Gujarat: Education and Universities Thread

[vadodra007]

Who gives a crap? How is fluency in English tied to improvement of any relevant metric?

BTW, u will be a good Times of India reporter. They only need ability to write in English, no ability for critical thinking.

Originally Posted by Cosmicbliss

www.scopegujarat.org

The above is not a university but is still creditable that a state in India has such a clear-cut program to improve English fluency among its youth.

[NitinPatel]

Guj Vidyapith to tie up with Mexican varsities


The sole university in the world set up by Mahatma Gandhi - Gujarat Vidyapith (GV) - is all set to enter into a MoU with three foreign universities for student exchange programs and courses since it was established by Bapu on November 15, 1920.

The university was established at a bungalow belonging to Dahyabhai Mehta in Kochrab and later shifted to the new campus on Ashram road. To start with, the university has agreed to a MoU with three Mexican universities -University of San Luis, University of Guadalajara and the National Autonomous University of Mexico ( UNAM) for the purpose. The deal took almost three years of hectic paper work correspondences and visits of institutional heads. The first part of the program includes coming of students from Mexican universities to Vidyapith to learn Gujarati, while students form GV will be in Mexico to learn Spanish.

"The students will have a first hand experience of community living, which includes lessons in sanitation, meditation, spinning yarn on the charkha, and following the routine of the Gandhian way of life. Besides this, students will be introduced to Gandhian thoughts on peace and conflict resolution, and disciplining oneself," says vice-chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith, Sudarshan Iyengar. The example of the Spanish Jesuit priest Father Wallace who spent considerable part of his life in Ahmedabad writing books for children in Gujarati has been a gleaming example of Spanish teachers' involvement in the field of education in the city.

The formalization of the MoU will be completed by December this year while the exchange programmes will begin in 2012. "The MoU is a milestone achieved in the history of the Gujarat Vidyapith. We now look forward to more such MoUs with various foreign universities," says Iyengar.

[vibrant]

Gujarat Forensic Science University to start two new institutes

Gujarat Forensic Science University (GFSU), in days to come, will set up two new institutes- Institute of Medico-legal science and Institute of Technology and Management under its umbrella. JM Vyas, director general of GFSU announced this on the occasion of foundation stone laying ceremony where chief minister Narendra Modi performed the ceremony on Monday at the university site in Gandhinagar.

While addressing, Vyas spoke about the progress which the university has made in such a short span of two years. The university has three institutes including Institute of Forensic Science, Institute Research & Development and Institutes of Behavioral Science under it. The new campus of the university will be developed on 50,000 sqm of land.

Modi on the other hand, spoke about taking forensic science education into the schools and rural areas. "We want to introduce forensic science into the curriculum of schools and colleges so that students are able to develop an understanding of the technology and thus keep an option open about using the same in various situations. We also want to make use of this technology in the social service sector and detection of fake fertilisers and pesticides which is being sold to the farmers in rural areas." Modi also mentioned about the decisive use of Gujarat's forensic science laboratory for punishing the culprits involved in wild-life crimes .

[NitinPatel]

Bhavnagar University to be renamed as Shri Krishnakumarsinhji Gohil University

http://deshgujarat.com/2012/01/26/bh...ji-university/

[NitinPatel]

Two US schools, Indian foundation to build international Plastic university at Vapi in Gujarat


According to a Plastic news report, the state of Gujarat will have an international-level university for polymers at Vapi. The first phase of the university will be able to open by 2-14 or 2015. The new university will come up over 50-acre campus.

India’s largest plastics trade association Mumbai-based Plastindia Foundation and two American universities the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and the University of Wisconsin with prominent plastics engineering and material science programs signed an agreement February 3 during the Plastindia trade show to build this Plastindia International university. The India based foundation still needs to raise most of the $30 million needed to fully build out their vision.

According to Shri Goel, President of PlastIndia Foundation, they have master plan done and have the partners identified. The land is in their possession.The project will be entirely privately financed, he said. The American universities are not putting in money but will help develop curriculum to international standards.

Lowell is one of the more prominent plastics engineering programs in the United States. An official from Wisconsin’s plastics program said the university was the first in the world to offer a course in plastics engineering, in 1946, and sees this as a unique chance to help build a new program.

