� Ban on hiring regular faculty in Orissa Universities is lifted: "April 8th, 2007

After a long time and with the Orissa financial situation improving the government of Orissa has lifted the ban on hiring regular faculty in Orissa Universities. For a long time, universities could not hire regular faculty and were hiring faculty on short-term contracts. This had resulted in the lack of quality faculty in the universities and as a result the Orissa universities suffered a lot. The lifting of this ban is an welcome step.

This news is reported in various newspapers. (Sambada, New indian Express)
In the first phase the Orissa government has sanctioned hiring of 70 regular faculty at the four universities of Sambalpur University (47 positions), Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University (4 positions), North Orissa University (Baripada-13 positions) and Fakirmohan University (6 positions). The 6 positions in Fakirmohan University is to start a new program in Applied Physics and Ballistics in collaboration with DRDO. 12 of the positions in the North Orissa University are for 3 newly introduced self-financing courses in biotechnology, business administration and computer science. 1 position in the North Orissa University is for a new department in tribal studies.

Entry Filed under: Fakirmohan University, Balasore, North Orissa University, Baripada, Sri Jagannath University, Puri, Sambalpur University"

Rural hubs roll out on info highway - Remote villages in state caught on the Web via DakNet

PRABUDDHA S. JAGADEB

A DakNet kiosk at Satasankh. Picture by Prabuddha S. Jagadeb Satasankh, April 22: A cybercafe is a distant dream at Satasankh, a village in Puri famous for its coir-woven mats and handicrafts. Still, Susmita Sethi, an intermediate student and a resident of the village, can’t stop smiling after placing an order of gifts over e-mail to her elder brother working in Chandigarh. “I plan to order some cosmetics later on, when I save up some money,” said a beaming Susmita, before she logged out of the computer. Antaryami Das of Pathrchakda village near Kantilo in Nayagarh district was jobless after he had to attend to his ailing father for three months. A few months later, Das bagged a job in Hyderabad after having posted his resume online. Sounds miraculous? Not any more to the residents of villages like Satsankha, Dandamukundpur and Pipili on the Bhubaneswar-Puri highway, where DakNet — a patented “store and forward” network — developed by United Villages of US is bringing the wonders of Internet to remote villages untouched by the new waves of communication. The service launched by United Villages Inc four months ago in the rural hub, however, isn’t the click-and-surf real time Internet urban Orissa is used to. For starters, there is a time lag between a user’s request and the service delivered. “This could be between 2 hours to 24 hours depending on the request,” said Kishor Sutar, network service manager of United Villages. “But in remote locations, access and affordability is key, even if it involves a time lag,” he adds. The technology, which harnesses Wi-Fi networks and digital storage, is cost-effective, reliable and serves the needs of rural subscribers. And that’s the key to success. “None of my subscribers have a reason to complain. I have handed out marksheets to students,” said Sukanta Sahoo, who runs the kiosk of United Villages at Satasankh. When a subscriber sends an email, or submits a search request, it gets transferred to a Fixed Access Point — something like hard disk drive of a computer — where it is stored. A few selected buses fitted out with short-range Wireless Fidelity antennae pass through the villages automatically picking up data like stored emails and voice messages as they go. Once a bus reaches a city with Internet connectivity, it relays the data to their appointed destinations via the Web.

Tathya.in

SEZs in dire straits

Bhubaneswar:12/April/2007
The Big Brothers are in for trouble.

Posco, Vedanta, Hindalco and Saraf Group’s proposed Special Economic Zones (SEZ)s are in dire straits.

With the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGOM) decision to ask state governments to withdraw from land acquisition process for these SEZs are likely to create hurdle.

The Centre ’s decision, that land acquired/allotted by the states after February 1, 2006 will not be allowed to be used in SEZs has come as a big stumble block for the SEZ, which are approved in principle, said a senior official.

EGOM effected the biggest change with the insistence that private players, rather than the state, should acquire the land for SEZ.

This would shield landowners from the state's unique power under the Land Acquisition Act to alienate an individual's property rights and forcibly acquire land for a 'public purpose', said Prafulla Samantara of Lok Abhiyan.

This power, called the exercise of eminent domain in law, has been officially questioned for the first time in country's history.

The new rule would place sellers and buyers on an even keel — given the difference between market prices and last recorded prices in government records — and go a long way towards ensuring that SEZs do not create a large army of losers.

Development must create win-win situations, in order for it to be able to sustain itself; SEZ players should work actively at making the displaced stakeholders in the project, said an anlyst.

On Ground Zero the public sector undertaking Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (IDCO) is in the various stages of completing land acquisition procedure.

With the new caveats in place, the Posco which needs 3956 acres of land in Kujanga tahsil for its multi-product SEZ containing $12 billion steel project and ancillary industries will have to take agitating farmers into confidence before acquiring land by self.

Similar is the situation in case of Vedanta Alumina, who has received in principle approval for sector specific SEZ of aluminum and captive power plant at Jharsuguda with an investment of Rs.5742 crore.

Hindalco Industries face similar situation for its in principle approved sector specific SEZ of aluminum and captive power plant having project cost of Rs.3909 crore at Lapanga in Sambalpur.

Sector specific in principle approved SEZ of Beach Sand Mineral (Ilemenite to Tatanium Sponge) at Chhatrapur in Ganjam promoted by Saraf Group faces piquant situation with the paradigm shift in policy.

In all these cases IDCO is involved in acquiring land and now the PSU will have to withdraw in view of the EGOM’s ‘no acquisition by states’ dictat may make these four SEZs impossible, admit officials.

