IITs may spread out its wings to surgery

New Delhi: The renowned Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) may soon have doctors, historians and policy makers at its campus just like several universities in the United States.

A Committee, headed by educationist Yash Pal, Chairman of the XIth Five-Year Plan Committee met the heads of all the IITs on Friday, to discuss how the premier tech schools can upgrade their character and enlarge their scope like the American universities.

The meeting focused on how the IITs can offer more than just programmes in science and technology - like medicine, developmental studies, history, psychology, policy development and more.

"Currently, the IITs are premier undergraduate engineering schools doing some postgraduation and research work. Now, we want to give them a bigger role", Yash Pal said.

The IITs would be given more freedom to start courses of their choice. It is difficult to, however, predict whether the new subjects offered will compare in excellence with the engineering departments, or be relegated to the sidelines, like the IITs' management schools.

"A range of undergraduate courses are offered by all noted universities across the world. Our IITs can't be great unless they think in that direction. If MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or Caltech (California Institute of Technology) can offer a wider range of programmes that are well-known, why not the IITs? Our IITs have produced wonderful engineers for the country. It's time they looked at offering more," added Yash Pal.

But for some IIT directors, this move has come at a time when there is more on their plate than what they can handle. Yet, they are open to starting more programmes.

Gautam Barua, Director, IIT Guwahati said, "There has been some suggestion that the IITs start programmes in areas other than science and technology. I do not have a problem with doing that if our focus is clearly defined.'"

On the other hand, IIT Roorkee director S.C. Saxena said that the 54 percent expansion to accommodate OBC students and mentoring new IITs meant that they already had more than what they could handle.

"We need to move in a planned and regulated manner because there is a lot of expectation from the IITs", added S C Saxena

Educationist and former director of IIT Madras, P.V. Indiresan said the institutes had been synonymous with excellence and they must not start any programmes unless they have acquired very good faculty for the same

Source: http://indiaedunews.net/IIT/IITs_may_spread_out_its_wings_to_surgery_6659/

IITs may spread out its wings to surgery

New Delhi: The renowned Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) may soon have doctors, historians and policy makers at its campus just like several universities in the United States.

A Committee, headed by educationist Yash Pal, Chairman of the XIth Five-Year Plan Committee met the heads of all the IITs on Friday, to discuss how the premier tech schools can upgrade their character and enlarge their scope like the American universities.

The meeting focused on how the IITs can offer more than just programmes in science and technology - like medicine, developmental studies, history, psychology, policy development and more.

"Currently, the IITs are premier undergraduate engineering schools doing some postgraduation and research work. Now, we want to give them a bigger role", Yash Pal said.

The IITs would be given more freedom to start courses of their choice. It is difficult to, however, predict whether the new subjects offered will compare in excellence with the engineering departments, or be relegated to the sidelines, like the IITs' management schools.

"A range of undergraduate courses are offered by all noted universities across the world. Our IITs can't be great unless they think in that direction. If MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or Caltech (California Institute of Technology) can offer a wider range of programmes that are well-known, why not the IITs? Our IITs have produced wonderful engineers for the country. It's time they looked at offering more," added Yash Pal.

But for some IIT directors, this move has come at a time when there is more on their plate than what they can handle. Yet, they are open to starting more programmes.

Gautam Barua, Director, IIT Guwahati said, "There has been some suggestion that the IITs start programmes in areas other than science and technology. I do not have a problem with doing that if our focus is clearly defined.'"

On the other hand, IIT Roorkee director S.C. Saxena said that the 54 percent expansion to accommodate OBC students and mentoring new IITs meant that they already had more than what they could handle.

"We need to move in a planned and regulated manner because there is a lot of expectation from the IITs", added S C Saxena

Educationist and former director of IIT Madras, P.V. Indiresan said the institutes had been synonymous with excellence and they must not start any programmes unless they have acquired very good faculty for the same

Source: http://indiaedunews.net/IIT/IITs_may_spread_out_its_wings_to_surgery_6659/

