Odisha HRD

Dr. K. S. Krishnan research associateship (KSKRA) at DAE labs: ad in Samaja

1 comment February 17th, 2008

Early budget numbers in education

Following is an excerpt from a report in Asian Age.

… the ministry has decided to propose an outlay of nearly Rs 2,522 crores in the 2008-09 Budget to allow institutions to augment their intake capacity if the Supreme Court rules in favour of the Centre’s decision to reserve 27 per cent of the seats in Central educational institutions for other backward classes (OBCs). … For 2007-08, the Budget had provided for an allocation of Rs 2,698 crores to help the institutions augment their capacity. The overall outlay for the implementation of quotas during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12), is pegged at Rs 11,728,000 crores.

The ministry has proposed an outlay of no less than Rs 12,800.51 crores for the 2008-09 Budget. Not surprising, given the Centre’s ambitious plans to go in for a huge expansion in technical education during the Eleventh Plan which has proposed an outlay of Rs 84,943 crores for it.

The HRD has proposed an outlay of Rs 1,496.01 crores for "new schemes" in areas of technical education in the 2008-09 Budget. Of this amount, a major portion has been proposed as outlay for the setting up of new polytechnics. The ministry wants nearly Rs 440 crores set aside for the new polytechnics apart from another Rs 101 crores for the strengthening of 400 existing polytechnics. Another Rs 150 crores has been proposed as outlay for the 580 new community polytechnics. …

As for the eight new IITs the UPA government has plans to set up, the HRD ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 200 crores for them in the forthcoming Budget. As for the existing IITs, the ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 492 crores. The seven new IIMs also on the anvil in the Eleventh Plan have had an outlay of Rs 50 crores proposed for the 2008-09 Budget, while an outlay of Rs 45 crores is proposed for the existing IIMs. For the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 70 crores for 2008-09. A substantial amount — Rs 150 crores — is the proposed outlay for increasing the fellowship amount for M.Tech. students.

Other institutions that the Budget will be providing for are the 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) that are in the offing. The ministry has budgeted Rs 50 crores as the outlay for 2008-09. As for the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) coming up in Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram and the new one in Mohali, the ministry has proposed an outlay of Rs 100 crores in the coming Budget.

Yet another area set to get a boost is that of faculty development in technical education with the ministry proposing an outlay of Rs 100 crores for 2008-09.

1 comment February 13th, 2008

MHRD thinks of offering affordable coaching classes for IIT/IIM etc.

Update: MHRD thinking of SAT/GRE style staggered exams.

This is a good move by MHRD. Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph about this.

Concerned about the proliferation of private tutorial services and the high fees they charge, the human resource development ministry has approved a proposal to introduce the country’s first public-funded training to crack competitive exams.

Initially, the training is likely to cover entrance tests to the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management. But the government plans to extend the facility to the civil services entrance exam too, senior officials said.

… The government is, however, anxious to ensure that the “cheaper” option does not end up as a poor man’s coaching class.

Teachers from the country’s top higher education institutions will be invited to form a faculty pool for the facility.

“It will be a broad-based effort involving teachers from universities, IITs and IIMs. The institutions have agreed in principle. The challenge will be to bring teachers on board,” the official said.

Officials conceded that at least initially, the online coaching might not be a substitute for the physical tutorials.

But they hoped the low fees would attract people — rich or poor — to it.

“We hope that soon enough they will realise that they will be prepared best for the competitive exams here,” the official said. … the Planning Commission is learnt to have cleared the proposal as well. … sources said students were likely to charged only a basic registration fee — probably less than Rs 1,000 — which will be used to cover additional emoluments for the faculty.

The faculty will each have a blog restricted to students, who can ask questions and will receive answers within a day.

The teachers’ pool will prepare tests in each subject, which students will take online — like the GRE.

Each student will have an online account — their entry to the coaching class.

Apart from the questions through blogs, live classes can also be held, the official said.

