Following is an excerpt from a report in tathya.in.
Jitendriya Kumar Satpathy will take over as third Vice Chancellor of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) soon.
Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, has been appointed as new VC BPUT by the Chancellor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare.
The Raj Bhawan has issued orders accordingly and Prof. Satpathy would remain VC for the next five years.
… Prof. Satpathy received his Ph. D in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom.
… His specialisations include Digital Signal Processing, Application of Neural Networks & Fuzzy logic to digital communication, Electrical power drives.
Born in Cuttack with top academic excellence, Professor Satapathy is known for his down to earth approach.
… Commenting on his new appointment Professor Satapathy said that once he completes his duties in NIT, he will take over as VC.
Once he takes over the assignment, it will be possible to spell out his vision on BPUT, said Prof.Satapathy.
Since Prpfessor Satapathy has been living in Rourkela, there is a high chance that unlike his predecessors he will run BPUT from Rourkela.
January 25th, 2010
Update on Jan 25 2010: As per this news item:
The Supreme Court Monday restrained the central government from derecognising 44 deemed universities for their questionable academic performance or poor infrastructure and assured tens of thousands of their students of a fair hearing.
A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A.K. Patnaik ordered status quo for various deemed universities on several lawsuits by the varsities challenging the government’s move to derecognise them.
‘Nothing is going to happen to your institutions and your students till we dispose the matter,’ observed Justice Bhandari while also issuing notices to all 44 universities separately to have their say in the matter.
The case was adjourned to March 9.
The list is given in this TOI news item. Thanks to the people who sent the pointer.
January 19th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from an IANS report.:
Sambalpur University of Orissa has signed an MOU with Aarhus University of Denmark to foster higher education and research in different fields.
“It will help us in enhancing our knowledge base. We will certainly benefit from the exchange programmes. We will particularly be interested in sharing the knowledge where-in other universities are strong and we would also like to share the knowledge where we are strong,” said Vice Chancellor of Sambalpur University, Prof Arun K. Pujari, after the MoU was signed Saturday.
The university would get to choose a semester course from Denmark University and students from Aarhus University would also get to choose an elective course from the university.
The MoU would also facilitate faculty and student exchange programmes, restructuring educational programmes, improving language teaching through study tours.
Although news about MOU between an Orissa University and foreign universities are frequent, this one is special because Aarhaus University is the number 2 univ in Denmark and is ranked in the top 100 in both the Times ranking and the Shanghai Jiao Tong ranking. (Most other MOUs involve 3rd rate foreign universities.) This MOU is one among many new things happening at Sambalpur University since the dynamic Prof. Arun Pujari joined as its VC. I am told that it now has the best tandem of Science faculty (in terms of top notch publications) among all the Orissa universities. It has plans to set up a IIIT in its campus and I would recommend the Orissa government to strongly support it.
January 10th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a PTI report on this.
Sibal said the government wants to set up 14 innovation universities on various themes and these institutions will earn revenue from various areas, including research.
Brown, however, differed from Sibal on the proposed economic model for the Innovation Universities and said that major funding will have to come from tuition fee.
"This is not going to work. In our university, 50 percent of revenue comes from tuition fee despite the university having a billion dollar of Endowment fund. The universities here will have to depend on tuition fee," he said.
Sibal retorted back, saying that the investment involved in setting a university in India will be less than the cost in the US.
He said institutes should not be charge exorbitantly on students. They can generate revenue from other sources.
The government will set up a Higher Education Finance Corporation to provide funding to poor students for study. The students can pay back the money over a period of time, he said. The HRD Ministry has prepared a bill to set up the corporation.
The loans will be made available for students pursuing professional courses, he said.
I am a bit confused about the innovation universities being on various themes. I thought they were supposed to be multi-dsiciplinary universities aiming to become like Oxford, Cambridge and Berkely.
January 10th, 2010
Following is from a report in Business Standard.
Ivy League colleges – Yale, Harvard, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – have approached the ministry of human resources development to collaborate in the proposed Innovation Universities across the country, official sources said.
These universities are a part of the ministry’s “brain gain” policy to attract talent from all over the world. Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal had last August announced that 14 Innovation Universities will be set up in the country under the 11th Five-year Plan (2007-12).
