Archive for May, 2007
Newsreports [Times of India, Hindustan Times, Tathya.in, Kalinga Times, Statesman, Indian Express, Sambada, Samaja 1,2,3, Dharitri 1,2,3,4 ,India-e-news, Pragativadi] and emails are coming in regarding the IIT issue being raised in the parliament. At first glance the news is negative, especially the headline in Times of India which says “Govt says No to an IIT in Orissa.”
However, this is a starting point in Delhi. Now the MPs can set up an appointment with the PM and make a case. Another good aspect of this is that the walkout by the Orissa BJD+BJP MPs is reported to have been supported by the NDA partners. We need to find out by how many and if there were any BJP stalwarts. In any case, this provides a fallback option. If the MPs fail to convince the PM, then having the NDA partners on board now, makes it easier if and when the NDA comes to power next.
If one is depressed after reading the news items, they may checkout what happened when the NIS issue was brought up in the parliament Q & A sessions in December 2005.
May 8th, 2007
For some time the Orissa government and the WODC (Western Orissa Development Council) have been trying to develop 3 private medical colleges in Rourkela, Balangir and Jarangi near Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi. [Telegraph Feb 2005,Hindu Nov 2006]
Today’s Sambada reports on some progress with respect to these.
Continue Reading May 8th, 2007
PIB reports about 667 fellowships annually for tribal (ST) students to pursue M.Phil and Ph.D. The avertisement for these fellowships and the application form are available at a UGC site. The deatils of this fellowship is available at another UGC site. There are fellowships under the same scheme for SC students also.
May 7th, 2007
PIB reports on a Q & A on six AIIMS like institutions to be established in India and upgradation of 13 exsiiting colleges to AIIMS level. While the new AIIMS like institutions will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 322 crores each, the upgradations will be made at a cost of Rs 120 crores each.
However, eventhough the government have time and again talked about the AIIMS like institutions, there has been very little physical progress in the ground. In Bhubaneswar, a boundary wall exists, but not much beyond that. There have been some progress with respect to design and call for interests which we have mentioned in earlier writings on this topic.
May 7th, 2007
New Indian Express reports that with seven more Ekalabya Schools of Orissa starting +2 science with 60 seats each, now all 10 Ekalabya Schools of Orissa will have +2 Science. I hope all 600 of these students each year get at least into 5 yr integrated MSc, Engineering or Medicine (and avail of ST quotas when necessary). That would be tremendous. Following is an excerpt from the New Indian Express article:
Continue Reading May 6th, 2007
In ornet, Purna Mishra, who is visiting Orissa, observes the following:
Good news from Orissa. Vedanta University is for real. It will be unlike any other university in India.
The land acquisition is going smoothly. Unlike POSCO and others, the state government is out of the process. Most of the land is state government and/or belong to Lord Jagannath. Not much private land. They have opened an office in Puri to acquire land. It seems their latest offer is to acquire paddy cultivated land at Rs. 2 lakh /acre. Before the Vedanta University offer, the land was available at Rs. 60,000/acre.
May 5th, 2007
The Ministry of tourism of the Government of India has established an Indian Institute of Tourism Travel and Management with the headquarter in Gwalior, and campuses in Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. They offer the following programs in 2007.
Continue Reading May 5th, 2007
Recently the Vice Chancellor of Ravenshaw University made a presentation to the CM about Ravenshaw’s future. As an outcome of this presentation the Orissa government agreed to give land for a second campus of Ravenshaw. The Ravenshaw vice chancellor seems to have a lot of ideas on how to take Ravenshaw to the next level and is looking for support from all corners. If any Ravenshaw alumni or well-wisher would like to help in this goal of taking Ravenshaw to the next level, please get in touch with me.
May 4th, 2007
Today, there is an opinion piece in Times of India that suggests that some of the best NITs and IT-BHU should be upgraded to IITs. I wrote along the same lines in an Indian Express op-ed article last year. This is discussed in more detail in the blog specifically on this topic. Here is a quick overview of the issue.
Continue Reading May 4th, 2007
CIPET (Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology) is an autonomous institute under the ministry of chemical and fertilizers, Govt. of India. It has several locations. Recently it advertised for students (Samaja,webpage) with the list of programs and a prospectus. Digging deep into the locations and what they offer it seems that until now only the Lucknow, Chennai and Bhubaneswar locations offered the M.Tech program in plastic technology and engineering and from this year the Hajipur (Patna) campus will offer that program. They all offer a slew of post graduate diplomas, post diplomas, diplomas and integrated diplomas/post-diplomas.
May 4th, 2007
Fiver year integrated M.Sc programs are being started at UM-DAE, a new autonomous center for excellence in Basic Sciences jointly set up by University of Mumbai in collaboration with Dept. of Atomic Energy. It will be taught by faculty from nearby institutes such as IIT Bombay, BARC, Univ. of Mumbai and TIFR. The entrance exam for this program is the same one as for NISER, Bhubaneswar. So in a sense, NISER now has head-to-head competition in terms of students. Unless NISER moves quickly and uses its funding advantage to build a nice campus and hire top-notch faculty it may lose out.
May 4th, 2007
In Today’s Telegraph, it is reported that:
“Goenka, who is also the chairman of the board of governors of IIT-Kharagpur, said the construction for an off-campus branch of the IIT would start this year. The state has already offered 300 acres of land near Bhubaneswar for the campus and is committed to provide all the necessary assistance for this purpose. The Rs 800-crore project would house nearly 5,000 students annually. The institute will impart technical education to around 5,000 students. ”
I don’t know if this is to be believed or not. However, let me briefly touch upon the history of this branch campus idea.
Continue Reading May 3rd, 2007
On behalf of the Orissa Today Network Mr. Manoj Padhi sent a letter to Vedanta University CEO. Following is the reply from Vedanta’s CEO.
Dear Mr. Manoj Padhi and OTN,
Thank you for your mail dated 8th April regarding Vedanta University (VU). We are happy to know that OTN, an intellectual Group of Overseas and local Oriya have appreciated the communication on the developments pertaining to the proposed Vedanta University in the State of Orissa.
Continue Reading May 2nd, 2007
I wrote the following in 1996 as a tribute to my teachers in Bhubaneswar who shaped my career. Although at that time, I had lost touch with many of those teachers, since then I have reconnected with some of them and at times will write about them.
Continue Reading May 2nd, 2007
The running headline of Tathya.in says that the Medical Council of India has approved 100 seats for KIMS (Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences), a component of KIIT deemed university. It does not yet show up in the MCI list of MBBS colleges. More details are awaited.
Assuming this is true, the medical college situation in Bhuabaneswar-CTC-Puri area will be as follows:
Continue Reading May 1st, 2007
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