Today’s New Indian Express and Samaja report that the higher education department has proposed setting up of an education city around Naraj. As we wrote earlier several universities are coming up in this area. This includes a university by Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living, Ravenshaw university’s second campus and proposed National Law Institute. The higher education department has identified additional available land in the area and according to the above reports it is recommending that the government reserve this land for additional higher education institutions.
April 26th, 2007
Yesterday’s Dahritri has a column by senior columnist Barendra Kumar Dhal [1,2,3,4,5,6] where he lists the various initiatives and projects taken up during Biju Patnaik’s government of 1961-67. I am amazed by the list which includes many HRD institutions. Here are some of the highlights.
- Paradeep Port
- Daitari-Paradeep highway
- Mig factory in Sunabeda
- Rourkela Steel Plant
- Regional Research Laboratory
- Regional College of Education (Now called Regional Institute of Education)
- Berhampur University
- Sambalpur University
- Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology
- Sainik School
- Baragarh Cement factory
- Various factories of IDC
- Orissa textile mills (OTM)
- Kalinga Tubes
- Kalinga Iron works
Other References: Ganjam District site,wikipedia,Orissa govt. e-magazine, another.
April 24th, 2007
I came across the websites of Fakirmohan University (FMU) in Balasore and North Orissa University (NOU) in Baripada. Both universities seem to have progressed a lot since they were made in 1999. They have taken slightly different paths though. While FMU has focussed on departments that are more in demand with respect to the job market, NOU has been a bit more traditional.
Continue Reading April 23rd, 2007
Sambada reports that 48 acres has been allocated to the Utkal University of Culture. This land is near Madanpur village in the upper right edge of the Knowledge park close to the GITA and CV Raman engineering colleges.
April 21st, 2007
SIS (Security and Intelligent Services), a private company, will open its 5th academy (after Dehradun, Gurgaon, Garwa and Bangalore) near Cuttack in Chouduar at a cost of 5 crores. For that it is reported (in Samaja – Oriya) to have acquired 10,000 acres of land. It is reported that it will train 3000 secrurity personnels every year, out of which 80% will be from Orissa. I wonder if the 10,000 acres number is a typo. If it is not a typo, its kind of puzzling that lots of people are opposed to the Vedanta University, to be made with an investment of 15,000 crores, which asked for 8000 acres to educate 100,000 students and employ 20,000 faculty and staff, while not a peep has been heard about the 10,000 acres for SIS.
April 21st, 2007
Dahritri reports [1,2] that Ravenshaw will be reorganized to eight schools:
- School of Mathematics and Computer Science
- School of Physical Studies
- School of Life Sciences
- School of Social sciences
- School of Languages
- School of Commerce and management
- School of regional studies and earth sciences
- School of information and performing arts
Each of these schools will have a dean. In the coming year Ravenshaw will introduce Masters programs in (i) Biotechnology (ii) Foreign languages (iii) Business and industrial management (iv) Performing arts and (v) Geology. It will switch to the semester system at the Bachelors and Masters level.
April 20th, 2007
Ravenshaw vice chanceelor Devdas Chhotray has acted very fast on the news regarding the 1 lakh/yr scholarships for integrated M.Sc students. He has announced that Ravenshaw will start five year integrated M.Sc program from July 2007. This is reported in Sambada.
April 19th, 2007
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 April 11th, 2007
After a long time and with the Orissa financial situation improving the government of Orissa has lifted the ban on hiring regular faculty in Orissa Universities. For a long time, universities could not hire regular faculty and were hiring faculty on short-term contracts. This had resulted in the lack of quality faculty in the universities and as a result the Orissa universities suffered a lot. The lifting of this ban is an welcome step.
This news is reported in various newspapers. (Sambada, New indian Express)
In the first phase the Orissa government has sanctioned hiring of 70 regular faculty at the four universities of Sambalpur University (47 positions), Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University (4 positions), North Orissa University (Baripada-13 positions) and Fakirmohan University (6 positions). The 6 positions in Fakirmohan University is to start a new program in Applied Physics and Ballistics in collaboration with DRDO. 12 of the positions in the North Orissa University are for 3 newly introduced self-financing courses in biotechnology, business administration and computer science. 1 position in the North Orissa University is for a new department in tribal studies.
April 8th, 2007
Update: Tathya.in on 5th April 2007 has a detailed article on this issue.
