Odisha HRD

Tribal University Bill introduced by Arjun Singh in Rajya Sabha

Following are excerpts from a report in Hindu.

The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Bill to set up a tribal university in Madhya Pradesh was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday by Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh.

To be set up an estimated cost of Rs. 60 crore during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, the university will have its headquarters in Amarkantak and will be a Central university.

Though headquartered in Amarkantak, it will have a number of regional centres and campuses in the tribal areas, particularly in the Indian heartland.

According to the ‘Statement of Objects and Reasons’ attached to the Bill, Amarkantak was chosen because there was no Central university specifically catering to the population in the tribal concentrated areas of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat. This is in contrast to the other area of high tribal concentration — the North-East .

While the proposed university is aimed at facilitating and promoting avenues of higher education and research facilities for the tribal population of the country, it will take in students from other sections of society also.

… Besides providing access to higher education to the tribals of Central India in particular, it will promote research in tribal art, culture, tradition, language, medicinal systems, customs, and forest-based economic activities.

My observations: The budget sounds too low. With that fixed some of the regional centers and campuses should be in Orissa.

2 comments August 24th, 2007

Kerala is given assurance about one of the 8 new IITs.

Following are excerpts from a report in Hindu.

Kerala was on Wednesday assured of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan by Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh. The assurance was given by the Minister to Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan at a meeting here.

August 23rd, 2007

Proposal for six new NIPERs gets cabinet approval

Following is from a PIB release. (To go through this proposal the original NIPER bill was amended.)

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the following proposals:

i) Setting up of six National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) at Hyderabad (Andhra pradesh), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Hajipur (Bihar) Guwahati (Assam), Raibareilly (U.P.) and Kolkata (West Bengal).

ii) Commencing some courses at four locations of New NIPERs from the current academic session i.e. September, 2007 with the assistance of Mentor Institutes.

iii) Continuation of courses under the present arrangements from the plan budget for two years i.e. 2007-08 and 2008-09 and preparation and preparation and approval of the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) by the Competent Authority.

iv) Appointment of a Consultant of repute to prepare the DPR for each NIPER wherever possible on the Public Private Partnership model.

v) Pending the constitution of board of Governors under the NIPER Act 1998, an Apex Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (C&PC) to oversee the functioning of these NIPERs may be set up.

This decision will facilitate training of high caliber pharmaceutical experts and award of Masters degrees to cater to the demand of pharmaceuticals industry, academic institutes and the pharmacy profession.

My comments: In a few years, Orissa should try for a NIPER around Paradip which will become a mega petro-chemicals hub.

1 comment August 23rd, 2007

Sports schools and institutions

Following is from a PIB release.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) runs 126 National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC) Centres, 10 Special Area Games (SAG) Centres, 57 SAI Training Centres (STC), 18 Army Boys Sports Company Scheme (ABSC) Centre and 10 Centre of Excellence (COX) where sportspersons are given training in different sports disciplines.  State-wise details are at Annexe-I.  Besides, SAI has an Academic Wing at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala.

Funds are not directly allocated to any Centre. They  are released to SAI Regional Centres, which in turn, make  releases to various centres on a need basis.  During the last 3 years, the  following grants were utilized for  SAI Centres:-

Year                       Grant released

                              (Rs. in lakhs)

2004-05                   436.70

2005-06                   499.00                                   

2006-07                                     505.00

The details of the funds given to the NSNIS, Patiala during the last 3 years for operating sports scholarship scheme, rural sports programmme, the North East Sports Festival and Women Sports Festival are as under:

Year                       Grant released

                              (Rs. in lakhs)

2004-05                 987.83             

2005-06               1041.41

2006-07                 731.61

ANNEX-I

This information was given by Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs & Sports and DoNER in the Lok Sabha today in a written reply to a question by Smt. Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo and Shri Jivabhai Ambalal Patel.

August 23rd, 2007

MBBS and BDS seats available under all India Quota

Following is from a PIB press release.

The information regarding number of MBBS/BDS seats available under All India Quota-2007 in the various States can be seen at Annexure-I.

The first round of counseling for allotment of MBBS/BDS seats under 15% All India Quota-2007 was held from 15.06.2007 to 26.06.2007 and the second round of counselling was held from 27.07.2007 to 07.08.2007.  During the first round of counselling, 1520 MBBS seats and 161 BDS seats were allotted and during the second round of counselling 656 MBBS seats and 114 BDS seats were re-allotted/allotted to the merit/wait list candidates.  Out of these, 303 MBBS seats and 73 BDS seats were received as vacant from various colleges due to non-joining/resignation etc. of candidates who were allotted seats during 1^st round of counselling.   And remaining 353 MBBS seats and 41 BDS seats were added in view of increasing in seat capacity in the existing colleges and establishment of new colleges.