Goel, in a speech at the ceremony, said the PIU will seek certification under the state of Gujarat, rather than the national system in India, because national rules are unclear and Gujarat is offering more flexibility.

Plastindia employed American architectural firm SWA Group to prepare preliminary designs, and in a presentation at the ceremony, an SWA architect showed a potential campus design for 2,000 students, with housing for students and staff, and that would use green practices such as rainwater harvesting and water recycling.

[GJ10]

ASER report on rural primary education 2011. Most obv trend is the poor performance in tribal districts.



Screenshot taken from data split by Districts, that along with Full report (inc methodology/sampling) available here

They have some interactive chart tools for data going back a few years available here, kinda interesting to play about with.

[GJ10]

Australian University to set up Ahmedabad campus

Australia-based University of Wollongong (UOW) is planning to establish a 72-acre campus in Ahmedabad, an official from the varsity said.

Indian students have a major presence in our country. So, we thought why not establish a campus here which will allow them to get the Australian flavour of education without having to leave their shores, Craig Peden, director, corporate relations, UOW, said.

Peden also said the university was mulling to establish a branch of Innovation Campus (IC), a technology and research precinct developed by it. With a view to forge partnership with India in the field of RD in areas like advance manufacturing, energy storage etc, we are looking for a suitable place here to establish a branch of the IC, added Peden.

IC's brand ambassador and Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist had visited New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore last year to scout for a suitable place for the Indian branch.

The facility will be the UOW's second international campus alongside Dubai.

[Kaushal]

IIT-Gandhinagar to set up Rs 1,200cr campus

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/12127920.cms

The new campus of Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT-GN) will be constructed at the budget of Rs 1,200 crore. The work is set to begin within six to nine months, and the campus will flaunt some of the most environment-friendly green buildings in the country.

IIT-GN, which is one of the six new IITs set up in 2008-09, has been allotted the campus of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College at Gandhinagar for the time being. The institute has been allotted a 450-acre plot in Palej village of Gandhinagar district for its campus.

"The preparation of the master plan for the new campus is underway. We are planning to erect buildings with the least amount of carbon emission possible. The facilities and plans for the entire campus are being visualized along these lines," said director of IIT-GN Sudhir Jain.

The master plan for the new campus is being prepared by a Delhi-based consultancy firm. The institute had floated a competition for consultancy firms for the preparation of the master plan. More than 60 domestic and international firms applied for the project.

"Among other criteria, we shortlisted the entries and selected them based on their expertise and experiences in the area of handling green campuses. We are planning to make the movement of vehicles will be limited inside the campus and most of the campus will be pedestrian zones," said Jain. Other plans for the institute's buildings include air-cooling systems instead of air conditioners.

"The new campus will be like a township and will have all required facilities like dispensaries, shopping complex, banks, faculty quarters, students' hostels and so on. The first phase of construction that will begin in around six to nine months from now will be able to accommodate 2400 students. However from the experience and history of other IITs it is clear that the institute will have to accommodate more students and we will have to expand the facilities further."

"Once the master plan is ready, we will be floating a competition for architects. The experience of the architects in the area of green buildings will again be one of the most important criterion for shortlisting them," said Jain.

[GJ10]

Awesome news... the location of the IIT is about 5kms north of the GIFT City project. Sounds like they are aiming for similar smart-city/eco-friendly design features for the campus as well.

[bhargavsura]

I hope the facilities in the IIT will be on the standard as the universities around the world. A friend of mine graduated with an aerospace degree and a Masters from iit-b but unfortunately he said that the labs at IITB were not the greatest and a lot of the equipments did not work. Hopefully this one has better facilities with the latest equipment.

[Cosmicbliss]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-
economy/marketing/article2999347.ece?ref=wl_industry-and-economy


TeamLease varsity starting in June 2013

Staffing solutions company TeamLease will start coaching its first batch of students at its university in June 2013.

Last year, TeamLease had announced the intention to establish the country's first vocational training university in Gujarat.

Mr Ashok Reddy, Managing Director and Co-founder of TeamLease said that students seek the social acceptability of a ‘degree' in vocational training and the university would give individuals the corridor effect of a ‘certificate' after the training programme.

TeamLease Skills University would offer short, mid and long term courses in finance, IT, hospitality and mechatronics. Although the main campus would be located at Ahmedabad, the university would also establish four community colleges this year that would offer associate degrees programmes. “In about 3-4 years, we plan to have a total of 22 such colleges,” Mr Reddy said.

