From the forthcoming academic session the University proposes to introduce five new subjects under New Schools …
As for the progress of our physical infrastructure of the main campus, the construction of the Boundary Wall is almost through and the construction of buildings in the first phase, the Girls’ Hostel, the Boys’ Hostel, the Guest House and the Academic Block I are likely to start towards the end of March.
… As a Founding Vice-Chancellor my vision of this composite University has two well-defined thrust areas in terms of priorities: One is healthcare and subsequently the introduction / dissemination of medical education and the other is related to the development and welfare of the tribal community.
Page 12: Development of Campus (progress of the Boundary Wall)
The main campus of our University is coming up at Sunabeda. The construction of boundary wall undertaken by CPWD is in progress. Out of actual 9.3 kms of boundary wall about 8.6 kms work is completed. The pillar excavation, raising columns on rocky terrains of the boundary is almost over. The brickwork and plastering of the Boundary Wall is going on in full swing.
The master plan has also been approved by the University Building Committee. Recently the Chief Engineer of CPWD has visited our main campus in Koraput and inspected the progress of construction work.
Page 24: The List of forthcoming Centres and Schools of the Central University of Orissa duly approved by the Academic Council and the Executive Council
The Academic Council and the Executive Council of CUO have approved the establishment of the following new Schools and Centres:
Page 31: Centre for Tribal Welfare and Community Development
Extreme poverty has its own typical features and adverse impacts on any society. Migration in search of survival for livelihoods is gradually becoming a common phenomenon in the KBK region as well as in the other parts of the country. For the survival of local people, the traditional skill based occupations are gradually becoming uneconomic options. On the other hand the same traditional skills have a flourishing market value in neighbouring states. This creates situations for mass migration, often with the family, in search of a livelihood even under stressful conditions. In the recent trend of economic development, the traditional skill based occupations have also became largely resource dependent. With the depletion of natural resources, the traditional occupations of tribes are fading away, though these are also the outcome of the occupational mobility.
The Koraput District comes under the tribal sub-plan area and PESA. As per the provision, PESA promises devolution of power to Panchayats completing the tribal self-rule. While larger accountability for the utilizing the provisions under the Act is vested in the Panchayats, due to poor understanding of the Act by the Panchayatiraj functionaries the Act seems to have lost its legal tooth in this area. This calls for wider accountability of government and civil society bodies to build the capacity of the PRIs thereby enabling them to utilize the power and authority vested in them for the development of their area and the communities. The customary rules existing even today provide a framework to compare the provisions of PESA and a suitable blending of two can contribute towards good governance to spearhead developmental process.
According to the report of the Committee on the Constitution of Separate Development Board in Orissa, 96% of Community Development Blocks in KBK districts are either ‘very backward’ or ‘backward’. According to the UNDP Human Development Report 2004, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Koraput, Nabarangpur are the bottom five districts in terms of HDI values, three of which are in KBK region.
Considering the above issues, the Centre for Tribal Welfare and Community Development (CTWCD) has been established as University’s first initiative of Corporate Social Responsibilities to foster the needs and take up the issues of the tribals of KBK region as well as other tribal groups of India.
The Centre for Tribal Welfare and Community Development at Central University of Orissa is functional since 5th June,2010. A batch of tribal youth has already received training on mushrooms cultivation. New initiatives are under progress and it is hoped that various trade identified by the Centre will benefit the tribes.
The Grand Prize for the 2011 Space Settlement Contest went to a large team of 7 students (11-12 grade), Gaurav Kumar, Deepak Talwar, Harman Jot Singh Walia, Mahiyal B. Singh, Kaenat Seth, Ishaan Mehta, and Navdeep Singh Makkar, from Punjab, India for creating the Hyperion Space Settlement. They also won the NSS Bruce M. Clark, Jr. Memorial Space Settlement Award.
First Prize
11-12 Grade First Prize
Asteria, Sarah Bell, Queensland, Australia, Individual.
CRONOS, Constanta, Romania (Colegiul National "Mircea cel Batran"), Large Team.
9-10 Grade First Prize
Adamas, Aditya Bathla, Punjab, India (Apeejay School), Individual.
AMOS (Advanced Moon Orbiting Settlement), Romania ("Tudor Vianu" National High School of Computer Science), Small Team.
Brisinger, Constanta, Romania (Colegiul National "Mircea cel Batran"), Large Team.
6-8 Grade First Prize
The Satus Novo Serere, Hasan N. Kahn, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (American International School), Individual.
Big Bang, California, USA (Sequoia Middle School), Small Team.
EON: Everlasting Orbita Nation, New York, USA (Cortland Junior Senior High School), Large Team.
Specialty First Prize
S’ukhavati, Mrinal Chaudhury, Odisha, India (Delhi Public School), Artistic Merit.
Life on the Space Station, Seebor, Romania (Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Science), Literary Merit.
Arcadia, Shanghai, China, Life Sciences.
Rourkelacity.com has some details about the winners. Following are some excerpts.
Among the winners include the team comprising Siddharth Tripathi, Akshat Dutt and Nisarg Behera of class –XII, and Mrinal Chaudhary of class-VIII of the same school.
