Archive for March, 2008

MHRD presentation to the parliamentary standing committee: PIB

See http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36999.

March 31st, 2008

NITs and IIESTs

The 11th plan intends to establish 10 NITs. Following is a list of the existing 20 NITs and the 5 4 proposed IIESTs which is proposed to be part of the NIT act. (IT BHU, which was earlier proposed to be an IIEST, is now slated to become an IIT.)

  1.   Andhra Pradesh: NIT Warangal, IIEST Visakhapatnam (Andhra Univ. Eng. College), IIEST Hyderabad (Osmania Univ. Eng. College)
  2.     Assam and 7 other north-eastern states: NIT Silchar
    1. Arunachal Pradesh:
    2. Manipur:
    3. Meghalaya:
    4. Mizoram:
    5. Nagaland:
    6. Sikkim:
    7. Tripura: NIT Tripura
  3.    Bihar: NIT Patna 
  4.   Chhattisgarh: NIT Raipur
  5.   Goa:
  6.   Gujarat: NIT Surat
  7.   Haryana: NIT Kurukshetra
  8.   Himachal Pradesh: NIT Hamirpur   
  9. Jammu and Kashmir: NIT Srinagar
  10.     Jharkhand: NIT Jamshedpur 
  11.     Karnataka:  NIT Surathkal
  12.     Kerala: NIT Calicut, IIEST Kochi (CUSAT) 
  13.     Madhya Pradesh: NIT Bhopal
  14.     Maharashtra: NIT Nagpur 
  15.     Orissa: NIT Rourkela
  16.     Punjab: NIT Jallandhar
  17.    Rajasthan: NIT Jaipur
  18.     Tamil Nadu: NIT Trichy 
  19.     Uttarakhand: 
  20.     Uttar Pradesh: NIT Allahabad 
  21.     West Bengal: NIT Durgapur, IIEST Howrah (BESU) 

1 comment March 31st, 2008

Minister Chandrasekhar Sahu’s take on the IIT and world class central university

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

Sahu claimed that the sanction of two central institutes was possible because of his persistent demand for an IIT in a backward but mineral-rich State like Orissa. The IIT will be established with an estimated cost of Rs 760 crore and the Central University Rs 1,000 crore.

4 comments March 30th, 2008

Coverage of Vedanta University in the international media

Vedanta University is covered in major news papers and magazines across the world:

Vedanta University master plan has won awards

March 30th, 2008

Glimpse of GOI’s plan for attracting good faculty to top institutes and central universities

Following is an excerpt from Economic Times.

Giving details of the measures, Secretary Higher Education R P Agarwal said Indians teaching abroad will be offered Ramanujan fellowship.

The fellowship would offer Rs 5 lakh for five years as research grant to them. Apart from this, they would be given a pay package of Rs 60,000 that would now be revised keeping the sixth pay commission in mind.

The acclaimed faculty teaching in India would be given the Bose fellowship. There would also be grants for paper presentation for all the faculty members, Agarwal said.

To strengthen the science stream, the research grant in the field would be increased.

"In India, only 2.9 per cent people are into research. Where as in US the percentage is 15 and in UK the figure is 25 per cent. Canada tops the list with 36 per cent and all these research works are done through their university system only in these countries," Agarwal added.

March 29th, 2008

Prof. L. M. Patnaik is the new VC of Defense Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36987.

Professor L.M. Patnaik today took over as the Vice Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune. Sixty-one year old Prof. Patnaik served as a Professor with the Department of Computer Science and Automation at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore since July 1986 before taking over the new assignment.

A doctorate in Computer Systems and Architecture, Prof. Patnaik brings with him a rich experience of 37 years at the IIS, Bangalore in Parallel and Distributed Computing, Computer Architecture, CAD of VLSI Systems, Theoretical Computer Science, Real-Time Systems, Soft Computing and Computational Neuroscience. He has published over 600 papers in international journals and conference proceedings and has been intimately involved in a large number of government-sponsored research projects. Besides Prof. Patnaik is a co-author of ten books in the areas of VLSI System Design and Parallel Computing. He has also been the President of the Advanced Computing and Communications Society and the Computational Intelligence Society of India.