IIT Bombay receives 5 million dollar grant

Mumbai: Distinguished alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) and founder of the Symphony Group, Mr. Romesh Wadhwani, gifted his alma mater $5 million for establishing a Bio-Science Center.The announcement was made during an alumni gathering of IIT-B. The money will be used to set up the Wadhwani Research Centre and Bioengineering."I owe my success in life to the superior education I received from IIT Bombay, and this is my way of saying thank you," said Romesh Wadhwani.Anil Kshirsagar, President of the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, said, "Mr. Wadhwani's generosity is another example our alumni's consistent commitment to give back to IIT Bombay."Emphasis will be given on research in certain types of cancer fighting bacteria, which includes slowing bacteria division and growth and thus ultimately addressing bacterial diseases like tuberculosis. "Several international institutes that are involved in world-class research in these areas will be a part of the advisory board,'' said Wadhwani, an electrical engineer from the class of 1969.Ashok Misra, IIT-B Director, said, "The endowment will help us establish contacts with leading bio-researchers through the Wadhwani Foundation"."The aid will also help the school to invest in high-end research in healthcare such as Cell Signalling, Bio-Stem cells, Telemedicine", said D. Panda, head of the Bio-Sciences school at IIT-B.

Source:http://indiaedunews.net/IIT/IIT_Bombay_receives_5_million_dollar_grant_6037/

IIT Bombay receives 5 million dollar grant

Mumbai: Distinguished alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) and founder of the Symphony Group, Mr. Romesh Wadhwani, gifted his alma mater $5 million for establishing a Bio-Science Center.The announcement was made during an alumni gathering of IIT-B. The money will be used to set up the Wadhwani Research Centre and Bioengineering."I owe my success in life to the superior education I received from IIT Bombay, and this is my way of saying thank you," said Romesh Wadhwani.Anil Kshirsagar, President of the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, said, "Mr. Wadhwani's generosity is another example our alumni's consistent commitment to give back to IIT Bombay."Emphasis will be given on research in certain types of cancer fighting bacteria, which includes slowing bacteria division and growth and thus ultimately addressing bacterial diseases like tuberculosis. "Several international institutes that are involved in world-class research in these areas will be a part of the advisory board,'' said Wadhwani, an electrical engineer from the class of 1969.Ashok Misra, IIT-B Director, said, "The endowment will help us establish contacts with leading bio-researchers through the Wadhwani Foundation"."The aid will also help the school to invest in high-end research in healthcare such as Cell Signalling, Bio-Stem cells, Telemedicine", said D. Panda, head of the Bio-Sciences school at IIT-B.

Source:http://indiaedunews.net/IIT/IIT_Bombay_receives_5_million_dollar_grant_6037/

Two new IITs launched, permanent campus awaited

New Delhi/Ahmedabad/Kanpur: India on Saturday opened two new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) as part of plans to add eight such institutes, though both will have to wait for a permanent campus.While the IIT Rajasthan will initially function from the IIT Kanpur campus, the IIT Gandhinagar will function from the Government Engineering College in Chandkheda, near Ahmedabad. Since land is yet to allotted for the new institute in Rajasthan, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has asked IIT Kanpur to serve as its mentor institute for the time being.Addressing the first batch of IIT Rajasthan students in Kanpur, Minister of State for Higher Education D. Purandeswari said: "The IITs have enjoyed the three basic freedoms of an educational institution - freedom to choose whom to teach, who will teach, and what to teach. The IITs also enjoy full cost budgetary support. The IITs remain successful so long as these amenities continue."The minister also mentioned that in the past few years, the IITs have been ranked as the top educational institutions in India and Asia by national and international magazines. "This is indeed a matter of great pride."Lamenting the shortage of quality teachers, she invited the academic community to come forward to give suggestions, proposals for solving the problem of "increasing quantity with quality in higher education".Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal said: "There is an urgent need to set up an apex institution for imparting vital and important education to strengthen security of the country."He called upon IIT Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande come up with plans for offering degree courses on security management.Dhande, who will also serve as director of IIT Rajasthan, and Higher Education Secretary R.P. Agarwal were among those present on the occasion. India currently has seven IITs. Besides IIT Rajasthan, five more will open during the current academic session.For the IIT Gandhinagar, the first day of the academic year began with a welcome address by IIT Bombay director Ashok Misra for the first batch of students. The IIT Bombay will act as mentor for the new institute.Representatives of some of the leading industrial houses and senior Gujarat government officials including Education Secretary Anita Karwal, Revenue Secretary P. Panneervel and Director (Technical Education) Manish Bhardwaj were present on the launch function. The new institute is short of faculty and the recruitment process is on. Until this process is over, seven professors and five research assistants from IIT Bombay have been requisitioned for it. U.A. Yagnik, who teaches physics at IIT Bombay, has been appointed dean of student affairs and academic programme at the new institute. The first batch has 103 students from different parts of the country, studying in the mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering streams.In the next academic year B.Tech. courses in civil and computer sciences would be included.The Gujarat government has spent Rs.7 million for upgrading the infrastructure of the engineering college to make it compatible to the IIT standards.The central government's site selection committee headed by HRD Ministry's Additional Secretary Ashok Thakur is expected to inspect the new site for the proposed permanent campus on August 7.As many as eight new IITs are being set up in the country during the current academic session to impart high quality technical education.The new IITs are coming up in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. IANS