The team comprising Siddharth, Akshat and Nisarg won the first prize in the 11th -12th grade for their project titled “Sangri-La”, a space settlement colony to provide exceedingly proficient and enjoyable living amenities for 20,000 permanent space residents. The colony that the team has proposed, is designed as a heavenly abode for settlers who can revel in the extraordinary luxury away from the earth. Thinking out of the box, the team proposed a major scientific research laboratory as well as a business hub in space, bio-regenerative life systems incorporating all biological components, state of art meditation halls, an efficiently functioning government machinery to take care of the law and order, a new currency named ‘Hawking’ and also a National Shangri-La Stock Exchange to help people participate in World economic affairs.
Mrinal won the specialty first prize for Artistic merit in her paper presentation titled “Sukhavati”. Mrinal in her report presented the colony and several paintings and diagrams depicting the interior and the exterior, living spaces, laboratories, recreation areas etc. of the colony.
… Mr.Bijoy Bahadur Mathur, Science Head of the School and the mentor to these students has been instrumental in preparing the students for this competition.
Teams from Odisha have been doing very well in this contest for the last several years.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (NISER),
Institute Of Physics Campus,
PO- Sainik School, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar,
Ph- 0674-2304000, Fax- 0674-2304070, E-mail- aoacad@niser.ac.in, web:- http://www.niser.ac.in
Advt.No:NISER/ACAD/Ph.D/2011â€12(1)
Notice for Admission to Ph.D. Program for 2011-12 (Odd semester)
Applications are invited from Indian citizens for admission to Ph.D Program scheduled to commence from July 2011 in the following schools of basic sciences at NISER Bhubaneswar:
1. School of Biological Sciences
2. School of Chemical Sciences
3. School of Mathematical Sciences
4. School of Physical Sciences
The students should have qualified the CSIR-NET/GATE/JEST/NBHM or equivalent examination valid for the current year in the relevant area of research. UGC-CSIR JRF qualified candidates can avail the fellowship directly from UGC or CSIR, whereas, students selected for Ph.D program based on GATE scores, are eligible for Fellowship from NISER as prevailing in DAE.
NISER provides Rs.16,000/- as fellowship for Selected Candidates who opt for DAE Fellowship. The application form is available free of cost and can be downloaded along with the guidelines. Else, the form can be obtained by post, or in person, from the academic section, NISER Bhubaneswar. There is no application/entrance fee. To and Fro single 2nd sleeper Class railway fare will be provided to those candidates who are called for the test/interview.
The last dates: For postal requests for application Forms : April 25, 2011
To submit the filled-in application form : May 2,2011
For more details regarding Eligibility, Selection procedure, How to apply and other important details, download the guidelines ( http://www.niser.ac.in/phd-advt-jul2011.php ) and if needed consult the websites of different schools of NISER.
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BHUBANESWAR
BHUBANESWAR – 751013
No: IIT/Acad/Ph.D/Admn./2011-2012
ADMISSION TO Ph.D. PROGRAMME
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar invites application for admission to Ph.D. Programmes in the following categories.
a. Regular full-time scholars with Institute fellowship.
b. Research scholars sponsored by and employed in industry/orgainsation having R & D facilities.
Schools and fields of Research
1) School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) :
Physics : Fiber Sensors, Surface Plasmon, Nano & Bio-Photonics, Infrared & Terahertz Sensing, Spectrocopy and Imaging, Solar cell, Waveguide & Interferometer, Electron and ToF spectroscopy of biomolecules, clusters and atoms, Ion solid interactions, nanomaterials, Soft condensed matter physics, Nanostructured Materials, Functionilized Nanostructure and Devices, Optical Spectroscopy and Transport Properties, Multiferroics, Superconductivity, Quantum magnetism in low dimensional system, Geometrically frustrated system, Magnetic nanostructures and thin films.
Chemistry : Organometallic Chemistry; Homogeneous Catalysis; Supramolecular Chemistry; Crystal Engineering; Organic Solid State Chemistry; Nanomaterials; Polymorphism; Coordination Chemistry; Materials Chemistry; Molecular Modelling; Magnetochemistry; Synthesis of natural products and modified nucleic acids; Spectroscopy; Bio and Protein Chemistry; Theoretical Chemistry (Statistical Mechanics), Organometallic Chemistry, Catalysis for Fine Chemicals, Biophysical chemistry.
Mathematics: Functional Analysis, Artificial Neural Network, Geometric Programming, Queuing Theory, Applied Probability models and Stochastic models in the theory of queues, mathematical finance, Dynamical systems, Complex Dynamics, Fractals, Optimization Techniques.
2) School of Earth, Ocean & Climate Sciences : Environmental Earth Science, Hydro Geochemistry, Water – rock interaction, Biogeochemistry.
3) School of Electrical Sciences (Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering): Digital Signal Processing, Soft and Evolutionary Computing, Sensor Network, Intelligent Instrumentation, Digital/Image/Distributed Signal Processing, Opto Electronics and Optical Communication, Computational Electromagnetics and Antenna Design, Metamaterials, RFID, Satellite Communication, Power system protection, Smart grids, Electric drives and Control, Power quality, custom power devices, renewable energy sources (wind and solar).
