IIT Gandhinagar looking to corporates to fund IIT Chairs

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

The Gujarat government has requested the corporate houses in the state to aid the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT-G).

The industry has been asked to set up chairs to fund the IIT, to enable it to recruit a high-quality faculty. Each chair will provide a funding of Rs 6 million ($138,502) for five years. A first batch of 103 students is believed to be enrolled.

The construction of the college is expected to be completed in about four years. Until then the IIT will be housed in Vishwakarma government engineering college, Chandkheda, on the Koba highway.

July 2nd, 2008

Employees’ State Insurance Corporation to Set up Medical College in West Bengal

With a view to meet the shortage of  doctors in the state, the ESIC intends to set up a medical college in the state at Baltikuri in Howrah while upgrading the existing ESI Hospitals at Joka and Manicktala to Post-graduate medical colleges.

Classes most likely to start from 2009 onwards for both Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate level Courses at the above mentioned places.

A proposal is to be sent to the Medical Council of India shortly.

Source : Times Of India, Kolkata Edition, 30.06.08

3 comments June 30th, 2008

Cabinet approves two Schools of Planning & Architecture (SPAs) in Vijaywada and Bhopal

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=39796.

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for setting up of two Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and creation of 4 core posts of Director & Registrar for each Institute with immediate effect.

The total cost for setting up of two Schools of Planning and Architecture would be Rs.348.50 cores ( Recurring expenditure Rs.82.90 cores and Non-Recurring expenditure – Rs.265.60 crores). The project would be completed by 2012-13.

These Institutes would integrate graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral education in architecture and town planning while at the same time fostering research of a high order in these areas. Research in such areas can generate significant intellectual properties, which has the potential for generating sizeable revenues.

These Institutes will create a cadre of high calibre faculty members who will be devoted to teaching, research and consultancy in all disciplines that deal with Planning and Architecture. Also, SPAs will be socially responsible institutions providing research feedback to the Government for physical development of human settlements

The Institutes would also contribute to highly competent and trained manpower that would inevitably impact positively on the economic growth of the country.

****

HS/RK

1 comment June 26th, 2008

Andhra Pradesh to have one university in each district: Orissa should have one in each of its undivided districts

Various news reports mention that Andhra Pradesh will be having 6 six new universities so that each of its districts have a university. They have budgeted 16 crores for that.

Orissa should follow this lead and have one university in each of its undivided districts.  The undivided 13 districts of Orissa were: Puri, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Baleswar, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Phulbani, Dhenkanal, Kendujhar, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj. Among those the six districts Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Phulbani, Dhenkanal and Kendujhar do not have a university. The Orissa government should take advantage of the central government’s offer and set up a university in each of these districts.

4 comments June 22nd, 2008

UNESCO Regional center in biotechnology in Faridabad, Harayana

The following was reported in bbiiser.blogspot.com.

Preamble:

Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training & Education under the auspices of UNESCO at Faridabad, Haryana, India will be an autonomus institution fully funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.

The proposed Centre shall be a Category II Centre in terms of “Principles and Guidelines for the Establishment and Functioning of UNESCO Institutes and Centres”.

The emphasis is to support disciplinary & interdisciplinary education, training and research in biotechnology in order to produce skilled human resource to drive innovative research and development in the important gap areas.

As biotechnology sector is of global significance, the Centre would encourage global partnerships and co-operations.

Partnership with UNESCO would expand the opportunities to create world class education, training, research and will also facilitate global connectivity while preserving the regional & national focus of the institution.

Mission:
The Mission of the UNESCO Center is to create physical infrastructure in critical platform technologies and use it to support disciplinary & interdisciplinary education, training and research in biotechnology.

Vision:
To produce human resource tailored to drive innovation in biotechnology, particularly in areas of new opportunity and to fill talent gap in deficient areas.

Objectives:
(a) To produce human resource through education and training in a milieu of research and development for application of biotechnology for sustainable development towards building a strong biotech industry through regional and international co-operation.

(b) To establish desired infrastructure and Technology Platforms to support the activities of the centre.

(c) To establish a Technology Policy Development and Information Dissemination unit.

(d) To develop research programmes of a global quality through international partnerships to sustain world class education and training programmes.