Source: http://www.ahmedabadeducation.net/

Two new IITs launched, permanent campus awaited

New Delhi/Ahmedabad/Kanpur: India on Saturday opened two new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) as part of plans to add eight such institutes, though both will have to wait for a permanent campus.While the IIT Rajasthan will initially function from the IIT Kanpur campus, the IIT Gandhinagar will function from the Government Engineering College in Chandkheda, near Ahmedabad. Since land is yet to allotted for the new institute in Rajasthan, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has asked IIT Kanpur to serve as its mentor institute for the time being.Addressing the first batch of IIT Rajasthan students in Kanpur, Minister of State for Higher Education D. Purandeswari said: "The IITs have enjoyed the three basic freedoms of an educational institution - freedom to choose whom to teach, who will teach, and what to teach. The IITs also enjoy full cost budgetary support. The IITs remain successful so long as these amenities continue."The minister also mentioned that in the past few years, the IITs have been ranked as the top educational institutions in India and Asia by national and international magazines. "This is indeed a matter of great pride."Lamenting the shortage of quality teachers, she invited the academic community to come forward to give suggestions, proposals for solving the problem of "increasing quantity with quality in higher education".Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal said: "There is an urgent need to set up an apex institution for imparting vital and important education to strengthen security of the country."He called upon IIT Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande come up with plans for offering degree courses on security management.Dhande, who will also serve as director of IIT Rajasthan, and Higher Education Secretary R.P. Agarwal were among those present on the occasion. India currently has seven IITs. Besides IIT Rajasthan, five more will open during the current academic session.For the IIT Gandhinagar, the first day of the academic year began with a welcome address by IIT Bombay director Ashok Misra for the first batch of students. The IIT Bombay will act as mentor for the new institute.Representatives of some of the leading industrial houses and senior Gujarat government officials including Education Secretary Anita Karwal, Revenue Secretary P. Panneervel and Director (Technical Education) Manish Bhardwaj were present on the launch function. The new institute is short of faculty and the recruitment process is on. Until this process is over, seven professors and five research assistants from IIT Bombay have been requisitioned for it. U.A. Yagnik, who teaches physics at IIT Bombay, has been appointed dean of student affairs and academic programme at the new institute. The first batch has 103 students from different parts of the country, studying in the mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering streams.In the next academic year B.Tech. courses in civil and computer sciences would be included.The Gujarat government has spent Rs.7 million for upgrading the infrastructure of the engineering college to make it compatible to the IIT standards.The central government's site selection committee headed by HRD Ministry's Additional Secretary Ashok Thakur is expected to inspect the new site for the proposed permanent campus on August 7.As many as eight new IITs are being set up in the country during the current academic session to impart high quality technical education.The new IITs are coming up in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. IANS

