Odisha HRD

IIT extension centers ok; branch campuses NOT.

Following is from the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=32762.

Requests have been received from the State Governments of Kerala and Gujarat for setting up of satellite campuses of IIT-Madras and IIT-Bombay respectively in their States. However, the Government has taken a decision that establishment of large satellite campuses with regular Bachelor and Master Programmes amount to setting up of new IITs should be avoided. The Government, however, has no objection to the setting up of small extension centres of existing IITs outside their main campuses, devoted to continuing education, diploma courses, finishing schools, incubation programmes, etc.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply to a question by Smt. N.P. Durga in the Rajya Sabha today.

In this regard, one may note that, IIT Kharagpur has an extension center in Bhubaneswar and had earlier signed an MOU with Govt. of Orissa to make a branch campus in Bhubaneswar. It had submitted a proposal to MHRD on this. But with the above clarification, IIT Kharagpur’s branch campus proposal in Bhubaneswar goes to cold storage for now.

1 comment November 19th, 2007

Orissa missed out on funding for DIETs: Samaja

Following is from Samaja and it suggests that Orissa missed out on funding for DIETs by not establishing one DIET in each district. However, it does not mention that there are many CT trained people still looking for a teacher’s job (see http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/sept-oct2006/engpdf/51-55.pdf) and perhaps because of that the state government did not establish additional DIETs.

November 19th, 2007

Institutions offering CT in Orissa

Following is from http://www.ncte-in.org/inst/instlist.asp?statecode=ORISSA&cour=CT. (CT certification is needed to become teacher in lower primary schools. B.Ed is needed for becoming teachers in middle and high schools.)

150 comments November 19th, 2007

Three HRD issues (AIIMS, IIT, KBK University) to be raised by the ruling coalition in the current assembly (from Dharitri)

November 19th, 2007

Not much progress on establishing a medical college in Rourkela

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

The proposed medical college on PPP (public private participation) mode at Rourkela continues to be an election promise. In 2004, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced about it at a pre-poll rally.

Still there is no headway in the project as the government allegedly continues with its dillydallying attitude under the plea that the proposed site is disputed.

In the face of intense public pressure, while Rourkela BJD MLA S P Nayak assured to expedite the issue, a demand has gained ground that the proposed medical college and hospital be attached to the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH).

Reliable sources said earlier the project got delayed for two years as a clause made it mandatory for the private partner to accept the proposals for Rourkela and Balangir simultaneously.

After much persuasion one GSL Trust came forward to be the partner but later made a quiet exit. The 650-bed medical college and hospital envisages to have 150 medical seats in the initial year.

The project requires a minimum capital investment of Rs 100 crore. While the Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) will arrange 25 acre cost-free land and Rs 10 crore, the rest fund would be raised through private participation.

Wasting much time in locating land, the WODC finally decided to use the surplus land of RGH. But, the local displaced persons staked claims on proposed site in court. A high-power committee is now looking into the project.

1 comment November 19th, 2007

Plans for increasing capacity of Orissa govt. engineering colleges

Following is an excerpt from a news report in New Indian Express.

… If sources are to be believed, the varsity is seriously planning to raise the intake capacity of the government institutions.

The technical university’s four constituent colleges – University College of Engineering (UCE), Burla, College of Engineering and Technology (CET), Bhubaneswar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology (IGIT), Saranga, and Orissa School of Mining Engineering (OSME), Keonjhar – impart different courses in engineering streams.

While UCE has seven disciplines with an intake capacity of about 270, annual approved strength of CET is 340 in as many as nine streams. Similarly, IGIT admits 150 students in five programmes, while OSME’s degree streams intake is about 90.

However, the BPUT management appears to believe that the government colleges are in need of increasing their intake capacity which will strengthen them financially.

While UCE, Burla and CET, Bhubaneswar, are primarily dependent on government, it is OSME (degree stream) which is self-sufficient.

In the last board of management meeting of the varsity, it was strongly felt that the private colleges have a much larger student strength compared to their government counterparts that contribute significantly to their solvency.

It has agreed that an increased intake in government constituent colleges is the need of the hour where the number of qualified teachers and overall infrastructure is better compared to those available in the private colleges.

A way out is to introduce self-financing models for the programmes. In fact, two engineering streams in UCE, Burla and four subjects in CET here are self-financing but the funds are not sufficient to support the increasing needs.

1 comment November 19th, 2007

GOI to partner with MIT for a health science and tech institute

Following is an excerpt from a MIT News item on this.

MIT and the government of India’s Department of Biotechnology today launched a partnership that will result in the creation of a new Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) in India.

This new institute, which will be modeled after the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), will include faculty from multiple disciplines and professions, offer degrees through multidisciplinary programs and develop strong ties with other institutions. Funded by the Indian government, the Indian HST will be a multidisciplinary, multiprofessional research and training center that is highly interconnected with regional centers of excellence.

The institute will increase India’s capacity for translating scientific and technological advancements into medical innovations that have the potential to improve healthcare both in India and around the world.

HST Director Martha Gray and Dr. M. K. Bhan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, signed a letter of intent for this partnership today at a symposium in New Delhi titled "India and MIT: A Conversation about the Future."

…

"Launching this new partnership with India’s Department of Biotechnology will build on HST’s pioneering model of medical education that integrates science, medicine and engineering to solve problems of human health," said Susan Hockfield, president of MIT. "We look forward to a future of significant collaboration across disciplines, across institutions and around the world."

To foster a culture of innovation in THSTI, HST will help recruit and train new THSTI faculty members. Each year starting in September 2008 and continuing until 2011, four recruited THSTI faculty fellows will join the HST faculty. These faculty fellows will train at HST for two years. During their stay they will develop translational research programs, design courses and curricula for THSTI, and develop close relationships with HST faculty and students.

These fellows will benefit from HST’s nearly 40 years of experience bringing together science, engineering and medicine in education and translational medical research. HST’s success stories include medical innovations such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, a low-cost AIDS detection kit and novel implantable drug delivery mechanisms.

HST and MIT will also benefit from having these fellows on campus. "We will have people immersed in our program who actually know about the unmet medical needs in India and who will expose our students and faculty to those needs," said Gray.

November 19th, 2007

MM Joshi: Center neglecting Orissa

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

BJP leader and former Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence, Naveen Niwas, and had breakfast with him. Sources said that both leaders discussed many issues pertaining to the interests of the State’s coalition Government and the interests of the State. “Yes, we are good friends,” he later told reporters.

Addressing a Press conference, he said the Congress-led Governments at the Centre have constantly neglected Orissa’s interests.

During the NDA regime, the foundation stone of the AIIMS was laid. But no work has yet been taken up to give it a formal shape, he said.

Though the NDA gave its nod for establishment of an international standard educational institute like National Institute of Sciences in Bhubaneswar, the UPA shifted it to Kolkata,” he pointed out.

November 19th, 2007