LUCKNOW : Four hundred seats would be added to the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) from the academic session stating in July, according to indications from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

Though the JEE to be conducted by IIT Roorkee this year will not include these seats, the candidates in the "waiting list" will be asked to opt for the two IITs.

The seats are being added following an approval given by the MHRD to the proposed IITs in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. The new IITs will commence their academic session from session 2008-2009 starting in July on makeshift campus till the two states come up with a permanent campus.

The MHRD has conveyed its approval to the two states in its letter to the respective state governments. "The Centre has given its 'verbal go-ahead' at a meeting held in Delhi. We are engaged in making available the infrastructure, including accommodation for 200 students," said Bihar human resources secretary Ajay Kumar on January 27. According to sources, the IIT in Bihar will have five trades to begin with. Each trade will have 40 students.

“The government has received a formal letter from the Union Human Resources Development Ministry to start with the temporary campus before receiving the first batch of students. We have started the process over 500-600 acres, some 100 km from Patna, more towards the west,” he said. The campus would have separate hostels for boys and girls and residential quarters for teachers and staff.

In Hyderabad Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education Dr K C Reddy has said that the new Indian Institute of Technology being set up at Medak will start functioning from July.

To begin with, IIT-Medak will have five trades with 40 students each. It will initially function in a temporary campus at the Ordnance Factory in the district. “We are ready to receive the first batch in July,” said Dr Reddy. “We will move on to a
permanent campus in due course.” He also said the government would set up three new universities at Mahabubnagar, Kurnool and Srikakulam during this academic year. “The government will be allotting Rs 15 crore in this year’s budget for the universities,” he said.

Rajasthan would have to wait for its political heavyweights to battle it out to select the campus before it receives the MHRD nod. Each politician wants the IIT to
come up in his home constituency.

A similar controversy arose in Bihar too when IIT Roorkee experts raised questions regarding the “suitability” of a Behta land (on Patna’s outskirts) fearing water-logging problems. The teams sought a hydrological profile of the area.

Railway minister Lalu Prasad, too, added fuel to the controversy by stating that he was interested in shifting the proposed site to Chapra — the constituency he presents in the Lok Sabha. But the bickering seems to have died, at least for now.
Kumar said they are ready to start classes.

“Everything is settled now. We are set to receive the first batch in the next academic session. The problems of logistics and permanent campus will be solved in due course,” the human resources secretary added.

IIT Joint Entrance Exam going global, Dubai first  

ROORKEE : The Joint Entrance Examination conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology is going global. It will be held simultaneously in Dubai on April 13.

According to an official release, it will be a single-stage objective-type examination comprising two papers of three hours each to test comprehension, reasoning and analytical abilities of the candidates.

Both papers will have three separate sections on Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The JEE-2007 pattern of examination has been retained.

Setting up a centre in Dubai is in line with the seven IITs asking the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry to encourage foreign students for a good mix of "unlike minds with different backgrounds" to enhance the academic environment
and exchange on campuses.

According to data from IIT-Bombay, the nodal IIT co-ordinating JEE 2007, there were 120 foreign students who took the JEE last year. However merely six qualified.

Over and above their capacity for B.Tech courses, the IITs can admit 10 per cent as
foreign students. In fact, last year, the IITs had evinced interest in taking the JEE outside the country. However, "due to logistical problems, that was not possible," said an IIT Bombay official.

Both papers will have three separate sections on Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The JEE-2007 pattern of examination has been retained.

Important information related to the examination would be put up on the IITs’ websites and candidates should visit them for such announcements, the release said. 

14% OBC students enter IIT through general category

MUMBAI: A large chunk of students who made it to the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year are from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

A post-admission analysis at the Indian Institutes of Technology has revealed that almost 14 per cent of those from the general category are OBCs.

These students got through the Joint Entrance Examination own their own -- and in the general category at that -- without the help quota.

This, when the Union Human Resource Development ministry had plans to set aside 9 per cent seats for the OBCs in Central institutions from the academic session beginning 2008.

