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  • Sibal: New IITs not doing well due to state apathy.

    The new Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are not doing too well because of the poor infrastructure available, said Union human resource development minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, on Tuesday.

    Accusing the state governments of apathy in allocating the required land for these institutions, Mr Sibal said, “These new IITs are
    functioning in temporary campuses and are unable to attract new faculty members. We need commitment from state governments for at least 500 acres of land without any liabilities attached.” In 2008, new IITs were announced in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

    Though land has been allotted for IIT-Hyderabad,
    the minister said buildings and other infrastructure are not yet in place.

    Mr Sibal was in Hyderabad to attend a four-day Geospatial World Forum 2011, which began here on Tuesday. Mr Sibal said the National Geospatial Data Authority Bill could be tabled in Parliament. The Bill would create an independent regulator to oversee licensing and distribution of geospatial information that is used for mapping.

    Source : DC

  • REFORMS IN EDUCATION State bans ‘distance’ PhDs.

    The state government has banned universities from offering PhDs in distance education mode with immediate effect and has directed them to offer such degrees only in the regular mode as stipulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

    The government’s move came in the wake of Dravidian University registering 8,029 PhDs in distance education mode in just two years between 2007 and 2009.

    Taking serious note of the university’s violation of norms, the minister for higher and technical education, Mr Damodara Rajanarasimha, also constituted a two-member inquiry committee to probe the matter. A review meeting, attended by vice-chancellors of 10 conventional universities, also decided to recommend cancellation of PhD admissions undertaken by the Dravidian University against norms.

    “We have issue a notice to the vice-chancellor on the issue and have sought an explanation,” said the minister. “Action will be initiated against the vice-chancellor based on this.”

    While addressing the meeting, the minister referred to the issue of the Dravidian University and said the government will not allow the universities to convert PhDs as mere revenue earners. Several universities in the state have been offering PhDs in distance or off-campus mode for the last several years. However, while prominent universities such as Osmania University and Andhra University functioning for the last several decades registered less than 500 PhDs, Dravidian University, which is just 10 years old, overtook them by registering thousands of PhDs in a single academic year.

    The government received specific complaints that the university study centres were taking `50,000 to `1,00,000 from students to award PhDs.

    “We have decided to set up an ethics committee at the state-level to monitor these admissions,” said Mr Rajanarasimha.

    Source : DC

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