Odisha HRD

Madhusudan Inst. of Co-operative management: Admission notice in Samaja

June 14th, 2008

Some links on the new IITs

(Thanks to Dheeraj Sanghi for the pointers.)

• The project report of the new IITs (Aug 20, 2006)
• Circular about the 8 new IITs (9th May 2008)
• Press note with JEE 2008 results (May 30, 2008)
• JEE 2008 counseling brochure (June 2008)
• Annexure to the counseling brochure mentioning the six new IITs which may admit students this year (June 2008)

June 14th, 2008

IIMC will be upgraded as an International Media University

PIB press releases the following.

Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Shri P. R. Dasmunsi has said that ‘I am very happy to announce that we have decided to upgrade the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) as an International Media University. The Planning Commission has already approved the proposal and my Ministry is working to make this Institute into a world class media education, training and research University, by an Act of Parliament. This will fulfill the growing demand of the media industry to provide more trained and qualified professionals. He was delivering the convocation address at IIMC here today.’

NOTE: I am not sure about fate of IIMC Dhenkanal. In another development, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University has advertised for Vice-Chancellor post.

1 comment June 12th, 2008

Mathematics Institute to come up as a world class institution

The Pioneer reported the following.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the Institute of Mathematics and Application would be made a world class institute. "The new buildings of the institute and other infrastructure would be ready within one month," he said.
 
Patnaik said this while distributing prizes to the winners of the regional mathematic Olympiads in a glittering function at Jaydev Bhawan. "Mathematics plays an immense role in development of science and technology," he said, adding that the Mathematics Institute should play a pro-active role in spreading the knowledge of mathematics in the tribal dominated areas. "More tribals would come up to take up mathematics as a subject," he said.
 
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the eminent mathematician Professor Gokulananda Das. Science and Technology Minister Duryodhana Majhi, Professor Venkata Chela of Indian Science and Technology, Bangalore also delivered their speeches. Director of the Institute Professor Swadhin Patnaik delivered the welcome speech.
 
The Chief Minister gave away first prizes to Debakanta Mallick (1st) Anup Biswanth Dixit (2nd) of Bhubaneswar, Siddharth Satpahty ( 3rd) and Abinash Das (4th)

3 comments June 12th, 2008

Biju Patnaik Film & TV Institute: Ad in Samaja for admission in Dip. in Cinematography, Sound and TV Engineering and Film and video editing

June 12th, 2008

NISER looking for 20 apartments to house its faculty: Ad in Samaja

June 12th, 2008

Revival of Orissa Aviation institute is on the cards

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The Orissa government will sign an agreement with Gujarat’s Ahmedabad Aviation & Aeronautic Ltd (AAAL) in July to revive the Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) in the state. This will be done via public-private-partnership (PPP) with the newly floated AAAL company, HBE Global Avionoutic Ltd (GAL). The project will be done under the lease-develop-operate (LDO) financing model.

… Established in 1947 as a flying club, GATI used to impart training for student pilot licence, private pilot licence and commercial pilot licence. Passouts from the institute were placed in Indian Airlines, Air India, Kingfisher, Reliance, Deccan Aviation, Garg Aviation, IMFA and OSL. The institute, which became non-functional from 2005-06 owing to resignation of pilots and lack of government support, has two training aircraft, spacious hanger and runway space.

According to the PPP agreement, GAL will use the available facilities of the institute on a lease basis to train students. It will develop GATI as a full-fledged commercially viable state-of-the-art aviation academy capable of providing multi-level training for commercial pilots, aircraft maintenance, ground staff and cabin crews. The revenue sharing mechanism will be based on LDO model, while the state government will remain owner of all the movable and non-movable properties of the institute.

Nandalal Bhatia, chairman and managing director of Global Avionoutic, on Tuesday discussed the issue with Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik here.

1 comment June 12th, 2008

Orissa JEE 2008 (BPUT JEE 2008) result out! Where can I get a seat with my rank?

Most of you already know your result. But just in case the result is available at http://www.jeeorissa.com/jee_result.asp.

Now you will be wondering what you can get with your ranks. Its very hard to answer that question. You can get some idea from last years counseling data. (See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1157 for a ranking of Orissa engineering colleges.)

I had compiled the following last year for the GE category. (See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/508) That may give you some idea. But there are no guarantees and I do not have information on the other categories.

This is a continuation of our earlier effort. Following are the branches and colleges that no longer have any GE seats. On the side we mention in which counseling the seats got filled up and what are left. [Please note that when we mention that a certain branch got filled up in the range, say, 800-1200 that means it got filled in some rank in between that. It could have been filled up in rank 801 or rank 1200. I just don’t have the data to make that distinction.]

