The Fakir Mohan University, Vyasa Vihar, Balasore, Orissa was established by the Govt. of Orissa under Section 32 of the Orissa University Act, 1989(Act 5 of 1989)and it was notified vide the Government’s Notification No. 973 dated 3rd July, 1999. The University has also been duly recognized by the UGC Under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act vide the Notification No.F–9–1/2000 (CPP–I) dated 11 Feb.2000 and it is declared eligible to receive Central Financial assistance under sec 12(B) of the UGC Act 1956 vide notification No.F.9-1/2000(CPP-1)dtd-23rd Dec-2005.It has also been accredited by the Association of Indian Universities.
I am told North Orissa University in Baripada also has received this tag. I could not find any documentation of that (in the Internet) though.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on Wednesday assured that the Centre would soon take a decision on Orissa government’s demand for the setting up higher institutions of learning in the State.
Orissa had a very good case for setting up of a Central University in the KBK region, Singh indicated when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik called on him in New Delhi.
Singh also said that there was a strong possibility of setting up of an IIT/IIM in Orissa in view of the industrial growth being witnessed in the State, according to an official release.
Patnaik demanded for the setting up of an IIT, an IIM and a multi-disciplinary Central university in the KBK region in view of the current industrial boom in the State. An IIT should be established in the State during the 11th Five Year Plan period, he said.
This is 96.0 RavenshawRadio’, would exhort a cheerful, invigorating voice gently nudging denizens out of their sleep – in a few months time.
The first campus radio of the State has begun to take shape at the Ravenshaw University and would go on air before the start of the next academic session.
Basically, a campus radio with community content, the FM service would have a coverage area from 7 to 10 km reaching out to the entire population of the Millennium City.
The radio station would be a fully student-run entity, under supervision of faculty members, broadcasting programmes not confined to education only but on diverse topics related to the community and Cuttack City. ‘It would be essentially an infotainment bouquet.
The students would be doing programmes on studies, campus news as well as other social issues, information on developments and happenings in the city, cultural events along with transmitting entertainment content like music. The students would conceptualise, produce the content and host, jockey, report and newsread,’ said Vice-Chancellor Devdas Chotray.
The FM Facility has already obtained the licences from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the project installation would be executed by Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL). Joint General Manager of BECIL J P Nathani and his team are visiting the university on Wednesday in this connection.
The premier college of Orissa would join a few select institutions of the country like Anna University of Chennai, University of Pune, Goa University, IGNOU, Jamia Millia University and Karnataka State Open University in having their own FM radio service. …
The EDI is developed keeping in mind four broad parameters of access, infrastructure, teacher and outcomes related indicators. The index takes into account 23 variables for calculating EDI. These variables are for Access (Percentage of habitations not Served, Availability of Schools per 1000 Population and Ratio of Primary to Upper Primary Schools/Sections), Infrastructure (Average Student-Classroom Ratio, School with Student-Classroom Ratio greater > 60, School without Drinking Water Facilities, School with Boy’s Toilet, School with Girl’s Toilet), Teachers( (Percentage of Female Teachers, Pupil-Teacher Ratio, School with Pupil Teacher Ratio > 60, Single- Teacher Schools (in schools with more than 15 students), Percentage of Schools with 3 or less Teachers, Teachers without Professional Qualification), Outcomes (Gross Enrolment Ratio – Overall, Scheduled Castes : Gross Enrolment Ratio, Scheduled Tribes: Gross Enrolment Ratio, Gender Parity Index in Enrolment, Repetition Rate, Drop-out Rate, Ratio of Exit class over Class 1 Enrolment (Primary stage only), Percentage of Passed Children to Total Enrolment, Percentage of Appeared Children passing with 60 per cent and above Marks).
The following is an excerpt from an article in Hindu. I hope some schools in Orissa will take similar steps.
… IIT Chennai, one of India’s foremost engineering college has now tied up with number of schools to enhance high school science education in the country.
