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.
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HS/RK
June 26th, 2008
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.
June 18th, 2008
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.
June 1st, 2008
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
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
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