Last April, TeamLease had raised Rs 100 crore in private equity funding from ICICI Venture and Gaja Capital Partners. A part of this fund would be used for the university, the company had said.

[Cosmicbliss]

http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...rsity-charusat


This US-based technocrat pays back for a better future
Prashant Rupera, TNN Feb 18, 2012, 11.31PM IST


Tags:
US-based technocrat|Education trust|Charotar University
VADODARA: If somebody is hungry you don't provide him fish, you provide him a fishing rod. It is with this motto that 63-year-old NRG Ashok Patel from United States is supporting education sector in Gujarat.

Seven years ago, Patel had donated Rs 3.25 crore, which helped education trust Charotar Vidya Mandal (CVM) fulfill its dream of setting up a state-of-the-art biotechnology institute in New Vallabh Vidyanagar, a satellite campus adjacent to educational town Vallabh Vidyanagar.


Now, Phoenix-based Patel will be donating another Rs 5 crore to support Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT) dream project of starting Charotar Institute of Physiotherapy (CIP) at education campus Changa.

"It is said that if you give a man a fishing rod, you feed him for a lifetime. I don't own any industry where I can employ youngsters so that they earn. Instead, I support formation of such institutes which can nurture future generations. And hence, I am paying back at two places - Changa (my native) and Vidyanagar (from where I graduated)," Patel told TOI on Saturday.

After completing his schooling from small village Changa, Patel completed his bachelors in civil engineering from Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya (BVM) and later moved to US where he completed his masters in water resources engineering in 1972.

"I love both Changa and Vidyanagar because they are responsible for my growth," says Patel, whose first donation led to the establishment of Ashok & Rita Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research in Biotechnology & Allied Sciences as Gujarat's first institute providing MSc (integrated) biotechnology course.

On Thursday, Ash Patel, as he is fondly called, donated Rs 1.20 crore as token amount for construction of CIP Bhavan during a foundation stone laying function organized by Shree Charotar Moti Sattavis Patidar Kelavani Mandal, the educational trust which manages CHARUSAT educational campus. Acknowledging this contribution, the trust has decided to name CIP as Ashok and Rita Patel Institute of Physiotherapy.

And it is not just about one-time donations. "Whenever I come back, I go and talk to youngsters. I tell them that I am going to help you, but only if you promise me that you will help others. We need to develop a culture through which standards of our educational institutes are uplifted," he says.

So as a member of the BVM Alumni Association, he is spreading the word on how small contributions from each of the 15,000-odd engineers who have passed out from Gujarat's first engineering college can bring a big change. Interestingly, at retirement, Patel, who was so far in engineering consultancy business at Arizona, has also decided to go for formal education to follow his passion for arts, paintings and digital photography.

[Cosmicbliss]

http://articles.economictimes.indiat...group-students


Manipal Group to set up five new universities
Rituraj Tiwari, ET Bureau Jul 8, 2011, 11.51am IST


Tags:
Sikkim Manipal University|Manipal International University|Manipal group

JAIPUR: Manipal Group is in active talks with Gujarat and Orissa governments for setting up universities in these states. This is part of group's plan to have a footprint in all parts of the country. The chain plans to roll out five universities in next five years.

Manipal Group advisor – strategy and development – Sudhakar Rao told ET that all these universities would ideally come up across 200-300 acres each with a total investment of over Rs 6500 crores.

[GJ10]

Volkwagen - Gujarat Govt open Auto workshop for skill training

Senior Minister of Gujarat government Shri Vajubhai Vala today dedicated a state-of-the-art automobile workshop at ITI Saraspur.

This workshop has been set up at a cost of Rs 70 lakh by Volkswagen group as per the MoU signed with the state government.

The workshop will train the youths for highest level of skill in automobile manufacturing and repair.

An official of Volkswagen company gave away a key of Zeta car, while Audi company’s Shri Anil Matval and Skoda’s Shri NN Sharma presented certificate of VG-TAP authorized training centre to Principal Shri GB Jadeja of Saraspur ITI.

These kinds of skills training centres are def much needed as Industrial/Manufacturing is a big part of our Economy.