4) School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management: Indian English Literature, Commonwealth studies, Indian Diaspora Literature, Autobiographical Travel Literature and Memoirs, international and interregional trade, Rural development and planning, Banking and Finance, Labour economics, Consumer Psychology, Psychology of Personality, E-Commerce, Clinical Psychology, Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Management, Valuation of Natural Resources.
5) School of Infrastructure (Civil Engineering): Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Water Resource Engineering, Transportation Engineering Structural Dynamics, Earthquake Engineering, Disaster Mitigation Engineering, Concrete.
6) School of Mechanical Sciences (Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering) : Conjugate Heat Transfer, Thermal Engineering, Radiation Modelling, CFD/HT, Transport Phenomena in Material Processing, Ultrafast Radiation Heat Transfer, Technical Acoustics, Noise and Vibration, Industrial Noise control, Composite Materials, Finite Element method, Probabilistic Mechanics, Deterministic & Random Vibration, Sandwich structures, Solid mechanics, Smart composite structures, IC engine, Heat transfer, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Industrial Engineering, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Quality Control, Production Planning and Control, Optimisation Techniques.
Eligibility:
PhD (Engineering): 60% marks or 6.75 CGPA in M. Tech/M.E with consistently good academic record OR B.Tech/B.E with 70% or 7.5 CGPA with valid GATE Score (Very Good) and consistently good academic record
PhD (Science): 1st class in M.Sc./ M. Tech with consistently good academic record (equivalent CGPA) and valid GATE/NET CSIR/UGC score
PhD (HSS): 55% marks or equivalent CGPA in Master degree with UGC/NET score OR M. Phil degree
How to Apply: Application form, downloadable from www.iitbbs.ac.in, should be sent to Assistant Registrar (A&E), IIT Bhubaneswar, Samantapuri, Bhubaneswar, Orissa – 751013 along with a Demand Draft of Rs.200/- (Rs.100/- for SC/ST candidates) drawn in favour of "IIT Bhubaneswar" on any nationalized bank payable at Bhubaneswar. Please superscribe ‘Application for Admission to PhD programme’ on the envelope. Application form may also be obtained from the Academic Section, IIT Bhubaneswar against a demand draft on every working day.
Important Dates : Application forms can be submitted throughout the year. Last date for submitting application form for Autumn 2011-12: 13th May 2011.
Dr RN Kabat joined as the Promoter-Director of the Mahanadi Medical Education Trust, which has been set up to establish a medical college here and run ensure its smooth functioning.
Dr Kabat worked as the chief of medical services in three subsidiaries of the Coal India, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, Eastern Coalfields Ltd and Central Coalfields Ltd before retirement.
During his tenure at the MCL, he oversaw the setting up of the 250-bed Netaji Subash Central Hospital and the Nursing College at Talcher.
A surgeon of repute, Dr Kabat brings with him his vast experience in managing multi-functional hospitals.
With his appointment, the MCL hopes to set up the proposed medical college at the earliest.
The responsibility of this position is described in this ad. Following are some excerpts.
1. Candidate will act as a Promoter Director of Mahanadi Medical Education Trust having broadly to carry out the following activities.
2. To convene the meeting of Mahanadi Medical Education Trust as well as liaisoning with State / Central Govt. Agencies / Medical Council of India / University Authorities relating to establishment of a new Medical College.
3. To obtain Essentiality / No Objection Certificate from the State / Central Govt. / any other Authority as required
4. Take initiative in planning & designing the Institute infrastructure through appropriate agencies and its approval from the Competent Authority.
5. Preparation of Annual Budget and presentation before the Trust / Board
6. Take initiative for Manpower Planning
7. Construction of infrastructure of the Institute
Professors
1. Dr. P. K. Sahoo,(Head of the Department) – Financial Management
2. Dr. P. K. Mohanty(On-Lien) –Human Resource Management
3. Dr. N. C. Kar – Financial Management
4. Dr. B. K. Mangaraj(On-Lien) – Information Resource Management
5. Dr. J. K. Panda – Financial Management
Readers
1. Er. P. C. Ratha – Operations Management
2. Dr. B. B. Mishra – Marketing Management & Organisational Behaviour
Sr. Lecturer
Dr. Muna Kalyani – Human Resource Management & Organisational Behaviour Lecturers
Dr. B. R. Jena(on leave) – Business Economics
Dr. Dasarathi Sahu – Information Technology
1. Dr. Manoranjan Mohapatra : Classification Information Storage & Retrieval
Readers
1. Dr. (Mrs.) Puspanjali Jena – Foundation of Library & Information Science Research Methodology & Statistical Techniques, Internet & CD ROM Database Serchey.
2. Dr. K.C. Das – Digital Library, Information Technology & Networking
Lecturer
1. Sri Kunwar Singh – Management of Library & Information Centre, Library Automation and Software package.
1. Dr. A. K. Mohanty – Philosophy of Language (Western and Indian), Analytical Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Value Philosophy of Religion, Indian Philosophy, Philosophy of Value, Analytical Philosophy
2. Dr. Sarat Ch. Panigrahi – Indian Philosophy, Analytical Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Political Philosophy. Philosophy of Religion, Indian Philosophy, Analytical Philosophy.
