UNI reports that Prof. Damodar Acharya, currently the Chairman of AICTE will become the director of IIT Kharagpur. Prior to being the AICTE Chairman he was the founding vice Chancellor of BPUT. At that time he had discussed with the Orissa government the importance of getting an IIT to Orissa and had led the development of Orissa government’s proposal for an IIT. Last year, while he was at AICTE, again with his help, the IIT Kharagpur branch campus in Bhubaneswar idea was made to a formal proposal. Now that he will be the director of IIT Kharagpur, lets hope that he takes some additional steps towards the fruition of a IIT Kharagpur branch in Bhubaneswar. Following is a biography from the AICTE pages.
Continue Reading June 16th, 2007
The PIB says the following:
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for establishment of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh with Central Government funding. It also approved introduction of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Bill, 2007 in the Parliament.
This would ensure establishment of a teaching and affiliating University for facilitating and promoting avenues of higher education and research facilities for the tribal population of the country.
The objects of the University include inter-alia, promoting studies and research in tribal art, culture, tradition, language, custom, medicinal systems, forest based economic activities, including special studies in the flora and fauna, and advancements in technologies relating to natural resources of the tribal areas.
Apart from affiliating the colleges, the University has the power to establish such number of its own regional centers in tribal areas as the University may deem fit.
There will be at least one school in every regional Centre, to serve as a model school for the schools of the region, where from the tribal students would be expected to join the local colleges, the off-campuses or the University.
Another news item mentions the financial parameters and objectives of this university. It says:
The initial financial requirement of the proposed varsity is estimated at Rs.600 million and a recurring expenditure of Rs.120 million annually.
‘The objects of the university include inter-alia, promoting studies and research in tribal art, culture, tradition, language, custom, medicinal systems, forest based economic activities, including special studies in the flora and fauna, and advancements in technologies relating to natural resources of the tribal areas,’ Information and Broadcasting Minister P.R. Dashmunsi said after a cabinet meeting.
The Rs 600 million number sounds too low. My guess is that it is a typo and the unit should be crores instead of millions.
**
A tribal central university, or central universities in tribal areas is a good idea about which I earlier wrote in Indian Express. However, a similar idea was suggested by Orissa, couple of years back, which the HRD minister had appreciated. Following is an excerpt from the press release issued by Orissa government at that time:
… In addition to this, Shri Patnaik also requested for establishment of a Central University for the KBK Region, which is one of the most backward regions in the country. He pointed out that there was a heavy concentration of the scheduled tribe and scheduled caste population in this region, which has a literacy rate below 50%. Shri Patnaik stated that setting up a Central University in the KBK region would go a long way in encouraging higher education among tribal population. He added that the university could also set up specialized centres for tribal development related studies, as tribal development was one of the biggest challenges facing the country today. Shri. Arjun Singh appreciated the rationale of having a Central University in the KBK region and sought a formal proposal in this regard from the State Government. He assured that this would receive high priority whenever the Central Government considers setting up of new central universities.
Orissa MPs also pursued it and we had sent detail proposal on it to the planning commission and HRD ministry and the PM. I hope the HRD minister did not just steal the idea to his home state. Such opportunistic behavior by the HRD ministry would discourage states with suggesting ideas.
However, a silver line is that the PM has mentioned recently that each state will have a central university. The question is when will that happen.
Moreover, regardless of that happening, central ministers should not steal ideas proposed by states to their own state. They are supposed to look out for the whole country not steal things to their states. To do things for their state they have the MPLAD.
June 15th, 2007
The Orissa JEE result is out. Following are some links that may come in handy.
June 15th, 2007
Many may not know that there are two state government funded and one central government funded management-n-IT institutes in Orissa. (Here, we are not counting the management programs at the universities or the one proposed at NIT Rourkela.) The central govt funded management institute is Madhusudan institute of co-operative management. It offers MBA and DCA and many certificate courses. Following is a quote from its "About Us" pages.
The Madhusudan Institute of Co-operative Management (MICM) is one of the premier Management Institute of the state established in the year 1955-56. The MICM is functioning under the aegis of National Council for Co-operative Training (NCCT), New Delhi, being financed by the Ministry of Agriculture, (Department of Co-operation) Government of India. The basic objective of the Institute is to develop human resources for efficient management by organising various management training programmes.
The two state government funded management-n-IT institutes are:
- Center for IT Education (CITE), Bhubaneswar, a wing of Orissa State Electronics Development Corp. (govt.)
