Odisha HRD

Maharastra proposes a centrally funded Biotech institute/university in Nagpur

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India about Biotechnology University in Nagpur.

If everything goes according to the plan, the Orange City would soon have a full-fledged biotechnology university funded by Central Government. Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has already forwarded the proposal to Union HRD Ministry for consideration.

Speaking to TOI, Deshmukh said the proposal was sent under central government’s scheme, wherein they had invited bids for setting up institutions of higher learning in all the states.

“We have submitted a couple of proposals under the scheme. These include establishing a university of space science technology in Mumbai and a biotechnology university in Nagpur among others. If materialised, both these varsities would confirm the state’s premier position in India with respect to higher education. The state government is giving utmost importance to spreading higher and technical education in the state,” he affirmed.

Deshmukh added that actual dates can’t be confirmed since the proposals would first be scrutinised by the HRD ministry as well as the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Thereon it will be forwarded to the respective authorities.

“These universities would be set up and funded entirely by the Central government. We will only provide land and other necessary facilities. But the institutions would be solely managed by the Union departments,” he added.

1 comment January 13th, 2008

NKC Chairperson Pitroda lends his support for an IIT in Orissa and talks about education and 11th plan

Various articles report on this. Following are some excerpts:

From a Telegraph article:

Chairman of National Knowledge Commission Sam Pitroda today lent his support to Orissa’s hope for an Indian Institute of Technology, saying the state “deserved” one.

Orissa-born Pitroda, who ushered the telecom revolution in India in the eighties, today joined chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s long-standing demand, and said: “It’s high time. But, I am not the right person to comment on this matter. The HRD ministry should take a decision.”

Pitroda had come to Orissa to discuss the recommendations of the NKC, an advisory body to the Prime Minister on matters of higher education, with chief secretary T.K. Tripathy. Pitroda’s support went down well with Naveen, who has time and again reiterated his demand , but has been “refused” by the HRD ministry.

… Last year the Union HRD ministry decided to set up IITs in Bihar and Rajasthan and IISERs in Pune and Calcutta. The decision angered Orissa, which doesn’t have a single centre of excellence.

Non-resident Oriyas have been petitioning and writing to the ministry to set up an IIT in Orissa. While organisations have launched agitation against the Congress-led UPA and staged demonstrations before the Parliament over the issue.

Naveen has written several letters to Singh protesting the Centre’s decision of ignoring Orissa’s claim. The BJD-BJP MPs from Orissa had also staged a dharna before Parliament last week to protest against the Centre’s “step-motherly attitude”.   

From a Statesman article:

The need for expansion as we do not have enough schools/colleges and varsities, providing quality education and ensuring equity as well as access are the three major challenges said Mr Sam Pitroda, chairman National Knowledge Commission. Talking to reporters he said the 11th Plan does make a substantial commitment to education and states must be ready to avail the funds that will flow.

He said Orissa was the first state he was visiting to interact with officials vis-à-vis the Knowledge Commission’s activities and recommendations. "I will visit a few other states like Rajasthan, Dellhi, Andhra Pradesh before we prepare a document on what states need to do," he remarked. He emphasised on vocational training and making students employable. He suggested setting up of a advisory committee of eminent citizens at the state level, a working group headed by the chief secretary and small groups to deal with each of the aspects involving education.

Mr Pitroda shared the view if more IITs were to come up in the country, Orissa should get one.
 
… On mushrooming private colleges which lacked trained faculty as well as infrastructure, he said it was a demand-supply problem. Suddenly the demand for education increased substantially and there was a short supply of institutions and hence people stepped in to fill up this gap. In the process institutions of low standards had come up everywhere.

January 12th, 2008

Excerpts from VC Cambridge University Allison Richard’s article on “What makes a world class University”

The following is an excerpt from an Economic Times article. (Thanks to Nanopolitan for blogging about it.)

To be a ‘good university’ is a decent and honourable thing, but no ‘good’ university these days can feel entirely comfortable, since we are not now judged solely on our local or even national contribution, but our international standing.

The competition to be ranked among the world’s top universities is increasing, with much jostling for position on international league tables. According to the latest Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking, the US dominates with 37 of its universities in the top 50. Arguably this is starting to change. China, for example, is investing heavily in its universities, but there is still a long way to go before any find themselves in the top 50.

… But what makes a university world class? As international competition for students and academics increases, this question is very much on the front burner for university leaders. Many people talk about ‘world class’ universities, but what the term means is often left hovering in the air, undefined.