All the 1520 MBBS and 161 BDS seats were allotted in 1^st round of counselling.  However, 303 MBBS and 73 BDS seats fell vacant on account of non-joining/resignation of the candidates who were allotted seats during first round of counseling.  These seats were re-allotted/allotted to the candidates participated in the 2^nd round of counselling.

After completion of both rounds of counselling, no MBBS/BDS seats remained vacant during the previous year.  All the MBBS/BDS seats available have been allotted to the candidates in the 15% All IndiaQuota-2006.  However, as per the information received from various States/Colleges, a total of 66 MBBS and 51 BDS seats of 15% All India Quota-2006 were reverted to State Quota during the previous year.  A list of such reverted seats to State Quota can be seen at Annexure-II.

As per the ‘Scheme’ devised and approved by the Hon’ble Supreme Court there is no provision for 3^rd round of counselling or extended 2^nd round of counselling.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

KR/SK/107 – LS

ANNEXURE –I

15% ALL INDIA QUOTA – 2007 SEATS

ANNEXURE-II

8 comments August 23rd, 2007

Worker’s national technical university in Hyderabad

Following is from a PIB.

 

The Committee constituted by this Ministry under the Chairmanship of Dr. G. Sanjeeva Reddy has since submitted its report in December, 2006. The report recommended establishment of a Workers Technical University for inter-alia training the students from workers family and those belonging to economically poor sections of the society particularly form rural areas to make them more relevant to the needs of today’s technology intensive and knowledge driven industrial society.

The Committee recommended the industry to contribute a small percentage of their gross profit ( ranging from 0.5% to 2%) as the education cess for the proposed university.

The Committee recommended that the jurisdiction of the proposed National Workers Technical University shall be the whole of the country, having the main campus at Hyderabad with regional centres at different major cities in the country. The Ministry has constituted a Core Committee to work out the details of establishment of the National Workers Technical University. The XIth plan has not been finalized.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a reply to a question by Shri Ravi Prakash Verma in Lok Sabha today.

My comments: Orissa should persue campus of such a university in Berhampur or Keonjhar.

August 21st, 2007

Some news on the locations of new IITs and IIMs

Following are excerpts from a Business Standard report.

The eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and seven new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced, are likely to come up in the states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.

An official source said the government was working on ways to give these institutes an even, regional spread.

The states will be selected on the basis of their economic and social status. A count is being done on the number of engineering and management colleges that these states have currently and their student population.

For instance, Jammu and Kashmir has a high chance of getting either an IIT or an IIM as it has only five engineering colleges and four management colleges affiliated to the University of Jammu and University Kashmir.

Among the states in the West, Rajasthan could also be considered as Gujarat and Maharashtra already have an IIM and an IIT, respectively. In the East, with Shillong having an IIM now and Guwahati having an IIT, Mizoram and Nagaland could stand a chance, said a source close to the development.

Among the southern states, Andhra Pradesh could get an IIM or an IIT as Bangalore and Kozhikode have an IIM each and Chennai boasts of an IIT.

The idea of choosing these states to establish these centres of excellence is to maintain a regional balance in the country. This will be done keeping in mind the government?s inclusive growth agenda, the source added.

This is a very speculative news and the writer is unaware that IITs for Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan have already been announced, and IIMs for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have also been announced earlier.

In regards to Orissa, if it comes down to be a choice between an IIT and an IIM, it is definitely preferable to get an IIT, as Orissa already has a top notch business school in XIM, an IIT can have its own business school, and the investment in an IIT is more than 10 times than that of an IIM.

Business Standard also has another article. Following are some excerpts from it.

Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced the setting up of   eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), seven Indian Institutes of  Management (IIMs) and 30 central universities in his Independence day  speech, the government is shortlisting states where the institutes will be located.

Economic Times also has a report which talks about the difficulty and impact of having so many new IITs and IIMs.

2 comments August 21st, 2007

Ranking of K-12 schools in India

Education worldwide on-line has a ranking of schools. None of the schools in their list are from Orissa. In recent years some name brand schools have come to Orissa. This includes Loyola school and DPS Kalinga; both in Bhubaneswar. Performance wise DAV Chandrasekharpur in Bhubaneswar has been doing very well in the CBSE class X and XII exams, but not great in IIT entrance exams.

(Thanks to Piyush Patnaik for the pointer to the ranking.)

2 comments August 21st, 2007

Mentoring by IIM Lucknow students: Other marquee institutions should do the same

An Indian Express article mentions the surprising result of several IIM Lucknow students mentoring +2 students of a local college. I hope more such mentoring happens. Is anyone from XIM reading this?

