Mahindra offers scholarships for BPL students, disabled students or defense wards pursuing diploma in a polytechnic
July 23rd, 2007
Naveen requests setting up of a jems and jewellery training institute in Ganjam
Following is Pioneer’s report on this.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written a letter to the Central Commerce Minister demanding to set up a Gems and Jewellery Training Institute in the State. In his letter, Patnaik made it a point that a large numbers of artisans in Ganjam district, who are engaged in cutting and fining gem stones in far away at Mumbai and Surat, would not migrate to these States if a Gems and Jewellary Training Institute is set up in Ganjam district.
There are numbers of gem stone mines in Orissa and the gems and jewellery products of Orissa artisans hold a considerable demand in foreign markets.
The proposed institute will positively play a leading role in enhancing the artisans’ skills and will also bring improvement in export of the items, said Patnaik. However, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council under the Central Commerce Ministry seems to be interested in setting up of the institute. The Chief Minister also has agreed to provide the land and other facilities for the institute.
3 comments July 8th, 2007
Some good news on national institutes front
Business Standard reports that central minister Chandrasekhar Sahu is pursuing with the central government regarding establishing three marquee institutions in South Orissa. Following is an excerpt of that:
While the first Central University is likely to be set up in Koraput, plans for an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and National Institute of Design (NID) in Berhampur are in the works. …
Sahu also said he has discussed the possibility of a National Institute of Design (NID) and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) being set up in Berhampur and Bhubaneswar. The recent discussions with the Union minister for commerce, Kamal Nath, and the minister for textiles, Shankarsingh Veghela, “were very positive and they assured us that they are willing to establish these institutes if the state government extended its cooperation,†said Sahu. …
While the Central University and IIIT are under the Ministry of Human Resources Development, the NID is under the Ministry of Commerce. NIFT and NIHT come under the Ministry of Textiles.
Lets analyze this. First of all if all these materializes then its great. However lets compare what Orissa will be getting vis-a-vis the other states.
- In the Central University front, the central university in Koraput should be a distributed kind like the proposed Indira Gandhi National Tribal University. It should be designed such that it has branches in all KBK+ districts from the start.
- The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows: 8 KBK districts total 38.72% (+ 16.63 % SC). Malkangiri 58.36% (+19.96% SC), Rayagada 56.04% (+14.28% SC), Nabarangpur 55.27% (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95% (+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88% (+8.77% SC).
- The literacy rates in the KBK districts are as follows: Overall in 8 KBK districts 36.58% with the female literacy at 24.72%. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.
- India already has 20 central universities and if 30 more are going to be made then besides the central university in Koraput one of the other universities in Orissa should also be upgraded to a central university.
- There will be 19 new IIITs. Orissa will be getting one of them. This is good but does not take Orissa out of the bottom of MHRD spending
- NID is good. But it does not replace the IIT that was taken away from Orissa. The 2007-08 budget for the 7 IITs is a total of 1553.70 cores (i.e., an average of 221.96 crores) while the 2007-08 budget for NID is 20.25 crores.
- Hence, Orissa must: (a) continue to push for an IIT in Orissa; (b) push for the Central University in Koraput to have branches in the KBK+ districts from the very beginning; (c) this central university should have special quote for tribals and locals as is the case in many north eastern states and as will be the case in the Indira Gandhi national tribal university; (d) push for one of the other universities in Orissa to be upgraded to a central university; (e) Make sure branches of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University exist in the north western districts with high tribal population, in particular Mayurbhanj (tribal percentage 57.87%, literacy 52.43%), Sundergarh (50.74%, 65.22%), and Keonjhar (44.52%, 59.75%); and possibly in Sambalpur (35.08% , literacy 67.01%), Deogarh (33.31%, literacy 60.78%), and Jharsuguda (31.88% , literacy 71.47%).
9 comments June 25th, 2007
Samaja on vocational courses
Following are from the Saturday pages of Samaja. It talks about various vocational courses that are in demand.
June 23rd, 2007
Institutions with Nontraditional programs – a dated list
Following is a list of institutions with non-traditional programs that I compiled earlier. They are categorized as follows: Arts and Crafts, Design, Teachers training, Diploma in Engineering, ITIs, Film and TV, Homeopathy and Ayurveda, Hotel management, Journalism, Law, Library Science, Performance arts, Physical Education, Sanskrit and Social work.
Continue Reading 6 comments June 8th, 2007
Biju Patnaik Film and TV institute advertises for admission into its programs
Following is an ad by the Biju Patnaik Film and TV institute for its diploma programs in cinematography, sound and TV engineering and Film and video editing.
Continue Reading 20 comments June 8th, 2007
Establishing a Construction Academy in Orissa
New Indian Express reports that during the discussion between the World Bank and the Orissa government in regards to a loan of 1406 crores for construction of roads in Orissa, the idea of setting up a “construction academy” in lines of the one in Hyderabad was mooted. Following is an excerpt from the New Indian Express article.
The World Bank has decided to provide financial assistance of Rs 1,406 crore for the implementation of Rs 2,121- crore Orissa State Roads Project (OSRP).
There is also a proposal to set up a Construction Academy akin to one in Hyderabad to assist the capacity building activities of the State Government.
The academy will train contractors and workers with modern construction techniques.
