Archive for September, 2009
Update 3: Expressbuzz mentions that the unergraduate program under discussion will be at Bangalore. Following are some excerpts.
The Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) much-anticipated Undergraduate (UG) programme is most likely to be held at the institute’s Bangalore campus, and not at its proposed campus at Chitradurga.
This is part of a series of changes that the Institute incorporated into the original plan to bring on board faculty members who had expressed reservations on the programme.
… The revised proposal fleshes out details of the UG programme, and expands on proposals mentioned in the earlier one. To allay faculty fears, the new proposal specifies that the UG programme will not compromise the institute’s postgraduate nature, by limiting admissions to around 100 per year. “In the next 5 years, the envisaged undergraduate student population of the IISc will never exceed a number (400-500) which is more than 20 per cent of the post graduate population,” says the proposal.
Thanks to Abi for the pointer.
Update2: See http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com/2009/09/undergraduate-program-at-iisc.html for more links and past coverage on this.
Update: There have been some earlier news that the undergraduate program will be in a new campus at Chitradurga which is 200 kms from Bangalore. Chitradurga is to the North West of Bangalore. (Mysore is to the south west.)
Following are excerpts from a report in the Telegraph by Charu Sudan Kasturi.
… IISc is planning to introduce a unique four-year, research-based undergraduate programme, including interaction between the students and its researchers,
… The draft course prepared by the institute received the stamp of approval from the faculty at a meeting on September 2.
… The institute is hoping the undergraduate programme emerges a model for other institutions involved in higher education and research to follow. It will be titled a bachelors in science (BS) programme in a specialisation of the student’s choice — for instance in physics, chemistry or biology.
… IISc sources were tight-lipped about the selection process they plan to use to pick students for the course, but said it would be restricted to around 500 of the “brightest” students interested over the first five years.
… The undergraduate course structure drafted by the institute will in the first three years — over six semesters — aim at strengthening basic knowledge of classical scientific, mathematical and engineering subjects in students.
Students will have to study humanities — they can pick from courses in areas of history, philosophy, sociology and the management of science and technology.
After the first three semesters, students will have to pick a “stream” of their choice — a subject within the sciences and engineering that they wish to pursue in greater detail than other subjects.
While majoring in their chosen stream, students continue to study a certain minimum number of courses in other streams — to keep the course inter-disciplinary.
The final year of the course will largely be devoted to a research project each student must undertake.
September 6th, 2009
Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad is ranked 15 in 2009 in Global MBA rankings by Financial Times, UK. It had a ranking of 20 in 2008. At 15 it is ranked higher than business schools at Cambridge, Yale, Oxford, Northwestern, Duke, Michigan, Berkeley, etc. In contrast none of the IIMs appear in the top 100.
While comparing IIMs to ISB, following are two aspects that stand out.
1. The faculty salary: Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India that compares the salary of assistant professors at ISB with that of assistant professors at IIM and Harvard.
The memorandum says an assistant professor (AP) at Harvard gets $140,000 as annual starting pay, equivalent to Rs 23 lakh and Indian School of Business (ISB) pays over Rs 20 lakh to its APs. Against this, an IIM-A AP gets only Rs 5.5 lakh as starting pay annually.
$140,000 at Rs 48.9 per USD is Rs 68.5 lakh. So the mention above that it is equivalent to Rs 23 lakh must be based on purchasing power parity. Lets verify that.
As per this page the nominal GDP of India in 2008 is $1,209.686 Billion and as per this page the PPP GDP of India in 2008 is $3,288.345 Billion. So while 1 USD = Rs 48.9 nominally, using PPP 1 USD has the purchsing power of 48.9/2.71834592 = 17.99. Thus $140K has the purchasing power of 140K*17.99 = 25.18 lakhs.
So ISB’s salary for assistant professors at Rs 20 lakhs/year is about 80% of the salary paid to assistant professors at Harvard taking PPP conversion rate into account.
2. The governance: The following excerpt from Ila Patnaik’s article articulates the impact of governance on ISB’s ranking.