Source: http://www.ahmedabadeducation.net/

IIT Delhi students, teachers march against faculty quota

New Delhi: Defending the autonomy of world-class institutes of excellence, nearly 200 students and professors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) on Saturday night staged a candlelight march to protest the government's direction to reserve 49.5 percent of faculty positions in IITs for socially backward classes.The protest, which started a little after 8 p.m., continued for an hour with 45 professors and more than 150 students holding candles and walking around the IIT campus. The "silent protesters" said they were against 49.5 percent quota - 27 percent for other backward classes (OBCs), and 22.5 percent for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - in the IIT faculties."In world-class institutes, you cannot introduce faculty quota. Is the government trying to reduce the value and position of institutions like IITs?" asked Abhijeet J., a student."In the name of reservation let's not compromise with quality. The faculty quota cannot be implemented…please," he told IANS."Quota for students can be understood to some extent but not for faculties. Top institutions' autonomy needs to be respected and preserved," said Rohan Paul, another student.The 45-member faculty delegation led by M. Balakrishnan, dean of postgraduate studies and research at IIT-Delhi, expressed their dissatisfaction over the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry's move.Another student said autonomy was snatched away from almost all Indian institutions of excellence. "And the final nail in the coffin came in the form of the draconian directive of implementing reservations in IIT faculties," said a participant. The protesters said the IITians wanted to initiate an "organized struggle against the government's caste-based reservation policies".The students also said that similar protests were carried out in Bangalore and Mumbai.Currently India has seven IITs and three more will be operational during the course of the year. IANS

Source: http://indiaedunews.net/IIT/IIT_Delhi_students,_teachers_march_against_faculty_quota_5004/

IIT Delhi students, teachers march against faculty quota

New Delhi: Defending the autonomy of world-class institutes of excellence, nearly 200 students and professors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) on Saturday night staged a candlelight march to protest the government's direction to reserve 49.5 percent of faculty positions in IITs for socially backward classes.The protest, which started a little after 8 p.m., continued for an hour with 45 professors and more than 150 students holding candles and walking around the IIT campus. The "silent protesters" said they were against 49.5 percent quota - 27 percent for other backward classes (OBCs), and 22.5 percent for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - in the IIT faculties."In world-class institutes, you cannot introduce faculty quota. Is the government trying to reduce the value and position of institutions like IITs?" asked Abhijeet J., a student."In the name of reservation let's not compromise with quality. The faculty quota cannot be implemented…please," he told IANS."Quota for students can be understood to some extent but not for faculties. Top institutions' autonomy needs to be respected and preserved," said Rohan Paul, another student.The 45-member faculty delegation led by M. Balakrishnan, dean of postgraduate studies and research at IIT-Delhi, expressed their dissatisfaction over the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry's move.Another student said autonomy was snatched away from almost all Indian institutions of excellence. "And the final nail in the coffin came in the form of the draconian directive of implementing reservations in IIT faculties," said a participant. The protesters said the IITians wanted to initiate an "organized struggle against the government's caste-based reservation policies".The students also said that similar protests were carried out in Bangalore and Mumbai.Currently India has seven IITs and three more will be operational during the course of the year. IANS

Source: http://indiaedunews.net/IIT/IIT_Delhi_students,_teachers_march_against_faculty_quota_5004/

Private institutes: Need of Indian education system

More than 10 million students in India are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. Private institutions compensate for the failure of the education system. It is high time that it is given the status of an industry..

FOUR YEARS ago, I appeared for the engineering competitive examinations but couldn’t score a rank good enough to get admission in a government institution. My dreams of being an engineer were on the verge of being shattered but a private institution came to my rescue.

It was not just my case but according to the latest survey conducted by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), there are 17,500 colleges and 230 universities providing higher education to 11million students. But the biggest irony is that out of this large number more than 10 million students are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. The figure itself clearly proves, who is playing a bigger role in imparting higher education.

Delhi University (DU) received 500,000 applications for 40,000 seats, the result-even 90 per cent marks couldn’t confirm a seat. The competition gets tougher when it comes to seeking admission for professional courses. For 6,800 seats in Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) more than 2.4 lakh students appear. For 9,500 seats in National Institutes of Technology (NIT), more than two lakh applications were received.

This fact is for our Human Resource Development (HRD), who claims to have enough money to implement reservation in government institutes. NIT Bhopal has a 600 acre campus but it admits only 60 students for its masters in computer applications (MCA) programme. The institute neither has enough trained faculty nor it has resources to improve the labs and equipments to facilitate more intake. Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are also not different. They too are suffering from shortage of faculty and we all can imagine what is going to happen with the government planning to come up with more IITs.The disgusting fact is that the government doesn’t have enough money to deal with these problems and we can still hear them claiming that they have enough money to provide infrastructure and other facilities to twice the number of students.

The HRD ministry, instead of being progressive and encouraging more private universities, is more keen to provide reservation and divide the nation on caste basis. It is high time that private sector education is given the status of an industry and it should be realised that they compensate for the failure of the education system.