(Note: Please send a similar letter to the CM at cmo@ori.nic.in)
Dear Hon’ble Chief minister:
For a couple of years we have been hearing about the establishment of a National Law University in Orissa.
Our state has been moving much slower than the other states with respect to this, as already 6 such institutes are there in other states and according to http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1056807
the HRD ministry in Delhi called the directors of the existing National Law Institutes for discussing a common entrance exam.
I think soon the HRD ministry may consider partially funding these existing law institutes and since the one in Orissa is not yet established, we may lose out. Once such a chance is missed it would be very difficult to make the Law institute in Orissa to be funded by UGC or MHRD.
We request that you take immediate steps towards the establishment of this planned law university in Orissa at the earliest.
If there is a delay at the Higher Education and/or Law department office, please push them to expedite on this matter. If the delay is in your office, please consider this at the earliest.
sincerely,
Chitta Baral
April 5th, 2007
Samaja reports that the Orissa Chief minister sent a formal proposal on a KBK Adivasi Central University to the central government on December 23rd 2006.
Earlier, the CM had brought up the issue of a central University in KBK with the HRD minister on Oct 24 2005. (See http://rc.orissa.gov.in/index3.asp?linkid=30&sublinkid=133)
The MPs Mr. Panda and Ms. Bohidar had asked a question on it in the Rajya Sabha on 19.12.2005 ( See http://164.100.24.219/rsquestion/ShowQn.aspx?qno=109522 ).
March 30th, 2007
Dear Friend,
We are pleased to share with you, as well wishers of the proposed Vedanta University in Orissa, the developments to-date and our objectives in the project. The Vedanta University will be established in the state of Orissa, along the Puri-Konark highway.
We recall with pride the glorious past when Orissa had Ratnagiri University, known around the world. With the active support, encouragement and good wishes from all of you through your
constructive communication in the various blogs, e-mails and internet communications, we are confident of making Orissa once again a globally recognised center for higher learning.
Anil Agarwal Foundation, a “not for profit†institution, has been founded by Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Resources Plc, London, for making a significant contribution to a core requirement of India viz. Education.
Continue Reading March 30th, 2007
Since 1995 Orissa govt has introduced B.Tech programs at the Orissa School of Mining Engineering in Keonjhar (location). However, so far it has very minimal facilities. In 2006, the Orissa governemnt decided to upgrade it and model it after the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad. They have gone around and obtained pledges from various industries operating in that area and have created a budget of 50+ crores to upgrade this school. They have identified 46 acres of land for the the upgraded school. This was reported in various newspapers in late October 2006 (samaja, statesman, tathya). The new industrial policy 2007 (page 12, 10.2.iii) of the Orissa government which was made in March 2007 also states the Orissa government’s plan regarding this school.
March 25th, 2007
Update: The MOU has been signed. [Kalinga Times]
Pragativadi reports that ICFAI plans to sign an MOU with Orissa government to establish an ICFAI university in Bhubaneswar. At present they have universities in Uttaranchal, Tripura, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Jharkhand. For example, ICFAI University in Dehradun has a business school, a science and technology school, a law school, a college of education, etc.
They plan to buy 150 acres of land from private parties near Jatni – the area near the Khurda Road station. The report also says that Orissa government is in the process of making legislation that will allow such private universities like ICFAI university, Vedanta University and Ravishankar University.
March 19th, 2007
There is some possibility that IIIT Bhubaneswar classes may start in a building in the Infocity campus. That location has many advantages over the CITE location in Rasulgarh. Effort is on to obtain some chair professorship funded by various companies that have operations in Bhubaneswar and Orissa. The search for a director continues. The plan to start classes in the coming academic year is still on.
March 19th, 2007
New Indian Express reports that the Utkal University of Culture has been granted 48 acres of land in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. It does not exactly say where.
Few days back the Orissa government agreed to give 150 acres of land to Ravenshaw University for its second campus. It also agreed to allocate a significant additional budget of 5-8 crores this year and 80+ crores over the next several years. Various news papers have reported on this and they all have different numbers. Samaja (page1, page2), Sambada and Pioneer are some of the newspapers that report this.
The newspapers list the various new departments that will be there in the new campus. They also mention that while Ravenshaw University currently has 7000 students, it is being made so as to be able to accommodate 25000 students later in this century.
March 17th, 2007
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