Prof. Patnaik has won several awards and laurels including the Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research Award in 1989, the Fourth Sir C V Raman Memorial Lecture Award in 2000, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru National Award for Engineering and Technology in 1999, the FICCI Award for Innovation in Material Science, Applied Research and Space Science for 2001-2002 and the Indian Science Congress Association’s Srinivasa Ramanujan Birth Centenary Award for 2007-2008.

1 comment March 28th, 2008

State-wise exisiting and proposed marquee institutes and central universities

Below we list the existing the existing IITs (7), IISc (1), IISERs(5)/NISER(1), IIMs(6), Central Universities and the proposed new ones (9 IITs, 7 IIMs, 14 world class central univs -WCCU, 16 central univs). (We also list a few other marquee institutions.) The recently established ones are in green and the  new ones are in red.

  • 28 States               
    1.     Andhra Pradesh: CU Hyderabad, CU: Maulana Azad National Urdu Univ, CU – CIEFL; Workers Technical University – CU, IIT in Hyderabad, WCCU Vizag Kadapa Vizag
    2.     Assam and 7 other north-eastern states: CU: Assam University, CU: Tezpur University, IIT  Guwahati, WCCU GUwahati
      1. Arunachal Pradesh: CU
      2. Manipur: Central Agricultural University – Imphal, CU: Manipur University
      3. Meghalaya: CU – NEHU Shillong, IIM Shillong
      4. Mizoram: CU – Mizoram University Aizawl
      5. Nagaland: CU – Nagaland University
      6. Sikkim: CU – Sikkim University
      7. Tripura: CU – Tripura University
    3.     Bihar: IIT in Patna, WCCU Patna, CU
    4.     Chhattisgarh: IIM (Raipur), CU – Guru Ghasidas University Bilaspur
    5.     Goa: CU- Goa University
    6.     Gujarat: IIM Ahmedabad, IIT, WCCU Gandhinagar, CU
    7.     Haryana: IIM, CU
    8.     Himachal Pradesh: IIT, CU
    9.     Jammu and Kashmir: IIM, CU
    10.     Jharkhand: ISM Dhanbad, IIM, CU
    11.     Karnataka: IISc Bangalore, IIM Bangalore, WCCU Mysore, CU
    12.     Kerala: IIM Kozhikode, IISER Trivendrum, IIST Trivendrum, WCCU Kochi, CU
    13.     Madhya Pradesh: IIM Indore, IISER Bhopal, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University – Amarkantak, IIT in Indore, WCCU Bhopal, CU – Hari Singh Gaur University in Sagar
    14.     Maharashtra: CU: Mahatma Gandhi Antarashtriya Hindi Univ. Wardha,  IIT Bombay, IISER Pune,  WCCU Pune,
    15.     Orissa: NISER Bhubaneswar, IIT, WCCU Bhubaneswar, CU
    16.     Punjab: IISER Mohali,  IIT, WCCU Amritsar, CU
    17.     Rajasthan: IIT, WCCU Jaipur, CU
    18.     Tamil Nadu: IIT Madras, CU – Indian Maritime University, IIM Trichy, WCCU Coimbatore, CU
    19.     Uttarakhand: IIT Roorkee, IIM, CU
    20.     Uttar Pradesh: CU- AMU, CU – Allahabad University, CU – BHU, CU – Ambedkar Univ Lucknow, IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow, RGIPT, Rae Bareilly, IT BHU -> IIT , WCCU Noida
    21.     West Bengal: CU – Viswa Bharati University Shantiniketan,  IIT Kharagapur, IIM Calcutta, IISER Kolkata, WCCU Kolkata

             

  •  Union Territories        
    1.      Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    2.     Chandigarh
    3.     Dadra and Nagar Haveli
    4.     Daman and Diu
    5.     Delhi: IIT Delhi, CU: Delhi University, CU: JNU, CU: IGNOU, CU: Jamia Milia Islamia
    6.     Lakshadweep
    7.     Puducherry: CU – Pondicherry University

5 comments March 28th, 2008

IIT in Orissa, a world class central university and another central university (hopefully in KBK) announced by the center : PIB

Following is from a PIB press release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36955.