This demands sincere efforts from the government and the regulatory committees like All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) and proper transparency should be maintained. It is quite common to observe that institutes not having a decent infrastructure get affiliation just because they belong to some politician while others who deserve that affiliation, have to struggle. source: http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136835

Private institutes: Need of Indian education system

More than 10 million students in India are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. Private institutions compensate for the failure of the education system. It is high time that it is given the status of an industry..

FOUR YEARS ago, I appeared for the engineering competitive examinations but couldn’t score a rank good enough to get admission in a government institution. My dreams of being an engineer were on the verge of being shattered but a private institution came to my rescue.

It was not just my case but according to the latest survey conducted by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), there are 17,500 colleges and 230 universities providing higher education to 11million students. But the biggest irony is that out of this large number more than 10 million students are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. The figure itself clearly proves, who is playing a bigger role in imparting higher education.

Delhi University (DU) received 500,000 applications for 40,000 seats, the result-even 90 per cent marks couldn’t confirm a seat. The competition gets tougher when it comes to seeking admission for professional courses. For 6,800 seats in Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) more than 2.4 lakh students appear. For 9,500 seats in National Institutes of Technology (NIT), more than two lakh applications were received.

This fact is for our Human Resource Development (HRD), who claims to have enough money to implement reservation in government institutes. NIT Bhopal has a 600 acre campus but it admits only 60 students for its masters in computer applications (MCA) programme. The institute neither has enough trained faculty nor it has resources to improve the labs and equipments to facilitate more intake. Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are also not different. They too are suffering from shortage of faculty and we all can imagine what is going to happen with the government planning to come up with more IITs.The disgusting fact is that the government doesn’t have enough money to deal with these problems and we can still hear them claiming that they have enough money to provide infrastructure and other facilities to twice the number of students.

The HRD ministry, instead of being progressive and encouraging more private universities, is more keen to provide reservation and divide the nation on caste basis. It is high time that private sector education is given the status of an industry and it should be realised that they compensate for the failure of the education system.

This demands sincere efforts from the government and the regulatory committees like All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) and proper transparency should be maintained. It is quite common to observe that institutes not having a decent infrastructure get affiliation just because they belong to some politician while others who deserve that affiliation, have to struggle. source: http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136835

IIT coaching classes a Rs 10k cr industry?

3 Jul 2008, 0000 hrs IST,TNN
NEW DELHI: Coaching for admission to the IITs and other engineering colleges has acquired the status of a big industry in India. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the size of the industry is Rs 10,000 crore. ASSOCHAM’s conclusion is based on the assumption that six lakh students attend these classes every year and the average cost for each student is Rs 1.7 lakh, a spokesman for the industry body told TOI. The staggering sum of Rs 10,000 crore being netted every year by private academies who coach students for admission tests can fund 30 to 40 new IITs, ASSOCHAM said. Calling for deregulation of higher education, ASSOCHAM president Sajjan Jindal said the beneficiaries of the current system were those running big educational institutions and coaching centres. "The amount of money which goes to these institutions is enough to open 30 to 40 cwith lots of seats that can ensure admission to average candidates," he said. Those familiar with the coaching industry pointed out that both figures number of students going to coaching classes and the average cost per student seem exaggerated. The average cost per student cited by ASSOCHAM is too high, they said, pointing out that the cost in smaller cities which have many successful coaching institutes is much lower. They also said the number of students attending coaching classes could be much less than six lakh. TOI had recently done a survey of the coaching classes at Kota, the hub of the III-JEE coaching industry, and arrived at a ballpark figure of Rs 550 crore for the size of the industry there. At least 50% of the students who appear in the entrance tests for admissions to IITs and other engineering colleges enrol with coaching centres to beat the cutthroat competition, ASSOCHAM said. The industry body also said that 80,000-90,000 students go abroad for higher studies, leading to a high foreign exchange outflow. "If quality institutions are provided, a large number of students will stay back and contribute to the nation," ASSOCHAM said. It said that more institutions of excellence should come up and suggested that private players and big industrial groups should be encouraged in higher education. According to ASSOCHAM, India has over 12 million students in higher education but fewer than 350,000 faculty members.

IIT coaching classes a Rs 10k cr industry?