- Institute of Management & Information Technology, (Formerly College of Accountancy & Management), Cuttack – 753 007 Dist: Cuttack. (govt) (location)
June 11th, 2007
Update: I thought this was new to NIT Rourkela. Based on the reader’s comments it seems it has been there for some time and it is also there at UCE Burla.
NIT Rourkela now allows students to change their branches after first year based on their grades and possibly subject to some rules. The students who were able to change this year are listed here. The top three changed to Computer Science. Branch changes were allowed at IIT Kharagpur based on first year performance and subject to a cap of 10% extra seat in each branch. I assumed a similar cap may be operational at NIT Rourkela. NIT Rourkela has close ties with IIT Kharagpur in that its director, Professor Sunil Sarangi, was a longtime facuty at IIT Kharagpur. Its great that he is bringing in good ideas from IIT Kharagpur and implementing them in NIT Rourkela. One idea, which was somewhat unique to IIT Kharagpur, and which should be brought to NIT Rourkela, if not already done, is the notion of a student budgeted hostel library.
June 11th, 2007
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 June 8th, 2007
(Update on June 17 2008: For guidance on what you can get with your Orissa JEE rank in 2008, please see https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1185 I do not have more information than that.)
During the last two years I ranked various engineering colleges in Orissa based on the student preferences during BPUT’s counselling. In the following I will list the top 10 for 2006 and 2005. However, I must stress that proper rankings can only be done by using several parameters: student preference, opinions of companies, faculty quality, facilities etc. So my ranking based on only one criteria is flawed. But thats all the data that I have handy. So don’t take this ranking as gospel. Please use other channels to get more information on various colleges, such as their web pages.
2006 Top 10: (complete ranking with details on methodology) Not Considered: NIT Rourkela and KIIT Bhubaneswar as their 2006 admission is not through BPUT.
- 1. CET, Bhubaneswar (govt.)
- 2. UCE, Burla (govt.)
- 3. ITER, Bhubaneswar
- 4. NIST, Berhampur
- 4. Silicon, Bhubaneswar
- 6. CV Raman, Bhubaneswar
- 7. IGIT, Sarang (govt.)
- 8. Orissa Engineering College, Bhubaneswar
- 9. GIET, Gunupur
- 10. Gandhi Institute, Bhubaneswar
- …19. Orissa School of Mines, Keonjhar (govt.)
- … 37. Institue of Textile Technology, Choudwar (govt.)
Not Considered: NIT Rourkela as its 2005 admission was not through BPUT.
- 1. CET, Bhubaneswar (govt.)
- 2. UCE, Burla (govt.)
- 3. ITER, Bhubaneswar
- 4. NIST, Berhampur
- 5. KIIT, Bhubaneswar (In 2005 only part of its admission was through BPUT)
- 6. Silicon, Bhubaneswar
- 6. CV Raman, Bhubaneswar
- 8. Orissa Engineering College, Bhubaneswar
- 9. GIET, Gunupur
- 9. IGIT, Sarang
- 9. Krupajal, Bhubaneswar
- …18. Orissa School of Mines, Keonjhar (govt.)
- … 32. Institue of Textile Technology, Choudwar (govt.)
June 6th, 2007
Career point is one of the top coaching centers in Kota. (It is not the top though.) Its advertisement in Samaj today says: “Outstanding performance by CPians. Total selection in IIT-2007 – 21 out of 55.” Overall in 2007 Careerpoint claims 7 in top 50 and 1005 total. In comparison, FIIT JEE claims 43 in top 100 and 2467 overall in 2007, Bansal claims 1400 in BCPL Kota, 130 in BCPL Jaipur, etc. in 2007 and Resonance claims 12 in top 100 and 879 overall in 2007. However FIIT JEE, Bansal and Resonance do not yet have centers in Orissa.
Continue Reading June 5th, 2007
The Orissa government’s higher education website is here. Following are some of the interesting links at that site:
- The list of government colleges in Orissa
- List of private Colleges by district and by block
- A list of colleges with disciplines they offer
- Another list of colleges
The above lists are incomplete as they are missing some colleges. There are colleges in list 3 and 4 that do not appear in 1 and 2. Well known private colleges such as Christ College and Stewart Science College do not appear in list 2.
The UGC also has lists of colleges and universities in various states. Following are some links.
