Odisha HRD

Vedanta University links categorized to various topics

To make it easier to find various information regarding Vedanta University I have categorized various articles/reports on them. Hope this will be useful in seeing the real value of Vedanta University and convincing people of Odisha that we must thwart the BJP and Congress efforts to take Vedanta University to Karnataka and Andhra respectively.

1. Must see youtube video on the story of Vedanta University.

1. Vedanta University Home Page
2. Initial blog to watch the progress of Vedanta University
3. Petitions to thwart attempts to take Vedanta University away from Odisha
   1. Petition to the Honorable Governor of Orissa to give assent to the Vedanta University bill passed by Orissa assembly in July 2009 (more than a year back)
   2. Petition to the CM to seek the PM’s help regarding Vedanta University
   3. Petition to Delhi to stop putting hurdles on the Vedanta University project and to facilitate its establishment
4. Categorizing the articles on Vedanta University in this blog
   1. Accolades for its campus master plan
   2. Ads
   3. Anil Agarwal
   4. Appeal to Anil Agarwal
   5. Architects and Construction Contracts
   6. Beyond the Puri main campus
   7. BJP attempt to steal it to Karnataka
      1. Orissa BJP opposes Karnataka BJP lures
   8. Congress attempt to steal it to Andhra
      1. Andhra Science City plan: They have had plans like the Vedanta University township for a long time. So they are doing their best to take Vedanta University from Odisha.
         
      2. Congress ruled Andhra’s overture
      3. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh, Congress MP from Andhra, creates hurdles
      4. Orissa Congress opposes Andhra Congress lures
   9. CSR in Puri
   10. Honorable Odisha governor (a former member of Congress) has not signed the Vedanta University bill which was passed in July 2009
   11. International media coverage
   12. Land Acquisition and Land Use (Why so much land?)
   13. Medical College progress
   14. Pictures, master plan layouts, Videos
   15. Provisions for Orissa students
   16. Rally, petitions and articles in its support
   17. Rebuttals to opposition arguments and unsubstantiated rumours
   18. Slowing brain drain
   19. Vedanta University Bill
   20. What does $1 Billion buy? What is once in a century opportunity?

3 comments September 13th, 2010

Open Letter to Mr. Anil Agarwal regarding Vedanta University

Dear Mr. Anil Agarwal:

I am not sure if this message will reach you or not. I hope somebody forwards it to you.

I am very concerned with the lack of progress with respect to Vedanta University and I am sure you are too. I am not sure who is advising you, but with the Vedanta University Bill passed by the Odisha assembly, there is really no excuse, especially for Vedanta (I will explain why), to not commence the university.

The Vedanta University MOU was signed in 2006. That same year the Govt. of India announced an Indian Institute of Science type institute in Bhubaneswar and that institute NISER http://niser.ac.in/ started classes in 2007 and its 4th batch of students will be starting this August (2010). An IIT for Odisha was announced in 2008, and that same year classes started and this August (2010) the third batch will be joining IIT Bhubaneswar http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/ .

In Saudi Arabia KAUST http://www.kaust.edu.sa/ was also announced  in 2006 and classes commenced there in 2009.

I realize the grand plans for Vedanta University and I have seen the masterplan document; it is really a masterpiece and there is nothing like that in India and for that matter in the world. But with the delays happening in land acquisition, getting environmental clearance and construction, please consider starting some individual units immediately while the matters are sorted out by the environment ministry (not Odisha govt. fault) and the Odisha high court.

Let me give a particular suggestion.

India is in dire need of good Mathematics Ph.Ds.

The new IITs, IISERs and NISER are having difficulty in finding good Mathematics Ph.Ds to hire as faculty. You can verify this by talking to their directors. I have. There are only few institutions in India which have good graduate programs in Mathematics. They are Chennai Mathematical Institute http://www.cmi.ac.in/ , Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai) http://www.imsc.res.in/, TIFR, Indian Statsitical Institute and some of the IITs. But their output is not able to match the demand.

So what Vedanta University could do is to immediately open a "Vedanta Institute of Mathematics" in a temporary rented accommodation in Puri or Bhubaneswar.

It can then hire young mathematics Ph.Ds from top institutions in US and western countries. Note that, while it is hard to find good Math Ph.Ds in India, in the US, even Math PhDs from top universities like Stanford, MIT, Princeton and Berkeley have difficulty finding good academic job. Many end up teaching in community colleges. Many Ph.Ds from these top institutions will jump at the chance to have a good academic job in a university like the one Vedanta University aims to be. Vedanta Univ can take advantage of this and within TWO months can easily hire 20-25 such faculty and become the best Mathematics Institute in India or perhaps Asia. Within 4 years after that this "Vedanta Institute of Mathematics" would graduate Ph.Ds who will then join top institutions across India.

Imagine if you had done this in 2006. Vedanta graduates would now be faculty in all IITs.

The above is just an example. Vedanta University could identify 2-3 such areas that do not need huge infrastructure and that have the kind of mismatch mentioned above and start graduate programs in them within THREE months.

This will bring the much needed credibility and everyone will take notice. It will also silence many of your critics who make all kinds of allegations. Most of these allegations are baseless, but they did push the Environment minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh to stop progress.

The way to counter that is to show them that you are really serious. You can do that by immediately opening a few graduate institutes of Vedanta University.

You have done this in other context. The Lanjigarh factory is an example.

Please consider a similar approach here. Please do not wait any longer in commencing the Vedanta University.

sincerely,

Chitta Baral
Professor
Arizona State University
http://www.public.asu.edu/~cbaral

8 comments June 23rd, 2010