3 Jul 2008, 0000 hrs IST,TNN
NEW DELHI: Coaching for admission to the IITs and other engineering colleges has acquired the status of a big industry in India. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the size of the industry is Rs 10,000 crore. ASSOCHAM’s conclusion is based on the assumption that six lakh students attend these classes every year and the average cost for each student is Rs 1.7 lakh, a spokesman for the industry body told TOI. The staggering sum of Rs 10,000 crore being netted every year by private academies who coach students for admission tests can fund 30 to 40 new IITs, ASSOCHAM said. Calling for deregulation of higher education, ASSOCHAM president Sajjan Jindal said the beneficiaries of the current system were those running big educational institutions and coaching centres. "The amount of money which goes to these institutions is enough to open 30 to 40 cwith lots of seats that can ensure admission to average candidates," he said. Those familiar with the coaching industry pointed out that both figures number of students going to coaching classes and the average cost per student seem exaggerated. The average cost per student cited by ASSOCHAM is too high, they said, pointing out that the cost in smaller cities which have many successful coaching institutes is much lower. They also said the number of students attending coaching classes could be much less than six lakh. TOI had recently done a survey of the coaching classes at Kota, the hub of the III-JEE coaching industry, and arrived at a ballpark figure of Rs 550 crore for the size of the industry there. At least 50% of the students who appear in the entrance tests for admissions to IITs and other engineering colleges enrol with coaching centres to beat the cutthroat competition, ASSOCHAM said. The industry body also said that 80,000-90,000 students go abroad for higher studies, leading to a high foreign exchange outflow. "If quality institutions are provided, a large number of students will stay back and contribute to the nation," ASSOCHAM said. It said that more institutions of excellence should come up and suggested that private players and big industrial groups should be encouraged in higher education. According to ASSOCHAM, India has over 12 million students in higher education but fewer than 350,000 faculty members.

IIT student commits suicide

Indo-Asian News Service
Kanpur, May 31, 2008

A fourth year engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur committed suicide by hanging herself in her hostel room, the police said on Saturday.

Toya Chatterjee, 23, was a student of biological science and biotechnical engineering department. She was found dead in her room late on Friday night.

The police recovered a suicide note from the room written in Bengali. The note, addressed to her father, said: "I will not be able to get B Tech degree this year. I am ashamed of it. So I am ending my life. Take care of my mother after my death."

Director of the institute Sanjay G. Dhande said that Chatterjee was a brilliant student and had recently cleared the Common Admission Test (CAT) for admission to the Indian Institutes of Management.

But she was not keeping well for the past one year and was under the treatment of a private doctor. Due to her illness, she was not attending her classes regularly, he said.
Dhande said the counsellors at the institute had informed her father thrice about her physical health and her state of depression.

Her friends also said that she was upset over her inability to submit her project work.
This is the second suicide at the institute in the last two months. On April 8, a first year engineering student had committed suicide by hanging himself.

IIT student commits suicide

Indo-Asian News Service
Kanpur, May 31, 2008

A fourth year engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur committed suicide by hanging herself in her hostel room, the police said on Saturday.

Toya Chatterjee, 23, was a student of biological science and biotechnical engineering department. She was found dead in her room late on Friday night.

The police recovered a suicide note from the room written in Bengali. The note, addressed to her father, said: "I will not be able to get B Tech degree this year. I am ashamed of it. So I am ending my life. Take care of my mother after my death."

Director of the institute Sanjay G. Dhande said that Chatterjee was a brilliant student and had recently cleared the Common Admission Test (CAT) for admission to the Indian Institutes of Management.

But she was not keeping well for the past one year and was under the treatment of a private doctor. Due to her illness, she was not attending her classes regularly, he said.
Dhande said the counsellors at the institute had informed her father thrice about her physical health and her state of depression.

Her friends also said that she was upset over her inability to submit her project work.
This is the second suicide at the institute in the last two months. On April 8, a first year engineering student had committed suicide by hanging himself.

