IIT-Kharagpur to open extension centre at Chhattisgarh

The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-K) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chhattisgarh government to open an Extension Centre in the State to impart quality improvement and knowledge up-gradation training to the universities and college teachers.

This will be Chhattisgarh’s first centre for excellence in human resource development and it will offer part-time programmes leading to awards or qualifications at the Masters’ and higher or equivalent levels, within the framework of IIT-K’s academic norms and regulations, for teachers at all levels serving universities and colleges and polytechnics. The course will also be open for engineers, scientists and other professionals employed with the State government or any of its agencies or public authorities in the State; and professionals who may be outside public employment but residing in Chhattisgarh.

The Extension Centre will conduct programmes for imparting training and developing entrepreneurship in the State and partner with the State or entrepreneurs and industry for developing grassroots-level technologies, to promote rural employment, encourage new opportunities in rural livelihoods, aid in improving rural health, rural education, rural development, rural economy as well as rural entrepreneurship. Under the agreement, Chhattisgarh will make available the requisite land, buildings and related infrastructure, including furniture etc. as per the norms set by IIT Kharagpur, to enable the Institute to start the Centre while the IIT will be free to decide on the fee structure, syllabi and issuance of certificates.

The IIT Kharagpur will offer M.Tech. programmes in the video conferencing mode, through the Centre, during the weekends to suitably qualified candidates working in engineering colleges, State government agencies and public/ private industries in the State.

Source: The Hindu, April 21, 2012

IIT-Delhi scouts for a second home

A six-member team of faculty members and officials from Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) on Thursday visited some plots in and around Jhajjar near Gurgaon to identify a site for the proposed campus expansion plans of the institute. The team, comprising IIT-Delhi Director R K Shevgaonkar, Deputy Director M Balakrishnan and former Director Surendra Prasad, visited three sites around Jhajjar and has zeroed in on a site “relatively close to Gurgaon”. The land is likely to be used as a research facility as the current campus, which has about 250 acres of functional area, is not not enough for the research needs of the institute.

Deputy Director (Faculty) of IIT-Delhi Professor M Balakrishnan said, “They (Haryana government) has been very positive in their response. They have shown us some sites but there are still many details that need to be looked at. It is really premature right now.” He said that at the current campus, many faculty members “did not have the kind of space required for their research. The proposed site is next to the second campus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),” the official said. He added AIIMS has already constructed a boundary wall around the site.

Former IIT-Delhi Director Surendra Prasad had announced during the institute’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in August 2011 that the Haryana government had offered 100 acres of land — free of cost — to IIT-Delhi to built a second campus. He had also said that the funding for the expansion will have to be generated by the institute itself as “this was an IIT-Delhi initiative” and not one of MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development).

Professor Balakrishnan said, “We are yet to look into the details of revenue generation and the facilities that may be developed at the new campus.” Early last year, the New York City had also offered IIT-Delhi space to open a campus there but the institute had declined saying that they “wanted to expand within the country first before going abroad.”

Source: The Indian Express, April 20, 2012

IIM-Kozhikode plans Kochi campus

The Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) is planning to establish a satellite campus in Kochi, which will primarily focus on executive education. Equipped with an internationally accredited Executive Management Education Programme, the institute intends to expand offerings in this space at the new campus. It will start full-time and part-time programmes targeted at middle and senior level executives, according to an IIM-K spokesperson.

The campus will be initially housed within Infopark and will offer specialised courses for executives of the IT sector. To begin with, it will have one-year executive MBA programme as well as two-year part-time programmes in addition to a bunch of short-duration management development programmes (MDPs).

Inclusive education
By locating the campus in Kochi, IIM-K is looking at supporting the growth and development of business and industry in the region, the spokesperson said. In addition to offering executive training and education programmes, the satellite campus will also support IIM-K’s mission of ‘inclusive education’.

The institute is planning to incubate a finishing school to extend specialised programmes for people belonging to marginalised sections of the society. It had previously incubated CREST, a national level institution in Kozhikode with this objective. The facility inside the Infopark is expected to become functional by October this year and the courses to be commenced by the end of the year. The campus will become full-fledged within the next three years.

Source: The Hindu Business Line, April 18, 2012

IIT-Delhi gets new campus

The Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) will soon start its extended branch at Haryana. This development is being planned after the Haryana government offered 100 acres of land to the institute.

According to M. Balakrishnan, Deputy Director, IIT-D, before deciding on how to make the best possible use of the land, permission from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has to be obtained on the same. “We have already written to MHRD about the land offered to IIT-D and after we hear from them we will use the land as an extension to our current campus,” he informed.

As per Rakesh Kumar, Registrar, IIT-D, the institute will not conduct BTech programmes at the new campus. It will rather use that land for research related activities and entrepreneurship development programmes. The new campus, when ready, will ease out space-related problems that the IIT is facing now. IIT-D is spread across 300 acres of land out of which 50 acres is forest area.

With the available spread of land already in use, there is no space left to construct facilities like more research labs. Also, the student strength of IIT-D at present is approximately 8000, for which the current campus is not adequate. The other problem faced by the institute is the shortage of faculty. IIT-D is short of almost 200 faculty – as against the sanction.

Source: The Times of India (Education Times), September 5, 2011