3. Dr. Ramesh Chandra Das– Logic, Philosophy of Value, Analytical Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Ravenshaw University was set up by the Ravenshaw University Act, 2005. The draft statutes of the University have been pending with the Government for approval. Pending that, the University is referring to the Orissa Universities First Statutes (OUFS), 1990 on the basis of which its own statute has been drafted.
The Ravenshaw University inherited 25 Departments in the disciplines of Science , Commerce and Humanities. In order to upgrade Ravenshaw like the single campus JNU, the University created 11 Schools out of the existing Departments. The Schools are headed by Deans. It takes time for a new structure to be grounded. Therefore academic reforms envisaged are vitally dependent on the faculty. The situation in Ravenshaw was queer. The Government created posts for new faculty only in August 2008, although the University was set up in 2006. For administrative reasons, the Government could not withdraw the old faculty till September 2010. Despite this mismatch, the syllabi in almost all Departments have been revised to cope with contemporary demands. While setting up the University, the Government had not provided adequate faculty to meet the UGC teacher-student ratio of 1:15. The current teacher – student ratio is about 1:50. In order to make it 1:30, which are twice the UGC/ AICTE norms, the University will require 106 new faculty positions. The demand of the University is pending with Government. Ravenshaw has envisioned incorporating all subjects from microbiology to geophysics in its growth. The University has accomplished only a few. The new faculty is still half formed. Many positions for recruitment have been hit by court cases and reservations. It is easy to set up a greenfield institution. It is difficult to deal with old baggage in an institution like Ravenshaw, where the expectations are high and resources low.
Ravenshaw had an identity like none other. In last 50 years it has become fairly pedestrian. When it became a University, it was caught like any other educational institution in the strangle hold of a predicament that is now fairly common. Every educational institution now faces the demand to expand by incorporating vocational elements. MBA, before it was hit by the economic meltdown, was regarded as the flagship course. Ravenshaw, therefore, introduced MBA and set up the Ravenshaw Management Centre, to mark its transition to a University. The Government does not give anything more than the salary grant and some money for infrastructure to the new University. The responsibility of earning by introducing new courses is on the University itself . The Government, in fact had advised in a meeting to consider winding up subjects like Philosophy, Hindi etc. and opening of technology and management courses.
Research in Ravenshaw has been almost nonexistent for many decades, for multipl e reasons. It is believed that given the research achievements of the new faculty, on the basis of which most have been recruited, particularly in science , Ravenshaw will reacquire its earlier fame in scientific research. The new faculty is still in the formative stage.
The Kanika Library wa s indeed the saddest place when the University started. The Library claimed that it had nearly two lakh books in its roll and numerous precious journals but they were thoroughly disorganised. By a hand count, it was found that only 1.12 lakh are available on the shelves. Of the entire lot, only 60,000 have been digitally entered. Precious journals were kept in gunny bags and piled up it some corner. ‘The Ravenshavian’ issues of an entire decade , which were almost falling off like debris , have now been scanned and made available in our website. The antique books of invaluable worth were rotting in a mezzanine floor to which there was no easy access. The only transaction with the students was for some textbooks. Due to lack of grant, and more than that, of involved interest, there was no accretion. The University has started renovation of the Kanika Library and the Centenary Library, which houses the textbooks on a massive scale. The renovation comprises conservation of the heritage structure, redesigning of utility areas and digitalisation with e-library. Already some beginning of the e-library has been made by storing about 80,000 PDF books and one lakh music files in the library server. In brief, the old Kanika Library is emerging now a s the new Ravenshaw Knowledge Centre (RKC) with other such auxiliary activities that a knowledge centre entails.
As for hostel accommodation, Ravenshaw has a low satisfaction of 23%. All its dilapidated hostels with leaking roofs, and their infrastructure falling apart have been renovated, if not fully. Only the West and East Hostels have been specially renovated. The University has spent nearly R s 8 crore of its precious money on the repair and renovation of hostels. Besides, a projection has been worked out to raise the level of satisfaction by another 25%, through construction of six new girls’ hostels and three new boys’ hostels at a tentative cost of Rs 27 crore.
There is a difference between beautification and restoration. Beautification is optional but restoration is always expensive, if it is done with quality. A historic institution like Ravenshaw, whose infrastructure has greatly decayed, due to years of negligence, requires extensive restoration. The restoration of Ravenshaw College Hall, which once housed the Odisha State Assembly, was expensive. The restoration of Kanika Library is going to be expensive. Such expenditure is unavoidable if they are restored with quality. Many visitors, including the Chief Minister, who have seen the restoration of the Heritage Hall have admired it.
Desecration of statues had started long before the University was founded. Front area of the college was congested with growth of wild bushes, half masonry walls, dividers, broken tennis courts with potholes, and littered garbage. All the three statues were installed on pedestals in that nearly abandoned front area, with plasters peeling off them, and all discoloured. They were left open to the vagaries of both nature and men. The University decided to renovate the front area with a huge green lawn and wrought iron gates and boundaries, making the view of the majestic college building visible to the road. While clearing all impediments to the view, the statues too were removed. While removing them the University had discussed with their donors, and assured them that they will be reinstalled either in the front porch or in the Kanika Library building after they are renovated. The renovation work is in process.