There is only one university in India which has autonomy on budget setting, recruits its own students, has flexible HR policies, etc., and this is the Indian School of Business. It is perhaps logical that, in 2008, ISB was ranked the 20th best MBA programme by The Financial Times, and in 2009 this rank was improved to 15. None of the IIMs feature anywhere. This is a striking contrast between enormous state expenditures on the IIMs failing to yield measurable results when compared with an alternative which has landed India in the top rankings of the world.
The Vedanta University bill allows it to have the governance structure that is mentioned in Ila Patnaik’s article.
In regards to being able to pay world class (purchasing power equivalent) salaries two aspects of Vedanta University will allow that: the initial donation of $1 Billion by Mr. Anil Agarwal (CNBC-TV18 recently interviewed him) and the resources that can be generated from the townships planned around the university.
The large number of students, eventually to reach 100000, will allow Vedanta University to offer some faculty (say Nobel laurates or would be Nobel laurates) more than (in nominal terms, not just PPP) their current salaries and thus lure them to Vedanta University.
September 6th, 2009
Following is an excerpt based on a report in The New Indian Express:
Academic faculty within institutions have proved to be a big hurdle in ushering in changes in the research universities in India, charged Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Director Prof P Balaram .
Speaking at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics here on Tuesday, he said, “What we have found is that opposition to reform comes from academic faculty members within the institute, who are more comfortable maintaining the status quo.”
Prof Balaram pointed that in the ranking of world universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, IISc was the best performing Indian university ranking between 300 and 350.
He also pointed that in 2003 the institute’s ranking was between 251 and 300. “So does this mean that our institute is going down, or that other institutes are going up, or that we are going up slower than other institutes,” he asked.
On steps to improve research in Indian universities, he said that academic faculty members must be open to the idea of change. Besides this, institutes need to get their administrative structure sorted out. “Right now, we are at a stage where there is a lot of interest from the political class to strengthen the higher education system,” he said.
Prof Balaram also said that ideal universities must include teaching along with research, both at the undergraduate and post-graduate level.
“Teaching and research are two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, today universities have restricted themselves to teaching just post-graduate courses,” he said. Prof Balaram also lamented at the fragmentation of disciplines at traditional universities.
“In Karnataka for instance, we now have a specialised university for law, engineering, medicine, Ayurveda, and music. The traditional university is now restricted to just basic sciences and humanities, essentially leaving it to be ignored,” he lamented.
September 3rd, 2009
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri area:
- Ajay Binay Institute of Technology Cuttack (ABT) Pvt.
- Aryan Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mouza: Barakuda, Post Panchagoan, Bhubaneswar-752 050
- Apex Institute of Technology & Management, Pahal Bhubaneshwar (APT) Pvt.
- Bhubaneswar Engineering College Khurda (BEC) Pvt.
- Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology, Plot No 4, Village Harapur, Khurda, Pin- 752 054
- BRM International Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (BII) Pvt.
- C. V. Raman College of Engineering Bhubaneswar (CVR) Pvt.
- Central Institute of Plastics Engineering And Technology Bhubaneswar (CPT) Govt.
- Centurian Institute of Technology Khurda (CIK) Pvt.
- College of Engineering & Technology Bhubaneswar (CET) Govt.
- College of Engineering Bhubaneswar Bhubaneshwar (CEB) Pvt.
- Dhaneswar Rath Institute of Engineering and Management Studies Tangi, Cuttack (DRM) Pvt.
- Eastern Academy of Science & Technology Phulnakhara, Khurda (EAS) Pvt.
- Einstien Academy of Tech. & Management (EATAM) Bania Tangi Bhubaneswar
- Eklavya College of Tech., and Sci., At Kusumati PO Jatni Bhubaneswar Khurda
- Gandhi Engineering College Bhubaneswar (GEC) Pvt.
- Gandhi Institute for Education & Technology, At Banlatangi, P.O. Bajpur, Dist : Khurda-752060
- Gandhi Institute for Technology Bhubaneswar (GIF) Pvt.
- Gandhi Institute of Technological Advancement Badaraghunathpur, Bhubaneswar (GIB) Pvt.
- Gandhi Institute of Technology & Management Khurda (GIK) Pvt.