1 comment February 9th, 2008

National doctoral fellowship to pursue Ph.D in Architecture, Engineering, Management and Pharmacy

The following is from http://www.aicte.ernet.in/national_doc.htm.

29 comments February 4th, 2008

Why many in Orissa mistrust MHRD of India: a cry for help to the PM and Planning Commission

======= His message is below my reply to him. ======

Dear Mr. Acharya:

It is very easy for some one in Orissa to believe that you said what is reported to have been said in Samaja.

Already, your minister Mrs. Purandareswari said something similar. See http://www.indianexpress.com/story/30436.html where it is reported that she read a list of institutions in Orissa that have central assistance to justify why Orissa should not have given an IIT. If she, or the staff who wrote that response, had bothered to compared this with other states, which we did (please see http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol1/state_wise_national_lab.pdf ) she/they would have found that other states have much more such institutes and this reasoning is yet another attempt to harm Orissa by the MHRD.

In general, people all over Orissa have developed a deep distrust of MHRD for reason listed below. From your past actions we are very apprehensive that MHRD will find or make up some reason or other to deny an IIT to Orissa or just deny without any explanation.

This is despite the fact that:

(i) Orissa is now is at the bottom of per-capita spending by MHRD in marquee institutions. In our earlier calculation, reported nation wide (see http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol0/2006%2002%2014%20ht-mhrd-spending.pdf  and
http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol0/2006%2002%2012%20asian-age-mhrd-spending.pdf ) and in International Herald Tribune, Bihar and Rajasthan were below Orissa and they were rightly given an IIT. But then Orissa was skipped for the 3rd and 4th new IIT announcements.

(ii) Orissa is at the bottom of higher education enrollment at about 6.1% and needs to cover the largest gap to get to the 11th plan goal of 15%.

(iii) Orissa is the 9th largest state in area and 11th largest in population. (Note that the 8 new IITs will take the total # IITs to 15.)

(iv) Orissa is among the most backward state of the country in most parameters and has the most backward district cluster (KBK districts made up of almost half the size of Orissa) in the country.

(v) Orissa has a vast population of tribals.

(vi) Orissa is trying its best to industrialize and is among the lead in recent ASSOCHAM  studies regarding investment destinations.

(vii) The people of Orissa, its MPs, and its CM have been trying very hard for several years now to convince MHRD and the PM about an IIT in Orissa, but without any results. Please see the media articles stored at http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol0/ , http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol1/ , http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol2/ , http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol3/  to know the involvement of every one in Orissa on this. This is very very different from any other state asking for an IIT. Nowhere, the intensity and passion comes even close.

Now let me give you the reasons why people in Orissa have a deep mistrust towards MHRD and believe that MHRD is actively working to keep Orissa down and harm it.

A. MHRD took away a previously announced (by the President) NIS from Orissa. The MHRD fought tooth and nail with Orissa in the political arena (parliament), in courts (Cuttack high court and supreme court), and other places on the NIS issue. And it never gave Orissa the NIS it had taken away which are now called IISERs. MHRD gave them all to its favored states (Pune, Kolkata, Punjab, Bhopal and Kerala.) See http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol1-nis/ and http://iiser.blogspot.com for the press articles and chronology of this.

Thank God, India has a prime minister who has some shame, who sanctioned NISER from his ministry, the DAE. Despite that NISER’s approval in the cabinet was delayed and even now other hurdles have been put that continues to prevent NISER from recruiting regular faculty.

B. The following is a partial list of higher education institutions funded by MHRD  that MHRD has announced since this government came. Sir: Can you please find Orissa’s name in it?

