Odisha HRD

30% reservation for girls in all technical institutes of Orissa

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

… Henceforth, all the private engineering college and schools will adhere to the principle of giving reservation to women candidates. Earlier, the reservation facilities were available in 25 Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), seven engineering colleges and 13 engineering schools. The facilities would be extended to all other technical institutes of the State.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Director, Technical Education Srikant Paikray said all the Engineering Colleges, Schools, Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), Poly-techniques and Industrial Training Centre (ITC) will have to reserve 30 per cent seats for the girls students.

The State now boasts of 317 private ITIs, 41 private engineering colleges, 25 engineering schools and poly techniques. Henceforth, 30 per cent seats of the total 48,783 seats of these institutes would be reserved for women candidates.

1 comment March 10th, 2008

Koustuv Group spreads its wings

The Koustuv group which currently has a diploma college (Koustuv School of Engineering) and  two operating engineering colleges (CoEB and KISD) has several more engineering colleges in the pipeline. They are Koustuv Institute of Technology (KIT), Khurda in Orissa and KITs in Ranchi and Kolkata. It also operates a plus two science college, Koustuv Institute of Science.  It has plans for a medical college  to be called Koustuv Research Institute of Medical Science (KRIMS). In regards to the medical college, there is a report in Telegraph regarding Koustuv’s success in its bid for a 400+ acres of land previously occupied by OTM. Following are some excerpts:

Koustuv Group, which recently got clearance from State Level Single Window Clearance Authority for a tin smelting plant at Khurda, has apparently emerged as front-runner in the auction of Orissa Textile Mills (OTM).

The state-owned composite cotton mill winded up in 2002.

Prabhat Ranjan Mallik, the chairman of Bhubaneswar-based Koustuv Group, was the foremost bidder with a fresh offer of Rs 43 crore for the OTM property and assets, including 422 acres of prime industrial land at Choudwar, in the final round of bidding in Orissa High Court yesterday.

The bidding vehicle set up afresh by Koustuv Group before the company affairs bench of Justice I.M. Quddusi plans to use the OTM factory complex for setting up a tin modulation unit.

“Moreover, a medical research centre comprising a state-of-the-art hospital and a medical college have been planned for the future,” said Koustuv Group counsel P. Mukherjee, while making a verbal bidding before the court. Mallik was also present in the company affairs court.

1 comment March 2nd, 2008

Engineering College Proposals received by AICTE by Dec 31st 2007

Following up on our earlier post, following is a list of engineering college proposals from Orissa that the AICTE received by Dec 31st 2007. The list is from http://www.aicte.ernet.in/download/establish/academic%20year%202008.doc.

5 comments February 24th, 2008

KIIT entrance examination ad from Samaja

February 20th, 2008

IDCO tender out for two OSME (Orissa School of Mining Engineering) buildings costing 3.67 crores each

(Note: IDCO tenders are available at http://www.idcoindia.com/idco/tenders.asp. )

Sealed tenders are invited for the works

(i)     Construction of Mining & Mineral Deptt. Building ( Block I) for OSME(Degree Stream) at Keonjhar-

Estimated cost Rs. 367.00 lakhs.

(ii)    Construction of Electrical & Mechanical Deptt. Building

(Block II) for OSME (Degree Stream) at Keonjhar-

Estimated cost Rs. 367.00 lakhs.

 from Special & Super class contractors registered under State PWD/ CPWD/ MES/ Railways including registered vendors of IDCO in the category of Rs.100 to 500 lakhs & above having experience in similar building works. The tender paper will be sold at a cost of Rs. 10,000.00 only from 14.02.08 to 21.02.08 between working hours on working days in the office of the Superintending Engineer, IDCO, IDCO Towers, Bhubaneswar. The completed tender documents should reach Superintending Engineer, IDCO, IDCO Towers, Janpath, Bhubaneswar-22 on or before 29.02.08 by 5.00 P.M. through registered post / speed post only. The technical bid will be opened on 03.03.08 at 11.30 A.M. For details please contact Sri Deepak Ranjan Tripathy, Deputy Manager (Civil) IDCO, IDCO Towers, Janpath, Bhubaneswar-22, Tel.0674-2546894 during office hours or see our website www.idcoindia.com The tender documents can also be down loaded from the above website upto 5 p.m. on 21.02.08.

Superintending Engineer (Civil)

1 comment February 17th, 2008

All facade and no substance: An English visitor writes about private engineering colleges in Orissa

Following are some excerpts from the article in The Herald, UK.

I found one building particularly attractive: the canteen in the style of a Buddhist temple. But when I went inside to try the fare, I was disappointed: the food was insipid, the interior dreary and the acoustics such that conversation was drowned out by a called order or moving dishes. One of the lecturers said to me: "This is your new college: all facade and no substance."

…

Typically, the colleges provide the education while an external university provides the actual degree. Thirty per cent of the final marks are assigned internally, and this led to a unique experience in my 30-year career in education: watching a colleague choosing numbers at random between 60% and 90%. No assessment was actually carried out.

Some departments ran what the students referred to as an "autograph" system: the lecturers actually prepared an exam paper, to be shown to the university if necessary, but the students gained their marks – usually a minimum of 70% – if they turned up and signed their names. …

Although some lecturers told me the chairman was simply posturing, accompanied by a senior professor, I went round all the classes advising that the days of fake marks were over. I prepared an elaborate set of internal assessment devices that were duly and diligently used by the lecturers. Some students clearly didn’t take my warnings seriously and absenteeism remained at its normal high level. A fair number of students received fail marks.

But what marks were actually sent off to the university by the college? What I do know is that, when the university published the final results, students who had been given 5/30 somehow or other got 20/30.