During his visit to the US in October, Sibal had met senior functionaries of three top universities – Harvard, Yale and MIT – and had discussed the prospects of them setting up Innovation Universities in India in partnership and collaboration with Indian institutions.
Sam Pitroda, the well-known technocrat and the head of the National Knowledge Commission, is learnt to be drafting the details for establishing the Innovation Universities. “Pitroda will soon meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discuss the matter. An announcement on the details could come up during the Republic Day ceremonies,” said a source close to the development.
The ministry is also looking at public-private partnerships for establishing some of the Innovation Universities. This means that these universities would be autonomous, and outside the purview of the University Grants Commission or the All India Council for Technical Education.
January 3rd, 2010
December 31st, 2009
Following is from a report in Indiaedunews.
Proposed Central varsities in two remote areas of the country – Bihar and Kerala have received a denial from the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry to host new Central universities for their states.
Far-flung Motihari and Kasargod in Bihar and Kerala respectively do not qualify up to the desirable standards for a site to be constructed for such universities as they lack the physical and social infrastructure to proceed.
The ministry is learnt to have asked the two states to come up with an alternative location for the set up.
The Central government clearly opposed the stand of the State governments, academics and development votaries who stood by the decision to host the new varsities in the remote areas of the country, which will boost its economy and help in creation of new and additional infrastructure.
The necessary conditions needed for the set up of a university in both Motihari nad Kasargod area are not feasible due to poor access, connectivity and lack in infrastructure in the form of good schools which are vital to attract quality faculty in the varsity.
While Kasargod, located in the northern part of Kerala suffers serious connectivity issues, Motihari in East Champaran in Bihar is considered a backward region.
The ministry felt that constructing such institutes in these areas will mar the whole criteria of establishment since they would not be able to provide quality education through qualified teachers, as they would not be interested to enter in such areas.
A similar problem has been faced by the Central University at Koraput in Orissa which is facing a serious faculty crunch in terms of quality.
Lack of adequate facilities, along with absence of good schools and hospitals are proving to be deterrents for the faculty who are unwilling to shift over to such areas.
In regards to Koraput, Orissa government needs to take some proactive steps quickly; before the problem becomes worse. Earlier we suggested the following.
- Start a daytime train between Bhubaneswar and Koraput. The distance between them is 679 kms. (Note that Koraput has daily overnight trains to Bhubaneswar and Howrah and a new daily train to Rourkela has been announced in this year’s budget.)
- Start an intercity between Visakhapatnam and Jeypore via Koraput. (Distance is 258 kms.)
- Open a knowledge park of 200 acres near the central university. This knowledge park should contain an STP, and other amenities. the state should invite trustees of some of the top private engineering colleges to establish educational institutions such as engineering colleges in this knowledge park.
In addition, the state should vigorously pursue the proposed airport in Jeypore.
December 31st, 2009
I knew about classes starting in the college of engineering in Bhawanipatna but somehow I missed this news earlier. The following news item in Dharitri provided the tip.
Looking in the web I found the following two documents in regards to College of Agriculture, Bhawanipatna.
December 30th, 2009
Following is from Samaja.
This creates an interesting situation. On one hand Rourkela is really the right location for the ESIC Medical college; but on the other hand changing of an already announced location can be dangerous in that it opens up other attempts to change other locations. No announcement of a location will be safe as people from other aspiring areas will keep trying to change it and some of that may result in instability and chaos.
While ESIC medical college case is a very very special case, and we tried to make that case, it seems to be very difficult to make people understand that. Even we have failed in that in these pages.
That may be one of the reasons Orissa government is being stubborn on the ESIC Medical college case.
As the Telangana case illustrates how one decision can have snowball effect on the rest of the country, unless the ESIC case is carefully handled (by all sides) it can create chaos across the state.
December 27th, 2009
Earlier I wrote about people getting together and offering land for a university, a branch campus, or a new institute in Orissa. This is exactly what has now transpired in Delhi. I hope people in various parts of Orissa learn from this. Following is an excerpt from a report about the Delhi farmer’s offer.
… A delegation from Delhi’s villages called on Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday and presented to her a resolution offering 540 bighas of land in the Ghumanhera village in Najafgarh for opening of a State university.