(e) To enable periodic experimentation in design and implementation of biotechnology education and training and to be a source of new concepts and programmes, this can be assimilated by existing universities in India and the Region.

(f) To create a hub of biotechnology expertise in South Asian Association of Regional Co–operation (SAARC) region, and more generally in the Asian region and to address human resource needs.

(g) Promotion and strengthening of South-South & South-North co-operations around issues relevant to biotech education, training, innovation, commercialization and trade.

(h) Promotion of a network of satellite centers in the region.

Focus:
The primary focus of the Centre is to provide high quality human resource in disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas.

The Centre would provide outstanding disciplinary/interdisciplinary short term training programmes which will include Science & Technology training for physicians, biologists and engineers by networking through local hospitals/ medical & engineering schools etc.

In addition, short term training programmes in platform technologies will be conducted for skill development in existing personnel.

Specialized domain specific programmes will also be created in new emerging areas.

The Centre will offer specialized master’s degree courses, unique Ph.D. programmes, domain specific training programmes, high quality research and development in the specific areas.

The Centre will have a centralized Science & Technology platform and Technology Management & Enterprise Development Unit.

India is poised to be the hub for biotechnology in the coming decade; therefore the Centre would provide a window for showcasing Indian competence in global market for economic gains. Policy harmonization on trade and regulation will also be facilitated as a part of this effort.

Programmes Details:
1. As Educational Hub:

(a) Special Master’s Degree courses:
The Centre will offer special Master’s Degree courses of two years duration in the following areas:
v Biosciences,
v Bioengineering,
v Drug Discovery Science,
v Translational and Clinical Health Science,
v Molecular Crop Breeding,
v Regulatory Affairs,
v Biomedical Quality Systems and Product Development,
v Infectious Disease Biology,
v Bioinformatics etc.

It will also help to enrich the existing Master’s in Biotechnology programmes and cater to the needs of the Asian region and members countries.

(b) Unique PhD Programmes:

The Centre will offer unique M. Tech.-PhD programme in Biomedical engineering,

Integrated M.Sc-PhD programme in Medical bioscience and drug discovery,
PhD in
v Molecular Crop Biotechnology,
v Nano-biology,
v Synthetic Biology related to Health, Plants and Energy
v Interdisciplinary PhD programme (on the lines of MIT Harvard HST programme).

The Ph.D. programmes of the UNESCO Center will be open to Indians as well as students from the member countries and Asian region. A few fellowships will be available to students opting for these programmes on a competitive basis.

The students will have access to:

v Disciplinary & Interdisciplinary, Tech Strong & Industry Linked Environment

v Expertise of Research Centers of Excellence: Institutional, Regional & Global

v Multicultural & Global Environment

v Learning Skills of International Standard

v Overseas Mentors

2. Training Programmes:
(a) The training programme will be unique to the Centre with the goal to arrange/organize personalized or user-friendly opportunities for career development. Structured training courses for physicians and engineers (intending to enter biology), science managers and industry personnel in specific areas where they require skill enhancement will have emphasis.

(b) The Centre’s Technology Incubator & Business Development Unit will be open to industry for enhancing their skills in specific areas through structured training courses for career opportunities/ advancements in the areas like:
v IPR,
v Technology Transfer,
v Bio-enterprise/ Management in Biotechnology,
v Platform Technologies,
v Regulatory Procedures,
v Biosafety,
v Bioethics,
v Process Development and Up-scaling,
v Preclinical Toxicity and Clinical Trials,
v Good Manufacturing Practices & Good Laboratory Practices,
v Biostatistics,
v Epidemiology etc.

(c) Specialized Domain Specific Training Programmes will also be designed for people from basic sciences in:
v Nanotechnology,
v Implants and Devices,
v Vaccine Development,
v Stem Cell Biology etc.

3. Research:
The research emphasis will be in the areas like:
v Nano-biology,
v Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering,
v Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics,
v Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition,
v Bone & Cartilage Biology,
v High Throughput Clinical Genomics,
v Diabetes,
v Infection Science Microbiology & Vaccinology,
v Molecular Diagnostics,
v Crop Breeding etc.