The backbone of a University is its faculty. The old faculty was highly underexposed. The new faculties, chosen on the basis of an open competition and global advertisement, have brought tidings from other shores. I am sure they would gradually settle down and also incorporate the best practices they have experienced. When I was a student at Ravenshaw four decades before, we had tutorials. There is none now. The high teacher-student ratio makes it impossible for any exclusive supervision. Besides, the culture had so deteriorated tha t even after it be c ame a University, most of its faculty, particularly those who stayed at Bhubaneswar would leave the campus before early afternoon. I hope the new faculty does not fall into the same rot.
Ravenshaw University shall continue to be a blend of the old and new. For over a century it had been the home of classical studies. In its new version, it will now cope not only with new theories but more so with applications. Ours is a knowledge economy. But the creation of economic wealth must not be at the expense of cultural wealth and insight.
The Ravenshaw University has been in existence for some years. It should have incorporated a few best practices of the best universities of the world. I would like to believe that the University is about intellect. The intellect of a University is the sum total of intellect of its faculty and students. I trust the new faculty. I trust the students of Ravenshaw.
In the faculty recruitment front, the newsletter had the following to say:
After receiving Government’s approval for creating 153 faculty positions comprising 17 posts of Professors, 45 posts of Readers and 91 posts of Lecturers, Ravenshaw University took up this mammoth recruitment enterprise by global advertisement for the faculty positions and received more than 7,000 applications.
It lists 75 new faculty that have been hired. With respect to the quality of the new faculty its goes on to say the following:
The university now boasts of faculty members who have joined the university with their successful research and teaching career in universities abroad. As a Humboldt Fellow, Pradipta Mohapatra, a leading botanist of the country with his focus of research on toxicity of insecticides on algae and cyanobacteria has worked in Rostock and Duesseldorf Universities in Germany. Similarly, the two other botanists, S.K. Naik and N.R. Singh have done their postdoctoral research in the Universities of Kentucky, US, and Stellenbosch in South Africa respectively. Rupashree Shyama Roy, a young scientist with research in molecular modeling and computational chemistry has worked in the Universities of Munich and Leipzig, Germany. Another young scientist, Kumar Siddhartha Kesav Varadwaj with his research interest in nanoscience and technology has been associated with Hokkaido university, Japan and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Yet another young faculty of chemistry, Sabita Nayak has worked on the design and development of cardiovascular drugs as part of her postdoctoral research in the University of Texas. Apart from teaching and research on contemporary economic issues, the department of economics has started addressing the problems of rural Orissa. Economist Dr. Mamata Swain, with a Ph.D. from London, is the lead in this regard. Nachiketa Das with a dual citizenship status of India and Australia and being a permanent resident of Japan now heads the department of Geology. With a postdoctoral degree from Harvard, he has been associated with universities of Glasgow, Melbourne and Hiroshima in several academic capacities. Dipti Ranjan Patnaik, who has been both a Fulbright Fellow at Ohio State University, Columbia and an Indo-Canadian Fellow, and has recently received the prestigious Erikson Scholar-in-Residence Position, has already spelt out the roadmap for his department of English. The list goes on. The idea here is not to undermine the achievements of individual faculty members of other different departments by citing a few cases at hand. What needs to be stressed here is the clinical precision which has gone into the process of selection of the core faculty of the university. As one traverses through the departments cutting across humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, the possibilities of having an engagement with ‘ignited minds’ who seek to question meta narratives, becomes absolutely inescapable. In fact, this core faculty of the university in many ways than one is going to shape the texture of academic discourse not only for the university but also for the society at large.
The Ravenshaw website at http://ravenshawuniversity.ac.in/common/faculties.htm has the latest list of the faculty with their short biographies and their phone numbers. I also noticed that some of the faculty have foreign post-doctoral experiences, a couple have Ph.D from abroad, some have experience outside Odisha, some with Ph.Ds from IITs, and many with good publication record.
So it seems like a decent start. Having only one Mathematics faculty is worrisome though. If that can be strengthened and more Physics faculty is hired then Ravenshaw could develop good science programs, such as a 5-yr program in collaboration with NISER.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) was established in 1936, as the Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work— a post-graduate school of social work of national stature to meet the emerging need for trained human service professionals. It was accorded the status of a deemed university in 1964 and has been funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India (GoI), since then.
TISS offers post graduate education and research in inter-disciplinary areas of Social Work, Social Sciences, Public Health, Management, Labour Studies, and Habitat Studies through 6 Schools and 4 Independent Centres in three campuses located in Mumbai and Tuljapur. TISS has nearly 200 full-time faculty engaged in teaching, research, field action projects, training and consultancy. TISS faculty work very closely with Government, Industry, civil society, international organizations for human resources development, evidence based policy and program evolution, and development demonstration and support.