PRESS NOTE – STATES IDENTIFIED FOR LOCATING NEW CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE 11TH FIVE YEAR PLAN

11:55 IST

The 11th Five Year Plan, endorsed by the National Development Council in December, 2007, envisages, inter-alia, establishment of the following new higher education institutions in the Central sector:

A          Technical Education Institutions

·         8 Indian Institutes of Technology

·         7 Indian Institutes of Management

B          Central Universities

·         14  Universities aiming at world class standards

·         16  Universities in States which do not have a Central University at present

 

2.         Out of the above new institutions, location decisions had already been taken in the case of 4 IITs and one IIM. Hon’ble Prime Minister has since approved the proposals made by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, for the location of the remaining institutions as per the details given below.

Location of new IITs/ IIMs.

3.         Location of 4 IITs  (in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh),  and one IIM (at Shillong) have already been announced. The Central Government has now decided to locate the remaining 4 IITs and 6 IIMs in the following States :–

IITs –  Orissa, Madhya Pradesh (Indore), Gujarat and  Punjab

 IIMs –    Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Uttarakhand and Haryana In addition, it is also proposed to convert the Institute of Technology of the Banaras Hindu University   into an IIT.  Admission to this Institute is already based on the  IIT – Joint Entrance Examination.

Location of 14 World Class Universities

4.         As regards 14 Central Universities aiming at  world class standards, it has been considered necessary that these are located in or near selected large cities which would automatically have the kind of connectivity and infrastructure  which such universities would need.  Accordingly, it has been decided  to locate one such University in each of the 14 States/Region  as shown  in the  enclosed List, and to request concerned State Governments to identify adequate land in or near the  selected  cities.

Location of 16 Central Universities in Uncovered States        

5.         16 States which do not have a  Central University at present, and which will get one  Central University each  in the  11th Plan are  Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa.   Of these, in three States, existing State Universities will be taken over by the Central Government and converted into Central Universities. These   three Universities are   Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar (in Madhya Pradesh), Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur (in Chhattisgarh), and Goa University.

6.         Establishment of IITs, IIMs and Central Universities in the above States is subject to State Governments offering adequate   land at suitable locations, free of cost, for the purpose.  Each of the concerned State Government is being requested to offer land accordingly.  Actual establishment of these institutions would however depend, among other things, on how quickly the concerned State Governments respond  by allotting adequate land at suitable locations.

State-wise List of Cities Identified for locating 14 Central Universities during the  XIth Plan  which would aim to achieve  world class  standards

State                                        City

1.         Maharashtra                  –          Pune

2.         West Bengal                 –           Kolkata

3.         Tamil Nadu                    –           Coimbatore

4.         Karnataka                     –           Mysore

5.         Andhra Pradesh             –           Vishakapatanam

6.         Gujarat                          –           Gandhinagar

7.         Rajasthan                      –           Jaipur

8.         Bihar                             –           Patna

9.         Madhya Pradesh            –           Bhopal

10.        Kerala                           –           Kochi

11.        Punjab                          –           Amritsar

12.        Orissa                           –           Bhubaneshwar

13.        Uttar Padesh                 –           Greater NOIDA

14.        North Eastern Region  –  Guwahati

                                                            …..

Department of Higher Education, Ministry of HRD

PIB, New Delhi; Chatra 08, 1930,March 28, 2008

HB/VL/SB/conference28.3

5 comments March 28th, 2008

National Research Institute of Ayurveda Drug Development (NRIADD) to establish its complex in Bhubaneswar

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

The National Research Institute of Ayurveda Drug Development (NRIADD) would establish its own complex over three acres of land in the city.

… The institute was earlier functioning as the Central Research Institute (Ayurveda). Das, speaking on the occasion, stressed the importance of standardisation of medical research. She said that ayurvedic research should be upgraded by application of latest knowledge and should be linked to modern medical sciences for advancement.

On the goals of the institute, she said, it should develop into a centre of excellence in ayurveda where integrated team approach by the staff is important.