1. Ajay Binay (Comp Sc 8401-10000, Elec & TC 8401-10000, E & EE 10801-11700, AE&I 11701-12600, Elec 11701-12600, Mech 11701-12600) – ALL GE GONE by 12600
2. Balasore (Comp Sc 12601-13600, E & TC 12601-13600, IT  14701-15900, Mech 15901-17200, Mech 17201-18600) – ALL GE GONE by 18600
3. Bhadrakh Inst (Comp Sc 10801-11700, E & TC 10801-11700, IT 12601-13600, Elec 13601-14700, Mech 13601-14700, Civil 18601-20000) – ALL GE GONE By 20000
4. CV Raman  Bhubaneswar  (AE & I 2401-2800, Comp Sc 2001-2400, Electrical 2401-2800, Elec & TC 1601-2000, IT 2401-2800, Mech 3201-3600, Chemical 7201-7800, Marine 15901-17200) – ALL GE GONE by 17200
5. College of Engg. Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 3201-3600, Elect & TC 3201-3600, IT 3601-4100, E & EE 4501-5000, Mech 5501-6000, Civil 10801-11700) – ALL GE GONE by 11701
6. CET Bhubaneswar (Civil 1201-1600, Comp Sc 401-800, Electrical 401-800, I&E 1-400 (?), IT 801-1200, Mech 801-1200, Biotech 4101-4500, Textile 8401-10000, Fashion 13601-14700) – ALL GE GONE by 14700
7. DRIEMS, Cuttack (Comp Sc 6601-7200, Ele & TC 6601-7200, IT 8401-10000, Elec 10001-10800, AE&I 10801-11700) – ALL GE GONE by 11701
8. East Bhubaneswar (Elect & TC 4101-4500, Comp Sc. 5001-5500, IT 6001-6600, AE&I 8401-10000, Elect 8401-10000, Mech 10001-10800, Biomed 20001-21545) Env (4)
9. Gandhi Engineering College Bhubaneswar (ECE 3201-3600, Comp Sc 3601-4100, E & EE V, IT 4501-4500) – ALL GE GONE by 5000
10. Gandhi Institute for Technology Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 4501-5000, ECE 4501-5000, IT 5501-6000, E&EE 5501-6000) – ALL GE GONE by 6000
11. GIET Gunupur (Comp Sc 4501-5000, ECE 4501-5000, E & EE 5501-6000, IT 6601-7200, AE & I 7201-7800, Mech 7201-7800, Chem 14701-15900, Biotech 18601-20000) – ALL GE GONE By 20000
12. GITA Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 2401-2800, E & EE 2801-3200, IT 3201-3600, ECE 2401-2800, Electrical 4101-4500, Mech 4501-5000) – ALL GE GONE by 5000
13. Ghanashyam Hemlata, Puri (Comp Sc 8401-10000, E & TC 10001-10800, Elec 12601-13600, Mech 13601-14700) – ALL GE GONE By 14700
14. Gopal Krishna Jeypore () Civil (17), Elec (12), ECE (12)
15. IGIT Sarang (Elect 1601-2000, Mech 2401-2800, Metallurgy 4101-4500, Civil 4501-5000, Chemical 5001-5500) – ALL GE GONE 5500
16. Inst of Ad Comp Res, Raygada (Comp Sc 10801-11700, IT 12601-13600, ECE 14701-15900,  E & EE 14701-15900, Mech 18601-20000), Civil (29)
17. ITER Bhubaneswar (AE&I 1201-1600, Civil 3201-3600, Comp Sc 1201-1600, Electrical 1601-2000, E &EE 1201-1600, ELE & TC 1201-1600, IT 1201-1600, Mech 2401-2800) – ALL GE GONE by 3600
18. Jagannath Cuttack (Comp Sc 10001-10800, Elec & TC 10801-11700, Mech 13601-14700) – ALL GE GONE by 14700.
19. JITM Parlakheumndi (Comp Sc 10801-11700, ECE 11701-12600, IT 13601-14700, E & EE 13601-14700,  I & E 17201-18600, Mech 17201-18600) Chemical (10)
20. Konark Inst Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 7201-7800, Ele & TC 7201-7800, AE & I 10801-11700, Elec 10801-11700, Mech 10801-11700) – ALL GE GONE by 11700
