitating the creation of innovation ecosystems at Universities through University Innovation Clusters; (e) Promoting an innovation culture through action in areas of communication and advocacy through an Innovation Portal and working through mass media organisations; (f) Creating an institutional framework for innovations in Government by facilitating the setting up of State Innovation Councils in each State, and Sectoral Innovation Councils aligned to Union Government Ministries; (g) Promotion of projects that create an innovation dividend like the setting up of a Rabindranath Tagore Knowledge City in Kolkata, setting up twenty Innovation Design Centres co-located in existing institutes; (h) Setting challenges for the Indian imagination to come up with solutions, especially those that relate to inclusive innovation; (i) Promoting co-creation and sharing of knowledge through Global Knowledge Partnerships, beginning with a Global Roundtable on Innovations for sharing ideas.
…
Developing an India Inclusive Innovation Fund
To promote inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship focusing on the needs of people in the lower echelons of society, an India Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF) was conceptualised, detailed and is currently under discussion with the Ministry of Finance and leaders of industry. The Fund seeks to promote enterprises engaged in developing solutions in key areas such as health, education, agriculture, handloom, handicrafts and other small business enterprises. The Fund will combine commercial and social returns. The Fund will be capitalised to an eventual target size of Rs 5000 crores to be achieved in phases. It will be kick-started with seed investment from the Government and bilateral/ multilateral institutions and go to scale with private capital. The Fund will be an autonomous, professionally managed entity with a social investment focus.
PROGRESS
The idea of the IIIF has been proposed to the Ministry of Finance and its initial contribution will kick start the Fund in the fiscal year 2012-13.
…
Nurturing Innovation through Education
To promote creativity and nurture innovations NInC has so far made six proposals to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). These include five proposals made in May 2011 and one in September 2011.
(a) Creation of a separate scholarship stream of National Innovation Scholarships analogous to the National Talent Search Scheme. This will help identify talented children at the school level who think creatively, laterally and innovatively on issues that they perceive as important in their local environment. It is expected to have a multiplier effect of valuing creativity and innovation by parents, teachers and the learning system.
(b) Setting up an Innovation Centre in each DIET (District Institute of Education and Training) to enhance teacher training and enable them to become facilitators of creativity and innovative thinking. This could be done by tapping local creative talent on part-time basis into DIETs.
(c) Mapping of Local History, Ecology and Cultural Heritage by each High School in the country to create critical thinking on their local environment by students.
(d) Creation of a National Innovation Promotion Service to replace/add to National Service Scheme in Colleges to use college students to identify local innovations. This is a scheme of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which along with Ministry of HRD has been requested to examine its feasibility.
(e) Setting up a Meta University, as a redefinition of the university model in the 21st century by leveraging India’s National Knowledge Network to enable multi-disciplinary learning and collaborative knowledge creation.
(f) Setting up twenty Design Innovation Centres co-located in Institutes of National Importance. It has been proposed to set up these Design Innovation Centres in twenty select institutions and included in the 12th Plan for consideration by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Co-location in campuses of national repute like IITs/NITs will help leveraging of academic and industry resources and give a boost to design capacity in the country.
(g) Setting up a pilot University Innovation Cluster. NInC proposes to identify and facilitate the development of 20 University Innovation Clusters across the country where innovation would be seeded through Cluster Innovation Centres.The CIC will provide a platform for the university and its partners to forge linkages between various stakeholders from industry and academia, initiate and assist innovation activities, encourage innovations in curricula and act as a catalyst and facilitator. It will also work closely with other industry clusters in its region. An initial pilot with University of Delhi has commenced and received overwhelming response from the student community.
PROGRESS
Ministry of Human Resource Development has green—lighted the following three proposals:
(a) Award of 1000 Innovation Fellowships at the School Level (Classes 9-12)
(b) Introducing the Mapping of Local History, Local Ecology and Local Culture and Heritage by all High Schools
(c) Setting up the first Meta University of the world for multi-disciplinary learning and collaborative learning All these three proposals will roll out in academic year 2012-13. Other proposals are also under consultation with Ministry of HRD.
(d) University of Delhi has set up a University Innovation Cluster as a pilot which has been widely welcomed
The 12th Five Year Plan will include all approved proposals. Most, except the proposal on Design Innovation Centres, can be done under existing policies and schemes by appropriate modifications.
…
Some of the key initiatives taken up by the National Innovation Council in its first year to nurture innovations through education are given below.
(a) Creation of a separate scholarship stream for National Innovation Scholarships analogous to the National Talent Search Scheme To complement the government’s National Talent Search Scheme, the NInC has proposed the introduction of a parallel stream of National Innovation Scholarships to be administered by NCERT and conducted through the decentralised management system it has put in place.This will help identify talented children at the High School and Secondary School level (Classes 9-12) who think creatively, laterally and innovatively on issues that they perceive as important. It will have a multiplier effect of valuing creativity and innovation by parents and teachers and will gradually evolve into a culture of valuing innovation in the schooling system. It is proposed that 1000 scholarships be considered for awarding each year under this scheme with 50% earmarked for innovations by students in schools located in non-urban areas and at least 33% earmarked for children from the field of liberal arts.
