Locations of the new regular central universities, new IITs and IIMs

The Indian government has announced to have 16 central universities in states that do not have any. Following are the states and the locations in those states that are being championed by those states. In some states existing universities will be upgraded to central university status:

  1. Bihar – Near Motihari, East Champaran District
  2. Chhatisgarh – Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur will be upgraded (approved by cabinet)
  3. Goa – Goa University was approved by cabinet; but now the state has changed its mind ??
  4. Gujarat – Gandhinagar
  5. Haryana – Mirzapur Bachhor Village In Mahendergarh District
  6. Himachal Pradesh – Kangra
  7. Jharkhand – Khunti (near Ranchi)
  8. J & K – Dual Campus in Jammu & Srinagar
  9. Karnataka – Suntanur-Kadaganchi on the Aland Road , Gulbarga
  10. Kerala – Kasaragod
  11. Madhya Pradesh – Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar will be upgraded (approved by cabinet)
  12. Orissa – Koraput
  13. Punjab – Bathinda
  14. Rajasthan – Bikaner
  15. Tamil Nadu – Tiruvarur
  16. Uttarakhand – Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University will be upgraded (approved by cabinet)

The location of the new IITs are (the existing ones are at Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Madras, Guwahati and Roorkee and IT BHU is to be upgraded):

  1. Andhra Pradesh – Hyderabad
  2. Bihar – Patna
  3. Gujarat – Gandhinagar
  4. Himachal Pradesh – Mandi
  5. Madhya Pradesh – Indore
  6. Orissa – Bhubaneswar
  7. Punjab – Rupnagar
  8. Rajasthan – Jodhpur

The location of the new IIMs are (the existing ones are at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode and Lucknow) :

  1. Uttarakhand – Dehradun
  2. J & K – Srinagar
  3. Chhatisgarh – Raipur
  4. Haryana – Rohtak
  5. Jharkhand – Kanke, Ranchi
  6. Tamil Nadu – Tiruchi
  7. Meghalaya – Shillong

5 comments November 22nd, 2008

Indian student numbers in the USA

(Thanks to Bijoyraj for the pointer in an orkut message board.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Economic Times.

For the seventh year running, India is the leading source of foreign enrolments on US campuses, sending a record 94,563 students 

during the academic year 2007-2008.

Indian students now constitute 15 per cent of the total US university foreign enrolment which stood at 623,000 in this academic year, a 7 per cent increase over the 583,000 foreign students who came here in 2006-2007, according Open Doors, the authoritative annual report on the subject released on Monday.

The Indian increase of 13 per cent (up from 83,833 in 2006-2007) is only marginally overshadowed by the resurgence of interest in the US from Chinese students, whose numbers jumped up from 67,723 in 2006-2007 to 81,127 this past year, a 20 per cent increase. But since 2001/02, when it took over from China, India has remained the leading place of origin for students coming to the United States.

South Korea (69,124), Japan (33,974), and Canada (29,051) round off the top five countries sending students to the US, together accounting for 49 per cent of all international students.

Among the many noteworthy facts in the 2008 Open Doors reports was the surge in students from Nepal coming to the US. There was a 15% increase in enrolments from Nepal this past year, putting it at number 11 with 8,936 students, following a 28% increase the previous year.

1 comment November 18th, 2008

Indian money spent in Australia for higher education

Thanks to Abi for the tip. 

As shown below, about $2 Billion Australian Dollar is being spent by about 60,000 Indians for their higher education in Australia. If 1/3rd of it is picked up by Vedanta University then they will be in great shape.

November 16th, 2008

Vedanta University hires Paulien and Associates

The client list at http://www.paulien.com/client_list.htm lists Vedanta University. The following from their "Services" page explains what they do:

Comprehensive Planning

Paulien & Associates can provide detailed master planning for campuses, defining capital improvements needs through the analysis of enrollment goals, academic program mix, and detailed space needs projections.

With the involvement of your staff, we organize and develop strategic plans, helping assure the feasibility and achievement of long-range goals and objectives. We achieve this through environment scanning, community needs analysis and peer institution comparisons.

We can also help you determine, justify and plan for future enrollment demands, working through the master planning process to give you realistic methods for forecasting and adjusting enrollment and program projections.