Public Servants and not Public Masters:
NREGA and RTI are probably two of the most potent laws ever passed in Independent India. And add impacts of Internet. The whole world knows about the Govt frailties within a week, if not 24 hours.

Like PILs (Public Interest Litigation) which came earlier, they are proving to be a strategic aid for activists and the people.

1974 Nobel winner Gunner Myrdal in his classic, The Asian Drama, prophetically wrote: "the vested interests in the 3rd world are strong enough, to pass the most radical laws and yet not allow their implementation."
The Internet and faster communications, has changed all that. It is holding the bureaucracy's foot to fire of the laws. And stopping the politicians from manipulating the babus.

That is why you found P.M. Manmohan Singh's Govt trying to amend the RTI (File notes to be kept out of public eye, was the issue). Or Orissa Govt messing up the rules of RTI, so they can not be implemented, in true spirit. The letters of the RTI, law are messed up/misinterpreted in Orissa/India to give the politician/ bureaucrat nexus, some cover for their misdeeds.

Similarly you will see this year, if we can hold the NREGA to its words - a bureaucratic effort to dilute it. But if there is a sincere effort and there is civil society involvement - this is not going to happen. Like efforts of amending RTI Act, this too is going to be stalled by the big roar of the civil society.

Let us take advantage of the situation (coming off age of the civil society) and make "pubic servants", aware of what they are: public servants. Many of them behave as if, the public has hired some " public masters".

FAQ 1: What do you do when you forget your NITR Alumni Database Password?

Please go to link: http://www.nitrkl.ac.in/alumni.asp

click, "Forgot Password". Password is sent to your registered e-address, if you provided one.

Thus you need to only remember the ID.

FAQ 2: What do you do when you forget your NITR Alumni Database ID?

A: 1st try to reconstruct logically.

They are intuitive and based on info you can't forget, like your Degree, Year of Graduation and Branch.

All you need to remember are the last 5 digits out of 13, which are unique.

For example: mine is: BE 1965 ME 00085

First 2 letters stand for Degree: BE, ME etc

Code for Degree:
------------------------
BE: BE, B.Sc. Engg, B.Tech
ME: ME, M.Sc. Engg, M. Tech
MS: MSc
MC: MCA
PH: Ph.D

Next 4 numbers stand for the year of passing: 1965

Next 2 letters stand for the branch:

Chemical : CH
Civil : CE
Ceramic: CR
Computer : CS
Electrical : EE
Electronics & Instrumentation: EI
Electronics & Communication: EC
Mechnaical : ME
Mining : MN
Metallurgical/Materials : MM

Lastly 5 digits are an unique number. (00085 in the above case) These are the only ones you need to remember.

One Friend's: BE 1965 CE 00013: All he needs to remember is 00013.

FAQ 3: How do you get your forgotten NITR Alumni Database ID?

If you have access to electronic mail, you can e-mail "Dr. Saroj. K. PATEL" alumni_nitrkl@rediffmail.com to get your ID by e-mail, (usually within 24 hours)


FAQ 4: What data you need to fill up in the database?


For info to fill up, see below - those marked with asterisk(*) are optional.

Login Info
Password:	*	Retype Password:	*
Personal Info
Full Name:	- Dr. Mr. Miss Mrs.
	prefix--------- first name* ---------- middle name----------- last name -----
	(If your name contains only a single word, then please specify in First Name field only)
Gender:	Male Female *
Blood Group:	------ A +ve A -ve AB +ve AB -ve B +ve B -ve O +ve O -ve
Date of Birth:	- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 - Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec - 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930
Marriage Anniversary:	- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 - Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
About Family:
Photograph:		(File type: .gif, .jpg W:120, H:153)
Education & Work Info
	(In case of multiple degrees, please select your first degree achieved from NIT)
Degree:	- Select your program - B.E. / B.Tech / B.Sc.Engg M.E. / M.Tech / M.Sc.Engg M.Sc. MCA Ph.D. *	Year of Passing:	- select year - 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 *
Discipline:	- Select your department - Ceramic Engineering (CR) Chemical Engineering (CH) Chemistry (CY) Civil Engineering (CE) Computer Science & Engineering (CS) Electrical Engineering (EE) Electronics & Communication Engineering (EC) Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering (EI) Humanities (HS) Mathematics (MA) Mechanical Engineering (ME) Metallurgical & Materials Engineering (MM) Mining Engineering (MN) Physics (PH) *
Additional Qualifications:		Professional Membership:
Expertise:	- Select Expertise - Academics Advertising Aerospace Agriculture Architecture Automobile Banking Biotechnology Chemicals Consulting Design Electronics Energy Entertainment Entrepreneur environment Export/Import Fashion Financial Services Graphics/Web Design Heritage Hospitality Human Resource Industrial Hydraulics & Pneumatics Infrastructure Instrumentation Insurance IT Law Maintenance Management Management of Technology Manufacturing Marketing Materials Science Media Mining Networking NGO activities Oil and gas Pharmaceutical Quality Real estate Refrigeration Research and development Safety Security Steel Surveyor Telecommunication Trading Travel
Designation:		Organisation:
Contact Info
Contact Address:	(street)*	Permanent Address:	*
	(city)*
	(pin)
	(state)*
	(country)*
Phone (O):		Phone (R):
Mobile:		Fax:
Email:	#	Webpage URL:
How can I help the Institute/Alumni Affairs:
Note: Fields with * symbol are mandatory fields... Fields with # symbol are recommended fields...

All you need to remember is last 5 digits of the 13