A memorandum seeking opening of a new general university under the Delhi government and naming it after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was submitted to Ms. Dikshit …
They said that opening of a new general university under the Delhi Government would benefit the farmers of Delhi as it would also help in implementation of the OBC reservation list under which the Jat community is covered.
Dr.Kumar had earlier also raised this issue with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for inclusive development in the rural areas by asking to give a portion of the developed land to the farmers from whom it is acquired, said that the meeting was a historic landmark as the farmers have willfully offered to give the Gram Sabha land for a noble cause.
… Sibal had however given a green signal to the plea, in writing to Dikshit that, the government should consider the plan and avail the help of the Centre to set up a new state university providing incentives to the states during the 11th Plan since the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University does not have seats in general higher education, in which a majority of students from the rural areas of Delhi are interested.
Following the interaction, Dr. Kumar said the Chief Minister declared that she would soon work on forming this new university and thanked the farmers for offering to give their land to Delhi Government for the purpose.
The underlined parts above are important points. (i) Returning part of the developed donated land to the farmers, which by then is multiple times worth the original land, is a win-win situation. (ii) General Universities are important and no matter the existence of NIT and BPUT, Rourkela, still the second largest metropolitan area of Orissa, must have a general university at the earliest.
December 23rd, 2009
Update: Samaja also reports on it.
December 22nd, 2009
I was going through NIT Rourkela’s website. Although it has been always ranked pretty high (good research ranking, high ranking by India Today) among engineering colleges in India, over the last few years it is turning into a comprehensive university with new departments and programs. Prof. Sunil Sarangi has done wonders since he has arrived as the director of NIT Rourkela. Following are some of the highlights of the unique programs, new programs and new departments.
Note: Among the above departments, the Applied Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics departments are not new but I think the M.Sc programs are new; I could not find when exactly they were started.
As one can notice from the above, one can do degrees in Molecular Biology or Humanities at NIT Rourkela. Soon one can pursue an MBA. This is really wonderful and kudos to Prof. Sarangi for making this happen.
In August this year when I met Prof. Sarangi in Orissa I broached the topic of having a medical college at NIT Rourkela. He was not opposed to the idea, but was worried that with only 1-2 years left in his tenure at NIT Rourkela, he would not be able to make it happen in that short time. I hope a way is found so that Prof. Sarangi stays for another 5 year term at NIT Rourkela. I am told every one likes him and respects him at NIT Rourkela. We should write him and thank him for all that he has done for NIT Rourkela, request him to stay longer in Rourkela and we should do something (perhaps write to CMO and MHRD) to give him another 5 year term. We should request Prof. Sarangi to start a medical college at NIT Rourkela. His parent institution, IIT Khragpur is starting one in Kharagpur, so if he is given time, he will be able to do it. Another program that NIT Rourkela should be encouraged to establish is "Architecture and Town Planning". (In this regard, NIT Warangal leads the pack of NITs in planning for a medical school and a law school.)
For our readers with Rourkela connection please spread the word about the availability of science, business and humanities programs at NIT Rourkela so that good students and faculty join these programs. Also, some of you students, go and pursue higher degrees (PhD) and come back and join NIT Rourkela and to the others become an entrepreneur and open companies in Rourkela.
Another good thing about all of these is that with the new VC at VSSUT Burla, who is also from IIT Khragapur and a good friend of Prof. Sarangi , a similar transformation can be expected at VSSUT Burla. Already, a new department of Humanities is being made at VSSUT Burla. VSSUT Burla has advertised for new faculty positions and its VC has mentioned some of his new plans. In an interview to TOI he is reported to have said:
Our priority will be to make the institution as one of the best of the country and for this we are planning to introduce few new branches of engineering courses. Textile engineering is one among them which will help to strengthen the development of the Sambalpuri fabric. We also plan to introduce Nano-science technology, Bio-medical engineering and surgical engineering soon”, the vice chancellor Dr Tripathy told.
December 19th, 2009
December 18th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.
Sibal, who was speaking at a Singapore Symposium here, said both India and Singapore will cooperate in setting up 14 innovation universities in India.
India needs modern universities to bridge the huge skill shortage gap and Singapore can be the best country to partner with in this area. Infrastructure, education, and skill development are the potential areas of cooperation between the two countries," he said.