In recognition of its academic excellence and social contribution, it was awarded a 5-Star rating by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (an Independent body of University Grants Commission, Government of India) in 2002. The re-accreditation process completed on 1st January 2010 gave ‘A’ to TISS with a score of 3.88 out of 4.
About TISS – Hyderabad:
TISS is establishing campuses in Guwahati (in North-East India) and Hyderabad to spread high quality higher education and research in the inter-disciplinary areas of Social Sciences, Health, Education and Management.
While physical infrastructure is being developed for full-fledged permanent campus in Kothur Mandal, Mehboobnagar district, Hyderabad, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has given temporary campus in the institutional areas of Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad to start teaching and research programs.
TISS Hyderabad campus is developing teaching, research, training, field demonstration projects areas around 6 academic centres:
1.Centre for Livelihoods Development
2.Centre for Education
3.Centre for Public Health
4.Centre for Social Entrepreneurship
5.Centre for Human Resources Development & Labour Studies
6.Centre for Studies in Social Conflicts
TISS Hyderabad campus will offer a 5-year integrated program in Social Sciences with students specializing in a number of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary subjects in the 4th and 5th year:
Social Work
Education
Rural Development and Governance
Social Entrepreneurship
Human Resources Management
Climate Change, Livelihoods and Natural Resources Management
Public Policy, Planning and Development and other areas to be added
In addition, the Hyderabad campus will offer teacher educators program – Three year integrated M. Ed. Program (Bachelor’s in Education & Master’s in Education).
An equal opportunities school from pre-school to higher secondary class will also be established to provide quality value based education to children from neighbouring villages and faculty and staff of the Hyderabad campus and other educational campuses in the area.
Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Azim Premji Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up an Azim Premji School of Education at TISS, Hyderabad. The school at TISS Hyderabad is going to offer degrees and continuing education programmes as well as conduct research in education. The collaboration will extend to significant joint work on curriculum, teaching and field work.
The school at TISS Hyderabad will get to be fully operational in about two years from now. It will leverage significantly from the work at the other campuses of TISS, as well from the Azim Premji University, set up by the Foundation.
TISS Hyderabad is being set up at the invitation of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. There are plans to make it a full-fledged campus offering teaching programmes and research activities across social sciences, humanities, development, social work and education. Established in Mumbai in 1936, today TISS, one of India’s premier institutes, has campuses in Tuljapur and Guwahati as well.
… The Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur has decided to set up its second campus in Hyderabad. An XLRI delegation had met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister in this regard. The government has agreed to allot 75 acre for the project near Jawahar Nagar, on the outskirts of the city and near the BITS Pilani campus.
The AP government had extended an invitation to the management institute to set up its campus in the state three years ago. The Chief Minister renewed the efforts by writing to XLRI. The XLRI governing board took the decision on September 4, 2010.
Nearly 1,00,000 students appear for the entrance examination of XLRI, which has just 240 seats to offer. With the proposed Hyderabad campus, the institute would augment the intake of students.
XLRI’s expansion in Hyderabad will be its first move toward expansion in India. Internationally, the institute already has a presence in Dubai and Singapore.
… IMT Hyderabad, the new B-school under the IMT umbrella, is all set to commence its first academic session in June 2011. This is the third B-school of the IMT Group in the country. The other B-schools under the IMT Group of Institutions are IMT Ghaziabad, IMT Nagpur, and IMT Dubai.
…Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai is counted amongst the top B-schools of the country. NMIMS is now setting up its new campus in Hyderabad on a 90-acre plot at Jadcherla by 2013. The institute is expected to build the first of its campus structures covering over 50,000 sq ft with 14 classrooms, library, computer and communication labs by mid 2013. The full time management, engineering and pharmacy programmes of the institute will start from the campus in the academic year 2014-15.
NMIMS has already laid the foundation stone of its Chandigarh Campus on October 12, 2009. The planned infrastructure would be taking shape at Saranpur Institutional Area, near Chandigarh.
… Ms. Savita Mahajan, Chief Executive, ISB Mohali, informed MBAUniverse.com that the work on the physical infrastructure of upcoming ISB Mohali is in progress. “The work on the new campus is in full force and we are expecting the campus to be ready by April 2012.”
Punjab Chief Minister, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal had laid the foundation stone for the new campus of the ISB in Mohali (Punjab) on August 11, 2010 marking the start of construction of the ISBs’ first campus outside Hyderabad.
The ISB campus at Mohali will house four institutes focusing on areas critical to India’s development, viz. Max India Institute of Healthcare Management, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, BML Munjal Hero Honda Institute of Manufacturing Excellence and Innovation, and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management.
… Both IMI Kolkata & IMI Bhubaneswar campuses are ready. And if all goes well the IMI authorities expect to be in a position to run regular PGDM programme from July 2011 after formal approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is expected in May 2011.
… Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), a leading B-school under the management of the B K Birla Group, has started construction work for setting up its new campus at Bhubaneswar. The Foundation Stone Laying ceremony for the new campus was organized on 5 April, 2011 at the IDCO institutional site at Gothapatna Area where institutions like IIIT, IMI and Nalco R&D Centre are already established. The new campus will become operational by June 2012 and will cater to the manpower needs of entire eastern India.
