Cabinet approval for Bengal engineering varsity takeover

 

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the takeover of the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) at Shibpur in West Bengal for converting it into an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST). 

 

 

 

 

 

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the takeover of the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) at Shibpur in West Bengal for converting it into an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST).

The five-year project will be set up at a cost Rs.592.20 crore (Rs.300.30 crore as non-recurring cost towards capital expenditure and Rs.291.90 crore as recurring expenditure).

The BESU will be turned into the IIEST by amending the National Institutes of Technology (NIT) Act, with the inclusion of special clauses, reflecting its exclusive character. The IIEST will be an ‘institute of national importance' covered under the NIT Act and its organisational and governing structure will be on the lines of the National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

The new IIEST will integrate undergraduate and postgraduate education and research in engineering and science under the same umbrella. It promises to be an institution of international standards and to produce quality manpower for the strategic sector of the country, research laboratories and quality teachers for engineering and science institutions.

The Centre constituted an expert committee in 2005 to evaluate and suggest a plan of action for upgrading seven institutes, including the BESU, which had earlier been identified by the S.K. Joshi Committee. The expert committee had recommended the establishment of a new system of IIESTs as institutes of national importance through an Act of Parliament. The committee also recommended upgrading five institutes, including the BESU, to IIESTs. Admissions to the IIEST will be through the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination.

Speech delivered by Hon’ble Chief Minister, Sikitex 2010- IT Exhibition & Conference

 

Speaker, Sikkim Legislative Assembly, Shri KT Gyaltsen, cabinet colleagues, Members of Parliament, MLAs, senior officials from Ministry of Information Technology, NIC officials, officials from other States, distinguished guests representing IT giants including IBM, Sify and ILFS, members of Press, ladies and gentlemen

Narayana Murthy of the Infosys fame recounted how in the early 1980s, he had to literally make 25 visits spread over 18 months to the bureaucracy in New Delhi to import one computer! Now the scenario has changed completely with Infosys and all other information technology companies which have made India a front runner in software exports.

With liberalization of the early 1990s and the simultaneous abolition of licence-permit raj, India has earned fame and distinction excelling in the IT sector. Computer Software in India is the miracle sector growing at 40 per cent annually for a decade earning $ 8 billion in exports last year. By all account and global submission, India ’s knowledge power and knowledge industry is ever expanding providing jobs to lakhs of young people. The demographic dividend is playing out very well in this sector for our country.

I am happy to join this distinguished gathering of IT professionals of the Country who have made their high mark in IT applications worldwide. I also welcome distinguished guests from other States and officials from central Ministries to deliberate on how best we could harness the IT tools for the welfare of the people at large. India is a vast Country and the responsibility of providing access to IT benefits to all sections of population is a big challenge. The big question we have to answer is how far we are successful to bridge the digital divide in this country. This gathering and all Seminars and Workshops that will take place later will define our benchmark of where we stand in terms of access and affordability to use this facility. You are aware that India has also embarked on a ambitious project of bringing Universal Identity to all citizens. This project is being headed by another great stalwart of the IT industry, Mr. Nandan Nilenkani. Universal financial inclusion will ensure that much of the benefits can flow directly to the poor.

Sikkim is a State nestled in the Himalayas , 7096 sq kilometers in size and with a population of over 6 lacs. We are amply blessed by its natural diversity in physical features, natural wealth and socio-cultural features. Sikkim is one of the 18 biodiversity hotspots in the World. With altitudes ranging from almost sea level to 28,156 ft Sikkim has alpine landscapes, luxuriant forest, water bodies and tranquil lakes. Sikkim is a veritable island of peace and mutual brotherhood. Further details...

AICTE warns degrees will not be recognised

 

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has warned several universities in the country including Punjab Technical University and Sikkim Manipal University over offering courses in the distance education mode without the approval of University Grants Commission (UGC) and AICTE.

The council has made it clear that the degrees awarded by these institutions for distance education programmes are not valid.

The member secretary of the council said it is necessary for universities to get approval from the tripartite committee consisting of members from UGC, AICTE and Distance Education Council (DEC). “There are certain institutions and universities like Punjab Technical University, Sikkim Manipal University and several others offering distance education programmes in various disciplines through distance education mode without the approval of UGC and AICTE,” the member secretary noted.

“As per the Union government’s notification, any degree or diploma which does not have the approval of the tripartite committee, shall not be recognised for central government employment,” he said.

It may be recalled that the Prof. Tandon Committee, which reviewed all deemed universities in the country, had made detailed and critical observations about deemed universities conducting courses in the distance education mode. According to the committee’s estimate, 74,808 students pursue distance education programmes in deemed universities across the country.

NIT PROFESSOR WINS JAPANESE AWARD

Tiruchi: Assistant Professor in Chemistry at the National Institute of Technology-Trichy, S. Anandan, has been conferred the 'Young Leaf Award" instituted by the Hiyoshi Corporation of Japan. He was presented the award in Chennai recently Tomonori Minowa,Consul,Consulate-General of Japan, Chennai.

Dr. Anandan is attached to the Nanomaterials and Solar Energy Conversion Lab at the Chemistry department of the institute. He has been actively engaged in research as well as training in areas such as environmental degradation of pollutants using solar energy and nanomaterials. 

The professor has published over 60 articles in internationally reputed journals and three chapters in books on environmental research.

Apart from Anandan, three researchers were also chosen for the Hiyoshi Environmental Award-2009 by the Tamil Nadu Centre of ABK AOTS Dosokai and Hiyoshi Corporation, Japan. 

The winners of the environmental awards included P.K. Bhattacharya of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur who won the 'Think of Ecology" Award and Dinesh Mohan of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, who received the 'Environmental Award'. Further details…..

CHEMISTRY SEMINAR AT SMIT

Majitar (Rongpo): Three days’ national level seminar on membranes, micro emulsions, and self-assembled systems, organised by chemistry department of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) in association with northeast chapter of the Indian Society for Surface Science and Technology (ISSST) started at the seminar hall of SMIT from Monday. More then 20 resource persons along with 120 researchers from all over of the country have participated in the seminar.
The programme was jointly inaugurated by Sikkim Manipal University vice chancellor Prof.(Brig) SS Pabla, Prof. KS Ismail, president northeast chapter of ISSST, Prof. KP Das, president of the same society of Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and Prof. BS Dandapat, director incharge, dean of SMIT. Programme coordinator Prof Amlan Kumar Das, head of the chemistry department of SMIT, in his welcome address briefly outlined the concept and vision to organise the seminar. He said that for the first time such type of conference is being held. Prof KP D as, Prof. Dandapat, Prof. Ismailand Prof. Pabla also addressed the meet. The three-day seminar is sponsored by Ministry of Earth Science, NEC and others.
Courtesy Sikkim Reporter

HISTORY OF ENGINEERING

                                  

The concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.

The term engineering itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word engineer, which itself dates back to 1325, when an engine’er (literally, one who operates an engine) originally referred to “a constructor of military engines.In this context, now obsolete, an “engine” referred to a military machine, i.e., a mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a catapult). Notable exceptions of the obsolete usage which have survived to the present day are military engineering corps, e.g., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The word “engine” itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), meaning “innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention.

Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering entered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of military engineering.