In my view, four factors make a university world class. First, it must show a commitment to breadth and excellence in all fields of human inquiry, not simply in a particular niche. Uniform excellence across all fields is an ideal that no university achieves in practice, but it is a fine ambition. One senses that universal, high ambition in great universities, coupled with real excellence in most fields, most of the time.

Second, world class universities engage in cutting-edge research whilst at the same time teaching the next generation, their students. Teaching and research are intrinsically bound together, with top researchers inspiring and mentoring their students. In turn, students themselves inspire and challenge their teachers.

Much of the talk about world class universities centres around the production of exciting discoveries and universities’ contribution to the economy and to human enrichment through the development of cultural knowledge. But every bit as important as these is the role of universities as educators. World class universities produce students who will go on to be leaders in all walks of life.

Third, great universities must allow their researchers the freedom to experiment, succeed, and sometimes fail. They must be able to make grand mistakes as well as grand discoveries. It is often through making those mistakes that the grand discoveries are made.

This implies a degree of inefficiency, but it is a necessary inefficiency and a corollary of greatness. A university operating with a completely utilitarian mindset will forego the opportunities that a more open-ended system allows.

Finally, world class universities have permeable boundaries. This means encouraging interdisciplinary research and teaching; it means working with the private sector, for example, fostering and encouraging partnerships with industry; and it means encouraging international collaboration.

World class universities look outward, and think beyond conventional boundaries today, we educate students more and more of whom will go on to live and work in a range of cultures. We must equip them for this life, partly by what we teach them, partly by what other experiences we offer them, who they meet as students and the composition of the study body. …

January 11th, 2008

Ministry of HRD Announces Israel Government Scholaship for Higher Studies in Israel

Following is an excerpt from the announcement. Please see the announcement for more details. The last date for applying is January 25th, 2008. Candidates can submit their applications online also (scroll down to the end of the announcement).

Applications are invited from Indian nationals on plain paper in the format given below for the award of about 5 Israeli Government Scholarship tenable from October 2008 to study at an Israeli University or any Institution of higher education in Israel.  These scholarships are for research/specialization for 8 months, and would be available for studies in the following subjects:

 
i)          Comparative Study (With specific reference to Judaism)
ii)         Middle East Studies
iii)        Hebrew language and literature
iv)        History of the Jewish people
v)         International relations
vi)        Agriculture
vii)       Chemistry
viii)       Biology
ix)        Nano-Biology

2.         Age:    Candidate should be less than 35 years old as on 25-01-2008.

3.         Qualification: (1) For the research/specialization studies, a Masters degree with 60% or more marks as on 25-01-2008 for the subject of Agriculture, Chemistry, Biology, Nano-Biology and Masters degree with 55% or more marks for the remaining subjects.  Proof of English or Hebrew Language knowledge is must.  The applicant should meet the academic requirements of the Israeli University that he/she applies to.

Note:  Israel has a very good higher education system. Top universities in Israel are as good as many US universities in certain areas. We highly encourage our readers to take advantage of this scholarship.

1 comment January 4th, 2008

Business skill development programme for tech students

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

With the State embarking on the journey of fast-paced industrialisation drawing huge investment in heavy industries, the small and medium enterprise sector is also set to get a jumpstart under the impact.

Though the micro, small and medium enterprises can generate substantial employment in the State, their success depends on the persons at the helm.

Therefore, there is a necessity of technically qualified entrepreneurs who have a sound knowledge of the units they are setting up.

With the very objective of grooming technical manpower in the State into entrepreneurs and capitalise on the emerging opportunities, the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (MSMEDI) of the Union MSME Ministry has started a ‘Business skill development programme’ for students of engineering colleges, schools and institutions imparting technical education in the State.

Under the programme, students pursuing the final year or semester and pre-final terms are eligible and trained in every aspect of entrepreneurship.

The tailor-made course involves selection of potential sectors against the backdrop of upcoming large industries, product process design, manufacturing, quality management, export opportunities, marketing techniques, preparation of projects accompanied by field-level exposure.

January 4th, 2008

IIT-Bombay to air lectures from today

Following is an excerpt from a Times of India report.

For lakhs of aspirants who don’t make it to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the new year has brought in cheer—this tech school is opening its classrooms beginning Wednesday for engineering colleges across the country.

As reported by TOI on December 8, IIT-Bombay will broadcast its lectures live through Edusat, the satellite which caters exclusively to the educational sector. Students of any engineering institute will now not only have real-time access to IIT-B tutoring, but can also interact with resident faculty at Powai.

On a related note, MIT’s OpenCourseWare has all the educational material from more than 1800 MIT courses online, freely available.

January 2nd, 2008

Residential girls’ schools in 53 blocks soon

The Statesman reports the following on the CM’s announcement at the Tribes Advisory Council meeting.

Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik today announced that residential girls’ schools will be opened in 53 blocks of scheduled area of the state, in a single phase. Similarly, a registered society will be set up for expediting reach of education in those areas. Mr. Patnaik was presiding over the Tribes Advisory Council meeting here today.

Education facilities have been extended to more than one lakh tribal girls through 1003 newly established hostels, he said and added that while construction work of 887 are complete, another 113 will soon be complete. Besides, 207 new hostels have been opened for tribal students in KBK region through the Revised Long Term Action Plan (RLTAP). He also pointed out that 10 Eklavya Model Residential schools have been accorded higher secondary school status. Renowned institutes like Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology and Central Tool Room are roped in to impart quality education to the teachers and around 1200 tribal students.

December 29th, 2007

Orissa government’s delay in responding may cost Orissa a world class central university

Update: A report in Samaja and Pioneer are given below.

Following is tathya.in’s take on it.

Orissa is yet to send the proposal for setting up a World Class University (WCU) in the state.

Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) has written to State Government to send a Detailed Proposal for a WCU in Orissa.

MHRD wrote the letter sequel to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s historic initiative on higher education includes 14 world class central universities each with an approximate initial budget of Rs. 1000 crores.

Besides traditional disciplines, these universities are supposed to have a medical school, an engineering school, a business school and a law school.

Currently India does not have any such world class university, and the central government, serious about the "world class" label wants these universities in locations that will create synergies.

Various news items have mentioned proximity to research labs such as CSIR labs as one of the qualifying locational attributes.

Orissa, at 6.1 per cent is at the bottom of the higher education enrollment among all major states, and needs to cover the biggest gap to make it to the 11th plan target of 15 per cent.

Moreover, Orissa is the 9th largest state of the country in terms of area and 11th largest in terms of population.

It also does not have any existing central universities.

Thus one would expect that Orissa would be in the front of the line making its case for one of these world class universities.

Unfortunately that is not the case.

Even after receiving communication from MHRD on this count Orissa has not yet responded, admited a senior official.

It would be a shame if Orissa loses out on this because of not making a proper and timely case, lamented an educationist.

Insiders say that the BJD-BJP Government is doing this deliberately so that when Orissa does not get one of these world class universities, than the government will again accuse the UPA Government of neglecting the state.

It is true that in recent past the UPA Government has created havoc by taking away a previously announced IIT from Orissa.

But in this particular case, the PM himself has stated categorically that there will be a competition between states in making decisions regarding the locations of the world class universities.

So if Orissa does not even send a timely proposal how can we blame the UPA government for Orissa not being given one of the WCU.

Chandrasekhar Sahu, Minister of State, Rural Development has written to MHRD about Orissa getting one of the WCU.

But one wonders if this will turn out like the NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) case.

Mr. Sahu was promised consideration for a NIFT by the Union Textiles Minister Sankar Sinh Vaghela, but the whole state was embarrassed in the Parliament when it was stated in a reply that Orissa government has never submitted a request for a NIFT.

In case of NIFT, Bihar took the lead in sending a proposal and snatched it from Orissa.

If Orissa loses out in getting one of the 14 world class university because of the current government’s laziness or because of its devious strategy to win elections at the cost of harming Orissa so that it can blame the Center, the people of Orissa will never forgive this Government, feel educationists.

2 comments December 28th, 2007

Ad for Ph.D program in BARC (from Samaja)

December 22nd, 2007

More on IIIT Bhubaneswar receiving AICTE approval

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report.

BHUBANESWAR: The upcoming International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) here has received AICTE nod to start the first batch with 25 seats.

To begin with, the institute would offer M.Tech programme in computer science.

Director Gopal Krushna Nayak said the institute would now seek BPUT’s affiliation.

Once this comes through, which he expects to happen soon, dates for admission to the new programme would be announced.

Appointment of faculty members would also be carried out soon.

The programme would focus on a host of emerging and traditional areas of computer science.

They include computer architecture and engineering, operating systems and networking, database management systems, graphics and humancomputer interaction, programming system, security, software engineering and business analysis.

IIIT Bhubaneswar aims to be a unique institute imparting education, training, research and consultation in technology and related fields to develop human resources to spur economic growth and lead society in the coming decades.

It will be modelled after IIIT Bangalore. Tech giant Infosys has already sponsored a chair at IIIT, Bhubaneswar, while other firms like TCS, Wipro and Mindtree have evinced interest to follow suit.

The State Government has provided about 24 acres for the campus at Gothapatna on the outskirts of the city and the Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa has been entrusted with the job of infrastructure development.