- Ghanashyama Hemalata Institute of Technology & Management Chhaitana Puri (GHT) Pvt.
- Gurukula College of Engineering for Women (GCEM) At- Jamuhari Chhatabar, Bhubaneshwar Dist- Khurda Odisha
- Gurukul Institute of Technology,Janla Bhubaneswar (GKT) Pvt.
- Hi-Tech College of Engineering, Rasulghar, Pandara Bhubaneswar
- Hi-Tech Institute of Technology Khurda (HIT) Pvt.
- Indic Institute of Design & Research Khurda (IID) Pvt.
- Indotech College of Engineering, Plot No. 144, AT/PO Mallipada, Via Pallahat(Khurda-2) Dist-khurda,Orissa-752056
- Indus College of Engg. Bhubaneswar (IDU) Pvt.
- Jagannath Institute of Engineering & Technology Cuttack (JIC) Pvt.
- KMBB College of Engineering and Technology AT-Daleiput, PO-Talahat Dist. Khurda,Orissa
- Konark Institute of Science & Technology Jatni,Bhubaneswar (KIS) Pvt.
- Koustav Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (KIT) Pvt.
- Koustuva Institute of Self Domain (for Women) Bhubaneswar (KID) Pvt.
- Krupajala Engineering College Pubasasan, Bhubaneswar (KEC) Pvt.
- Maharaja Institute of Technology,Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (MIK) Pvt.
- Mahavir Institute of Engineering and Technology Paniora, Bhubaneswar (MIB) Pvt.
- Modern Institute of Technology & Management Khurda (MIM) Pvt.
- Nalanda Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (NIT) Pvt.
- Nigam Institute of engineering and Technology, Barang,Cuttack
- NM Institute of Engineering & Technology Sijua, Bhubaneswar (NMI) Pvt.
- Orissa Engineering College Nijigarhkurki, Bhubaneswar (OEC) Pvt.
- Oxford College of Engineering and Management ,Ramachandrapur, Bhubaneswar (OCM) Pvt.
- Rajdhani Engineering College Bhubaneswar (REC) Pvt.
- Shibani Institute of Technical Education , At-PO-Chhatabar,Via, Hanla, Bhubaneswar – 752054, Khurda, Orissa
- Silicon Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (SIT) Pvt.
- Sophitorium Engineering College, Baniatangi, Khurda
- Spintronic Tech. & Advance Resarch At.Po Taraboi P.S. Jatani Dist Khurda, Orissa
- Subas Institute of Technology Gyana Vihar, Barang, Bhubaneswar 754 005 Orissa
- Suddhananda Engg. & Research Centre, Phulnakhara Cuttack At Anchhipur P.O. Bhatapatna Orissa
- Synergy Institute of Technology, At : Bhimpur,P.O. Jagannathpur, P.S. Balianta, Dist:Khurda, Orissa
- TempleCity Institute of Technology & Engineering Khurda (TCT) Pvt.
- The Techno School Bhubaneswar (TTS) Pvt.
- Trident Academy of Technology Bhubaneswar (TAT) Pvt.
- Vedang Institute of Technology, Durga Prasad, P.O. Ramachandi, Dist. Khurda, Orissa
- VITS Engineering College, Tangi, Khurda (VTK) Pvt.
- Vivekananda Inst. Of Tech., at Chhatabar Dandi, Chaatabar, Orissa
- Xavier Institute of Tech., Princess Avencue Ghangapatna Bhubaneswar Dist Khurda Orissa
- Agricultural Engineering at OUAT, Bhubaneswar
- KIIT Bhubaneswar
- ITER Bhubaneswar
- IIIT Bhubaneswar
- IIT Bhubaneswar
Berhampur:
- Gandhi Academy of Tech. & Engineering At/PO Golonthara Konisi, Berhampur, Dist Ganjam Orissa
- Gandhi Institute of Industrial Technology Berhampur (GII) Pvt.
- Kalam Institute of Technology, Berhampur Berhampur (KIB) Pvt.
- National Institute of Science and Technology Palur Hills, Berhampur (NST) Pvt.