21. Koustuva Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 7201-7800, E & EE 8401-10000, Elc & TC 8401-10000, IT 8401-10000,  Biomed 15901-17200) – ALL GE GONE by 17200
22. Krupajala Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 4101-4500, Elec & TC 4101-4500, IT 4101-4500, AE & I 5501-6000, Elec 5501-6000, Mech 6601-7200) – ALL GE GONE by 7200
23. Mahavir Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 7201-7800, Elec & TC 7801-8400, E & EE 8401-10000, IT 8401-10000, AE&I 11701-12600) Biomed (12)
24. Majighariani Rayagada (Comp Sc 15901-17200, IT 18601-20000, ECE 18601-20000, E & EE 20001-21545), Mech (11), Biotech (16)
25. Nalanda (Comp Sc 7801-8400, ECE 7801-8400, IT 8401-10000, Mech 10001-10800) – ALL GE GONE by 10800
26. NIST Berhampur (Comp Sc 2001-2400, E & EE 2401-2800, I & E 2801-3200, IT 2801-3200, ECE 2001-2400) – ALL GE GONE by 3200
27. NM IET Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 6001-6600, ECE 6601-7200,  E & EE 7201-7800, IT 7801-8400, Mech 10001-10800, Inst 12601-13600) – ALL GE GONE by 13600
28. Orissa Engineering College (Comp Sc 2401-2800, ELE & TC 2401-2800, IT 3201-3600, Electrical 3601-4100, Mech 4501-5000, Civil 10001-10800) – ALL GE GONE 10800
29. Orissa school of mining Engg Keonjhar (Elec 4101-4500, Mech 5001-5500, Mining 10801-11700) – ALL GE GONE by 11700
30. Padmanav Rourkela (Comp Sc 8401-10000, E & Tc 8401-10000, IT 8401-10000, E & EE 10001-10800) – ALL GE GONE 10800
31. Padmashree Baragarh (Comp Sc 15901-17200, Elec & TC 15901-17200, AE & I 18601-20000, Elec 20001-21545, Mech 20001-21545) – ALL GE GONE by 21545.
32. Purushottam Rourkela (Comp Sc 11701-12600, E & TC 11701-12600, IT 12601-13600,  E & EE 13601-14700, AE & I 14701-15900) – ALL GE GONE by 15900.
33. Rajdhani Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 7801-8400, IT 8401-10000, ECE 8401-10000, E & EE 10001-10800) – ALL GE GONE 10800
34. Roland Berhampur (ECE 7801-8400, Comp Sc 8401-10000, IT 10001-10800, E & EE 12601-13600, AE & I 13601-14700) – ALL GE GONE by 14700
35. Samanta Chandra Sekhar Koraput (Comp Sc 17201-18600) ECE (18), Elec (32), AE & I (36), Mech (31)
36. Sanjay Memorial Berhampur (Elec & Tc 10801-11700, E & EE 13601-14700, Elect 14701-15900, Mech 15901-17200, Civil 18601-20000) – ALL GE GONE By 20000
37. Satyasai Balasore (Comp Sc 14701-15900, Elec & TC 15901-17200), Mech (5)
38. Seemanta Mayurbhanj (Comp Sc 14701-15900, Elec & TC 14701-15900, Elec 17201-18600, Mech 17201-18600, I&E 18601-20000), Civil (4)
39. Silicon Bhubaneswar (AE & I 2001-2400, Comp Sc 1601-2000 , E & EE 1601-2000, ELE & TC 1201-1600, IT 1601-2000 ) – ALL GE GONE by 2400
40. Synergy Dhenkanal (Elec & TC 7201-7800, Comp Sc 7801-8400, IT 8401-10000,  Elec 10801-11700, Mech 10801-11700) – ALL GE GONE by 11700
41. Techno Bhubaneswar (Comp Sc 7801-8400, ECE 8401-10000, E & EE 10801-11700, AE & I 11701-12600) – ALL GE GONE by 12600
42. Trident Bhubaneswar (Elec & TC 3601-4100, Comp Sc 4101-4500, E & EE 4501-5000, Biomed 7201-7800) – ALL GE GONE by 7800
43. UCE Burla (Civil 1601-2000, Comp Sc 401-800, Electrical 801-1200, Elec & TC 401-800, IT 801-1200, Manu 2801-3200, Mech 1201-1600) – ALL GE GONE by 3200