Till the institute comes up, classes would be conducted on the campus of Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) here.

Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy is the chairman of the governing body, while other members included Prof.L.M.Patnaik of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and representatives of IT companies having development centres in the city.

The institute is expected to put the city prominently on the educational map of the country and a sought after destination for students especially from Eastern India.

1 comment December 21st, 2007

CM asks for IIT, IIM, and IIIT in Orissa

Tathya.in reports that  Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has again highlighted the need of establishing IIT, IIM, and IIIT in Orissa while addressing the 54th National Development Council meeting. Following is an excerpt.

Naveen Patnaik has set the target of growth at 9 per cent during next five years.

Addressing the 54th meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) here on 19 December, Chief Minister of Orissa announced that the 11th five year plan for Orissa has an outlay of Rs.32,225 crore and targeted 9 per cent growth for the plan period.

…

Establishment of prestigious Central institutions like IIT, IIM and IIIT in Orissa to meet growing needs of skilled manpower for upcoming industries, was highlighted in his speech.

..

1 comment December 19th, 2007

Education to remain the most favored sector in the 11th Plan: PM

The Sahara Samaya reports on the Prime Minister’s address at the National Development Council meeting. Following is an excerpt.

Observing that education is the "most favoured sector", the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said the outlay on education will be up from 7.68 per cent of the Central Gross Budgetary Support in the 10th Plan to over 19 per cent in the 11th Plan.

In fact, education is the most favoured sector and the three fold increase in its share and a five fold increase in the actual outlays demonstrate the criticality of this sector in ensuring sustained inclusive growth in the future," he told the National Development Council (NDC) meeting to approve the XIth Five Year plan.

Singh said the country needed a greatly expanded supply of educated and skilled labour to support ambitious growth targets.

…

During the Plan period 6,000 model schools in all blocks, 30 new Central Universities, 370 new colleges in educationally backward districts, a Skill Development Mission to cater to one crore students per year and a huge expansion in the number of IIT, IIM, Indian Institutes of Information Technology, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research are proposed, Singh said. "This is a decisive start to bridging the knowledge gap in our country,"he said.

 

December 19th, 2007

Orissa in slumber and may miss taking advantage of the 11th plan opportunities in higher education: Tathya.in

Action Item: Readers concerned about this may write to the CM at cmo@ori.nic.in to take immediate action and copy to one of the journalists in Orissa (perhaps Braja babu of Tathya.in at brajakmishra@gmail.com)

Following is from http://tathya.in/story.asp?sno=1455.

Orissa this time also is all set to miss the bus for Higher Education.

While the Higher Education Program for the Eleventh Five Year Plan is being final touches, Orissa is in deep slumber. 

And who will be able to wake up a sleeping state, which is at the lowest ebb of the investment plan of the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), asks educationists.

The Eleventh Plan is historical because investment in HRD sector will receive a big jump.

Just follow these numbers:

Currently there are 7 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) s that was made over 60 years; there will 8 more during the 11th Plan.

There are 23 central universities made over 60 years; 30 more will be added during the Plan.

There are no world class universities in India and planners have decided to go for 14.

There are 6 Indian Institute of Management (IIM) s that was made over 60 years; there is a plan to establish 7 more.

There is a plan to set up Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH).

Currently there is a single National Institute of Design that was made in 60 years since Independence; there is a plan to make 4 more during the Plan.

The 11th Plan’s stated goal is to take the higher education enrolment to 15 per cent.

Orissa’s higher education enrolment is at the bottom 6.1 per cent.

So Orissa must be working very hard to take advantage of the 11th plan.

Lo behold ! No home work in sight and this time also the state is going to loose heavily, feel the educationists.

Chitta Baral, Professor in Arizona State University is a worried person.

And Prof. Baral has every reason to worry.

We need a world class university and not a single soul has raised his voice for the same in the Government, lamented Prof.Baral.

This type of institution will have a budget of Rs.1000 crore. 

It  would be again a pity, if the state is going to lose the same as there is  opportunity to make a strong case.

It has the Ravenshaw University which without any affiliate colleges, matches the expected model of a world class university.

But will the State Government make such a case, asks Prof.Baral.

While Orissa is haunted by deaths due to cholera, it will be an appropriate place for setting up an Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH)

Till date the State has made no efforts to get one of the proposed 5-7 IIPHs in Orissa.

So far Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) s are concerned Orissa has not done much beyond the Chief Minister sending a couple of half-baked and impolite letters to the Prime Minister.

On the other hand, many other states have sent more detailed proposals.

Take the case of KBK Central University, in the past Orissa has made a case regarding a Central University in KBK.

However, it has not followed up on it recently.