The analysis showed that a total of 990 OBC students qualified from the general  category. However, only 876 of them attended counselling process and only 590 of them enrolled, for reasons ranging from not getting their choice of discipline to not being allotted the institute of their preference.

Given that there are 4,295 seats in the open category, the percentage of OBC students is 13.74.

Experts visit site, classes at Medak IIT likely from 2009

SANGAREDDY : If things go according to the Andhra state government’s plans, it is likely that classes of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will begin 2009 at the ordnance factory at Eddumailaram till the construction of buildings at the proposed site at Kandi.

This indication was available after members of the site identification committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development visited Kandi recently to examine the feasibility and suitability of locating the IIT on a 500-acre piece of land.

The committee comprising Joint Secretary (Technical) Ministry of HRD Mr Ravi Mathur, Prof S. G. Dhande, Director of IIT, Kanpur, Dr R. A. Yadav, Acting Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Dr D. V. Singh, former director of IIT, Roorkee and Sanjeev Bhargava, Director of IIIT Jabalpur later called on Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy in Hyderabad and assured that it would do its best to expedite the setting up of the institute.

During their discussions with Medak district Collector B. Venkatesam and Joint Collector Vani Mohan at Kandi, the committee made it clear that there should be no litigation in future over the ownership of the land at Kandi. Out of the 503 acres of land offered to IIT, nearly 330 acres has to be acquired by the state government. The committee enquired about a wayside restaurant and a real estate venture that had set up shop in the middle of the proposed site. The collector assured that necessary land would be acquired after the committee spelt out the requirement.

Other officials said they could provide a direct link to the IIT campus from the 132 KV Kandi line as also one from Manjeera project. Speaking to reporters later, Mr. Ravi Mathur did not specify the date for commencement of classes.

8th IIT in Medak, Andhra govt in search of land

HYDERABAD : Country's eighth Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will be established in Medak, Andhra Pradesh -- a constituency once represented by Mrs Indira Gandhi.

It will be located at Isnapur village near Patancheru as it is considered an ideal location, being close to Hyderabad and near the proposed Outer Ring Road.

Isnapur in Medak district is the hub of chemical and pharma-based industries and the proposed venue of a textile park, about 35 km from Hyderabad.

Announcing the state government decision in the Assembly on December 19 Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy thanked the prime minister and the Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh for the move and informed the House that the Ministry of Human Resources Development would spend Rs. 1,800 crores on the IIT during its first three years.

He said that the Centre wants 500-600 acres of land free of cost with adequate infrastructure, including road, rail and air connectivity, to set up the IIT. For this, he said, Isnapur village near Patancheru would be the ideal location.

He said that the government would have to spend at least Rs 3,000 crore to acquire land in the area, which is witnessing a real estate boom. The government owns just 30 acres of rocky terrain in the chosen locale. Since the ORR project was announced, land is selling at Rs 6 to 8 crores per acre in this area.

The Chief Minister, however, adopted an optimistic tone while announcing the government decision and said that it would bring development to backward areas of Telangana.

Basar in Adilabad district, the site originally proposed by the state government for the IIT, will get a 21st Century Gurukul Centre with a strength of 250 students. It will offer postgraduate courses in information technology conforming to national and global standards. 21st Gurukul Centres, conceptualised by Raj Reddy, former consultant to the US President, are already functioning in the State with the help of the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), here.

A full-fledged campus will be established within a year at a cost of Rs. 5 crores at Basar. Coupled with the medical college sanctioned in Adilabad, and Jnana Mandir constructed at a cost of Rs. 80 lakhs at Basar, the Gurukul will make Adilabad district a knowledge hub.

Naidu's view

The Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu also welcomed the decision but wanted the IIT at Basar as originally envisaged. He said the branch of Birla Institute of Technology, set up near Hyderabad, would start functioning from next academic year. Efforts were on to establish a College of Architecture at Vijayawada.