256 comments June 12th, 2008

Several 5 year integrated masters courses at BJB: ad in Samaja

2 comments June 8th, 2008

IIT Bhubaneswar – Why pick it over IIT Patna, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Hyderabad and IIT Punjab : Part II

The following is from our page http://iitbbsr.orissalinks.com/future.htm, where we look at factors that will shape the future of IIT Bhubaneswar.

IIT Bhubaneswar will be mentored by IIT Kharagpur for three years. Initial information suggests that the first year of classes will be held in IIT Kharagpur and the students will stay with the IIT Kharagpur students in one of the hostels. Most likely they will stay in the MMM Hall.

After one year, when they move to Bhubaneswar they will be able to bring with them some of the culture and traditions of IIT Kharagpur and the student  life there. Some highlights of those are : (i) Illumination and Rangoli (ii)  Spring Fest  (iii)  Techno-management festival (iv)  Hall day (v) Hostel libraries  (vi) Wing culture (vii) General championship (viii) Hall and Gymkhanna elections (ix) Hall GBMs and budgets and their spending (x) Scholars Avenue fortnightly newspaper (xi) Equal relationship between juniors and seniors – no calling seniors as Sir, bhai, bhaiyya, dada, etc.

The most important of these culture and traditions is the equal relationship between students at IIT Kharagpur. There every student is equal and no student fears another student. There are no big bosses or connected students in the campus who are feared by other students. Juniors call seniors by the same name that others call them; with no addition of a "bhaiyya" or "Sir." There are no physical fights in the campus. There are rivalries though; often centered around sports and cultural competitions; but NO physical fights.

This is in contrast to most other college campuses in India where students defer to their seniors and there are some students in campus to whom every body is afraid of. Thus it is great that the first batch of IIT Bhubaneswar students will spend a year in IIT Kharagpur and bring back with them the fear-free non-violent culture of the IIT Kharagpur campus.

With Professor Damodar Acharya at the helm of IIT Kharagpur, the mentoring of IIT Bhubaneswar is in good hands. Prior to being the director of IIT Kharagpur, Professor Acharya was the AICTE Chairman in Delhi and prior to that the vice-Chancellor of Biju Patnaik University of Technology, then operating from Bhubaneswar. Thus one can infer that he is well known and well connected in both Bhubaneswar and Delhi circles and this is a big advantage. For example, his suggestion that the Orissa government allocate more than the 500 acres, which the central government required, was received warmly and the Orissa government is indeed looking for a land of at least 1000 acres for IIT Bhubaneswar. So far, none of the other new IITs are thinking along those lines. Having extra land is very important as it will allow further growth of the IITs, which are being built for decades if not centuries to come. Decades later, IIT Bhubaneswar will have Prof. Acharya to thank for this foresight.

IIT Kharagpur, only 321 kms and 4.5-5hrs away from Bhubaneswar, and with 30+ trains, has many other ties with Bhubaneswar and Orissa. It has an extension center in Bhubaneswar from where it offers a PG Diploma in Information Technology and a 1.5-year part-time Diploma in intellectual property law. IIT Kharagpur professors have signed an MOU to develop a perspective plan of the Bhubaneswar metroplex and are involved in many other projects in Orissa. More than 50 faculty at IIT Kharagpur, including the Director and at least two Deans, are natives of Orissa. Thus faculty and leadership of IIT Kharagpur are familiar with Bhubaneswar and Orissa and their aspirations and are in a good position to mentor IIT Bhubaneswar. (There are many Orissa origin faculty at the various IITs and IISc who may also help IIT Bhubaneswar.)

Looking forward to the future IIT Bhubaneswar’s progress will be partly shaped by its competition and collaboration with three other marquee universities and institutions that are being established in the Bhubaneswar area.

• National Institute of Science Education Research (NISER)
• Proposed world class central university in Bhubaneswar
• Vedanta University

NISER is a DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) funded institute that is admitting its second batch of students this year in 2008. The Prime Minister Dr. Mammohan Singh, while announcing the setting up of NISER said: "NISER will be at par with the IISER being established in other places but will operate under the umbrella of DAE. … When completed, I am confident that the National Institute of Science Education and Research will become a Mecca for science just as TIFR and IISc are today." Incidentally, NISER has a higher initial budget of 823.19 crores than the 500 crore budget of each of the IISERs, the 760 crore budget of each of the new IITs and the 720 crore budget of each of the WCCUs. With interdisciplinary research becoming key to solve complex grand challenges, like IISc, NISER will soon branch out to interdisciplinary centers and technological departments. With IITs also having scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary centers, down the road, IIT Bhubaneswar and NISER Bhubaneswar are expected to collaborate and compete with each other. This will drive both to excellence.

Recently, establishment of 14 world class central universities were announced. One of those will be in Bhubaneswar. These world class universities will have a school of medicine, and are expected to have a school of science, a school of engineering, a school of management as well as a school of liberal arts. It is said that these world class universities will be nurtured to compete with Harvard and Cambridge Universities. If that happens, the WCCU in Bhubaneswar will definitely collaborate and compete with IIT Bhubaneswar and NISER Bhubaneswar and this will drive all of them to excellence.

As of now Bhubaneswar is the only metropolitan area of the country which will have a science institute (NISER), an IIT and a WCCU. The metro areas that will have two of them are: Kolkata (an IISER and a WCCU), Pune (an IISER and a WCCU), Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar (an IIT and a WCCU), Chandigarh (an IISER and an IIT), Delhi-NOIDA (an IIT and a WCCU), Patna (an IIT and a WCCU), Guwahati (an IIT and a WCCU) and Bhopal (an IISER and a WCCU). Along with some of these metro areas Bhubaneswar will also have an AIIMS (like institute) with a budget of 332 crores as well as a IIIT.