1. IISER Kolkata, West Bengal (1)
2. IISER Pune, Maharashtra (1)
3. IISER Mohali, Punjab (1)
4. IISER in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (1)
5. IISER in Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala (1)
6. IIT in Andhra Pradesh (1)
7. IIT in Rajasthan (1)
8. IIT in Bihar (1)
9. IIM at Shillong, Meghalaya (1)
10. SPA in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh (2)
11. SPA in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (2)
12. Upgradation of Bengal Engineering and Sc U to an IIT clone (IIEST), West Bengal (2)
13. Upgradation of Andhra Univ Engineering College to IIT clone (IIEST), Andhra Pradesh (3)
14. Upgradation of Osmania Univ Engg College to IIT clone (IIEST), Andhra Pradesh (4)
15. Upgradation of IT BHU to IIT clone (IIEST), Uttar Pradesh (1)
16. Upgradation of Cochin Univ of Sc and Tech to IIT clone (IIEST), Kerala (2)
17. IIIT Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu (1)
18. Allahbad University made to a Central University, Uttar Pradesh (2)
19. Manipur University made to a Central University, Manipur (1)
20. Arunachal Pradesh university made to a Central University,Arunachal Pradesh (1)
21. Tripura university made to a Central University, Tripura (1)
22. New Central University in Sikkim, Sikkim (1)
23. CIEFL Hyderabad made to a central university, Andhra Pradesh (5)
24. Indira Gandhi Nationan Tribal University, Madhya Pradesh (3)
25. IIT in Himachal Pradesh (1)

This MHRD has announced TWENTY FIVE+ national institutions so far and Orissa does not even figure once in that list and I am sure you can figure out why people from Orissa completely distrust MHRD and its intentions.

C: Please read the following excerpt from the Orissa government press release on Oct 24 2005 where CM of Orissa discussed about a tribal university in KBK region of Orissa.

… In addition to this, Shri Patnaik also requested for establishment of a Central University for the KBK Region, which is one of the most backward regions in the country. He pointed out that there was a heavy concentration of the scheduled tribe and scheduled caste population in this region, which has a literacy rate below 50%. Shri Patnaik stated that setting up a Central University in the KBK region would go a long way in encouraging higher education among tribal population. He added that the university could also set up specialized centres for tribal development related studies, as tribal development was one of the biggest challenges facing the country today. Shri. Arjun Singh appreciated the rationale of having a Central University in the KBK region and sought a formal proposal in this regard from the State Government. He assured that this would receive high priority whenever the Central Government considers setting up of new central universities

Please compare it with the following about the proposed Indira Gandhi National Tribal University that came out in Hindu on 19th November 2006.  (http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/19/stories/2006111900750900.htm) and it seems that the idea proposed by our CM was stolen by MHRD to establish a similar university with HQ in MP and Orissa was conveniently ignored and thus harmed.

• … The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University will encourage studies on tribal art, culture and traditions, forests and natural resources. Tribal students will be given priority in admission. … The D. Swaminadhan Committee, set up by the University Grants Commission, recommended the setting up of a varsity exclusively for promoting tribal culture and providing tribals access to higher education.

====

Thus MHRD is the ministry which not only has not given any national institute to Orissa but seems to have taken away two of them from Orissa: an NIS/IISER and the tribal central university which Orissa seem to have proposed first. Please look up a thesaurus to find out the adjectives used for some one who steals from the poorest of the poor. MHRD, because of its actions towards Orissa, deserves that adjective.

==

Since we do not have any trust in MHRD, we have to take things directly to the PM, Mrs. Gandhi, the planning commission and the people of India at large. There is no other option left for the weakest and the poorest and the most backward when the MHRD that is supposed to help it steals from it and tries its best to harm it and makes up ridiculous and false reasons for it.

We sincerely hope that either the MHRD will come to its senses or the PM and the planning commission will bring it into its senses so that MHRD grants at least

(i) an IIT to Orissa so that Orissa has one of the 15 IITs in the country (b) one of the 14 proposed world class central universities (c) one of the proposed 10 NITs (d) a tribal central university in KBK (out of the remaining 16 new central universities) for all of the reasons mentioned earlier in the mail.