…
(e) Setting up a Meta University as a Global First to promote collaborative and multi-disciplinary learning using the National Knowledge Network
India pioneered the idea of the university with Nalanda and Taxila to explore a life of the mind and undertake an exploration of ideas.Today India is poised to reinvent the university of the 21st century as a new adventure of cross-cutting ideas facilitated by technology. In doing so it seeks to position the university as a cradle of innovation.The National Knowledge Network connecting India’s major knowledge institutions is already in place and provides a platform to facilitate this endeavour, further the fact that most of these major knowledge institutions in India are part of a public system, makes collaborative effort easier. Technology offers unprecedented opportunities to “disrupt the classroom” as traditionally understood, provide for individualised and customised learning and radically alter pedagogic systems to move towards collaborative and multi-disciplinary learning.
Seizing these new opportunities and leveraging the platform of the National Knowledge Network, the National Innovation Council has put forward a proposal to create the first global Meta University. The idea of a Meta University was first conceptualised by Charles Vest and later developed by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams as a Global Network of Higher Learning to be realised in several stages.The basic idea of a Meta University as a collaborative platform where a network of Universities offers students a customised learning experience is eminently applicable in the Indian context.
The National Knowledge Network (NKN) initiated by the National Knowledge Commission, is already being implemented to connect all our universities, research institutions, libraries, laboratories, hospitals and agricultural institutions across the country with a high speed (multi gigabit) fibre based, broadband network. The NKN by networking all knowledge institutions and providing them with high speed connectivity aims to facilitate flow of information and create a platform for collaboration between researchers, academic faculty and students from diverse backgrounds and geographies. In addition, the Ministry of HRD aims to eventually provide connectivity to colleges and schools as well as support content creation through its initiatives. Further, the proposed Universities for Innovation Bill recognises flexibility as its DNA to facilitate innovation.Thus India provides unique opportunities for innovating with this idea of a ‘Meta University’ given the enormous unmet demand for high quality education in an environment of limited resources and the availability of a dedicated national network. It will enable the breaking down of silos of academic disciplines and help students to gain multi-disciplinary understanding to be able to create more “rounded” intellectuals for society.
The Meta University riding on the NKN envisages a collaborative and multi-disciplinary learning platform, where students enrolled in a primary college/university will be able to take courses available in other universities and colleges. With the help of Mentors, students will therefore be allowed to customise their learning experience and select options from a wide menu of choices, leveraging the specialisation of individual institutions. So it will be possible for an engineering student from, say IIT Kanpur to also enrol for a course in ancient history from the Jawaharlal Nehru University or a mathematics student from Indian Institute of Science pursue a course in comparative literature from the Jadavpur University.
The Meta University will reinterpret the concept of a University as not just a traditional, physical space of learning, but as a repository of knowledge and information that can be delivered in multiple ways, and can be accessed from anywhere and anytime. It will seek to enhance the learning experience through new and innovative delivery models of education that allow students and institutions to collaborate in unprecedented ways.
This model is low-cost, requires no brick-and-mortar, leapfrogs over conventional bottlenecks of non-availability of a talented faculty pool, and works within existing legal systems. It innovates on both the content and form of the twenty-first Century University and offers a unique model for the proposed fourteen Universities of Innovation mooted in India. It is hoped that this would become a model for the world to emulate to move towards collaborative and multi-disciplinary learning that redefines knowledge-creation and knowledge-sharing in the twenty-first century.
Though the internet and technology are fundamental to this conception of the Meta University, at the crux is not a new technology but a ‘new pedagogy’ that is more in tune with the requirements of the knowledge society of the twenty-first century. In such an environment there is a greater focus on moving from the chalk and talk model with the teacher at the centre, to a learner-centric, collaborative model that allows continuous learning from the environment.The web/internet therefore provides both a platform for communication and collaborations as well as a source of content.
The learning platform of the Meta University will incorporate these principles of collaborative and multi-disciplinary knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, openness and flexibility in its design. It will in effect be a test bed for experimenting with a new model of teaching and learning that may show the way for a new education model for the future.The detailed design of the Meta University will be undertaken by a core group of academics, heads of institutions and experts who would constitute the Board of Governors of this new Meta University. The National Innovation Council is working closely with government departments concerned and other stakeholders to implement these initiatives at the earliest.