Is not it time the State Government to follow up on this and makes a case, by pointing to the central universities in the North East, asks he.

It is not too late for many of the above; otherwise Orissa will get the pea nuts and predictably complain about Central apathy against the state.

3 comments December 18th, 2007

Increased fellowship amounts for CSIR fellows

Thanks to reader Priyanka (comments 108-109) for the pointer. The  following is from  http://www.csirhrdg.nic.in/fellowship%20revision.pdf. The amount go up in two stages. From 1st September 2006 the amount for JRF goes up from Rs 8,000/month to Rs 10,000/month and then from 1st April 2007 the amount goes further up to Rs 12,000/month.

60 comments December 8th, 2007

Naveen urges industry to set up technical education institutes

Following is an excerpt from a news report in Telegraph.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik seems to have found a magic wand to make industrialisation acceptable to masses: bring more youngsters under the technical education umbrella.

“I want each of the industry and corporate houses in our state to have a greater involvement in the technical education sector. The greater the mass of technically qualified manpower, the more will be the demand for industrialisation from the common people. It will make industrialisation a more widely acceptable way of improving life and enhancing regional growth,” Naveen said, …

Stating that he has a vision of establishing at least one industrial training institute in each block of the state, Naveen urged the industry captains to choose any zero-ITI block of their choice and immediately start the establishing an ITI offering trades that they think have market demand.

He advised the industries department to facilitate the process and guide the industrial and corporate houses in this regard.

Stressing the theme of this year’s event — “Building People, building Orissa” — the chief minister said meeting mandatory stipulations under different laws or complying with the guidelines of the resettlement and rehabilitation policy is just one small component of the corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Perhaps keeping the resistance by the locals to several industrial projects in mind, the chief minister advised the industries to have good relationship with the people and entities around their plants.

December 7th, 2007

Orissa not taking adavantage of the Ashram School scheme

Ashram Schools in tribal areas is another central govt. scheme. However, as the following PIB shows, Orissa has not been taking advantage of it in recent years. (Orissa did take advantage of it in the past.) Its not clear if this is because Orissa decided to focus more on the Ekalavya Vidyalayas as in case of the Ekalavya Vidyalayas the funding is 100% from the central govt. while in case of the Ashram Schools the funding is 50% central and 50% state. In any case, here is the recent PIB on Ashram Schools.

Ministry releases grants to the States for construction of Ashram School in  Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) Areas, boys and girls hostels and Post Matric Scholarship is a continuous process. The grant-in-aid is released only if the proposals are complete in all respects including availability of land free of cost, confirmation about availability of matching share in the State budget, Utilization Certificate for grants released in previous years and physical progress reports in respect of proposals sanctioned in previous years and the availability of funds.  This was stated by the Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri P.R. Kyndiah in a reply to a question by Shri M.A.M. Ramswamy in Rajya Sabha today.

The scheme-wise and year-wise funds released to States/UTs including Karnataka during last three years are as follows:

Grant in aid released under the scheme of Ashram Schools in TSP Areas

S.No.	Name of State/UT	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
		Amount	Amount	Amount
1.	Gujarat	86.49	200.00	156.52
2.	Madhya Pd.	300.00	200.00	624.01
3.	Karnataka	77.51	150.00	400.00
4.	Maharashtra	86.00	50.00	256.71
5.	Chattishgarh	0	0	112.76
	Total	550.00	600.00	1550.00

Grant released under the scheme of Boys/Girls Hostel to various State Govt. during the last three years.

(Rs. in lakh)

S. No.	Name of State/UT	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
		Amount	Amount	Amount
1.	Andhra Pd.	0	0	120.00
2.	Gujarat	67.60	0	0
3.	Himachal Pd.	0	108.18	82.39
4.	Madhya Pd.	300.00	724.00	305.00
5.	Manipur	0	142.70	123.51
6.	Meghalaya	0	0	200.00
7.	Orissa	0	0	56.50
8.	Rajasthan	0	0	190.50
9.	West Bengal	0	6.71	0
10.	J & K	0	0	204.99
11.	Karnataka	120.00	86.00	170.79
12.	Maharashtra	242.04	194.46	0
13.	Nagaland	151.00	116.52	221.09
14.	IIT Delhi	234.88	64.21	440.91
15.	Jharkhand	98.86	0	250.16
16.	Chattishgarh	0	0	165.00
17.	Arunachal Pradesh	20.50	21.43	180.07
18.	Punjab University, Chandigarh	65.12	100.79	0
19.	Delhi University	0	0	100.00
	Total	1300.00	1565.00	2810.91

December 3rd, 2007