Facilities and Space Analysis

Paulien & Associates can conduct academic space needs assessments through sophisticated research, analysis and forecasting techniques. From data gathered on course enrollment, students, staff and facilities, we develop guidelines for critical space and facility decisions. This can be used for reallocations of space among campus departments, remodeling to change the uses of certain space, and justification (or challenge) of significant amounts of proposed space. Guideline systems are equally effective for growing or shrinking enrollment conditions.

We can provide in-depth facilities program plans, including detailed pre-architectural planning data and an analysis of desirable space adjacencies and project costs. These plans could detail the specific facilities needs for a department or area targeted for development or renovation. They could also provide the cost documentation often required prior to design and construction.

We can prepare detailed facility utilization studies, including numerical and graphical representations of classroom and laboratory use by building, time of day and size of room, as well as classroom and laboratory use by department. Our analysis can help pinpoint the size and type of rooms most often used and those rooms where additional use is feasible.

This suggests that Vedanta University is getting closer to implementation. There is also news from Vedanta sources that they have also hired the following two agencies to help in establishing Vedanta University medical college and hospital.

November 8th, 2008

My perspective on Vedanta University

I have been watching and collecting various reports on Vedanta University since an MOU was signed about it with the Orissa government. (See my collection here and here and also Vedanta University’s web page.)

After reading about the forced stoppage of the initiation of the building of Vedanta University, I thought I would write about my perspective on Vedanta University.

May I request you to bear with me on my thoughts on Vedanta University and read till the end of this document, even if you partly or fully disagree with me.

I think Vedanta University is a unique opportunity for Orissa and if we mess it up we will regret for ever and our future generation will not forgive us for this.

 
Why do I say that?

First I would urge you to watch the following two short videos and an audio interview available in the web:

 
 I know many of you have a lot of concerns and red flags about this endeavor and some of these concerns have been expressed in various Orissa newspapers. Let me try to address some of them based on my knowledge.

 Q 1: If many top universities are built on much less land, such as Harvard University, which is built only on 380 acres, why does Vedanta University need so much land. (It has now come down from 8000 acres to 6270 acres, but that is still quite large. 6270 acres is 25.374 sq km)

 Answer 1: Let us look at the layout below.

 The whole thing is 8000 acres. With the airport part gone it is 6270 acres. The ellipse like main university  (see picture below) part looks to be about 2000 acres and comparable to the size of IIT Kharagpur which is of 2100 acres but has only 6625 students . Note that IIT Bhubaneswar is being given 890 acres. So Vedanta University’s 2000 acres for 100,000 students is a very good use of land. Please watch the youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3B7L1S_MAY&fmt8 to get an idea how the buildings are proposed to be quite close to each other with very creative landscaping.

 Note that Harvard University with 380 acres supports 19,955 students. So Vedanta University proposing 5 times Harvard’s land for 5 times Harvard’s acreage is not unreasonable.

 Q 2: So if the main part of the Vedanta university is only about 2000 acres, what happens to the remaining 6270-2000= 4270 acres.

Answer 2: As is evident from the picture in the previous page there are 8 townships planned for those.

Q 3: If only 2000 acres goes to the university and 4270 acres goes to the townships, why not just focus on the university and ignore the township?

Answer 3: The townships are very important for making Vedanta University a top university at the level of Stanford and Harvard. Following is the reasoning behind it.

From Harvard University book at http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/factbook.php ,

its income and expenses are as follows:

Income (2006-07): 3.21 Billion USD

Expenses (2006-07): 3.17 Billion USD

Total Endowment (June 30, 2007): 34.912 Billion USD

From Stanford University annual report at

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/businessaffairs/cgi-bin/downloadpdf_v3.php?file=AnnualReport_2007.pdf

its income and expenses for 2006-07 are as follows.

Income (2006-07): 3.2 Billion

Expenses (2006-07): 2.9 Billion USD

Total endowment (Aug 31, 2007): 17.2 Billion USD

In India the operating expenses for IISc Bangalore, the maximum among the IITs and IISc, in the last budget (item 41 of the Higher education budget) is 130 (plan) + 91 (non-plan) = Rs 221 crores. Rs 70 crore of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.

For operating Vedanta University at the world class level a lot of money will be required. My guess would be that it will be somewhere in between the expenses at Harvard-Stanford ($2.9-$3.17 Billion = about Rs 15,000 crores) and at IISc Bangalore (221 crores). A good guess is that it will be around Rs 1000-1500 crores.

Mr. Agarwal has only pledged 1 Billion USD and most of it will go into just construction. The student tuition fees will not be enough to cover the Rs 1000-1500 crores needed to run the university.