The above is a projection to the future. But the ground reality is that it will take time for a new IIT in Bhubaneswar to catch up with the existing IITs in many respects. The existing IITs not only have an existing infrastructure and history, but also an alumni base that contributes to their growth and development. Same with respect to NISER and the well established IISc Bangalore. However, Bhubaneswar has one more trump card: the Vedanta University, that is coming up in Puri, about 40 kms and less than an hour from the outer edges of Bhubaneswar.

Vedanta University is a brainchild of industrialist Anil Agarwal, who has pledged a $1 Billion (i.e., Rs. 4,000 crores) towards it and envisions a budget of $3 Billion (i.e., Rs 12,000 crores) in making that university. The budget of this university is illuminating in its scale in that just the pledged 4,000 crores is close to the sum of the budget of two new IITs (760*2 = 1520 crores), a new IISER (500 crores), two new WCCUs (720*2=1440 crores), a new AIIMS (332 crores), and a new IIM (210.25 crores). However, the aim of the Vedanta University is to be like Stanford University and have a similar impact. In 2007, Stanford had an operating expense of $2.9 billion, an operating revenue of $3.2 billion, endowment of $17.2 billion and total asset of $29.3 billion. Hence, the 4,000 crores pledge by Anil Agarwal is only the cost of the initial phases of the Vedanta University and despite the cost differential between the US and India, to be comparable with Stanford, Vedanta University needs the 12,000 crores and perhaps more. However, the Anil Agarwal foundation has the foresight to acquire 6000+ acres of land (comparable to Stanford University’s 8180 acres) and build a city of 500,000 around the University with research parks similar to Stanford Research Park. The real estate holdings of the planned city will be able to provide Vedanta University with a sizeable endowment to realistically aim to become the Stanford of India. In the following interview of Anil Agarwal by a New York area PBS station, one can hear from the horse’s mouth about his vision for Vedanta University (starting at 3:20).

There is a high possibility that Vedanta University will not only play a significant role in Bhubaneswar and Orissa, but in all of India. Its private financing, sound financial model, lofty goals and an unprecedented donation of $1 billion, makes it likely to actually be able to hire top professors and nobel laureates, have graduate programs that rank high at the international level and produce graduates that will populate the premiere institutions and universities of India. This is relevant to the development of IIT Bhubaneswar in particular and all the IITs in general because there is a severe shortage of good academics to fill all the available positions in the IITs (and the WCCUs). In this the proximity of IIT Bhubaneswar to Vedanta University would put it at an advantage as many graduates of the later may prefer to remain in the area and maintain collaboration with their mentors and many may join IIT Bhubaneswar just to be close to Vedanta University.

Thus, with competition from, collaboration with, and synergies associated with NISER, WCCU and Vedanta University, IIT Bhubaneswar has a chance to excel and become one of the top IITs in the country. And if (a big if, but not impossible) all these institutes achieve their stated goals, then the Bhubaneswar-Puri area will have equivalents of a Stanford (Vedanta University), MIT (IIT Bhubaneswar), Berkeley (WCCU Bhubaneswar) and CalTech (NISER Bhubaneswar).

11 comments June 8th, 2008

An Essay on IIT Bhubaneswar : Why pick it over IIT Patna, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Hyderabad and IIT Punjab

Following is from the pages of IIT Bhubaneswar information web site (set up by us well-wishers of IIT Bhubaneswar).

A brand new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is currently being established in Bhubaneswar, the vibrant, modern, capital city of Orissa. It is among the six new IITs that are scheduled to start classes this year. (The others are: IIT Hyderabad, IIT Patna, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Punjab and IIT Gandhinagar.) Bhubaneswar IIT is uniquely placed to become one of India’s top IITs within a decade.

This fledging institution will be the heart of Bhubaneswar, a burgeoning, modern city in eastern India with a population of 16.36 lakhs. It has all the amenities of a world-class metropolis: wide roads, luxury hotels, malls, restaurants, clubs, bookshops, museums, gardens, water parks and fountains. A picturesque city with boulevards, gardens and fountains, Bhubaneswar seems to have it all, minus the traffic, water problems, power cuts and the mega slums that dot most cities of India. It is well connected to the rest of the country by air, rail, and road.

Orissa’s famed temples dot the landscape, and world famous attractions such as UNESCO world heritage site Konark, Puri beach, and Chilika lake and bird sanctuary are only an hour away. Bhubaneswar is one of India’s major tourist hubs with history and geography right by its side. The Rock edicts of Ashoka are at one end of the city in Dhauli, right by the Daya river, while the picturesque Chandaka-Dampara sanctuary, as big as Bhubaneswar itself, lies adjacent on the west bordering the mighty Mahanadi. To the north is the garden of the Gods, Nandankanan, and the Kathjodi river, separating Bhubaneswar from its twin, the millennium city of Cuttack.