[CivilEngineer079]

Gujarat's first marine institute to be operational from Aug: GMB

Gujarat's maiden Maritime Training Institute, supported by the state's port regulator Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), will become operational from August this year, a top official said.

"The first batch of 40 students will be joining the institute in August this year. The institute has been created with a view to meet the requirement of marine engineers," GMB Chief Nautical Officer S C Mathur said.

A marine engineer is in-charge of operations and maintenance of all machinery on board merchant ships.

The institute, which is set up in collaboration with U V Patel Engineering College in north Gujarat, a constituent of Ganpat University, is backed by the Gujarat government which had signed a MoU for the purpose in 2007.

"It was a long-felt need that an institution to offer a B.Tech degree, leading to a career as an officer in Merchant Navy, should be established in the state, which has the longest coastline of 1,600 km," Mathur said.

We are tying up with shipping companies like Adani, Essar, Ocean Sparkle, Shahi among others so that students can get on-board sea-time training in the fourth year of their course, a prerequisite for securing a degree, he said.

The main objective behind setting up this institute was to check outflow of local lads to other states, and train them here itself, Mathur said.

The mandatory clearances required to establish and run the institute from DG Shipping, and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) have been secured, he said.

The GMB also plans to start offering a B.Sc level course in nautical sciences, for which it has signed an understanding with Chajjumal Trust of Vadodara and expects the college to come up in next one year.

[CivilEngineer079]

Veer Narmad South Gujarat University admission goes high-tech



Fresh from its success in providing online admissions to BEd course, the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU) is now preparing to introduce online admission system for other major courses. The manual admission process would be converted into an online one from the coming academic year. Online admissions would also be done for BCom, BA and BSc courses that account for maximum number of students at VNSGU. So far, the university was following a centralized admission procedure for which the students had to go to its admission centre.

In south Gujarat, a large number of students are from remote, tribal areas. They were forced to come to Surat with their parents. However, the online admission system would make things easier for students living in far-flung areas.

"The centralized admission process was very troublesome for families of the students from remote areas as they had to travel long distance. They had to visit the university campus again and again till the admissions were finalized," said VNSGU vice-chancellor Dakshesh Thakar.

The admission process was a costly affair for the university too. "Centralized admissions meant involvement of a large number of university staff. The university had to spend a huge amount of money on the entire process. We will be saving money by introducing the online admission system," Thakar added.

The students will just need to log on to the university's website and apply for admission and also for reshuffling.

"Online admission system will help students to reshuffle their courses sitting at home. They would not have to visit the university even for paying fees. They can submit the fees in banks authorized near their houses in different villages and towns of south Gujarat," Thakar added.

Apart from major courses, online admission system would also cover courses like BCA, MCA, MSc, MCom courses too.

[CivilEngineer079]

Beijing University to teach Gujarati

AHMEDABAD: The Chinese may not have mastered the English language yet, but they are keen to learn Gujarati to boost business ties with Gujarat. Beijing University is all set to offer a two-year full-time residential program in Gujarati language for those keen to work here.

By January 2013, the university's language and culture department will roll out an extensive curriculum covering various aspects of the language. Faculty from colleges and universities of Gujarat are likely to teach the course through an open invitation and interview.

Gujarat is eyeing over 10 per cent of the total Chinese investment of $100 billion expected in India in the next five years. Also, some 30 Chinese companies have shown interest in developing a Rs 25,000 crore township in Gujarat.

Chinese officials - both central and provincial - will be the target students. Besides, students of business administration and employees of power and telecom companies are also likely to sign up.

Jagat Shah, chairman of India China Economic & Cultural Council (ICEC), Gujarat chapter, said, "Chinese believe that understanding another country's culture is key to good trade relations. In the last five years, China has been focusing on developing relations between their provinces and India.

After chief minister Narendra Modi's visit to China, they want to focus on Gujarat and Gujarati as a key to being effective here."

ICEC will help the university develop the curriculum. Apart from helping develop the course material, ICEC will assist the university in translations, headhunting for faculty, faculty exchange programmes, student exchange programmes, field visits of students to Gujarat as well as industry placements in China and India for graduating students.

Gujarati will be the second Indian language to be taught in China after Hindi. According to ICEC, some 1,000 Gujarati businessmen visit China every year.