In case of Harvard only 20% comes from student tuition and the student tuition mostly ranges from 30,000 USD/year to 40,000 USD/year. (This is Rs. 15 lakh/year – Rs. 20 lakh/year)

Vedanta University will not be able to charge that outside of medical students.

So there has to be other sources of money beyond the student tuition.

Since Vedanta University does not have an endowment, where will the additional money come from?

My guess is that it will come from the townships in the remaining 4270 acres.

Thus, I consider the townships to be crucial in achieving the dream of making Vedanta University a top world class university. (However we need to make sure that the money earned from the townships is put into an endowment for Vedanta University.) 

If there was no township, I would be very suspicious of Vedanta University’s claim that it will be a top world class university, as then it is not clear where the money would come from. (In this regard one must note that the best private institute in India, BITS Pilani, is nowhere in the world rankings. For that matter the IITs are quite low in the world rankings. What Vedanta University is aspiring is way above any existing institute in India and the existing financial model in private institutes such as BITS Pilani will not achieve what Vedanta University is aiming for.)

Q 4: So you are saying township is a crucial aspect of Vedanta University and 4270 acres goes towards that and only 2000 acres goes towards Vedanta University. Why do not then the Vedanta University officials make the township part clear?
 
Answer 4: They have.

If one goes to their web page they clearly say: "The campus will be developed in a phased manner to nurture a vibrant university township with a population of more than 500,000."

Q 5: Is there a top university which is similar to Vedanta University + associated townships in terms of land requirements.

Answer 5: Yes. Stanford University is made of 8180 acres (33.1 sq km) and does host a research park and other developments (including a mall), but not all of the land is currently built up though.

Other universities with large acreage include University of Michigan (20,965 acres), Texas A & M University (5,200 acres), and Ohio State University (15,893 acres).

Q 6: Is Vedanta University’s goal of 100,000 students reasonable.

Answer 6: Following are some large universities in the USA and their student size in Autumn 2007 as obtained from http://www.osu.edu/osutoday/stuinfo.php#enroll_large .

 
 
Student size
Times rank
SJT Rank
The Ohio State University

52,568                

121
62
Arizona State University, Main Campus
51,481
260
93
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
50,833
87
28
University of Florida
50,576
165
58
University of Texas, Austin
50,201
70
39
Texas A&M University, College Station
46,542
137
88
Michigan State University
46,045
203
83
Penn State University
43,232
105
42
University of Wisconsin, Madison
42,041
55
17
University of Illinois, Urbana
41,135
71
26
 

They are all pretty good universities, all of them ranked in the top 100 in the SJT ranking.

Q 7: How do we know that the University is not a ruse and Mr. Agarwal just wants the land?

Answer 7: Mr. Agarwal’s net worth in early 2008 was $6 Billion.(see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html )

 

His net worth in 2006 was $2.8 Billion. (see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/WDNS.html )

Now what is the most important asset of a rich man? His reputation in the eye of the world.

Mr. Agarwal has told the whole world about his university.

Articles praising his pledge to donate $1 Billion towards Vedanta University have appeared in major national and international venues such as:

Time, USA –  http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100powergivers/article/0,28804,1616375_1615711_1615671,00.html

Economist – http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9539815

Independent, UK – http://news.independent.co.uk/education/higher/article3045374.ece

Forbes, USA – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html

Forbes Asia – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/56/biz_philanthropy08_Anil- Agarwal_WDNS.html

PBS TV USA – http://www.charlierose.com/guests/anil-agarwal

He has met the Prime Minister of India and told him about his pledge to donate $1 Billion for the university.

I do not believe that after so much publicity Mr. Agarwal will back out, as he will lose face and that is the most important thing for a person of his net worth. (It should be noted that many billionaires, especially in the US, do make huge donations. Bill Gates donation of tens of billions USD and Warren Buffet’s donation of about $30 Billion are exemplars. In higher education, Leland Stanford established Stanford University and Andrew Carnegie established Carnegie Mellon University; both top universities now. )

However, if the current opposition continues, it is very much possible that at some point Mr. Agarwal may get fed up with the hurdles created by some people of Orissa and will move Vedanta University to a state (such as Gujarat, Andhra or Karnataka) where he will be welcomed.

Q 8: How come Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka did not woo him earlier.

Answer 8: I do not know why. May be at that time they did not take him seriously and Orissa did. But now after the design of the university and lot of other groundwork has been done, they will woo him like anything.