India to upgrade higher education

By Siddharth Srivastava NEW DELHI -

Stung by criticism that the lack of higher learning institutions is contributing to an acute shortage of skilled manpower, the Indian government has taken out its red marker and set out to correct its once-renowned education system. New Delhi is looking to start nine new Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) this year, to add to the existing seven. Eight new IITs, regarded as among the top schools in the world, are proposed for Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab provinces. Additionally, Benaras Hindu University will be converted into a full-fledged IIT. The IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), which are also to be expanded, are the two pedestals of the Indian education system, with alumni now employed as managers and engineers around the world. The IIMs and IITs function under a government charter and figure among lists of the world's 100 best management and technology institutes - in the same league with schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California, Berkeley. The belated efforts of the government are welcome, but there will be no easy answers as India upgrades an education sector that is too small to meet the demands of its population, and continues to lag behind its booming economy. Even after the expansion, only a few thousand students will be selected for the IITs and IIMs from hundreds of thousands of applicants. For the undergraduate B-Tech and M-Tech programs offered through IIT-JEE (Joint Entrance Examination), for instance, around 350,000 students will compete for 5,000 seats. Similarly, for the blue-chip Indian Institute of Management (IIM), only 1,200 from a pool of about 250,000 applicants manage to procure seats each year. This makes the exam even more selective than all the top US business schools put together. In fact the overall acceptance rate at IIM ranges between 0.1% and 0.4% compared with the acceptance rate of around 5 to 10% in the top US schools. More than 90% of Indian students seeking admissions in the most desired IITs and IIMs are rejected due to capacity constraints, according to a 2008 report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Forty percent of those who fail to qualify pay to study abroad, the report said. The group claimed about 450,000 Indian students are spending over US$13 billion on higher education abroad. "Over 150,000 students go overseas every year for university education, which costs India a massive foreign exchange outflow. This amount is sufficient to build many more IIMs and IITs," reported ASSOCHAM. "The trend can be reversed by opening a series of quality institutes with public-private partnership by completely deregulating higher education." Deregulation of government-controlled higher education could create annual revenues of $50-100 billion and provide 10-20 million additional jobs in the education field alone, the chamber said. It may also attract foreign students. Only 27,000 foreigners at present study in India, compared with 400,000 in Australia and 150,000 in Singapore. Implementation of a federal government blueprint for greater private and foreign participation in higher education has been stymied due to opposition by leftist parties and differences within the government. India allowed 100% foreign direct investment in education in 2001, but red tape and tough entry regulations have resulted in a poor progress. Top foreign institutes such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, and the London School of Economics have not opened campuses in India. Instead, according to official figures, the US remains the most sought-after destination for Indian students, who form the largest proportion of international students in the US at more than 100,000. Critics say the government's plans for IIT/IIM expansion could dilute the institutions' highly regarded reputations. Ashok Misra, director of IIT Bombay, has been in favor of creating "quality under a different brand name and mandate. They can be as good or even better than IITs, but mixing a 50-year old [IIT] brand name with a new one does not make sense." Brand reputation and competition have been linked to opening India's higher education system to foreign universities, fostering competition and opportunity. Also, an increasing number of Indians who've studied abroad are now returning to India, drawn by the jobs and salaries offered by the galloping Indian economy. A global employment outlook report conducted by Manpower Inc says that India's net employment outlook for the July-September quarter 2008 is pegged at 45%, the highest in the world. Nearly 85% of IIT graduates have opted to stay back and pursue a career in India in the past five years, claims a recent study, "Changing Career Destination and Career Choices for IITians", by outsourcing firm Evalueserve. This "reverse flow" began in 2002, according to the study, with only 16% going abroad in the period until 2008. In contrast, between 1964 and 2001, 35% of IIT graduates preferred to work in the US. The Evalueserve study continues: " ... in the last five years the mindset has changed. Now, nearly 50% say India is where the action is." Even so, the growing Indian economy is grappling with severe manpower shortages. The talent crunch has forced employers to hand out 15% salary increases in the past fiscal year, much more than in the US (5.5%) and China (8%). An assessment by the human resources firm Hewitt Associates reports: "The growth in salaries is due to lack of talent in the market while companies are growing at a fast pace [30% to 35% in telecom, retail]. The supply is not keeping pace with the demand. There's a 10% to 15% shortage of talent across various levels." With luck, India's expansion of its top universities will produce more skilled manpower to meet the needs of its explosive economy.

Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist.