"The way science is taught in our schools leaves much to be desired. Our children get programmed to answer questions in examinations without being able to relate the concepts to the real world around us. There is too much focus on scoring marks than on understanding, " Dr. T S Natrajan of IIT-Chennai told PTI.
Though IIT has introduced a number of initiatives like the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country by developing curriculum based video and web courses, Natrajan points out that new ‘Science Enrichment Program’ is first direct initiative of the institute for betterment of school education.
"This is my personal initiative and the institution is backing me completely for this. I wonder what kind of science is taught in the schools when students have to go for coaching classes in preparation for specialised entrances exams," he says.
Under the new programme, IIT Chennai will provide consultancy and develop Science Enrichment Program for classes Five to Twelve in Physics and Chemistry. This will include planning and developing problem based worksheets and activities which will make science fun and easy for children.
It also includes training the science teachers to improve their skills as well as understanding using some of the best materials and getting advice from eminent professors from IIT.
The program aims to develop Science Enrichment Materials which would include designing hands-on and computer based activities in Physics and Chemistry based on the CBSE syllabus from class 5 to 12 for implementation in the classrooms.
During my visit to Bhubaneswar, I met various people involved with NISER. Following is a quick update.
Apparently the cabinet approval of NISER had a condition that said "subject to finance ministry clearance." Apparently that clearance has not come yet and its delay is guessed to be due to the difference between the IISER and NISER budget amounts. Its expected any day. But that clearance has some role in NISER not being able to hire a director and hire regular faculty. On the other hand DAE has its plate full with the atomic energy agreement and negotiation between India and US, so perhaps it is not moving at the speed as it should. I think Orissa government and people of Orissa should push DAE on this.
The first batch just finished their first semester. I was given the impression that the professors are teaching very diligently, have made the syllabus quite tough and are driving the students quite hard.
The land has not yet been handed over to NISER by the Orissa government. I am told there is no big problem but it is just moving slow. The NISER folks are a bit unhappy at this tardy pace because they would like the full campus to be built as soon as possible. I hope the ad means that there has been some movement, since I met them.
Several new buildings have been made and are being made in IOP campus to accommodate NISER classes until its own campus is done. The construction of these buildings have been quite fast.
Currently, in the absence of a director of NISER, the director of IOP is in charge. The main persons helping him are Prof. Jnana Maharana, Prof. D. P. Mohapatra and Prof. P. C. Das. Prof. Das is in charge of the M.Sc integrated program. Prof. Mohapatra is making sure that the buildings are made in time, the labs are equipped in time, etc. so that the classes can go on in time.
Following are some of the temporary teachers who are teaching the stduents.
Biology: Prof Rabi Nayak of IISc Bangalore is on leave from Bangalore and is the leading person. He has a new laboratory for his research and teaching at IOP. Other names that were mentioned to me were Prof. Anita Roy , Prof. K. M. Das and Prof. Chaini. I am told Prof. Santosh Kar will be teaching for a month in 2008 and some faculty from Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar will also teach.
Chemistry: Prof. Anadi Das (retired, Utkal) is in charge and is helped by Prof. Chandrasekhar Panda (retired Berhampur U, Ph.D IIT Kanpur) and Prof. M. Mohanty
Physics: Prof. N. Barik (formerly from Utkal University), Prof. Ansari (retired from IOP), Prof. Minaketan Panda (formerly at NEHU) and Professor Pathak (from IOP)
Mathematics: Prof. Padhee (formerly from Berhampur University, PhD IIT Kanpur) and Prof. P. C. Das.
Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) has donated one crore rupees for the completion of the ground floor and the first floor of the ladies hostel of BJB Junior College. The hostel will accommodate 50 students in the ground floor and 71 students in the first floor. The Chief Minister is expected to inaugurate the ground floor and the hostel this month (January 2008). The first floor will be completed by the end of March 2008. Kudos to OMC and the principal of BJB Junior College, Prof. R. N. Panda, for his relentless effort.