In my opinion, Orissa lucked out that it signed the MOU in 2006. It also helped that Mr. Agarwal has other business in Orissa. But then many other companies, private and public have business in Orissa. How much have they given to Orissa in comparison? A good example is 12 crores by Tata Steel for the Inst. of Math and application, and few other smaller donations. Compare that to $1 Billion which is now Rs 5000 crores.

Going back to Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka, we know what Gujarat did with respect to Nano. If given a small opening they will do the same with respect to Vedanta University.

Andhra Pradesh is in the process of developing Odyssey Science city with an area of 65,000 acres. The first phase is of 10,000 acres. Few months back Andhra CM signed a deal whereby APIC will acquire the land.(See http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/09/stories/2008010958760800.htm )  Given a chance Andhra Pradesh will pick up Vedanta University in a heartbeat. I am told that they already contacted Vedanta officials regarding that.

In Karnataka, the SAC-PM Chairperson Prof. C N R Rao is jealous of Vedanta University and is exhorting the Bangalore based IT companies to make similar contributions. In an Outlook article (see http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20071217&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=2 ) he was quoted saying:

 

IT people have a responsibility that they are yet to fulfil. If they’re making so much money, why shouldn’t they create an outstanding private university equivalent to Stanford or Harvard? Had they done something like that they would have compensated for the other problems they have created. If IT people are making money, what do I get out of it, unless I am employed in Infosys with Narayana Murthy? The trouble is, we have given them a lot, but have got nothing in return.

 

Q 9: How does Vedanta University help Orissa and India?

Answer 9: Let consider the world ranking of universities. 

In the Times ranking at http://www.topuniversities.com/ the top ranked universities in the world and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:

 
1. Harvard, USA
2. Yale, USA
3. Cambridge, UK
4. Oxford, UK
 

154. IIT Delhi

174. IIT Bombay

242. IIT Kanpur

274. Delhi University

303. IIT Madras

50. Peking University, China
56. Tsinghua University, China
113. Fudan University, China
141. Univ of Sc. & Tech, China
143. Nanjing University, China
144. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, China

In the SJT ranking at http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/Top500_EN(by%20rank).pdf  the top ranked universities and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:

 
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Berkeley
4. Cambridge
5. MIT

303-401 IISc Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur

201-302 Nanjing University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Tsinghua University, Univ of Sc. & Tech, Zhejiang University

As the above shows, Indian Universities including IITs and IISc are way behind the top universities of the world. They are even much behind the top universities in China.

So what Vedanta is aspiring is to be a university ranked in the top 50 of these lists, if not in the top 25. If that is achieved it will have a huge impact on India, and not just Orissa.

There will be also a lot of impact on Orissa.

 

a. It will pull up the institutions near Vedanta University such as IIT Bhubaneswar, NISER

Bhubaneswar, the proposed world class central university (WCCU) in Bhubaneswar, IIIT Bhubaneswar, and even Utkal, Ravenshaw, OUAT, etc. The reason it will pull up the other universities is that many otherwise great professors, who will miss out getting a job at Vedanta, would like to be nearby Vedanta and thus would take a position in one of the above universities in the area. The reason they would like to be near Vedanta is that being nearby will allow them to collaborate with the faculty at Vedanta. For the same reason, many of the Ph.Ds coming out of Vedanta Universities would prefer to stay in the area universities.

Note that without Vedanta, IIT Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom IITs, NISER Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom IISER/NISERs and the WCCU Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom WCCUs. This is evident from the admission numbers of IIT Bhubaneswar this year. In terms of student preferences it was only better than IIT Patna. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1303 . This will not improve easily.

Moreover the existing IITs and central universities have been there for years and are established in terms of their infrastructure and they also get a lot of support (including cash donations) from their alumni. The new institutions in Bhubaneswar (IIT, NISER, WCCU) will normally take multiple decades to get to that level.

But with Vedanta University nearby, the situation would change; IIT Bhubaneswar could become among the top IITs; Same about NISER Bhubaneswar and WCCU Bhubaneswar. In other words, the establishment of Vedanta University has the possibility of turning the Puri-Bhuaneswar-Cuttack area a bigger knowledge hub than Pune and Bangalore.

b. With a top IIT, NISER and WCCU near Vedanta, the whole area from Cuttack-Puri will become a huge knowledge hub. Orissa will be able to go much beyond attracting WIPRO, TCS, Infosys, Satyam to attracting companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft etc. Currently such companies come mostly to Bangalore.

c. Recently Mr. Agarwal said that (see https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1105 ) they will work towards giving 25% seats to the students from Orissa who will be taken on merit basis. This means besides Vedanta University, they will invest in schools so that the above happens. They already have started in that direction by enrolling children of the area in DAV schools and funding their educational cost.

d. Vedanta University is starting off with a hospital and medical college. This will definitely benefit the locals.

e. Another way to look at Vedanta University’s impact is as follows.