Post-doctoral Programmes:

v Re-entry Grant to Talented Scientists working abroad.

v Young Investigator Awards to work for 3-5yrs after PhD

PROGRAMMES AND SUB-PROGRAMMES AT UNESCO CENTRE

Programmes:

v Biological Sciences

Sub-programmes:
F Immunology
F Molecular biology
F Molecular biophysics
F Structural biology
F Molecular Cell biology
F Bioinformatics
F Bio-organic Chemistry

v Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
v Bioengineering & Material Science
v Industrial Biotechnology
v Molecular Crop breeding
v Molecular Medicine – I (Infectious diseases)
v Molecular Medicine – II (chronic diseases)
v Applied health science Division
v GMP Units
F Vaccine production
F Cell and tissue based therapies etc.

UNESCO Center
The research carried out at the Centre will be supported by various programmes and collaborations at the national and global levels like Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Autonomus Research & Development Institutions, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Medical Schools, Biotechnology Centres at regional and international level etc. as per the guidelines to be formulated by the Board of Governors. It will consider supporting Research Resource Units (RRU’s) and Centre for Excellence (CoE) with Indian or Regional institutes in strategic areas where partnership is critical for collaborative research. It will also provide access to technology platforms to scientists from other institutes and industry. The extramural collaborations will have provisions for adjunct professorships, visiting professor programmes and scientist exchange programmes etc.

OTHER ACTIVITIES OF THE UNESCO CENTER:
The Centre will have the provisions for Visiting Professorship for Indian Nationals & International Scientists, Adjunct Professorship, Stanford-India Bio-design Programme, Re-entry Grant and Young Investigator Awards.

CENTRALIZED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM:

The platform technologies will be available in the areas of
v Large Scale Sequencing,
v Genetic Analysis,
v Proteomics,
v RNAi,
v Imaging,
v Chemical Biology,
v Bio Bank etc.
This centralized science and technology platform is expected to provide service to the scientists of the research divisions of health science & technology, and provide support to the training activities of the UNESCO Centre and other research institutes in the country.
In due course it will develop liaison with national and international databases and consortia in order to contribute to global scientific resources.

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT UNIT:

The infrastructure of this unit will have ready to use laboratory space for extramural scientists for innovative & translational research projects. In partnership with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), GMP units for cell based therapy and vaccine will be made. The faculty of this unit will have skills in technology transfer, IP managements, finance and enterprise creation.

Organization Structure:


Administration & Finance Unit:

This unit will provide administrative, financial, engineering and other support services to the Centre. Services like security, housekeeping, office attendants, operation & maintenance of services will be outsourced to firms who provide manpower on contract.

Location:

The Centre will be situated in a picturesque location in Faridabad about 25 km from New Delhi (40 minute drive) in the academic and research ambience of the Life Sciences Cluster and an adjacent R & D Centre of another Ministry of the Government of India to be set up in the near future.
The site is also close to other renowned institutions like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Indian Institute of Technology (IIT); International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB); Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); National Institute of Immunology (NII); National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), with whom the centre is likely to establish network and collaborative programmes, are also situated within 20-30km radius of the centre.
v Meeting with National Experts was held on May 18, 2007.

v An interactive meeting on the UNESCO Centre was jointly organized by DBT and UNESCO on June 18-19, 2007 at New Delhi to discuss the focus, activities, organizational structure and linkages of the proposed Centre.

The meeting was attended by eminent scientists, educationists, policy makers and stakeholders from the members countries, counties of the South East Asian Region as well as by representatives from the industries as well.

The experts nominated by UNESCO provided insights into global partnerships and benefit- sharing especially with regard to guest/visiting faculty, fellowships and participation of member countries.

Meeting held on June 18-19, 2007 at New Delhi

v A meeting was organized with Boston University delegation, USA, led by its President – Prof. Robert Brown, towards developing partnerships for education, training and research with the UNESCO Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training & Education and Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) in New Delhi on September 25, 2007.
Current Status:
v An Interim Advisory Committee (IAC) has been constituted to provide Scientific and Academic directions.
v A Management Cell has been created at NII, New Delhi to address the interim issues
v Initiatives for collaborations/partnerships with international institutes/universities have been started. MoUs have been signed with Stanford and Boston University.
v Actions have been initiated for revised Cabinet approval, Legislative Bill for Act of Parliament, constitution of various committees, web-design, building construction etc.