The colleges are responsible for 30% internal assessment but the remaining 70% is controlled by the external university. However, in Orissa, the "external university" exists in name more than reality and consisted only of a vice-chancellor and a few office staff. Crucially, the externally supervised end-of-semester exams were invigilated by a mixture of college staff and colleagues from other colleges and all of the colleges were in the same boat: they sank or swam together.

The Indian college system is a huge cesspit: bribery is the norm. …

1 comment February 15th, 2008

Gurukula Institute of Technology’s ad in Samaja

It had earlier advertised in 2007. See https://www.orissalinks.com/?p=335. Perhaps it was not ready then. Lets hope it will start this year.

1 comment February 11th, 2008

Partial list of “in progress (under consideration at AICTE)” MBA/MCA/etc. Colleges in Orissa

The following is from http://www.aicte.ernet.in/download/NewCollege/list.doc downloaded on January 26th 2008. These are colleges that have applied to AICTE for an LOI and AICTE has listed them for some clarifications. There may be other colleges which are also in progress and AICTE has already issued LOI to them.

Continue Reading 5 comments January 27th, 2008

Partial list of “in progress (under consideration at AICTE)” Engineering Colleges in Orissa

The following is from http://www.aicte.ernet.in/download/NewCollege/list.doc downloaded on January 26th 2008.

Continue Reading 3 comments January 27th, 2008

The current list of engineering/MBA/MCA colleges in Orissa.

The following list is from http://www.aicte.ernet.in/app_inst_new.htm downloaded on January 26th 2008.

Continue Reading January 27th, 2008

Engineering Lectures from IITs and IISc in YouTube.

The link is http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=nptelhrd.

(Thanks to Abi for the pointer.)

January 25th, 2008

Centurion Institute of Technology : a new private engineering college coming up in Jatni

The news item in tathya.in http://tathya.in/story.asp?sno=1399 mentions that Centurion Institute of Technology is coming up in Jatni near Bhubaneswar. This will be established by the group that runs JITM and CSREM in Parlekhemundi. I have met one of the promoters Dr. Mukti Kanta Mishra and I think this will become a good engineering college. The following concept picture is from http://www.jitm.org/images/cit.jpg.

41 comments December 1st, 2007

UCE registerd under Societies act as “Orissa Institute of Technology”

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

The long-standing demand of the alumni and students of University College of Engineering (UCE), Burla, has been met with the varsity being registered under Societies Act on Tuesday. This would pave way for the engineering college to stake for Deemed University status.

It has been registered as Orissa Institute of Technology (OIT) at Sambalpur. The change in the statute of Biju Pattnaik University of Technology BPUT) in the Assembly bifurcating OIT from under its ambit will follow. Only after ratification by the State Assembly, the OIT will move UGC for Deemed University status.

The Deemed University status would enable the Engineering College get more funds besides help in giving their existing infrastructure a facelift. The College is already bestowed with 200 acres of land and can acquire another 300 acres adjacent to the present campus if needed.

1 comment November 22nd, 2007

OSME, Keonjhar upgradation plans stuck in files: Samaja

4 comments November 21st, 2007

Plans for increasing capacity of Orissa govt. engineering colleges

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

… If sources are to be believed, the varsity is seriously planning to raise the intake capacity of the government institutions.

The technical university’s four constituent colleges – University College of Engineering (UCE), Burla, College of Engineering and Technology (CET), Bhubaneswar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology (IGIT), Saranga, and Orissa School of Mining Engineering (OSME), Keonjhar – impart different courses in engineering streams.

While UCE has seven disciplines with an intake capacity of about 270, annual approved strength of CET is 340 in as many as nine streams. Similarly, IGIT admits 150 students in five programmes, while OSME’s degree streams intake is about 90.

However, the BPUT management appears to believe that the government colleges are in need of increasing their intake capacity which will strengthen them financially.

While UCE, Burla and CET, Bhubaneswar, are primarily dependent on government, it is OSME (degree stream) which is self-sufficient.

In the last board of management meeting of the varsity, it was strongly felt that the private colleges have a much larger student strength compared to their government counterparts that contribute significantly to their solvency.

It has agreed that an increased intake in government constituent colleges is the need of the hour where the number of qualified teachers and overall infrastructure is better compared to those available in the private colleges.

A way out is to introduce self-financing models for the programmes. In fact, two engineering streams in UCE, Burla and four subjects in CET here are self-financing but the funds are not sufficient to support the increasing needs.

1 comment November 19th, 2007

BPUT tightens teaching at its colleges

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

…  The system was approved by a joint meeting of the university top brass with the management of colleges. It will be installed on a pilot basis in dozen colleges in the City and another two in Rourkela where the university is headquartered.

The system will come into effect by November 25 as the two software vendors which were roped in are ready with the customised programme.

Under the system, each member of the faculty would be required to enter the curriculum she/he is assigned to complete each day and the actual progress.

The faculty members will also indicate the attendance in a class so that the university can have a clear view on the students’ perfor mance.

The programmes are so designed that it will take a teacher about 10 minutes to post the day’s report.

“The report entry will be keyword-based. All that a teacher has to do is drag and drop words to indicate the subject he taught in a day,” BPUT Vice-Chancellor Omkar Nath Mohanty told this paper.

Besides, the university and college managements agreed to ban inter-college migration of teachers during the period from November 1 till July 30, 2008.

Only if teachers have valid grounds for a migration then only would they be allowed but after examination by a committee. Similarly, the teachers would be given a registration number by the varsity, subject to appearance before a selection committee.

It has also been decided to go ahead with the CCTV installation project. It has been estimated at Rs 2.5 lakh with 20 cameras, a central software and an access to the server.

1 comment November 14th, 2007