[Again, Orissa is the 9th largest state in area, 11th largest state in  population, has been historically funded the least by MHRD, has to bridge the largest gap from 6.1% to the 11th plan target of 15%, and among the states that is trying its hardest – by rapid industrialization- to get out of the bottom of everything.]

Anything less, we will know that MHRD is up to its tricks again, and despite the fact that the PM has increased the number of institutions to so many (8 new IITs taking the total to 15; 14 world class central universities; and 10 new NITs) that there is really no reason, except spite and intent to harm, to not give Orissa the above mentioned institutions.

 
sincerely and with best regards,
Chitta Baral

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Krishna Murari <kmacharya@…>
To: RAJESH MOHAPATRA <mahapatrark@…>
Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2008 15:43:18 +0500
Subject: Re: Please don’t force Orissa to remain backward: Reaction to "No IIT for Orissa because it has NISER" – MHRD special secretary as reported in The Samaja

The statement apparently attributed to the Special Secretary, MHRD, in some sections of the Oriya press is completely wrong. No such statement -that because of the NISER, IIT would not be considered for an IIT – was ever made. What was actually said was that Orissa’s demand for an IISER was met by establishing a NISER there. 
 
– Special Secy, MHRD

2 comments February 3rd, 2008

Is the proposal to convert “Institute of Material Sciences (IMS)” to “National Institute for Advanced Materials and Applications (NIAMA)” dead?

In 2005 our CM had proposed the central takeover/adoption of the Institute of Material Sciences (IMS) in Bhubaneswar (68/1, Laxmi Vihar, Bhubaneswar – 751005 )  to make it a National Institute for advanced materials and applications. In this, ex-IIT Khragpur director Prof. K. L. Chpora, a recent Padma shri award winner, was involved. But besides the following news report from 2005 nothing much has happened.

February 3rd, 2008

CM Naveen Patnaik reacts angrily to MHRD special secretary’s statement; writes to PM again

Following is an excerpt  from a report in Pioneer. (Also reported in Statesman, Sambada, New Indian Express, Dharitr1, Dharitri2, Pragativadi)

… Coming down heavily on the Centre, Patnaik said, "I am surprised to see that decisions are being taken on a political consideration. I have repeatedly taken up the matter of establishing of an IIT in Orissa with the Prime Minister and the Union Minister for Human Resources Development (HRD). I have told them that Orissa’s case is a genuine one."

Raising his voice against the Centre, Patnaik said a question should be asked why the Centre shifted the National Institute of Science (NIS), which was sanctioned by the then NDA Government from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata.

Reacting sharply over the remarks of the Union Secretary of HRD that Orissa does not deserve an IIT as it has already got the NISER (National Institute of Science and Educational Research), Patnaik said how could the NIS be shifted to Kolkata when IIT, Kharagpur is already there.

"How West Bengal has taken two such premier institutes? All these decisions have been taken on a political consideration," Patnaik said.

In his letter Patnaik mentioned that as Orissa was witnessing a rapid growth in industrialisation, these technical institutes are required for creating the requisite manpower. 

February 2nd, 2008

Reaction to “No IIT for Orissa because of NISER” comment by an MHRD official

A news report in Samaja (30th January 2008, Page 7) mentions that Special Secretary in the higher education department Mr. Acharya said that, "Orissa and many other states have vigorously demanded IITs; But since a IIT quality higher education institution – NISER – has been established in Orissa, it is not possible to establish an IIT in that state."  He continues on to say that, " NISER and IIT have the same admission process that happens at the same time. Since NISER will fulfill the need for an IIT one should not put much weight on the demand for an IIT."

The above logic is absolutely ridiculous and filled with falsehoods and contradicts with MHRD actions with respect to other states.