It has been said that 3 Billion USD will be spent in making Vedanta University out of which one Billion USD will given by Mr. Agarwal. One Billion USD is Rs. 5000 crores. Recently the central government has announced IITs, IISERs, world class central universities, etc. and    the budget for making each of them has been announced. See   http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37684 . The budget of a new IIT is 760 crores, new IISER is 500 crores, AIIMS is 332 crores, IIM is 210 crores, and world class central university is 720 crores. They add up to 2522 crores. In other words, with 5000 crores one can almost make 2 new IITs, 2 new IISERs, 2 new AIIMS, 2 new IIMs and 2 new world class central universities. And that is  what Orissa will lose out if it throws out Vedanta University.

 

Q 10. I am opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities. How can I support Vedanta University?

Answer 10: Even if one is opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities, he/she should not oppose having Vedanta University in Orissa as opposing Vedanta University for not liking its mining operation is like "cutting of the nose to spite the face."

 

Q 11. The MOU was signed in 2006. What has happened since then to indicate that Vedanta University is serious?

Answer 11: I do not know all that has happened, but let me elaborate on the design and architectural front. (In addition they have made progress in land acquisition, hired people in implementing R & R, hired architects and engineers etc.)

They have hired a top architecture company in the USA who has a track record of participating and shaping almost all major universities in the USA. The company is Ayers Saint Gross. Its web site is http://www.asg-architects.com/ . Following are some links to their web pages which refers to Vedanta University.

The design of the master plan of Vedanta University has been featured in many US architecture venues and it has also won some awards. Following are some links on that.

Some pictures of the designs are at http://chronicle.com/media/flash/v53/i45/vedanta/ and videos are at :

 

Besides the above architecture company, the other companies that Vedanta has hired include:

Most recently, they were ready to start construction but were turned away by about 500 people.

So that is part of their current status.

In summary, Vedanta University has the potential to turn the area from Cuttack-Puri into a bigger knowledge center than Bangalore and Pune and perhaps into the biggest knowledge center (with associate knowledge companies such as Google research, Microsoft Research, IBM research etc.) in India. As a result, it can completely change Orissa. (Imagine the impact if Bangalore was in Orissa.)

We should not play politics with it; otherwise like Tata Motors moving from Singur to Gujarat, Vedanta University will move to another state and for centuries our descendants will blame us for missing an opportunity that may come once in many centuries.

 

 

14 comments November 8th, 2008

Vedanta University clips in youtube

November 7th, 2008

Vedanta University Project helps farmers

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Vedanta University Project has launched a new livelihood initiative, SAFAL (Sustainable Action for Farmers’ Livelihood) for the farmers in the periphery of the project area near Puri.

… the initiative has now taken a concrete shape with the formation of 28 farmers’ SHGs involving 500 people from eight villages. The main objective of SAFAL is to divert the farmers from the non-remunerative paddy paradigm and induce them to undertake cash crop cultivation. It will ensure more income for them and hence, a better life. At least 1,500 farmers from 15 villages are going to benefit from it, according to the project management.

SAFAL seeks to include more and more local farmers in its ambit and encourage them to switch over to floriculture, horticulture, nursery, etc, through SHGs. The Vedanta University Project of the Anil Agarwal Foundation will provide all forward and backward linkage support to the SHGs to make the initiative successful.

For this purpose, the project has tied up with ACCESS, a national level NGO, as a technical service provider. ACCESS will impart knowledge and skills on high-yielding cultivation practices to the farmers and be instrumental in arranging any other necessary support including bank credit and market linkage. This is expected to result in a 150 per cent increase in the income of at least 75 per cent of the targeted farmers’ households.

… Giving details of the initiative, GM, PR & CSR, Vedanta University Project, Prashant Hota said, “The success of SAFAL will not only benefit the targeted farmers’ families, it will also motivate people in other villages to adopt similar activities both in farm and non-farm sectors to augment their incomes.”