36 comments June 18th, 2008

IIT Bhubaneswar first batch stduents are likely to have the most IIT like experience (as compared to the students in the other new IITs of IIT Guajrat, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Patna, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Punjab)

I was just talking to one of the Deans at IIT Kharagpur (mentor institution of IIT Bhubaneswar) about the arrangements for the first batch students of IIT Bhubaneswar. He said that as their plan stands now, during the first year

  • IIT Bhubaneswar students will be staying in the hostels (called Halls in KGP) together with IIT Kharagpur students
  • IIT Bhubaneswar students will be taught by IIT Kharagpur faculty; it will be like adding one (or more) sections to their first batch.
  • More on IIT Bhubaneswar at the unofficial IIT Bhubaneswar web site.

In comparison,

  • As per IIT Gujarat FAQ, IIT Gujarat students will be having classes at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College at Chandkheda, Gandhinagar – 382424 and thus may not have the chance to know first hand about the customs and culture of an established IIT. 
    • The FAQ has the following to say about the teaching: The Institute is being set up with a lead time of just two months. In spite of that, IIT Bombay has ensured that there is competent and adequate number of faculty to teach the first year, which primarily consists of science and humanities courses. Some of the faculty has been hired directly; some are on the rolls of IIT Bombay while a few are retired but very reputed teachers from IIT Bombay. In the second semester, there is one course known as Departmental Introductory Course. As we are unlikely to have engineering faculty by that time, these courses will be taught by adjunct faculty from nearby Institutes (viz. Dhirubahai Ambani Institute on Information and Communication Technology and D.U. Institute of Petroleum, both of which are headed by former senior faculty of IIT Bombay.) Arrangements have also been made for the drawing and workshop. IIT Bombay is setting up an urgent recruitment process to ensure that quality engineering faculty is there before the second year starts.
  • As per IIT Rajasthan website:
    • IIT Rajasthan students will have class in IIT Kanpur for the first one or two semesters.
    • They will be staying separate (in apartments converted to hostel like accommodation) from the IIT Kanpur students.
    • They may be taught by some IIT Kanpur faculty  and scientists (depending on who volunteers) and IIT Kanpur will be trying to recruit new faculty as well as availing the service of some retired faculty.
  • IIT Hyderabad will have classes in rented space near their ultimate location.
  • IIT Patna. mentored by IIT Guwahati, will start classes in a polytechnique in Patna.
  • IIT Punjab will have classes in IIT Delhi.

12 comments June 14th, 2008

NTPC to make world class (100 crore) IIIT in Chhatisgarh; Orissa happy with 1.5 crore barrack by NALCO and an ITI by Arcelor-Mittal.

The following news at  in Business Standard says that NTPC will establish a world class IIIT in Chhatisgarh. (Earlier news mention the cost of IIITs at 100 crores. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1146.)

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh said that the Chhattisgarh government would provide land for the Institute while NPTC would bear the entire cost of the project for setting up world-class IIIT in the state. "The state chief minister, Raman Singh, will select the site for the project," Ramesh said.

The experts who had set up IIITs in Hyderabad and Bangalore would be consulted for the Chhattisgarh project, the minister said. The proposal would be given final shape and the site would be finalised on June 30. Ramesh is scheduled to visit Chhattisgarh on the month-end and meet the chief minister to give final shape to the project. 

One should compare this with today’s news at http://tathya.in/story.asp?sno=1888 which says NALCO will contribute 1.4 crores towards a police barrack. Few weeks back various news reports mentioned that NALCO has spent (https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1333) 100 crores in CSR so far over its 20 years of existence. If its CMD had any shame and any pride on Orissa he would not have touted this number as something great. But it makes sense; if Orissa is a beggar then  100 crore is a big amount to give to a beggar in 20 years.

It is unfortunate that companies like NALCO, Arcelor-Mittal, Tats Steel, etc. treat Orissa this way. But its not all their fault. Our government also acts that way. 

Our government is happy with one ITI or ITC and that seems to be  the trend in terms of what they ask.

When will Orissa government learn from its neighbors Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh?