With all major Indian software firms such as Infosys, Satyam, TCS, Wipro, Mindtree and Hexaware setting shop here, Bhubaneswar is also the eastern India’s IT hub. It is the East Coast Railway (ECOR) HQ and has headquarters of various private and public sector companies such as Navaratna NALCO, POSCO-India and Dhamara Port Company Ltd. Four major industrial clusters are about 100 kms from Bhubaneswar in each of the four directions: Kalinganagar to the North, Paradeep to the east, Chhatrapur to the South and Angul-Talcher to the west. With Orissa leading the country in investment, bagging 30 percent of the total investment in India in the last quarter (fourth quarter of 2007-08), mainly in the industrial and infrastructure sector, Bhubaneswar is abuzz with optimism.

Yet what sets Bhubaneswar apart is its rise to prominence as India’s foremost knowledge hub. The metropolitan area is already home to Utkal University, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Ravenshaw University, Utkal University of Culture, KIIT Deemed University, Siksha `O’ Anusandhan deemed University, Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB), and an International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT). Existing research institutions in the Bhubaneswar metropolitan area include the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Life Sciences, the Institute of Mathematics and Applications, the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, the Central Rice Research Institute, the Central Institute of Fresh Water Aquaculture, and the Regional Medical Research Center.

Several national level institutes have recently been established or are being established in Bhubaneswar. Besides IIT Bhubaneswar, they include the National Institute of Science, Education and Research (NISER), which is equivalent to the IISERs but funded by the DAE, and which is currently admitting its second batch of students, an AIIMS-like institute, and a centrally funded World Class Central University (WCCU). At present Bhubaneswar is the only city in India that is scheduled to have an IIT, a science institute (NISER) and a WCCU; a IIIT and an AIIMS-like institute are additional pluses. In addition, the Anil Agarwal foundation is establishing Vedanta University in Puri, which is about 40 kms from the outer edges of Bhubaneswar. It has a budget of $3 Billion (Rs. 12,000 crores) and includes a personal pledged donation of $1 Billion (Rs 4,000 crores) by Mr. Anil Agarwal. Vedanta University is envisioned to be India’s answer to Stanford and Harvard. Other universities that are coming up in the Bhubaneswar area include ICFAI University, Sri Sri University, National Law University and Orissa Open University. At the college level, the Bhubaneswar area has 30+ engineering colleges with another 20+ in the pipeline and four existing medical colleges (SCB, KIIT, SUM, Hi-Tech) with several more in the pipeline.

IIT Bhubaneswar will admit students in three disciplines in 2008: civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. In case one may wonder, why civil engineering, instead of computer science that four of the other new IITs are having, one just needs to think of China and Beijing and imagine how far India has to go in terms of infrastructure development and the role of civil engineers in that development. This interview with Anil Agarwal is illuminating in that respect. (He also talks about his vision of Vedanta University.)

IIT Bhubaneswar students will be housed in IIT Kharagpur for the first year, which will act as the mentoring institution of IIT Bhubaneswar for a period of three years. During their stay these students will gain exposure to the established academic and cultural environment of the largest and oldest IIT, which they will carry home to IIT Bhubaneswar.

The Orissa government is extremely supportive of IIT Bhubaneswar and has committed to provide 1000 acres of land so as to accommodate future growth of this IIT. The 1000 acres is double the 500 acres required by the central government, and double the size of the other new IITs. Thus IIT Bhubaneswar will be the second largest IIT, after IIT Kharagpur. With the inherent advantages in terms of its location in the midst of rivers, forests and sanctuaries; as the heart of a rapidly growing and industrializing city and state; surrounded and to be driven to excellence by the competition from NISER, WCCU and Vedanta University; and a supportive state government that has put Bhubaneswar in the path of making it the knowledge-hub of the country; IIT Bhubaneswar holds the promise of being the best among the new IITs and becoming one of India’s top five IITs within a few years!

10 comments June 6th, 2008

IIT Bombay mentoring IIT Indore?

Update: As per Economic Times, IIT Bombay has expressed its inability to mentor the IIT in Indore this year as it is already mentoring IIT Gandhinagar.

Business standard reported the following.

……the human resource development ministry is planning to do away with the "society" system for the new IITs to hasten the process.

To award degrees, a body must be a university that is created under the central or state legislature. IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) were created by a special Act of Parliament permitting them to award diplomas. They existed as "societies" and were later converted into an institute of national importance by calling them IITs and IIMs.