Project Director Sanjeev Anand Zutshi, Head, Commercial, C Joseph and Deputy Director, Agriculture Range Office, Puri, B N Swain were present at the meeting along with officials of ACCESS, members of newly formed farmers’ SHGs and a number of local villagers.

October 15th, 2008

Vedanta University invites contractors, suppliers and service providers

Update: Financial Express has a report on this.

The following is from http://vedanta.edu.in/news/?p=11.

Expression of Interest

As a part of vendor selection process for the Vedanta University Project, the Foundation invites reputed contractors I suppliers I service providers with proven track record and sound credentials in the following areas:

  • PKGA 01 Construction of Institutional buildings and townships (Firms with an annual turnover of about 250 cr. need only apply)
  • PKGA 03 Primary (132 KV) Electric sub-station, outgoing switch rooms, ring-mains, 33KV secondary sub-station with incoming HT switchgears and outgoing LT switchgears,
  • PKGA 04 HVAC Systems
  • PKGA 05 Interior works and Low end MEP
  • PKGA 06 Site Grading and preparation work
  • PKGA 07 Roads, drainage systems, pavements, culverts, bridges.
  • PKGA 10 Afforestation , Horticulture – roughly 250 acres.
  • PKGA 11 External electrification works such as street lighting, pathway lighting, traffic lighting.
  • PKGA 15 Site facilities including offices, boundary wall, fencing etc.
  • PKGA 16 Temporary power, water supply sanitation, lighting communication etc.
  • PKGA 17 132 KV High tension line diversion ( approx 8 Kms.).
  • PKGA 18 Landscape design roughly 250 acres.

Interested parties are required to submit their EOI mentioning the Package they are interested in along with their qualification details mentioning the package code, along with List of similar jobs and  turnover during last three years. latest by 30 Sept, 2008.

To submit online please click here.

Please submit the above to:
Head Commercial
Anil Agarwal Foundation
Vedanta University Project
CT Road, Puri, Orissa 5752002.
Phone: +91 9238100367
Email: commercial@vedanta.edu.in

September 18th, 2008

Vedanta University advertises in TOI for GM-Projects, Manager-CSR and Manager-Legal-Affairs

Thanks to Jitu Mishra for the pointer in TOI.

 

September 12th, 2008

Vedanta University presents its vision to teachers in Puri

The following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Vedanta University Project felicitated teachers on the occasion of the Teachers’ Day here. Hundreds of teachers, including former principal of SCS College Somnath Mishra, ex-teacher of Municipal High School Dinabandhu Mishra, ex-teacher of Biswambara Vidyapitha Basanta Kumar Mishra and principal of DAV School Bibhuti Bhusan Parija attended the function.

Project Director Sanjeev Anand Zutshi said …. Children are the future of the nation …, said general manager Prasanta Kumar Hota. The proposed Vedanta University would one day become a milestone in the education sector, where financial constraint would no longer be a problem for deserving students to pursue higher education, he added.

A presentation showcasing the purpose, vision and unique architectural plan of the proposed university was displayed before the teachers. An open discussion was held among the teachers and their queries regarding the university were answered by the project officials.

This is a very good step and they should do this across various clubs and organizations in Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

5 comments September 9th, 2008

Land acquisition status of Vedanta University

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The total land needed for the Rs 15,000-crore university is 6,000 acres. The company has to date acquired 3,155 acres and taken possession of 2256.49 acres, which includes 385.15 acres of government land and 1871.34 acres of private land.

6 comments September 4th, 2008

Vedanta University does the right thing and makes sustained efforts to win the hearts of locals

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

The Vedanta University Project has commenced significant initiatives for education, healthcare, infrastructure and livelihood improvements in the local area here comprising over 20 villages. This includes sponsoring 500 children for high quality education in Puri DAV School, mobile health units and mobile veterinary units.

Besides, electrification of villages, upgrading infrastructure of schools and villages, a programme of sustainable livelihood solution and training of local youth in skills development etc, have also been initiated under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drive. According to CSR executive of the project Abhijita Panigrahi, the project is working to develop the local communities to a standard of living to cope with the world class township of the Vedanta University that will bring huge economic prosperity to the State.

The project envisages setting up a world class multidisciplinary university with quality higher education facilities in arts, science, medicine, engineering, law, business, education, design and architecture, journalism and communication, etc. The university will also have research centres and complete infrastructure for the students, faculties and staffs and will become an academic township over the 6,000 acres campus near the Puri-Konark marine drive. The university being set up with an initial donation of over Rs 4,000 crore will be a "Not for Profit" institution.