BHUBANESWAR: City-based Asian School of Business Management (ASBM) and logistics giant Gati have joined hands to set up a centre of excellence in logistics and supply chain management here, arguably the first in the country.
It will be exclusively devoted to carrying out high-end applied research in developing best practices in global supply chain management and enhance quality of delivery mechanism. The centre would go into operation shortly on the ABSM campus.
The institute would be infusing Rs 1 crore for the centre over a period of three years and Gati about Rs 20 lakh. With some of the best brains in the field working here, it would also be offering expertise and consulting work in the country and abroad.
The State Government and the Director- General of Employment and Training (DGE&T) have decided to upgrade four ITIs into centres of excellence with World Bank assistance.
The DGT&E has identified the ITIs at Berhampur, Hirakud, Balasore and Talcher for upgradation. While the ITI at Berhampur deals with automobile sector, the institute at Hirakud is for the process plant maintenance sector.
The ITI at Balasore deals with the electrical sector while the one at Talcher is for production and manufacturing. Though the proposal was floated in 2006-07 financial year, it could not be taken up because of delay in release of funds.
The DGE&T has agreed in principle to provide finance during the year for the project. An MoU was signed between the State Government and the DGT&E on December 17 for implementation of the scheme with World Bank assistance.
Google has one overarching mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. With a user base in the millions, Google’s point of distinction is anticipating needs not yet articulated by our global audience, then meeting those needs with innovative products and services that set new standards.
Therefore, Google aspires to be an organization that reflects the globally diverse audience that our search engine and tools serve. We believe that, in addition to hiring the best talent, the diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. This diversity of employees and partners serves as the foundation for us to better serve our diverse customers and stakeholders all over the world.
As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to encouraging women to excel in computing and technology, we are pleased to introduce The Google India “Women in Engineering” Award to recognize and reward deserving women students in Computer Science and related majors, and inspire them to become active participants and leaders in creating technology.
The awards are based on the candidates’ academic background and demonstrated leadership. A group of female undergraduate, graduate and PhD student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool, and award recipients will receive an award of INR 75000 via cheque.
Sixty years after independence, with 40 percent of its population under 18, India is now confronting the perils of its failure to educate its citizens, notably the poor. More Indian children are in school than ever before, but the quality of public schools like this one has sunk to spectacularly low levels, as government schools have become reserves of children at the very bottom of India’s social ladder.
The children in this school come from the poorest of families — those who cannot afford to send away their young to private schools elsewhere, as do most Indian families with any means.
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That they remain ill equipped to do so is clearly illustrated by an annual survey, conducted by Pratham, the organization for which Mr. Ghosh works. The latest survey, conducted across 16,000 villages in 2007 and released Wednesday, found that while many more children were sitting in class, vast numbers of them could not read, write or perform basic arithmetic, to say nothing of those who were not in school at all.
Among children in fifth grade, 4 out of 10 could not read text at the second grade level, and 7 out of 10 could not subtract. The results reflected a slight improvement in reading from 2006 and a slight decline in arithmetic; together they underscored one of the most worrying gaps in India’s prospects for continued growth.
Education experts debate the reasons for failure. Some point out that children of illiterate parents are less likely to get help at home; the Pratham survey shows that the child of a literate woman performs better at school. Others blame longstanding neglect, insufficient public financing and accountability, and a lack of motivation among some teachers to pay special attention to poor children from lower castes.
According to the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2007 released by Pratham, Orissa tops the list of states with 8% out-of-school children in the 6-14 age group in rural areas. This number is almost double the percentage all over India (4.2%). The good news is that the percentage has gone down from 9.1% in 2006 to 8.0% in 2007. Rajasthan and Bihar, however, have reduced the percentage from over 10% in 2006 to 6.5% in 2007.
The following table shows the numbers for the 30 districts in Orissa. Some of the numbers are truly alarming.