(f) Setting up of 20 Design Innovation Centres by co-locating them with Institutes of National Importance Design is a key element of the innovation process and will be critical for driving innovation in the new knowledge economy. Design-driven innovations can ensure sustainable competitive edge, enhance industrial productivity and also address crucial challenges by harnessing design thinking for needs-based solutions. Design thinking is especially important for solving key problems because it works with a different set of processes: repeatedly reframing the problem, engaging with stakeholders, prototyping and testing solutions, exploring alternatives, visioning scenarios and so on.
In the last fifty years the world has seen dramatic changes and design has also transformed significantly along the way. Design and Design thinking are increasingly about building in capabilities that empower and enable people to use these resources, with quality of life and environment as the guiding principles, not just economic factors which are also important. However, we as a nation do not have enough state-of-the-art design institutes to enhance our innovation capabilities.The major bottleneck in clearance of setting up of Design Institutes across the country is availability of land, as well as access with an ambience conducive to professional education and trained and talented faculty. One such campus needs a minimum of 30 acres of land for construction of about 20,000 sq meter area of class rooms, studios, hostels, offices, faculty residences etc.
In this context, NInC has suggested a model of setting up Design Innovation Centres in twenty select locations to be included in the 12th Plan for consideration by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.These could be through co-location in campuses of national repute to ensure maximum convergence, optimum utilisation of existing resources and infrastructure, and to leverage a context of academia-industry interaction. These centres could be located in IITs, new IITs where there is industry presence, the NITs, and select Technical and Liberal Arts Universities. Co-location will address issues of availability of land and faculty, save costs, enable horizontal transfer of knowledge, as well as offer a ready talent pool to enable timely execution of this initiative. Also, co-locating these schools in institutes beyond IITs would also ensure that emphasis of design education is not on engineering and technology oriented product design alone, but could extend to other faculties/disciplines related to eco-friendly and green design for products and services, service design, communication design, systems design etc. broadly integrating design intervention in different sectors supporting economic growth and increasing employment opportunities. Further, existing National Institutes of Design could play a mentoring role to these centres given their expertise in the field.The aim is to make these Innovation Design Centres/Schools state-of-the-art institutions to enhance the innovation quotient in the country and foster a design culture.
Out of the above, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has green-lighted the following proposals: Award of 1000 innovation fellowships at the school level; Mapping of local history, local ecology and local culture and heritage by high school students; Setting up the first Meta University of the world for multi-disciplinary learning.
(g) Creation of Cluster Innovation Centres (CICs) at Universities
Over the years universities in India have become increasingly focused on their teaching function, imparting and disseminating knowledge and training to a large number of students.With a few notable exceptions research by and large has moved out of academic institutions to stand alone research centres and laboratories. Further, university linkages with industry and society have at best been weak and under developed. As a result, our Universities have not been at the vanguard of innovations that solve real world problems and result in creation of products and processes that boost the economy and help the common man. While far reaching systemic reforms in higher education are required and the government is committed to them, one significant way to revitalise the university system in the context of innovation is to strengthen its linkages with industry and society.
Recognising that educational institutions must be at the centre of the innovation process, in the last decade or so renewed efforts have been made by various stakeholders to promote innovations and entrepreneurship in our educational institutions. The Government has taken up various initiatives like setting up Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centres (IEDC) in educational institutions, Science & Technology Entrepreneur Parks, and Technology Business Incubators, in order to promote knowledge based and innovation driven enterprises. Other initiatives include creating better incentive structures to reward innovations, encouraging young talent through scholarships, making available risk/venture capital and other necessary ingredients to strengthen the institutional capacity for innovation in the country.
In order to strengthen these efforts and to make Universities hubs of innovation the National Innovation Council seeks to create Cluster Innovation Centres (CIC) at Universities with an aim to foster an ecosystem of innovation, and connect research with application for the benefit of society. The CIC will provide a platform for the university and its partners to forge linkages between various stakeholders from industry and academia, initiate and assist innovation activities, encourage innovations in curricula and act as a catalyst and facilitator. It will also work closely with other industry clusters in its region. The CIC will provide a range of services and facilities, starting from evaluating an idea for its innovation potential, advice on technical and commercial viability, advice on IPR issues, guidance on relevant schemes and grants, helping innovators find partners and collaborators including funding, business development and finally taking the products and processes to end users.The CIC will have an appropriate institutional structure to enable it to undertake a range of functions, and a lean management team with expertise in guiding stakeholders in innovation management.
The NInC aims to catalyse the creation of at least 20 such Cluster Innovation Centres at Universities and provide support for the clusters to bear fruit and sustain.The NInC is currently working with a few select academic institutions to showcase the potential of Cluster Innovation Centres and will scale up this activity to a larger number of educational institutions in the coming year.
Now it looks as follows. (Obtained from wikipedia.)
While its main campus gets built IIT Bhubaneswar has built some new facilities in its Samantapuri campus. Following is how one of the new facilities (a hostel) look. (From wikipedia.)
Workshop Building
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