1 comment August 29th, 2008

Vedanta University hires advisors for its medical college

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

In the first phase of the Vedanta University Project, a 500-bed super-specialty hospital and a medical college of international standard will be built which will be later expanded to 1,000-bed capacity. The super facilities that are planned cardiology, endocrinology and intensive care while paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology will be added in the next phase.

Besides providing highest quality health care, it will be a ‘Research-cum-Teaching hospital’. An advisory committee will decide on the vision and scope of the medical centre comprising health-care, teaching and research facilities with distinguished medical professionals and academicians from India and abroad.

The Vedanta University Project also announced that director of Medical Education and senior cardiologist of Apollo Hospital KP Mishra and ex-director of the Institute of Immunohaematology and winner of the Biju Patnaik Award for Excellence in Science and Technology Dipika Mohanty had joined as advisors to guide regarding the development of the hospital.

Mohanty, on behalf of hospital, will initiate a major research project in the areas for infants and children having anaemia as well as an identification and treatment for sickle cell anaemia which is more prevalent in Orissa.

The hospital and medical college are part of the first phase of the Vedanta University Project that will include a core campus with colleges for humanities, sciences, engineering and business. The academic session is likely to start in 2010.

The exact press release of Vedanta University is at http://vedanta.edu.in/news/?p=10. It says the following:

Super-Specialty Hospital and Medical College work to start soon by Vedanta University Project, Puri

 

  • Super specialty 500 bed hospital and medial college.
  • To be upgraded to 1000 bed later.
  • Super specialties in Cardiology, endocrinology and acute care.
  • Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology to be added later.
  • Advisory committee with experts from India and abroad being formed.
  • Noted Oriya Cardiologist, Dr. K.P.Mishra of Apollo fame and Dr. Dipika Mohanty, former Director of Institute of Immuno-haematology (ICMR) already joined as advisors.
  • Major research projects in interventional treatment of anaemia/iron deficiency and sickle cell anaemia being initiated.
  • The first phase of proposed Vedanta University will also include colleges of Humanities and Sciences, Engineering and Business.
  • Academic session scheduled to start in 2010.

Puri, August 19, 2008: In the first phase of the Vedanta University project, a 500 bed super specialty hospital and medical college of international standard will be built. This will be expanded to 1000 bed Hospital in the next phase. The super specialties that are planned in the Vedanta Hospital are cardiology, endocrinology and acute care. In the next phase, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology will be added. This Hospital will answer a long standing need for providing comprehensive and specialized patient care and health services for the population of the region and will be a beacon of hope for the common man.

The Hospital is being designed in line with the highest standards set for the Vedanta University Project, and it will be a Research cum Teaching hospital besides providing highest quality patient care. The Hospital will benefit from the highly qualified faculty of the proposed medical college and will be managed by well trained professionals. An advisory committee, comprising distinguished medical professionals and academicians from India and abroad, will be formed to decide on the vision and scope of the medical center consisting of hospital, teaching and research facilities.

Vedanta University Project is pleased to announce that Dr. K. P. Misra, MD, FACC, FRCP, the distinguished Oriya Cardiologist and Director, medical education and Senior Cardiologist (retd) Apollo Hospital, Chennai, and Dr. Dipika Mohanty, MD, Ph.D. FRCP, Ex Director Institute of Immunohaematology (ICMR) and 2006 winner of the Biju Patnaik award for Excellence in Science and Technology, have joined as Advisors to guide setting up the hospital, medical college and medical research centers. On behalf of the Vedanta University Project, Dr Mohanty is initiating a major research project in the areas of interventional treatment of anaemia/iron deficiency in infants and children in Orissa as well as identification and treatment of sickle cell anaemia, which has a double incident rate in Orissa compared to other states where it is prevalent.

The Hospital and Medical College will form part of the first phase of Vedanta University Project that will include a core campus with colleges for Humanities & Sciences, and schools of Engineering and Business. The first academic session is planned to start in 2010.

The Vedanta University will be a world class multidisciplinary University of global scale that will promote greater learning, cutting-edge research and socio-economic development.

For further details contact:Mr. Kishore Chandra Das
Head, Communications
Anil Agarwal Foundation
Vedanta University Project, Puri
Email kishorechandradas@gmail.com
Mobile No. : 91-9437012258

 

6 comments August 20th, 2008

More Billionaires follow Anil Agarwal in establishing universities; though at a much smaller scale

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard on this.