It can be clearly seen that the B-schools of the country are having a renewed focus on the emerging cities of the country, which includes Bhubaneswar, Mohali, Chandigarh, Hyderabad etc.
The Chief Minister proposed that the Centre should invest in capacity building and establish an Institute of Urban Management & Governance in Odisha for the purpose.
Minister Urban Development appreciated the suggestions and assured that the Ministry would favorably consider the proposal of one-time grant to large villages.
He also assured that the proposal of the State for setting up of the Institute would be dealt with favorably and that alternatively he would look into opening of a branch of the National Institute of Urban Affairs in Odisha.
Following is an excerpt from a report on Times of India regarding increase in the number of students appearing in IIT JEE from Odisha.
The number of IIT aspirants in Orissa saw a steady rise with nearly 40,000 students appearing for the joint entrance examination ( JEE) for the country’s premier institute on Sunday, officials said.
Registrar of IIT-Bhubaneswar Bata Kishore Ray said, "The number of aspirants from Orissa has gone up in the last couple of years, especially after IIT-B started operating from the city. …
… About 30,000 aspirants appeared from the state last year, he added.
… In the capital city alone, over 5,000 students appeared in 12 centres for one of the toughest competitive examinations in the country.
… Director of a city-based coaching centre Jyoti Ranjan Tripathy said good coaching facilities and number of successful students increasing every year has been motivating others to go for IIT. "In terms of coaching facilities, Bhubaneswar can be called the Kota of eastern India. Orissa has created some top rankers in IIT-JEE in the last few years and this has motivated more students."
Madras zone (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala): about 68,500 out of which 20,546 were girls. (last year 65,650)
Mumbai zone: about 85,260/68,735*
Kanpur zone: around 80,400/63,661* (16,770 girls)
Guwahati zone (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya and West Bengal): about 58,700.
Kharagpur zone:??
Delhi Zone: 71,353 (16,877 girls)
Roorkee Zone: 16,976 girls
* Two newspapers give different numbers.
Assuming the numbers for Odisha are correct, it is a significant development in that 8.25% of the total applicants will be from Odisha. Note that Odisha’s population is 3.47% of the total population of the country.
Ofcourse, a more important aspect is the success in the exam, but significant increase in the applications is a good starting point. Some of the reason behind this increase are:
More awareness due to IIT Bhubaneswar.
The significant increase in the availability of coaching, including many nationally known coaching institutes opening their centers in Odisha, especially in Bhubaneswar. These include Careerpoint, FIITJEE, Narayana, Resonance and Vidya Mandir.
The significant increase in the number of private +2 colleges across the state, some of which have ties with coaching classes.
Now lets hope a good number from Odisha succeed in IIT JEE. Currently Hyderabad and Kota are the places with the highest number of successful candidates. Following is an excerpt from a TOI report on that.
If JEE-2010 results are pored over, the maximum number of candidates to clear the exam was from Andhra Pradesh (AP).
The state dominated the merit list. Seven of the top ten rankers were from there, the share of Kota (which is in Rajasthan) starting only after rank 15. While in 2006, 938 candidates from AP and 1,004 from Rajasthan made it to the IITs, a year later the tables had turned, with 1,384 from AP clearing JEE and 1,344 from Rajasthan. It has been a close race since. In 2009, for example, 1,862 students from AP and 1,898 from Rajasthan cleared JEE.
There are reports from other cities and states, but many have contradictory reports. Following are data from some of these reports.
Update on April 9th 2011: Here is the ad from today’s Samaja. The detailed ad is at http://www.vssut.ac.in/Faculty-2011.pdf. They list 23 Professor positions + 57 Reader positions and 50 lecturer positions. The minimum qualification for professors and readers is a Ph.D and among lecturers, at least in science and humanities, most that will be hired will have Ph.Ds. Once these positions are filled it will increase the number of Ph.D faculty in VSSUT by at least 90.
You will be thrilled and suprised to know that under the dynamic leadership and painstaking effort of Honorable Vice-chancellor, VSSUT Burla, Govt of Orissa has sanctioned 96 New Regular faculty positions (Professors, Readers and Lecturers) for VSSUT Burla.
A great achievement for VSSUT Burla.
This is really wonderful news. If they are able to hire good people against these positions VSSUT will be one of the top technical university in the country and will be next in line for upgradation to an IIEST.
In 2006 the then UCE Burla had submitted a proposal for becoming an IIEST. At that time it had 97 positions sanctioned but with 62 faculty out of which 36 had Ph.D.
I am not sure of the current situation, but with 96 new positions, the sanctioned strength will at least become 193, which is a good number to make a claim for an IIEST.
As per a document prepared by the then UCE Burla in 2006, the then faculty strength of the colleges that were earlier shortlisted for becoming IIEST were as follows:
IT BHU: 229 faculty with 170 having PhD
UCET-Osmania U: 127 faculty with 57 having Ph.D
BESU: 212 faculty with 136 having Ph.D
UCE-Andhra U: 123 faculty with 68 having Ph.D
CUSAT: 206 faculty with 151 having Ph.D
So VSSUT’s claim for an IIEST will now depend on how quickly and how many Ph.D faculty they can hire. The sanctioned strength of 193 is pretty good.