The Arizona State University, where I am currently at, also has a top-notch school of construction that offers M.S in Construction. May be the Orissa government can go beyond what is in Hyderabad and borrow ideas from the School of Construction at ASU.
May 25th, 2007
Apparel training and design center in Bhubaneswar
There is now an apparel training and design center in Bhubaneswar. Its recent ad is as follows:
Continue Reading May 24th, 2007
Best Western to open Culinary institute
Tathya’s running headline of today says that Best Western will open a culinary institute in Orissa. In the past Hotel Swosti in Bhubaneswar used to have the Best Western label. I am not sure if it still does.
Update: Tathya now has a full article on it. Following are some excerpts.
The leading hotel chain, Cabana Hotel Management Private Limited (CHMPL), which is the franchise holder of Best Western group for India has been allotted 7 acres of land in the capital city. The chairman and other board members of Best Western are visiting Orissa in the last week of this month to lay the foundation stone of the culinary institute.
May 21st, 2007
NIFT in Bhubaneswar proposal accepted by minister of textiles Vaghela
New Indian Express reports that:
A release issued by Sahu‘s office stated that Sahu had also proposed to the Textile Minister for a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) centre at Bhubaneswar.
The proposal was accepted by Vaghela who promised to open the centre.
The news item also states that the center has decided to establish IIHT (Indian Institute of Handloom Technology) in Baragarh and minister Chandrasekhar Sahu’s office issued a release to that effect. The IIHT part is somewhat old news. The NIFT news, if true, is most welcome. However, if these small budgeted institutes are in lieu of an IIT then minister Sahu is selling Orissa cheap. He should not think that Orissans are so gullible that they would be happy to lose a 1000-4000 crore IIT and instead get 5-10 crore type institutes.
2 comments May 18th, 2007
Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Baragarh
The Ministry of Textiles has established four Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology at Varanasi, Salem, Jodhpur and Guwahati under the central sector. At present the four Institutes conduct 3 years Diploma Course in Handloom Technology. The Institutes at Varanasi and Salem are also conducting 1-1/2 (one & half) year duration (Three Semester) Post Diploma Course in Textile Chemistry. Recently it has been announced that a new one will be set up in Bargarh, Orissa.
2 comments May 14th, 2007
Training institutes by WIPRO and Aricent Technology are on the cards?
Update 1 (May 6 2007): Also reported in Business Standard.
Update 2 (May 6 2007): WIPRO’s proposed center is similar to the recently built Infosys’s center in Mysore.
There have been several news reports [Telegraph,EFYTimes,Kalinga Times, Samaja1, 2, Sambada] today that Govt. of Orissa has agreed to provide 100 acres to WIPRO and 30 acres to Aricent Technology in the Puri-Konark coast for the establishment of IT training centers for 3000 and 1500 professionals respectively. All the news items are from the Government of Orissa side. I.e., such an announcement has not come from WIPRO or Aricent Technology.
[If this really happens, it will be similar to the Mysore training center of Infosys which has been getting a lot of press.]
The above news items are part of a general release about a meeting of Orissa’s IT task force. Other decisions to have been taken in the meeting includes establishment of Infocity 2, establishment of a knowledge park near the proposed IIIT, Dhirubhai Ambani’s interst in opening an IT center near Khurdha, Development of a 25 acre residential complex near Infocity 1 and development of a 300 acre satellite city for IT professionals between Bhubaneswar and Khordha.
2 comments April 28th, 2007
Govt. of India established Small scale industry service institute in Cuttack
Some years back government of India established small scale industry service institutes in each state. These institutes give short term training courses on topics that are useful to small scale industries. The corresponding institute in Orissa is located in Cuttack with branches in Rourkela and Rayagada. However it offers courses in various locations across Orissa.
April 17th, 2007
Mail to CMO: looking out for all of Orissa in the HRD front
Dear Friends:
Its time to convey to the Orissa government that they need to look out for all of Orissa and not just BBSR/CTC/Puri areas.
Following is a draft letter that one can send to the CM (cmo at ori.nic.in) about developing higher education and medical opportunities outside of the BBSR/CTC/Puri area. This is a draft. Please make changes to your liking.
If I missed your favorite location, please add them in your letter.
best regards
Chitta
Continue Reading 9 comments April 11th, 2007
Education in the 11th Plan (2007-2012)
The planning commission’s web pages on Education related working groups and steering committees are given at http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/11thf.htm and we copy and paste them below.
Some of the links that are of immediate interest to me are: (a) the constitution of the technical education working group (their report is not out yet) (b) the constitution and report of the higher education working group and (c) the constitution and report of the science and technology working group. I will post excerpts from them in the coming days.
Continue Reading 1 comment April 2nd, 2007
From mineral resources to human resources
For some time there has been discussion that Orissa government should formulate a policy of going from mineral resources to human resources. I.e., it must cajole the various mineral based industries (steel plants, aluminium plants, coal fields etc.) in Orissa to invest in the human resource development of Orissa. So far except the announced Vedanta University, and 13 crores donated by the Tatas towards the Institute of Mathematics, the others have at most contributed small amounts towards ITI type trade schools. In this regards the GOI public sectors in Orissa have not done much.
Now Orissa must take a quick lesson from Jharkhand. Today’s Telegraph reports that Bokaro steel plant has agreed to establish an engineering college as well as a medical college in Bokaro.
Continue Reading 2 comments February 26th, 2007