1. NISER and IITs have different admission process and they have no connection with each other. NISER uses the NEST test  (http://www.iopb.res.in/niser/admission.php ) conducted by DAE while IITs have their own JEE. The secretary may be confusing NISER with IISER which do take some students from the IIT JEE merit list.

2. NISER will not fulfill the need for an IIT. Currently, NISER only offers M.Sc degrees in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Some day in the future it may offer a few technology degrees. However, it will not be soon, as having full-fledged engineering degrees will defeat the purpose of NISER, as
students when given a choice between Science and Engineering disciplines in the same institute will prefer engineering, and as a result the NISER science departments, the reason de etre for the establishment of NISER, will not get good students. In this regard it may be noted that Science is second class in the
IITs where students prefer engineering over Science courses. Most students who get into sciences into IITs are the ones who can not get into any engineering disciplines.

Note that IISc, where both engineering and science are flourishing is different because it does not offer undergraduate degrees in science so there is no competition between student choosing between science and engineering after +2.

3. Even if NISER abandons its reason-de-etre and decides to expand into engineering aggressively, the infrastructure, especially the 300 acres allocated to NISER will not allow that. Note that the IITs in Patna and Hyderabad will have 500 acres land.

4. The engineering and technology disciplines will not be established in NISER that quickly, and because of the break-neck industrial progress happening in Orissa, it needs a top notch engineering and technological institute like an IIT "yesterday."

5. Finally the following actions contradict the assertion that Orissa will not get an IIT because it has a NISER

   (a) Maharastra was given a IISER even though it has an IIT. (Both are funded by MHRD.)

   (b) West Bengal was given an IISER and an IIT like institute (IIEST) eventhough it has an IIT. (All are funded by    MHRD and the IISER and the IIEST will be in the Kolkata area.)

   (c) Andhra Pradesh was given an IIT and two IIESTs. (All are funded by MHRD.)

   (d) Kerala was given an IISER, an IIEST and an IIST (Indian Institute of Space Technology); the first two funded by    MHRD, while the last one is funded by Ministry of Science and Technology.

So why is that when it comes to Orissa, when Orissa is now at the bottom of per-capita MHRD funding on higher education institutions, NISER counts against Orissa. This is despite that Orissa needs to bridge the largest gap in higher education enrollment, from 6.1% to the targeted 15%.

Is it because the above four have UPA allied governments while Orissa does not?

Also, earlier it has been remarked in the Parliament by an UPA minister that Orissa has this and that institute (such as Inst of Physics etc.). Yes, but other states have more of such institutes. See the list we compiled at http://iit.orissalinks.com/vol1/state_wise_national_lab.pdf.

So why does it count against Orissa getting an IIT, and does not count against the other states.

Is not this blatant discrimination against Orissa?

Is not such discrimination in the past a main reason why Orissa is now at the bottom of higher education enrollment and many other parameters?

Is that what the government of India wants? And in this information age of news media and Internet will the people of Orissa stand-by and just meekly accept this blatant discrimination?

1 comment January 31st, 2008

NISER will fulfill Orissa’s IIT demand: Samaja

(Acknowledgment: The Samaja article was brought to my notice by Prof. R. Nayak. My greatest appreciation to him for his concerns.)

This is really crazy and ridiculous. Only for Orissa, all these arguments are made; West Bengal can have an IIT, an IIESR and an IIT like institution (IIEST) all funded by MHRD; the later two in the same city Kolkata; Maharastra can have both IITs and IISERs funded by MHRD; Andhra Pradesh can have an IIT and two IIESTs (one IIT and one IIEST in the same city) funded by MHRD, Kerala can be given an MHRD funded IISER and a Ministry of Sc & Tech funded IIST (Indian Inst of Space Technology); but when it comes to Orissa it can not have an IIT because it is having NISER. (The later is funded by DAE while IITs are funded by MHRD. )

People and representatives of Orissa should not take this lying down. They must take this opportunity to explain GOI how such arguments are used against Orissa to harm Orissa and stunt its progress.