Sibal said India is grappling with the challenge of building architecture for 21st century cities and cooperation with Singapore in this sector can be beneficial in identifying a possible solution.
Singapore has achieved an enormous level of excellence in innovation and India is rich in skilled manpower, and greater cooperation between the two countries can result in win-win opportunities for the two countries," he added.
Sibal said India has very recently initiated steps to reform the education sector and added that positive results are expected by 2014.
Following is excerpted from a PTI report in Hindu.
With a large number of rural people migrating to urban areas, the government is planning to set up an innovation university dedicated to study and research in sustainable city development, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said today.
This university will work on all issues, including city planning, water management, urban transport, housing and energy, he said at ‘The Singapore Symposium’ here.
The government will set up 14 innovation universities. One of them could be on the area of city development which will work on technology solutions for urban planning,” he said.
Mr. Sibal said that urban areas in the country are yet to be developed. They suffer from myriad problems starting from power crisis to drainage and water management. The government is looking for partnerships with various agencies for starting such innovative universities.
Why cannot we have a partnership with Singapore to move forward?” he asked.
The government is in the process of setting up 14 innovation universities aiming at world class standards. Some of these universities would be set up in partnership with foreign institutions.
After US and UK, Singapore is the third country where the Inidan government has mentioned possible partnership/co-operation for developing its proposed innovation universities.
December 16th, 2009
The ad is at http://www.uceburla.ac.in/downloads/docs/adv_qua.pdf. Following are images of the ad.
December 8th, 2009
Following are excerpts from a report in tathya.in.
After years of donkey work to set up a multi-disciplinary university in Odisha at an investment of Rs 150-200 crore, it has failed to take off. For last 4 years the technocrat is trying hard to set up the facility. Every thing was falling in line and the Government was moving with full speed to clear the ICFAI University Bill-2009 in the Odisha House.
However Opposition Chief Whip Prasad Harichandan played spoil sport.
While initiating discussion on the bill, lawmaker from Satyabadi charged the university is mired in controversy following a ruling by the Madras High Court for closure of the institute’s off-campus and study centres in Tamil Nadu. He also cited the ruling of the Andhra Pradesh High Court restraining ICFAI to award degree certificates.
Although the ICFAI was registered under Societies Act in 1984 in Andhra Pradesh for offering distance learning, it is yet to set up a university in the state. The society has two universities – one in Agartala and the other is at Dehra Dun. However, many off-campus and study centres of the two universities are operating in many states without approval of the University Grants Commission and respective governments.
ICFAI is also running an off-campus centre in Bhubaneswar also, which came to light.
Now the State Government has asked to close down the centre as it is running without the approval of the UGC.
The ICFAI authorities have been asked to file affidavit on this count, said an official.
With allegations coming to fore, even Chief Minister is also worried over the reputation of his government, said sources. When these allegations came out in the floor of the Assembly, Naveen Patnaik Government was on back foot. This is because the State Government signed the MOU with ICFAI on 20 March, 2007 without verifying the credentials. Samir Dey, the then Minister Higher Education was batting for the ICFAI University and took the lead in signing the MOU, said an officer.
However now things are different and Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister Higher Education has made it clear that unless ICFAI authorities clear the allegations against them, it is unlikely that bill will be taken up once again in the House.
So quietly the bill has been deferred for the next Assembly session, said an official.
While the bill is yet to be cleared, ICFAI has already identified 53 acres of land for the university. The land has been identified close to Sum Hospital on the outskirts of the city. Out of the total land area of 53 acres, ICFAI has got 11 acres of land registered for the university project. Now with the bill being dumped, fate of the proposed private university hangs in balance.
The article at http://www.careers360.com/news/3437-ICFAI-avoid-till-they-come-clean seems to give a clear picture of the mess ICFAI has gotten itself into.
My suggestion to ICFAI would be to start the various colleges in Orissa with appropriate permission. I.e., if it wanted to start an engineering college and management school then it should do that with AICTE approval and under BPUT. Similarly for medical, nursing, journalism, etc.; whatever it had plans for. Only after it has them up and running and with quality faculty, top-notch facilities and some nationally ranked colleges it should come back to the state for a university bill. Not before that!!
December 6th, 2009
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