By doing away with the "society" requirement, the ministry can directly incorporate the new institutions into the IIT Act and declare them institutes of national importance, equivalent to universities capable of awarding degrees.

…….IIT Bombay will be mentoring two new IITs to come up in Gujarat and Indore, while IIT-Kharagpur will be mentoring IIT-Orissa for three years.

12 comments June 6th, 2008

DAV Chandrasekharpur students do well

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

… students of Chandrasekharpur DAV Public School have shown remarkable excellence and brought glory to the school and also to the State. The State’s topper of Standard XII CBSE examination, Soumyashant Nayak, snatched the All India topper position in the examination conducted by Indian Statistical Institute. He has the credit of being the first student from the State to get such honour. This year, 23 students from the country and three from the State have qualified for the same. Ten students of the school, who have qualified in the IIT examination, are Aditya Acharya, Sovam Nayak, KV Suddodhan, Soumyashant Nayak, Sanjay Nanda, Ranjan Bhuyan, Sumeet Dandapat, Pankaj More, Padmaja Thatoi and Sonali Patnaik. Keeping pace with the tough competitions, 11 students of the school have placed themselves in the top 100 students of the State in the AIEEE-2008.

June 6th, 2008

AIEEE 2008 Counseling: What can I get with my rank?

The opening and closing rank of 2007, at http://ccb.nic.in/CCB2008/OrCr/Stream.htm, may give you some idea. However, there are no guarantees. The Counseling website is http://ccb.nic.in/CCB2008/welcome.html.

332 comments June 5th, 2008

IIT JEE 2008 Counselling brochure and information on the new IITs

The counseling brochure is at http://www.jee.iitb.ac.in/CBrochure.pdf. But it has only information on three of the six new IITs where classes will start this year. Information on all the six new IITs where classes will start this year are at http://www.jee.iitb.ac.in/newiit.html. We copy the information from that site below. (We will provide additional information on IIT Bhubaneswar – misspelled as IIT Bhuvaneswar- in this site.)

Admission to New IITs:

The Government of India has announced setting up of 8 more new IITs in the 11th plan.  Admissions in the following six new IITs, subjected to the approval@ of the competent authority of the Govt. of India, is likely to take place during the counselling session of JEE 2008. To begin with, each new IIT will admit students in the B Tech programmes in three  branches only and the corresponding course codes for filling choice sheet is given in the table below. The academic programmes at these new IITs will commence in July/August 2008. The curriculum and syllabus as well as the fee structure and other rules for the new IITs will be broadly same as that of the respective mentor IITs.

*40 seats [20+11+6+3;(1)] are available in each course.
@ If for any unforeseen reason the start of any new IIT is delayed, admission to that IIT will not be taken up during counseling session of JEE 2008.

The first year classes for IIT Punjab, IIT Rajasthan and IIT Bhuvaneswar will be conducted at the campuses of the respective mentor IITs. In the second year, the students from the above three IITs will be shifted to their respective locations. Classes for other new IITs will be conducted in the cities where the new IITs are located.

IIT Patna

IIT Patna’s campus will be on the outskirts of Patna in a 600 acre campus. Classes will start in 2008 from a temporary campus in Navin Govt. Polytechnic, Patliputra Nagar, a posh area of Patna. The campus will have 45000 sq ft of space. Two hostels to house boys and girls are also available next to the academic area. Faculty from IIT Guwahati will take the classes. It is expected that all operations will shift to the main campus by July 2010.

IIT Rajasthan

The location of the new IIT in Rajasthan will be announced by the Government of India. In the meantime, IIT Kanpur would be acting as the mentor institute of IIT Rajasthan.. Till the required infrastructure comes up, the classes will be held at the IIT Kanpur campus, after which the students will be relocated to the place in Rajasthan where the new IIT gets established. The students taking admission to the new IIT Rajasthan, along with their parents, will be required to give an undertaking to this effect.
For the benefit of the aspiring applicants, further details of the academic programs and other procedures on IIT Rajasthan will be made available on the website of IIT Kanpur (www.iitk.ac.in/iitj) very soon. In the meantime, any queries can be made by sending e-mail to: iitj@iitk.ac.in or by calling at: (+91)-512-259-6244 (Tele-Fax).

IIT Gandhinagar

IIT Gandhinagar, in Gujarat, is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Gujarat is known for excellent infrastructure with thriving industries, prestigious academic and research institutes and an ambience which encourages entrepreneurship. IIT Bombay has been identified as the mentoring institution for the IIT in Gujarat. Till the campus of the new IIT in Gujarat gets established, the classes will be held within the premises of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College, Chandkheda, which is within the municipal limits of Gandhinagar. Students will be provided with residential and other facilities at a temporary location. The curriculum will be similar to that of IIT Bombay with some differences until the time the academic bodies of the new IIT is in place. Fee structure will be same as that of the mentoring Institute

IIT Bhuvaneswar

IIT Bhuvaneswar is one amongst the new IITs proposed by Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. Its location will be intimated in due course and the academic programme will start from 24 July 2008 in the IIT Kharagpur campus. After completion of first year in IIT Kharagpur, the students will be shifted to new location where IIT Bhuvaneswar will be established. The first year fee structure will be same as that of IIT Kharagpur.