Watch out for further reactions to this apparent trial balloon floated by MHRD.  They floated many such trial balloons when we were demanding NIS and they were countered by the people and representatives of Orissa. The same needs to be done urgently.

January 31st, 2008

Education Abroad: New IMS Center at Bhubaneswar to Help Students

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report.

BHUBANESWAR: Having secured a place for itself in the minds of management aspirants, leading coaching institute IMS is set to add another promising chapter to its expanding portfolio.

The first IMS ‘centre for international education’ is coming up in the city next month.

The centre will engage itself in assisting students, going abroad, gain enrollment in international universities.

Besides, it would offer quality coaching to students taking GRE and GMAT.

1 comment January 29th, 2008

Why should kids study science? an op-ed from Samaja

January 28th, 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

Instructor wanted ad in Samaja by OP Jindal Institute of Technology and Skills in Angul

1 comment January 20th, 2008

Rtapalli Vidyapitha: NRI funded free residential school for poor and meritorious students

See details about them at:

http://www.shraddha.org/
http://www.shraddha.org/RtaPics/Advertisement-08.pdf
http://www.shraddha.org/RtaPics/Brochure2008.pdf

For info call Rutpalli Vidyapitha at: 0674-2743063

The last date of application is February 5th and test is on 17th February, Sunday.

3 comments January 19th, 2008

Google India Women in Engineering Award

The following is from http://www.google.co.in/jobs/womeninengineering/award/index.html. (Thanks to Abi for the pointer.)

Google has one overarching mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. With a user base in the millions, Google’s point of distinction is anticipating needs not yet articulated by our global audience, then meeting those needs with innovative products and services that set new standards.

Therefore, Google aspires to be an organization that reflects the globally diverse audience that our search engine and tools serve. We believe that, in addition to hiring the best talent, the diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. This diversity of employees and partners serves as the foundation for us to better serve our diverse customers and stakeholders all over the world.

As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to encouraging women to excel in computing and technology, we are pleased to introduce The Google India “Women in Engineering” Award to recognize and reward deserving women students in Computer Science and related majors, and inspire them to become active participants and leaders in creating technology.

The awards are based on the candidates’ academic background and demonstrated leadership. A group of female undergraduate, graduate and PhD student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool, and award recipients will receive an award of INR 75000 via cheque.

Other Links:

• Eligibility Criteria
• Apply Online
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Terms and Conditions
• Photo Album

January 18th, 2008

Education Push Yields Little for India’s Poor

The New York Times (NYT) is running a story on Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2007. Following are exceprts from the NYT story.

Sixty years after independence, with 40 percent of its population under 18, India is now confronting the perils of its failure to educate its citizens, notably the poor. More Indian children are in school than ever before, but the quality of public schools like this one has sunk to spectacularly low levels, as government schools have become reserves of children at the very bottom of India’s social ladder.

The children in this school come from the poorest of families — those who cannot afford to send away their young to private schools elsewhere, as do most Indian families with any means.

..

That they remain ill equipped to do so is clearly illustrated by an annual survey, conducted by Pratham, the organization for which Mr. Ghosh works. The latest survey, conducted across 16,000 villages in 2007 and released Wednesday, found that while many more children were sitting in class, vast numbers of them could not read, write or perform basic arithmetic, to say nothing of those who were not in school at all.

Among children in fifth grade, 4 out of 10 could not read text at the second grade level, and 7 out of 10 could not subtract. The results reflected a slight improvement in reading from 2006 and a slight decline in arithmetic; together they underscored one of the most worrying gaps in India’s prospects for continued growth.

Education experts debate the reasons for failure. Some point out that children of illiterate parents are less likely to get help at home; the Pratham survey shows that the child of a literate woman performs better at school. Others blame longstanding neglect, insufficient public financing and accountability, and a lack of motivation among some teachers to pay special attention to poor children from lower castes.

January 18th, 2008