- List of Colleges in Orissa: page 1 ; page 2; page 3
- List of Universities in Orissa
- List of autonomous colleges (page 2 contains the list for Orissa)
June 4th, 2007
A PIB release says the following:
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh chaired a meeting to review the state of higher education in India and address the challenge of increasing enrolment while improving access to and quality of higher education in India. The Prime Minister directed the University Grants Commission and the Planning Commission to jointly prepare a strategy for this. The Prime Minister also declared that the Government of India will setup at least one Central University in every State and assist State Government to ensure that there is at least one degree college in every district. There are presently 20 Central Universities in the country, while 16 States do not have a Central University. The Prime Minister said that each Central University should become a symbol of excellence, a model of efficiency and an example in terms of academic standards and university governance for other State Universities to emulate. 350 districts where enrolment is below national average will be brought upto national average. The Prime Minister also reiterated his commitment to offer more scholarships to increase the gross enrollment rate at the college level.Â
June 1st, 2007
The coming assembly session of Orissa starts tomorrow. Various newspapers report that UPA injsutice regarding an IIT in Orissa will be a major issue in this session. Following are some excerpts.
1. Statesman:
The performance of UPA government at the Centre vis-Ã -vis allocations to Orissa is expected to hold centre stage during the budget session of the Assembly commencing here tomorrow.
Ruling BJD-BJP, which has been raising the hackneyed Central neglect theme in recent times, has decided to move a motion for discussion on the subject as well as one on price rise. Denying an IIT to Orissa, meagerly allocations under the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojana and KBK programme are some of the issues with which the ruling combine is training its guns on the UPA government and the Congress party.
2. Telegraph:
On the other hand the BJD-BJP legislature party made it clear that they would continue to deplore the “step-motherly†attitude of the Centre towards Orissa.
Legislators of the ruling BJD-BJP and Opposition Congress today met separately at the Assembly to chalk out strategies a day before the commencement of the state Assembly Budget session.
Parliamentary affairs minister Raghunath Mohanty said the BJD-BJP alliance would bring two motions to be discussed in the second-half of the session.
“We will raise the issue of a special package for Orissa in view of the ill treatment and step-motherly attitude to Orissa in all matters. Take a look at the issue of setting up an IIT in Orissa or meagre Central funds for rural electrification,†he said.
June 1st, 2007
From http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=28365
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for introduction of a new Central Sector Scholarship Scheme of Top Quality Higher Education to Students belonging to Scheduled Tribes, to be implemented from 2007-08.
Continue Reading May 31st, 2007
New Indian Express reports that Institute of Mathematics in Bhubaneswar is taking a lead in creating a new and improved high school Mathematics text in Oriya. Following is an excerpt from that report.
… the citybased Institute of Mathematics and Applications (IMA) has come forward with a project on textbook in two volumes in Oriya.
“The USP of these books are their content: Need-based, contemporary and specially written for those HSC passouts of Oriya medium schools,†says IMA Director Prof Swadhin Pattnaik.
The project, which began earlier this year would be completed in June so that by July the students will get the books through the Textbook Bureau, he says adding these books, apart from inspiring the students to take the subject more seriously, would help in easy understanding of the subject without going for tuitions.
The panel of writers include eminent mathematician and former vice-chancellor of Utkal University Prof Gokulananda Das, Prof PC Das of IIT Kanpur and Prof Pattnaik and mathematicians drawn from the apex colleges of the State.
From the psychological point of view, students can do better if they understand the subject in their mother tongue.
May 29th, 2007
I suggest that BPUT be moved from Rourkela to another location and a comprehensive university (like Utkal, Sambalpur, Berhampur etc.) be established in Rourkela, and the establishment of a medical college in Rourkela be expedited.
Some of you, before getting mad at me, please read the following reasoning.
Continue Reading May 29th, 2007
Finally on May 9 2007 BPUT has advertised for faculty in its post graduate center in Rourkela. The minimum qualification and experience for these positions are described in this document. (Although BPUT was established in 2002, and it had plans to hire 25 faculty for 5 of its research centers, to the best of my knowledge until now there had not been any advertisements for these positions. Lets hope that BPUT is able to hire good faculty and gets on its way to be a real university and not just a university that conducts exams. )
May 28th, 2007
There are two DRDO reserach labs in Orissa. They are:
In addition there is a sailors training school, INS Chilka and an ordnance factory in Badmal, Balangir.
May 24th, 2007
Next Posts
Previous Posts