Just to recap:

(i)   NTPC will make a 100 crore world class IIIT in Chhatisgrah.

(ii)  Bokaro Steel Plant has agreed to set up an engineering college and a medical college in Jharkhand

(iii) Central Coalfields has also agreed to set up an engineering college in Jharkhand      http://www.business-standard.com/general/storypage_test.php?&autono=284016

(iv) Orissa gets a 1.4 crore police barrack  for 1.4 crores from NALCO

(v) Orissa will get a few crore ITI from Arcelor Mittal

(vi) Orissa gets a 12 crore Math institute building from Tata Steel

(vi) A few good signs: MCL’s plan for a medical college in Talcher and Vedanta’s university plan: but who knows if they will happen and when.

I wonder if NTPC can make a 100 crore world class IIIT in Jharkhand Chhatisgarh why can not it have a similar investment in Orissa where its plants might have significantly contributed in making Talcher a hot oven.

Why can not our CM, our industry secretary, our Chief Secretary,  say in no uncertain terms that Orissa is no beggar. These  industries (NALCO,SAIL, NTPC, CIL, Arcelor-Mittal, POSCO, Tata Steel, etc.) that take and use (or plan to take and use) our minerals at throw away prices must stop thinking Orissa as a beggar to throw a few crore ITI/ITC, a 1.5 crore barrack, a  50 paisa safety pin for Orissa, etc. and start making IIITs, medical colleges, engineering colleges, establishing multiple ITI/ITCs, etc.

Why can not central minister of state Mr. Chandrasekhar Sahu go and talk to his colleague, the power minister Mr. Ramesh who announced the IIIT for Chhatisgarh to do a similar one in Orissa?

Why can not he talk to the other ministers to put pressure on NALCO and SAIL?

How come NTPC can make a IIIT in Chhatisgarh but not one in Orissa?

How come SAIL Bokaro can promise an engineering college and a medical college in Jharkhand and SAIL Raurkela can  not do a similar one in Orissa?

ps — Just as an example of how the mineral processing companies have benefited one needs to note that in the last five years the iron ore price has increased more than the price of crude oil. But has Orissa received any benefit from that?

From http://www.econstats.com/rt_ironore.htm and http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080521/jsp/business/story_9299173.jsp the iron ore prices in the last few years were as follows:  2004- $37.20/metric tonne;  2005 – $64.00; 2006 -$76.20; 2007- $83:40 ; 2008- $132.20 and now: $200.

As per as per http://www.econstats.com/fut/xeiad_em1.htm the Crude oil prices over the last five years are:  Jan 2004 -$33.16/barrel; Jan 2005- $48.25; Jan 2006- $67.86; Jan 2007-  $58.17; Jan 2008-  $91.67 and April 2008: $115.67.

3 comments June 1st, 2008

Centrally funded IIIT for Chhatisgrah; Orissa should push for one in Berhampur

The recent recommendation of NASSCOM for 20 new IIITs did not include a location in Chhatisgarh. However, as per a recent report in Economic Times Minister of State Mr. Jairam Ramesh has announced the establishment of a IIIT in Chhatisgarh. Following is an excerpt from that report.

"The state government thanks Minister of State for Power and Commerce Jairam Ramesh for announcing at a function held Friday at Sipat in Bilaspur district to set up an IIIT in Chhattisgarh," a government press statement said.

"The state government will soon provide the location for the new IIIT as the announcement was made by the central minister as per the initiatives taken by Chief Minister Raman Singh April 20 when they had a meeting in Raipur," the statement read.

Officials said that the state government may offer a massive plot for the IIIT in Naya Raipur where the government is presently developing a new satellite town that will replace Raipur as the new state capital of Chhattisgarh, probably by 2011.

Naya Raipur, about 20 km east of here and located between national highways 6 and 43, will be spread out over 8,000 hectares.

Regardless of the NASSCOM recommendation the Orissa government and Minister of state Mr. Chandrasekhar Sahu must push for a IIIT in Berhampur, the third largest metropolitan area of Orissa. (The other two, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, have other national institutions.)

June 1st, 2008

Kerala’s HRD goodies

Following is extracted from a report in New Indian Express.

  • Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would lay the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and Indian Institute of Space Technology (IIST).
  • The Central University sanctioned by the IHRD Ministry will be started in Kasargod district.
  • The Centre has also sanctioned another Central university with world class standards.
  • An Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT)
  • Upgradation of CUSAT into Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST).
  • A sub centre of Aligarh Muslim University will be established in Malappuram
  • A sub centre of Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages University will be started at Kollam.
  • A proposal for establishing a Centre of Engineering Research in Engineering to coordinate research in engineering.

May 23rd, 2008

Maharashtra plans for giving autonomy to 100 colleges

Following is an excerpt from a news report in Hindustan Times.

… the State Department for Higher Education decided to recommend up to 100 colleges in the state for academic autonomy; in other words, freedom from the university prescribed curricula. Autonomy would enable a college to introduce internationally accepted semester system and grading for students used in foreign institutions.

It is going to ask 58 colleges which have got ‘A’ grade and above from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council to submit proposals for autonomy. Of these 58, about 20 are Mumbai colleges.

Besides, pleas of 42 colleges that have already applied for autonomy years ago, including Mumbai’s St Xavier’s and the Government Law College, will be looked into.

“Academic autonomy will allow colleges to not just design their own courses, but also have contact with professionals from whom they can take industry inputs. Our department will ask colleges to prepare a proposal for academic autonomy. The proposal will then be submitted to the university to be forwarded to the state government with its recommendations,” said K.M. Kulkarni, director for higher education.

“With the government nod, the proposal will then be forwarded to the University Grants Commission (UGC) who in turn will send a committee for college inspection.”

With the possibility of foreign universities setting shop in India soon, autonomy would allow colleges to collaborate with these universities. The process for granting autonomy, if followed up seriously, can take about an year.

“Autonomous colleges will have industry professionals on their governing board, and there could be tailor-made courses to create skilled professionals for the industry,” said Kulkarni.

Maharashtra has only eight autonomous colleges — dismal compared with Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh with 85, 31, 34 and 27 respectively. “It is good for colleges that want to innovate. The UGC would like to see at least 50 colleges in the state getting academic autonomy in the next three years,” said UGC Deputy Secretary for Western Region G. Srinivas.

Students graduating from autonomous colleges will be awarded degrees from the parent university with the name of the college mentioned. “This would give the colleges more credibility as well.

May 13th, 2008

Three to four new national labs coming up in West Bengal

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

These are the National Institute of Medical Genetics, funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, the National Institute of Nanoscience and Technology, funded by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Institute of Mangrove and Coastal Studies, funded by the Department of Environment.

“The institutes for medical genetics and nanoscience technology are coming up at Baruipur. About 25 acres of land have been identified for the purpose and the government had approved it last year,” …

Efforts are on to develop Baruipur as the new educational hub where infrastructure for educational institutes will be developed, added Majumdar. “The Coastal Research Centre will cater to the entire coastline of the country and will come up near Sunderbans,” he said. The National Institute of Translation Research is also likely to be constructed here and discussions are on with CSIR for funding the project.

The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, which promotes basic sciences, has started its functioning in the city in 2006. … and will soon have its own campus at Haringhata. The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research which has been holding its classes at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology will also have a campus of its own soon, said officials.

1 comment May 12th, 2008

HRD initiatives of UP: an IIT and an IISc type institute in the offing

Following is an excerpt from a report in http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=442287&sid=REG.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Saturday gave its approval to set up two institutes of the level of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) under public-private partnership basis.

According to the cabinet decision, the proposed institutes would be set up with an estimated investment of Rs 500 crore each.

An official release issued here said that the cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mayawati also decided to set up two engineering colleges with private participation in the backward eastern region of Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh.

An investment of Rs 200 crore is expected on them.

As many as 50 polytechnics would also be set up in public-private partnership costing Rs 20 crore each.

There is also a proposal to set up 250 ITIs in as many development blocks with an investment of Rs two crore each.

Besides, private investment would also be open for Upgrading facilities in existing polytechnics and ITIs, the release said.

A decision was also taken to bring the Lucknow Institute of Engineering and Technology into the ambit of the UP Technical University (UPTU) as an associate degree college.