3 comments March 27th, 2008

Details on Vedanta University’s land aquisition: Sambada

March 26th, 2008

New Congress MP Ramachandra Khuntia asks PM for an IIT in Orissa

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Pioneer.

Clinching on to the opportunity of meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP from Orissa and AICC secretary Rama Chandra Khuntia on Tuesday urged him for setting up an IIT in State, allocation of adequate funds for construction work of AIIMS branch …

March 26th, 2008

Indian Govt. to allow IIT, IIM to offer courses via distance learning

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindustan Times.

The government has now allowed leading institutes — both, government-run and private — like the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management to offer their courses through distance learning programmes as well as classroom education.

The University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Distance Education Council (DEC) jointly decided to allow all educational institutions to offer distance education courses.

Institutes that want to set up distance learning programmes will need to get the approval of a joint committee of that the three regulatory bodies decided to set up earlier this month. The committee will help establish a ‘single window’ approach for institutes. “It is a big leap forward for high quality distance education,” said a UGC member.

“The mechanism would be in place in few months so that institutions can start offering online courses from the next academic year,” added another UGC official.

The AICTE has been entrusted with the job of monitoring distance education courses offered by institutions offering technical education whereas UGC will monitor universities, including deemed universities. The DEC will be the overall regulatory body for open education.

According to UGC, the committee will evolve a mechanism to monitor institutions conducting courses in distance learning.

It would identify thrust areas and develop curriculum and learning methods to bring uniformity to distance learning by laying down quality guidelines.

1 comment March 26th, 2008

More on Vedanta University’s R & R package

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

As per the announcement, steps would be taken to provide a model housing project for each of the displaced families, employment facility for each of displaced family and direct, indirect employment to members of the project affected families.

It was also decided that compensation to the tune of Rs 1 lakh per acre would be given subject to minimum compensation of Rs 2 lakh per acre. This will be in addition to the statutory compensation, solatium and interest under the LA Act.

Occupiers of Lord Jagannath land shall be paid Rs 1 lakh per acre. Landless agricultural labourers will be suitably engaged as unskilled construction workers under the contractors till March 2010. In the event that the project authorities are not able to provide such employment to the willing persons, a subsistence allowance of Rs 1,500 per month to the each family shall be provided from the date of physical possession of land up to March 2010, The list of such beneficiaries shall be identified by a joint survey to be undertaken by the district administration and project proponent.

Those who will lose their coconut trees will also be adequately compensated.

A judicious and rightful decision would be taken on the rate of each tree. Steps would be taken for the release of water. Those students who will show interest to read in DAV School, Puri will be provided with that opportunity. The facilities would be provided from the next academic year. Vedanta authorities are also considering to provide Rs 300 more to those old people who are availing the old age pension. Those who are not getting the old age pension will be given Rs 500 per month.

March 25th, 2008

MBA in Agri-Business at Utkal University

1 comment March 25th, 2008

Samaja op-ed: Need to change the plus two curriculum in Orissa

March 25th, 2008

Excerpts of Interview of XIMB director in Pagalguy

Following is an excerpt from http://www.pagalguy.com/index.php?categoryid=51&p2_articleid=1224.

What are the top 3 advantages of XIMB’s MBA programme that no other business school in the same league offers?

The top 3 advantages are:

a) Higher Industry Interaction and Corporate Linkages for the XIMB students by using platforms such as Immersion Courses, CEO Talks, etc. The Immersion Courses are specific course modules which are delivered by top Industry experts within a short span of 1-2 days while CEO talks are a series of seminars with top CEOs of the country and beyond.

b) Rigorous and intensive course curriculum which is highly adaptive and consistently upgraded and is extremely compatible with the industry needs and therefore provides the highest degree of relevance for study of the students and turns them into industry ready management professionals. Further, Technology intensive facilities like VSAT and Video Conferencing Platforms are used in order to augment learning process of the students.

c) Thrust and focus on establishing and maintaining high ethical standards in business and professional life and ensuring social sensitivity for the underdeveloped sections of the society and being a professional manager with a “Human Face”.

…

What were the XAT cutoffs at XIMB for the 2005 and 2006 PGP and PGPRM admissions? How does XIMB use sectional cutoffs for short listing candidates?