IIT Punjab

IIT Punjab is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India.  Its location will be known in due course of time and the academic session 2008-2009 will start on July 23, 2008.    The curriculum, course structure and syllabus for the first year courses will be broadly as per that at IIT Delhi.  The first year fee structure will also be same as that at IIT Delhi.  Classes will initially start at IIT Delhi campus, and subsequently the students will be relocated to its new location as soon as IIT Punjab is established.   The students will have to move to the new place and they will not be accommodated at IIT Delhi campus; an undertaking to this effect will have to be given at the time of joining.

36 comments June 4th, 2008

NISER Bhubaneswar (National Institute of Science Education & Research) advertises for regular positions

Following is from http://niser.iopb.res.in/careers/. The ad in pdf format is at http://niser.iopb.res.in/careers/niser-fac-08.pdf. (Thanks to Debendra babu for the pointer.)

Faculty Positions at NISER
Invitation to be part of a new initiative in science education

The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) has been setup at Bhubaneswar by the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India to be a unique institution of its kind pursuing undergraduate and post-graduate education in science combined with frontline research. The Government of India has made a very generous financial outlay to NISER for the purpose of setting up state-of-the-art research facilities in all branches of basic science and to promote interdisciplinary areas of research.

NISER is being setup in a sprawling 300 acre campus about 3 km from Khurda Road Railway Station on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar overlooking Barunei Hills. It will be a fully residential campus with modern living amenities including children’s school and health centre. Presently NISER operates from the campus of Institute of Physics, a premier research institution funded by the Department of Atomic Energy. The Institute of Physics has vibrant research programmes in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics, condensed matter physics and high energy physics. The infrastructure includes well established library, computer centre, 3MV Pelletron accelerator, a high resolution TEM and several other state-of-the-art instruments for experimental condensed matter research (for details see www.iopb.res.in).

NISER’s own academic block of about 5000 m² area is under construction in the Institute of Physics campus which will also provide research laboratories for the faculty. Until NISER operates from the Institute of Physics campus, it may provide limited residential accommodation within the town. It is expected to move to the main campus by the academic session of 2011-12.

NISER invites applications from extremely motivated Indian scientists with a high-profile research agenda and a flair for teaching (especially at the undergraduate level) for the following faculty positions bearing scale of pay given against each:

Qualifications: Ph.D. in any area of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics

Experience: One/two years postdoctoral research and/or teaching experience is desirable for Assistant Professor Grade. For higher grades it should be appropriate to the positions applied for.

The age of superannuation is 65 years. The scale of pay is under revision. In addition to the basic salary, NISER faculty is entitled to allowances as admissible to Central Government Employees stationed at Bhubaneswar and to the DAE’s update allowance, which is currently Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000 per year depending on the scale of pay. They will also receive other fringe benefits (like Relocation Grant, Reimbursement of telephone charges, financial support to attend national/international Conferences/Seminars/Workshops, etc.) which will be comparable to the best in the country.

NISER has sufficient funds to provide seed money to the new faculty to start their research programme. In addition the Department of Atomic Energy provides generous grants from its Prospective Research Fund to bright young scientists.

Interested candidates may apply enclosing:

• Curriculum Vitae
• List of Publications (with reprints of important papers as pdf files)
• Names and addresses (with e-mail and fax number) of at least three referees
• A statement of purpose and research programme

The qualification and experience prescribed are the minimum and mere possession of the same does not entitle a candidate to be considered for any position. However, the experience criteria may be relaxed for exceptionally meritorious candidates.

Applications should be sent by e-mail to careers@niser.iopb.res.in marking "Faculty in (branch)" in the subject field (branch being one of the disciplines mentioned above). This is an open advertisement and there is no time limit for sending the application, but the applications received will be taken up for consideration at regular intervals. Candidates are advised to request the Referees to send their letters of recommendations (preferably signed versions as pdf file) directly to NISER at the above e-mail address. Those having regular job in any organization should also send a "No Objection Certificate" from the current employer in electronic form.

All correspondence should be addressed to the above e-mail address only (or any other e-mail address that is notified on the NISER website in future). No postal correspondence is required at any stage. Enquiry regarding the outcome of the application is generally discouraged.

9 comments June 3rd, 2008