(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

India to upgrade higher education

By Siddharth Srivastava NEW DELHI -

Stung by criticism that the lack of higher learning institutions is contributing to an acute shortage of skilled manpower, the Indian government has taken out its red marker and set out to correct its once-renowned education system. New Delhi is looking to start nine new Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) this year, to add to the existing seven. Eight new IITs, regarded as among the top schools in the world, are proposed for Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab provinces. Additionally, Benaras Hindu University will be converted into a full-fledged IIT. The IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), which are also to be expanded, are the two pedestals of the Indian education system, with alumni now employed as managers and engineers around the world. The IIMs and IITs function under a government charter and figure among lists of the world's 100 best management and technology institutes - in the same league with schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California, Berkeley. The belated efforts of the government are welcome, but there will be no easy answers as India upgrades an education sector that is too small to meet the demands of its population, and continues to lag behind its booming economy. Even after the expansion, only a few thousand students will be selected for the IITs and IIMs from hundreds of thousands of applicants. For the undergraduate B-Tech and M-Tech programs offered through IIT-JEE (Joint Entrance Examination), for instance, around 350,000 students will compete for 5,000 seats. Similarly, for the blue-chip Indian Institute of Management (IIM), only 1,200 from a pool of about 250,000 applicants manage to procure seats each year. This makes the exam even more selective than all the top US business schools put together. In fact the overall acceptance rate at IIM ranges between 0.1% and 0.4% compared with the acceptance rate of around 5 to 10% in the top US schools. More than 90% of Indian students seeking admissions in the most desired IITs and IIMs are rejected due to capacity constraints, according to a 2008 report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Forty percent of those who fail to qualify pay to study abroad, the report said. The group claimed about 450,000 Indian students are spending over US$13 billion on higher education abroad. "Over 150,000 students go overseas every year for university education, which costs India a massive foreign exchange outflow. This amount is sufficient to build many more IIMs and IITs," reported ASSOCHAM. "The trend can be reversed by opening a series of quality institutes with public-private partnership by completely deregulating higher education." Deregulation of government-controlled higher education could create annual revenues of $50-100 billion and provide 10-20 million additional jobs in the education field alone, the chamber said. It may also attract foreign students. Only 27,000 foreigners at present study in India, compared with 400,000 in Australia and 150,000 in Singapore. Implementation of a federal government blueprint for greater private and foreign participation in higher education has been stymied due to opposition by leftist parties and differences within the government. India allowed 100% foreign direct investment in education in 2001, but red tape and tough entry regulations have resulted in a poor progress. Top foreign institutes such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, and the London School of Economics have not opened campuses in India. Instead, according to official figures, the US remains the most sought-after destination for Indian students, who form the largest proportion of international students in the US at more than 100,000. Critics say the government's plans for IIT/IIM expansion could dilute the institutions' highly regarded reputations. Ashok Misra, director of IIT Bombay, has been in favor of creating "quality under a different brand name and mandate. They can be as good or even better than IITs, but mixing a 50-year old [IIT] brand name with a new one does not make sense." Brand reputation and competition have been linked to opening India's higher education system to foreign universities, fostering competition and opportunity. Also, an increasing number of Indians who've studied abroad are now returning to India, drawn by the jobs and salaries offered by the galloping Indian economy. A global employment outlook report conducted by Manpower Inc says that India's net employment outlook for the July-September quarter 2008 is pegged at 45%, the highest in the world. Nearly 85% of IIT graduates have opted to stay back and pursue a career in India in the past five years, claims a recent study, "Changing Career Destination and Career Choices for IITians", by outsourcing firm Evalueserve. This "reverse flow" began in 2002, according to the study, with only 16% going abroad in the period until 2008. In contrast, between 1964 and 2001, 35% of IIT graduates preferred to work in the US. The Evalueserve study continues: " ... in the last five years the mindset has changed. Now, nearly 50% say India is where the action is." Even so, the growing Indian economy is grappling with severe manpower shortages. The talent crunch has forced employers to hand out 15% salary increases in the past fiscal year, much more than in the US (5.5%) and China (8%). An assessment by the human resources firm Hewitt Associates reports: "The growth in salaries is due to lack of talent in the market while companies are growing at a fast pace [30% to 35% in telecom, retail]. The supply is not keeping pace with the demand. There's a 10% to 15% shortage of talent across various levels." With luck, India's expansion of its top universities will produce more skilled manpower to meet the needs of its explosive economy.

Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist.

(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)