Note that earlier in March 2011 VSSUT had advertised for 34 positions (23 lecturers+ 9 readers + 2 professors). See http://www.vssut.ac.in/adv_20111.pdf.
We earlier wrote in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/5748 that the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) was negotiating with Odisha government for a 25 Crore Central Research Institute for Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences. Following is an update on that from a report in Times of India.
The Union government will build a 100-bed yoga and naturopathy hospital in the city soon, official sources said. The state government has identified a 20-acre plot of land for the project at Binjhagiri near Chandaka on the outskirts of the city.
The director of Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy in New Delhi, Dr B T Chidananda Murthy, told TOI over the phone that the proposed hospital would come up at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore. There will be 50 general ward beds and 25 each special and deluxe beds in the hospital for indoor patients. Besides, there will be daily outdoor clinics, he said. The hospital will also have a state-of-the art yoga hall and a research laboratory for chronic diseases.
Murthy said the state government wrote to the council recently, confirming the land allotment. "A central team will come to Orissa in the first week of May to finalise the plan. After taking possession of the land, the construction will start in less than six months," he said.
Murthy said the council wants to have at least six such premier branches across the country for which the Central government has already given its go ahead. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, pain management and age-related problems will be the main focus here. Preventive care will be a focus area of the hospital, which will cater to all sections of the society, Murthy said.
It will be the third such project in the country. Work for similar hospitals has already commenced in Karnataka and Haryana. The council, an autonomous body under the department of AYUSH, ministry of health and family welfare, is also keen to establish similar institutions in Bihar and Assam. "We are waiting for land allotment in those states," Murthy said.
Through the regional research hospitals, the council will undertake education, training and research programmes in fundamentals and applied aspects of yoga and naturotherapy, the council director said.
Most likely, this will be called Central Research Institute in Yoga and Naturopathy. (See http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=60830 where this name is mentioned in the context of the institutes in Haryana and Karnataka.)
Another thing that should be done is that a branch of this, perhaps focsuing on pharmaceutical aspects, should be established in the foothills of the Gandhamardan Hills. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3421 for a nicely written essay advocating this.
Admission information is available in the pagalguy forum. Following are some excerpts:
Eligibility
All students applying should have attained:
1st Division in Class X and XII
Minimum of 55% in graduation (Those graduating in 2011 may also apply) AND
Who have appeared in CAT 2010
Selection criterion:
Applicants will be short-listed based on academic performance and performance in CAT
Applicants with consistent academic performance will have better chance for being called for interview
Short-listed candidates will be called for interview
Final selection will be based on the performance in the interview and academic track record.
How to apply
We are accepting applications online. Please log on to http://admission.imi.edu to fill the application form.
There is no application fee.
On filling the complete application form, short listed candidates will be called for in-person interview. The dates for first round of in-person interview will be shared shortly.
Admission Process:
We are following a rolling admissions process. The following are the important dates:
Last dates of Application:
Batch 1: 10th April
Batch 2: 25th April
Batch 3: 11th May
Interview Dates:
Batch 1: 25th April – 27th April
Batch 2: 9th May – 11th May
Batch 3: 23rd May – 25th May
——————————————–
The websites for the schools are:
The Admissions Committee for IMI Kolkata & Bhubaneswar has decided to give a higher emphasis on the academic performance during College and consistency in academic performance. For this reason the college cut-off (as an eligibility criterion) has been kept at 55%.
We would strongly urge you to apply. There is no application fee and the application can be done online. Once you go through the selections process, meet our team, etc. you will be in a position to take a more informed decision.
We have not decided on the CAT cutt-offs for calling applicants for interviews. If you are meeting the academic eligibility criterion (55% in graduation+60% in 12th and 10th standard) you should consider applying to the two programmes.
FAQ-9. Is it a residential programme?
A hostel with 250 well-furnished, residential rooms for students (including a separate facility for women) is available within the campus. A stay in the hostel is not compulsory. However students are encouraged to stay in the hostel in the second year of the programme to take advantage of out-side the class room learning through participation in group work and other extra-curricular activities.
FAQ-21. What will be the cost of living in hostel?
Hostel rent will be Rs. 60,000 per annum. Mess charge will be based on actual cost of providing food to students. Indicative mess charge is Rs. 2,000 per month
We are following a rolling admissions process. The following are the important dates:
Last dates of Application:
Batch 1: 10th April
Batch 2: 25th April
Batch 3: 11th May
Interview Dates:
Batch 1: 25th April – 27th April
Batch 2: 9th May – 11th May
Batch 3: 23rd May – 25th May
The interviews will be held in more that two locations.
We will be starting with a batch size of 120 for IMI K and 60 for IMI B.
hello
can u giv us an idea about yhe expected cat cutoffs?i m asking dat bcoz mt acads r pretty decent but my cat score is on the lesser side.
Xth-85
XIIth-86
graduation-70%
cat score-80.7%ile
wid dis low cat score will i get a call?????????????
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You do have good academic scores. You should be applying to both the campuses.
Thank you for your interest in IMI K & B. Both the campuses are awaiting the final AICTE approval.