August 18th, 2007

NIPM (National Institute of Intellectual Property Management) in Nagpur

The PIB mentions minister Kamal Nath laying its foundation. The details of the PIB is as follows:

Continue Reading 3 comments August 17th, 2007

India produces 40 PhDs in Computer Science/yr to US’s 1400/yr and China’s 3000/yr

Dr. R. K. Ghosh pointed us to a Forbes article by the Editor in Chief of JACM. Following is an excerpt from it.

The U.S. produces about 1,400 Ph.D.s in computer science annually and China about 3,000. By stark comparison, India’s annual computer science Ph.D. production languishes at roughly 40. That number is about the same as that for Israel, a nation with roughly 5% of India’s population size.

While India needs all the new IITs, IIITs and Central Universities that the PM announced during his Aug 15 speech, one wonders where from these institutions will get Ph.Ds for their faculty. The government and the IT industry must brainstorm together and come up with a strategy to tackle this. Following are some initial un-coordinated half-baked thoughts.

• Start motivating good students from an early age about the value of research. This can be done through science magnet schools.
• In IITs and IISc and may be a few other selected institutions have a track similar to MD/PH.D tracks in US medical schools. Students in this track would pursue a B.Tech-P.hD program (no need for MS) and would be given a generous stipends.
• To allow more time for IIT/IISc faculty to pursue research and guide Ph.D students these institutions (especially their CS depts.) should take in more M.Tech students and let them do most of the teaching.
• Government should open special graduate centers in IT/Computer Science (may be as branches of exisiting IITs) that only focus on research. For example, the IIT Kharagpur center in Bhubaneswar may house a faculty of 5-10 CS  professors and offer *only* a Ph.D program in computer science. Such centers may have affiliated faculty (who have Ph.Ds) from nearby engineering colleges. Such centers should be slowly opened in every metropolitan area with 15+ engineering colleges.  (The IIITs could have served this purpose but it seems most IIITs are focusing on undergraduate education. Exceptions are IIIT Hyderabad, which has a good research program; IIIT Bangalore which only offers M.Tech and Ph.D and the nascent IIIT Bhubaneswar which will also only have M.Tech and Ph.D program, at least in the beginning. )
• Government needs to offer better salary and perks to professors so that more students are attracted to a career in academia.

82 comments August 17th, 2007

NIT (National Institues of Technology) act becomes effective Aug 15 2007.

Update: The NIT statutes based on this act was pubslished in the Gazette in April 2009. A copy of it is at https://www.orissalinks.com/bigfiles/NIT%20statutes.pdf. Thanks to the  reader who commented on this.

The NIT (National Institutes of Technology) act becomes effective Aug 15 2007. There is a similar act for the IITs; but the NITs did not have one earlier. By virtue of this act NITs now become "Institutes of National Importance (INI)." Thus the proposed IIESTs, which will also be accorded INI status will not necessarily have a higher status than NITs.

76 comments August 14th, 2007

Several PIB releases on new central universities

First PIB on the Central University in KBK is titled: CENTRAL TRIBAL UNIVERSITY IN KBK REGION.

A proposal for setting up of 16 Central Universities – one each in such States as have no Central University – is in the process of being finalized. Orissa being one of such States, its request for establishment of a Central University in the tribal dominated KBK region shall receive due consideration. Further, a Bill for setting up a Central Tribal University is in the process of being introduced in the current session of the Parliament. The proposed University shall have power to establish its Regional Centres in the areas inhabited by tribal population, which could include KBK region of Orissa.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

The second PIB titled: NEW CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES IN THE COUNTRY

It is proposed to establish 30 Central Universities during the XIth Plan and the first two years of the XIIth Plan period, subject to the Plan being finalized.

While a common entrance test would be desirable, in keeping with the NCMP commitment of the autonomy, any such decision would be taken by the concerned Universities after they come into existence.

An estimated 20% of the budgeted expenditure on higher education is met currently by the Central Government.

Action for establishment, in the first phase, of one Central University in each of the 16 States which do not have a Central University so far has already been initiated. The financial requirement of these Universities is estimated at Rs.4,800 crore during the 11th Plan period at an average of Rs.300 crore per University. This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

The third PIB titled: CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES IN STATES

It is proposed to establish during the XIth Plan, one Central University in each State with no such University and provide assistance for establishing one college in each district with low Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education.

As at present, 23 Central Universities in 14 States/Union Territories have been functioning under the purview of Ministry of Human Resource Development. Action for establishment of a Central University in each of the remaining 16 States, namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, has already been initiated.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

The fourth PIB titled: UNIVERSITIES OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

Subject to availability of resources, it is proposed to establish new Central Universities and to develop existing Universities to world standards. The XIth Plan is yet to be finalized.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

One of the above PIB mentions that there are 23 existing central universities. From our list it seems the 23 are in the following 14 states: Andhra Pradesh (2),  Arunachal Pradesh (1),  Assam (2), Delhi (4), Maharastra (1), Manipur (2), Meghalaya (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Pondicherry (1), Sikkim (1), Tripura (1),  Uttar Pradesh (4), and West Bengal (1).