Back home, many Gujarati businessmen, too, have enrolled themselves in Mandarin Chinese language courses. Private Chinese classes are running full batches in the state. Surat's diamantaires are mastering Chinese to acquire a share of the diamond polishing industry pie.

[CivilEngineer079]

Maritime University campus to come up in Gandhidham over 12.6 acre land

A new campus of Indian Maritime University(IMU) will come up over 12.6 acre land in Gandhidham. This was announced by IMU Vice Chancellor Mukesh Baveja yesterday in Kandla.

Baveja said that Kandla Port Trust has already allotted a piece of land for IMU. He said that central Shipping Ministry has given its approval to purchase a ship for cadets.

Baveja was in Gandhidham to give away certificates of Diploma in Nautical Science to 30 cadets of first batch of IMU’s Gandhidham centre. This center had started working in August 2011.

Addressing the cadets, KPT Chairman PD Vaghela said that Gujarat contributes 33% of total cargo handling in India. He said the state has ship building, ship handling and ship breaking facilities on large scale, and therefore a full scale Maritime University campus is necessary here.

http://deshgujarat.com/2012/06/30/ma...2-6-acre-land/

[GJ10]

iCreate campus to be ready in a years time

The International Centre for Entrepreneurship & Technology (iCreate) led by Infosys chairman emeritus N R Narayana Murthy on Sunday held its first advisory board meeting here in the city.

The 35 acre iCreate campus in the outskirts of Ahmedabad is likely to be operational in a year’s time.

Meanwhile, the centre will start some programmes by the year-end, informed Madhukumar Mehta, chief mentor of iCreate adding that the campus would take around a year to build. The first batch size would be around 30 people.

Currently, iCreate is functioning from its 2500 square feet city office at the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) building Ahmedabad under the aegis of Gujarat Foundation of Entrepreneurial Excellence, a joint venture company in public private partnership.

iCreate was launched in September 2011 with a view to create an ecosystem that would nurture and enable young aspiring entrepreneurs. It is an autonomous centre of excellence which plans to work with students, aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, high growth companies in its upcoming incubation centre.

Murthy elaborated that iCreate would function primarily on two anchor ideas, globalisation and technology. “We will by and large focus as much as possible on ideas that would leverage the power of globalisation and the power of technology. We want our entrepreneurs to focus on inclusive technology”, he said.

iCreate has signed a MoU with with Israel’s science and technology institute Technion for cooperation in areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and technology earlier this month. Technion is a global leader in applied research, technology transfer and commercialisation.

Upbeat on the collaboration, Murthy said that entrepreneurs at iCreate would have a lot to learn from Technion. “Israel has the largest number of companies listed on the Nasdaq after the US”, he mentioned.

[gandhi.rushabh1992]

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar gets 400 riverside acres for own campus


LINK


An artist's impression of the campus




AHMEDABAD: Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) will finally get its own address. After a four-year wait, IIT-Gn took possession of over 400 acres of land for its new campus on Monday. The land is on the banks of the Sabarmati near Palej in Gandhinagar.

IIT-Gn is one of six new IITs set up in 2008-09 and presently functions from a temporary campus at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College (VGEC) at Chandkheda.

This delay by state government in allocation of land drew flak from educationists and IITians across the country.

The institute was forced to function from a makeshift arrangement and saw its first batch graduate from the temporary campus.

The new campus will be constructed at a budget of around Rs 1,200 crore in the first phase, as a fully residential campus for 2,400 students. Work is set to begin in six to nine months, and the campus will flaunt some of the country's most environment-friendly buildings.

IIT Gandhinagar authorities hope to move into the campus by 2015.

Director of IIT-Gn, Sudhir Jain said, "Construction at the new campus will begin with classrooms and student hostels. Once these are ready, we can start functioning from there."

Jain added: "We will recycle used water to flush toilets, water plants and so on. The campus will also have a solid waste management system so refuse can be segregated and have non-organic waste sent to recycling centres."

The institute's new premises will have two parts - North campus and South campus - which will be connected by a Central campus. Along with solar back up for power consumed during the day, most of the campus will be vehicle-free zones.

Palej villagers also will benefit from the institute. Administrators have decided to set up a fund of Rs 1 crore. "The money will be used to teach village children and students will also venture go to the village to teach. This will create goodwill between the institute and villagers," said an IIT-Gn official.