- Parla Maharaj Engineering College
- Rahul Institute of Engineering & Technology Thatadapalli Village, Kotharsing (P.O.) Konisi Tahasil, Berhampur, Ganjam (D. T.) Orissa
- Roland Institute of Technology Surya Vihar, Berhampur (RIT) Pvt.
- Sanjaya Memorial Institute of Technology Chandipadar, Berhampur (SMT) Pvt.
- Vignan Institute of Technology & Management Berhampur (VIT) Pvt.
- IIIT Berhampur (planned)
Balasore-Bhadrakh:
- Balasore College of Engineering & Technology Balasore (BCE) Pvt.
- Bhadrak Institute of Engineering & Technology Barapada, Bhadrak (BIT) Pvt.
- Modern Engineering & Management Studies Balasore (MEM) Pvt.
- Satyasai Engineering College Balasore (SAT) Pvt.
- Srinix College of Engineering College At-Ranipatna, Dist Balasore-750001 .
- Vijayanjali Institute of Technology At Gadabhanga No. 4 P.O. Khantapara, District : Balasore 756043 Orissa
Sambalpur-Baragarh-Jharsuguda-Sundergarh:
- Black Diamond College of Engineering & Technology Jharsuguda (BDC) Pvt.
- Padmashree Krutartha Acharya College of Engineering Bargarh (PKA) Pvt.
- Vikash College of Engineering for Women (VCEW) plot No. 2766, P.S. Dist- Baragarh, Odisha
- VSSUT Burla (UCE) Govt.
- Silicon Institute of Technology, Sason, Sambalpur -763 200, Orissa.
- Sundargarh Engineering College, Sundargarh (SUN) Pvt.
Rourkela:
- Padmanava College of Engineering Rourkela (PCE) Pvt.
- Purushottam Institute of Engineering & Technology Mandiakudar, Rourkela (PIE) Pvt.
- NIT Rourkela
- Rourkela Institute of Technology At P.O. Kuarmunda, District : Sundergarh Pin 770039 Orissa (planned)
Gunupur-Rayagada:
- Gandhi Institute of Engineering & Technology Gunupur (GIT) Pvt.
- Gandhi Institute of Science and Technology Rayagada (GIR) Pvt.
- Institute of Advanced Computer & Research Rayagada (IAC) Pvt.
- Majhighariani Institute of Technology and Science Rayagada (MIT) Pvt.
Angul-Talcher-Dhenkanal:
- Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology Sarang (IGT) Govt.
- Adarsha College of Engineering At Saradhapur, P.O. Kumurisingha Dist : Angul, Pin 759122 Orissa
- Synergy Institute of Engineering and Technology Dhenkanal (SYN) Pvt.
Koraput-Jeypore:
- Gopal Krushna College of Engineering & Technology Jeypore (GCE) Pvt.
- Samanta Chandra Sekhar Institute of Technology & Management Semiliguda, Koraput (SCS) Pvt.
Others:
- Jagannath Institute of Technology & Management Paralakhemundi (JIP) Pvt.
- Orissa School of Mining Engineering Keonjhar (OSM) Govt.
- Seemanta Engineering College Jharpokharia, Mayurbhanj (SEC) Pvt.
- Government Engineering College, Kalahandi
- Paradeep Port Engineering College (planned)
September 3rd, 2009
Update 2: Sundergarh MP Mr. Hemanada Biswal is now the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Labour. ESIC comes under the Labour ministry. So getting in touch with Mr. Biswal will also help. His MP biography is at http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Members/Biography.aspx?mpsno=4416.
Update: Please also copy your mail to rckhuntia@gmail.com and rckhuntia007@yahoo.co.in.
Dear all: It is time to translate words to action. Please send similar letters to the Chief Minister ( cmo at ori.nic.in ) with copy to some journalists (for example, http://www.tathya.in/2009/contactus.asp ), laborweb@nic.in, and jd-sys@esic.nic.in. Please ask your like minded friends to do the same. When you write the letter, please sign your name and give your address, especially your address in Orissa.