HCL’s Founder and Chairman Shiv Nadar is making a second foray into university education having sought 300 acres of land in Noida, near New Delhi, to set up a Rs 300-crore multi-disciplinary university.

Former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramaniam is said to be advising Nadar on this venture. The university will be residential and is expected to be operational by 2009.

The Forbes-listed Indian billionaire joins Mukesh Ambani and Anil Agarwal in committing funds to a major university project (see table).

… This university will be Nadar’s second major venture in education after Chennai-based SSN Institutions, which offers graduate courses and research programmes in engineering, biomedical engineering, IT and management.

“Education is a sunrise sector. Investments in this sector are limited, but the returns are very promising. This is why even companies are finding this interesting,” said another source, who is part of Nadar’s university development team.

India’s higher education sector is worth Rs 100,000 crore today and is expected to treble over three to five years, said industry players, as faster economic growth raises the demand for qualified people.

In 2006, Anil Agarwal, chairman, Vedanta Resources Plc, announced plans for a multi-disciplinary university in Orissa, where it is setting up an aluminium smelter, with an endowment fund of up to $1 billion and modelled on Harvard, Stanford and Oxford.

Mukesh Ambani is also reportedly planning a university in Pune at an investment of Rs 100 crore to offer courses in science, arts and professional disciplines.

August 11th, 2008

Orissa Cabinet approves the Vedanta University Bill; it will be placed in the next assembly session

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

 

For the first time, the State Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal for enactment of a law for establishment of a private university in the State.

The Vedanta University Act-2008, which received the Cabinet nod, will be placed in the State Legislative Assembly in its monsoon session beginning from August 20. The Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) has come up with a proposal to set up a world-class university with an investment of Rs 15,000 crore.

The multi-disciplinary, self-financed university will be set up with a modern self-contained township near Puri having a core campus to cater to the needs of 1 lakh students, 20,000 faculty members and a matching number of non-teaching staff. It will offer academic programmes like Basic Sciences, Humanities, Performing Arts, Law, Engineering, Medicines, Bio-Sciences, Business Management and Agriculture.

In order to allow it to function as a world-class university like Harvard, Oxford and Stanford Universities, the State Government will provide contiguous land of about 6,000 acres. Earlier, the AAF had asked for 10,000 acres, but due to unavailability of land the Government has agreed to provide 6,000 acres by the side of the Puri-Konark marine drive. …

Following is an excerpt from a report in Zee News.

 

The cabinet’s approval in this regard would be placed in the coming session of the Assembly as Vedanta University Bill-2008, sources said.

Describing the proposed private varsity to be developed by Vedanta Foundation subsequently known as Anil Agarwal Foundation, as an ‘ambitious project’, the cabinet approved the proposal, the first of its kind in the state.

The proposed multi-disciplinary university would be set up with a modern self contained township near Puri having core campus to cater to the needs of nearly one lakh students, 20,000 faculty members and matching number of non-teaching staff.

The varsity, which would offer academic programmes like basic science, humanities, performing arts, law, engineering, medicine, bio-science, business management and agriculture, would be self-financing.

"The state government will provide about 6,000 acres by way of acquisition and alienation," Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy said.

… Replying to a query on the state’s control over the private university, Tripathy said the state might exercise any control on the affairs of the proposed university in the interest of the students as and when required.

1 comment August 5th, 2008

Vedanta University: preferring Orissa over other states

The following 2006 report in Andhra Cafe mentions how several states were competing for Vedanta University.

‘Vedanta University’ on the lines of Stanford, Harvard and Oxford, being promoted by UK-based NRI industrialist Anil Agarwal might take its root in the State. Experts views Hyderabad as a definite high-potential candidate for the location of the world-class university.

Talks with the AP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan governments had already been done and officials from Vedanta is in the process of talking to Karnataka and Goa. A final decision on the location is to be taken by April this year.

The ‘not-for-profit’ Vedanta University will strive to impart world-class education and drive a cutting-edge research agenda, with an envisaged student population of more than 100,000.

The university would also aim to nurture all-round excellence, beyond the academic dimension, to produce tomorrow’s Nobel laureates, Olympic champions and community leaders.

The vision implies spawning of an education and research township, around the university in a manner similar to Stanford University. …

The reason we are mentioning this 2006 article here is  that some people from neighboring states are … People from Orissa should not fall for such attempts.

 

July 8th, 2008

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