August 13th, 2007

Rajya Sabha answer on central university in KBK

Newspost India reports on it. Following are some excerpts:

Thousands of tribals in Orissa’s poverty ridden Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) districts may soon have access to better higher education with a central university being planned there.

The human resource development (HRD) ministry Monday said it was weighing a state government proposal to set up such a university in the region.

‘Orissa being one of such states (without a central university), its request for establishment of a central university in the tribal-dominated KBK region shall receive due consideration,’ Minister of State for HRD D. Purandeswari said.

‘Further, a bill for setting up a central tribal university is in the process of being introduced in the current session of parliament,’ Purandeswari informed the Rajya Sabha.

The proposed university shall have power to establish its regional centres in areas inhabited by tribals.

The HRD ministry had earlier said there was a proposal for setting up 16 central universities in states where there was no such university.

August 13th, 2007

Karnataka gets a positive response from the PM on a new IIT in Hassan

Following are excerpts from a Hindu news item on this.

Sources in the State Government told The Hindu that apart from the assurances on several agricultural and infrastructure sector programmes, Mr. Kumaraswamy also extracted a positive response from the Prime Minister on the establishm ent of an Indian Institute of Technology and a Central university in the State as part of a one-on-one discussion which he had with Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Chief Minister told the Prime Minister that the State Government would provide 1,200 acres of land in Hassan for the establishment of the IIT and the requisite land for starting a Central university at Gulbarga or any other part of the State.

(Thanks to Purna babu for the pointer.)

2 comments August 7th, 2007

IIT and IIM situation in India: if the planning commission approves where the new ones may be

Following is the current status regarding where the existing and announced IITs and IIMs are.

IITs: 7 existing IITs and 3 new ones have been announced. If planning commission approves the plan that has been floated, 5 more IITs will be established.

  1.  Andhra Pradesh (announced IIT)
   2.  Arunachal Pradesh
   3.  Assam     (existing IIT )
   4.  Bihar        (announced IIT)
   5.  Chhatisgarh  (possible new location)
   6.  Delhi      (existing IIT)
   7.  Goa       (possible new location)
   8.  Gujarat   (possible new location)
   9.  Haryana    (possibly a shared one with Punjab at Chandigarh)
   10. Himachal Pradesh 
   11. J & K      (possible new location)
   12. Jharkhand   (possible new location)
   13. Karnataka   (possible new location)
   14. Kerala         (possible new location)
   15. Madhya Pradesh  (possible new location)
   16. Maharastra (existing IIT)
   17. Manipur
   18. Meghalaya
   19. Mizoram
   20. Nagaland
   21. Orissa   (possible new location)
   22. Punjab  (possibly a shared one with Punjab at Chandigarh)
   23. Rajasthan   (announced IIT)
   24. Sikkim
   25. Tamil Nadu  (existing IIT)
   26. Tripura
   27. Uttarakhand (existing IIT)
   28. Uttar Pradesh (existing IIT)
   29. West Bengal   (existing IIT)

My guess is that if indeed 5 more new IITs are announced, then the underlined ones above will have the best chances.

IIMs: There are six existing ones, three new ones have been announced. If planning commission approves the plan that is being floated then four more new IIMs will be established.

7 more IIMs (3 announced)

   1.  Andhra Pradesh  (announced IIM)
   2.  Arunachal Pradesh
   3.  Assam
   4.  Bihar     (announced IIM)
   5.  Chhatisgarh  (possibly an IIM)
   6.  Delhi     (IIM Lucknow campus)
   7.  Goa
   8.  Gujarat   (existing IIM)
   9.  Haryana    (possibly a shared one with Punjab near Chandigarh)
   10. Himachal Pradesh
   11. J & K         (possibly an IIM)
   12. Jharkhand  (possibly an IIM)
   13. Karnataka  (existing IIM)
   14. Kerala     (existing IIM)
   15. Madhya Pradesh  (existing IIM)
   16. Maharastra  (possibly an IIM)
   17. Manipur
   18. Meghalaya  (announced IIM)
   19. Mizoram
   20. Nagaland
   21. Orissa      (possibly an IIM)
   22. Punjab    (possibly a shared one with Haryana near Chandigarh)
   23. Rajasthan (possibly an IIM)
   24. Sikkim
   25. Tamil Nadu (possibly an IIM)
   26. Tripura
   27. Uttarakhand  (possibly an IIM)
   28. Uttar Pradesh (existing IIM)
   29. West Bengal   (existing IIM)

My guess is that if indeed 4 more new IIMs are announced, and we are on target with respect to our guess on the IIT locations, then the underlined ones above will have the best chances for having IIMs.

August 2nd, 2007