Dear Esteemed Chief Minister:
We would like to request that you urgently allocate the necessary 32 acres of land for an ESIC medical college in Rourkela and vigorously pursue with the ESIC authorities for the establishment of the same in Rourkela.
[We applaud your earlier attempt in pursuing an ESIC medical college in Balangir and understand that ESIC did not agree to it as it does not have enough ESIC insured persons in the Balangir area. We request that you pursue other ways of having a medical college in Balangir and also pursue other infrastructural elements for Balangir such as a state university, a state/central funded engineering college like SLIET (Punjab) and ABA GKC IET (West Bengal) and the Khurda-Balangir line. ]
Coming back to ESIC medical college, Rourkela is the second largest metropolitan area of Orissa. Unfortunately, it is also the largest metropolitan area of its size in the country which does not have a medical college. (It is also the largest metropolitan area of the country which does not have a regular university.) On the other hand Rourkela is the current industrial hub of Orissa and has a significant number of ESIC insured persons. This is evident from the fact that the only ESIC model hospital in Orissa is in Rourkela. Moreover, another ESIC hospital is in nearby Kansbahal and an ESIC annex is in nearby Rajgangpur. The complete list of ESIC hospitals in Orissa is at http://esicorissa.org/hospital.htm. Moreover recent newspaper reports (Statesman 5th March 2009, Naxatra News) mention that the ESIC authorities are agreeable for having an ESIC medical college in Rourkela. Following is the news report.
Rourkela, March 4: The Orissa Unit of the CITU has urged the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) authorities at New Delhi to establish a medical college at Rourkela.
A delegation of CITU leaders led by its state unit general secretary Mr Bishnu Mohanty met the Director, ESIC, Mr S Chaturbedi at New Delhi yesterday and pleaded for establishment of an ESIC Medical College stating that over 50 per cent of the total revenue was generated from Rourkela.
A large number of small and medium industries were located in Western Orissa and thousands of workers were contributing and dependent on ESIC, they said.
According to Mr Mohanty, the ESIC director had agreed to the proposal and said if the state government provided 32 acre his organisation would spent about Rs 500 crores for the establishment of a medical college.
Dear Sir:
In summary, Rourkela has the need, the necessary ESIC insured persons concentration, and ESIC is agreeable to an ESI medical college there. All that is needed is for you to immediately allocate 32 acres of land as required by ESIC and tell them that Rourkela is your priority 1 in terms of an ESIC medical college.
It has been reported that you may have allocated the land for an ESIC medical college in Bhubaneswar. Many of us are from Bhubaneswar and considering that it already has 4 functioning medical colleges with several new ones in the pipeline that includes an AIIMS-like institution and a Railway medical college, we request that Rourkela be your priority 1 in terms of an ESIC medical college.
(If ESIC has some weakness or need for the Bhubaneswar area it may have its second medical college of Orissa in Bhubaneswar as it is doing in Karnataka where it is establishing two medical colleges, one in Bangalore and one in Gulbarga. Or, it may have additional post-graduate programs in Bhubaneswar as it is doing in Tamil nadu where the ESIC medical college imparting undergraduate education will be in Coimbatore, but the Aynavaram ESI Hospital in Chennai would offer post-graduate courses.)
sincerely
September 1st, 2009
Following is an excerpt based on a report in Pioneer.
Accordingly, three medical colleges at Cuttack, Balasore and Rayagada, in the PPP mode, are on the anvil. Acharya is also interested in providing similar facility at Jharsuguda. Private partners will set up the medical colleges and hospitals as per the Medical Council of India guidelines.
The State Government will provide 25 acres of land, and agreements will be signed with the private promoters accordingly. As per the guidelines, a medical college in the KBK districts will attract one-time Government grant.
The Government is eyeing private partners having hospitals of national and State presence, charitable, religious groups managing hospitals and groups of doctors, interested to set up and manage hospitals. Lands for the hospitals have been identified by the PPP Cell with the help of the district administration.
Lets see how these go. Considering that the earlier proposed WODC supported PPP medical colleges in Bhawanipatna, Balangir and Rourkela have not yet commenced classes I will keep my fingers crossed.
September 1st, 2009
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