The cabinet also decided to include the Lucknow College of Architecture as one of the faculties of UPTU.

It also decided to introduce English from class I.

May 11th, 2008

Tamilnadu plans to establish ten new universities

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

Tamil Nadu Government proposed to establish as many as ten Universities, including the World Class University, sanctioned by the Centre during this year, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi announced in the state assembly today.

Replying to the debate on the demand for grants for his department, he said all the ten universities, including three sanctioned by the centre, would be established during this year itself, which was a record in the history of education in the country. …

The World Class University would be established in Coimbatore, he said, adding apart from this, the centre has also sanctioned a Management University, to be established in Tiruchirapalli and Central University in Mr Karunanidhi’s home town, Tiruvarur, he said.

The minister said after the National Knowlege Commission presented its report, suggesting that the number of Universities in the country should be raised to atleast 1,500 in the coming years, Tamil Nadu took the cue and decided to establish seven Universities this year.

Accordingly, the 168-year-old Presidency College, which produced scholars like Sir C V Raman, S Chandrasekar and Mathematician Srinivasa Varadan, would start functioning as unitary type University from the academic year 2008-09.

The other unitary type Universities to come up are the Kumbakonam Men’s Arts College, which was described as the Cambridge of South India along with Kumbakonam Women’s college, the 156-year-old Coimbatore Government Arts College, along with Women’s Arts college and Queen Mary’s college, the first college to be established for women, he said.

So it looks like the IIM in Tamil Nadu will be in Trichy.

May 6th, 2008

Andhra Pradesh to have a world class university in Kadapa: Orissa should have one in Rourkela

Update 1: It looks like my assumption below that the university at Kadapa is a state one was wrong. As per Times of India, the AP government just decided to change the venue of the world class central university from Vizag to Kadapa.

Update 2: Later reports mention that the AP government did not ask the center before making the Kadapa announcement and the central govt. may not agree to shift the location from Vizag to Kadapa.

Initial post:

Following is an excerpt from newpostindia.com.

The meeting also decided to set up a world-class university in Kadapa, the home district of the chief minister, for which the government will allot 700 acres of land.

In this regard, one may note that the central government had announced that it will establish a world class central university in Vizag. I assume the Andhra Pradesh Government is talking about a different university (state funded) for Kadapa.

The Orissa government should follow Andhra’s example and besides the central govt. funded world class university in Bhubaneswar and another central university in KBK, the Orissa government should establish a world class university in Rourkela via state funds or PPP.

 

5 comments May 5th, 2008

SK Birla group to establish a top-notch B-School in Kolkata

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph on this.

Calcutta Business School, started by the MBV Society, is located on a 16-acre plot in Bishnupur, 7 km south of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM). It will be operational from July this year.

“We run schools and colleges but running a management school is going to be a different ball game. But we are sure we will do a good job,” said S.K. Birla, the chairman of the board of governors of the management school.

The B-school will have “state-of-the-art” infrastructure, including a “green building”, air conditioning and wireless Internet connectivity round the clock.

It will offer a two-year, fully residential, postgraduate diploma in management. The first batch will have 60 students. There are plans to increase student intake to 500 over the next five years.

Admission will be based on the Common Admission Test (CAT) and the General Management Aptitude Test (GMAT). The fee for the entire course will be Rs 7.5 lakh.

April 24th, 2008

Rajasthan asks its IIT to be in Kota; Bathinda in Punjab expects an IIT or an IIM

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial express.

The Rajasthan Government has asked the Centre to set up an Indian Institute of Technology in Kota, Industry Minister Digamber Singh has said.

At a function yesterday, Singh said "a letter has already been sent to the Centre by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje asking it to set up an IIT at Kota."

He claimed Kota was the most ideal place for setting up such an institute in Rajasthan because it had already become a hub for technical education in northern India.

 Following is an excerpt from a report in 24-7pressrelease.com.

The Centre has also been approached to issue No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the two civil airports in the State at Bhisiana in Bathinda and Sahnewal near Ludhiana. An IIT or IIM is also proposed to be set up in the city. With the emergence of all these fast-paced developmental activities, Bathinda is fast emerging on the Real Estate Map of India and one of the most sought after land in Punjab.

5 comments February 4th, 2008

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