The XAT cutoffs at XIMB for PGP programme in 2005 and 2006 were 87.45 and 91.74 percentile respectively. PGPRM admissions are conducted through IRMA Entrance Test. For the year 2005 and 2006, IRMA has not released the cutoff marks. XIMB has an Admissions Committee comprising of Senior Faculty Members which every year scrutinizes analyses and then sets sectional cutoffs for short listing candidates as it relevant and necessary for that year.

…

How much is the quota for Orissa domicile students at XIMB and what is the XAT cutoff for this category?

The Institute gives some preference to domicile candidates to fulfill its social contract with the State of Orissa. The XAT cut off was close to 90 percentile for the domicile candidates for this year.

How would you address the concerns of a non-Orissa candidate with an admission offer about the dilution in batch quality due to the quota?

There is no dilution in standards of intake. The learning process imparts very high value and outcome is evident when 100 pc placements are achieved on Day-1 itself. Some domicile students who graduate from here do secure top 10 positions in the merit list.

…

How many full time faculty members does XIMB have? How does XIMB retain its best faculty?

XIMB has 47 full time faculty members. XIMB retains them by providing them the best compensation packages seen in India today, providing financial incentives for publications, paper presentations and other research work. Apart from that XIMB provides an excellent Quality of Life for them and their families on campus as well as supports them financially and institutionally for their PhD work, Research, and Consultancy as well as for undertaking Training and Development Programmes.

What are the pros and cons of being located in a relatively less-developed state like Orissa?

XIMB is located in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa. Bhubaneswar is extremely well connected by airlines, railways and Highways. Apart from that many IT majors like Infosys, Satyam, etc. as well as manufacturing entities like POSCO, Vedanta, NALCO, etc. are based out of Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar is considered to be one of the most rapidly developing cities in India. Therefore, there is no negatives but rather the presence of such high concentration of corporates makes Bhubaneswar and extremely viable and beneficial place for an institution like XIMB to grow.

What are the top 3 value propositions of studying Rural Management in XIMB as opposed to dedicated rural management schools like IRMA?

The top 3 value propositions are:

a) In Orissa, where more than 47 pc of people live Below the Poverty Line, the value of a Rural Management programme is highly relevant and necessary.

b) The practical and experiential aspect conducted in the PGPRM programme which is known as RLLE (Rural Living and Learning Experience) is extremely productive and highly acclaimed in the social sector.

c) CENDERET (Centre for Development Research & Training) is the social wing of XIMB which has pioneered and implemented successfully hundreds of social development programmes in the state of Orissa over the past decade. This on-campus exposure for the Rural Management students with CENDERET provides a practical basis for their learning which is unparalleled in any other organization across India.

How have the placement patterns evolved in PGPRM over the last two years?

Placements have evolved in PGPRM over the last two years in the following manner;
a) Number of placement offers has gone up from 68 in 2007 to 75 in 2008.
b) The mean salary has risen from 5.10 lakhs per annum in 2007 to 6.01 lakhs per annum in 2008.
c) The median salary has risen from 4.60 lakhs per annum in 2007 to 5.85 lakhs per annum in 2008.
d) The minimum salary has risen from 2.40 lakhs per annum in 2007 to 4.50 lakhs per annum in 2008.
e) The maximum salary has risen from 8.00 lakhs per annum in 2007 to 8.50 lakhs per annum in 2008.

Comments (1)

avatar byzantine – March 23, 2008 Its ironical how XIMB’s standards with reference to the domicile quota system get questioned time and again while other institutes which consistently get ranked above XIMB get away with even more reservation for local candidates (think delhi). And for the record, there are 5 students in the top-10 from the PGP class of 2008 who are Orissa domiciled (That includes the topper). Some of the best jobs on campus have gone to Oriyas as well. As a student who is about to graduate out of this wonderful place, I am yet to meet someone who I think doesn’t deserve to belong here. In a nutshell, although there is a small quota here, the gap in quality between the general candidates and the so called "reservation" candidates is next to negligible.

And by the way, I am not an Orissa domiciled student, so rest assured, this is an impartial view.

5 comments March 23rd, 2008

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