Vedanta University Project facilitates farmers’ exposure trip to Maharastra

June 6th, 2009

Puri, 5^th June 2009: 16 farmers of Gop and Puri Sadar blocks of Puri district are out on a 8-day hands on exposure trip to Maharastra, from 3^rd to 11^th June. This exposure trip has been sponsored by Vedanta University Project, Puri under its livelihood project, ‘SAFAL’ (Sustainable Action for Farmers’ Livelihood), being implemented in collaboration with ACCESS, the specialized NGO partner. These 16 farmers from villages like Chhaitana, Goindol, Utaraswarapada, Paikapada, Kabirajpur and Podotara are accompanied by three project officials. All these farmers are members of various SHGs formed under the SAFAL project.

The group of farmers is expected to gain valuable exposure on cash crop cultivation, micro-irrigation, water management, horticulture, floriculture, dairy etc that will help them to generate a much better yield and more income. Among other things, the team will visit Jain Irrigation System Limited (JISL), Jalgaon, where they will be given training on micro irrigation, water management and horticulture. They will also visit SACRED, a national level NGO at Jalna, Aurangabad, where they will learn about the various aspects of seed production; collective purchase of inputs and marketing; contract farming and watershed development processes. The trip includes a visit to places like Telegaon, where they will interact with the farmers of Abhinav Farmers Club (AFC) which, since 2004, has emerged as a platform of information sharing on all the aspects of farming - what to farm, what to grow, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and marketing of produce. They will be imparted training in Horticulture Training Centre at Telegaon, Pune on floriculture, green house farming and other improved practices. During the trip, they will also be exposed to the Central Research Station of ‘BALF Development Foundation’ in Urulikanchan, Maharastra.

Sending off the farmers’ group at Puri, Mr. P.K.Hota, General Manager, CSR & PR said, “Our farmers will surely benefit from this exposure trip in which they will interact with more successful farmers there. This is part of Vedanta University Project’s developmental efforts that aim to make community life in the region much better than what it is today”.

 It may be noted here that the SAFAL project is expected to benefit about 4000 farmers from 29 villages through cash crop cultivation and allied activities. So far, 799 farmers from 19 villages are already part of the initiative. The main objective of SAFAL is to progressively take the farmers away from the traditional paddy cultivation and introduce them to the more lucrative cash crop cultivation. Under this project, the local farmers have already been trained in marigold, tube-rose and watermelon cultivation. The demo cultivation of marigold, tube-rose, etc has shown quite encouraging results. To take advantage of collective endeavour the farmers have formed as many as 57 SHGs. Cash crop cultivation and allied activities are expected to considerably increase their average family income.

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Setting the stage for optimum medical education

April 13th, 2009

Puri, 12-4-09: A national seminar on “Optimum medical education & ethics in clinical practice” has been organised by Vedanta University on 5 April at Bhubaneswar. It marked the launch of the multi-specialty hospital as part of the Vedanta University project near the Puri-Konark marine drive in Orissa. The seminar was quite contextual given the fact that of late there has been a lot of disillusionment in public mind about the quality of medical education, what with so many medical colleges mushrooming. At the same time, with growing public awareness, questions about clinical practices, doctors’ services and the expenses involved are also cropping up now and then. If medical education is to keep up with the ever-expanding frontiers of medical research and clinical technology, something appropriate surely needs to be done. Allied with this is the issue of quality, accessibility and affordability of medical education. These were the issues and concerns that the national seminar sought to address, bringing together some of the stalwarts and leading lights of medical education and profession.

Padma Bibhushan Prof. Dr. M V S Valiathan, world renowned Cardiac Surgeon and Professor of Cardiology presided over the seminar in which Padma Bhushan Prof. Dr. N K Ganguly, Advisor, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India; Dr Vasantha Muthuswamy, Member, Central Ethics Committee on Human Research, UNESCO,UNAIDS & Founder Secretary, Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Asia-Pacific; Dr G D Ravindran, Professor of Medicine & Medical Ethics, St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore; Dr S K Sarin, Professor & Director, Gastroenterology, G B Pant Hospital, New Delhi; Dr Omkar Nath Mohanty, Vice Chancellor, Biju Pattnaik University of Technology, Orissa; Jean Mah, Principal & Healthcare Planner, Perkins+Wills Health Design Group were the main speakers. In keeping with the theme of the seminar, presentations were made on topics like Excellence in Medical Education, Ethics in Medical Research, Clinical Ethics and Interdisciplinary Study in Medicine. The interactive seminar was attended by more than a hundred distinguished doctors and educationists.

As expected, the quality of presentations was exceptional and the ideas generated were quite engaging, conforming to the ‘out-of-box solutions’ that Dr Valiathan mentioned in his keynote address. There was a general agreement on the urgent need to make medical education more qualitative, accessible and innovative as well as to make it affordable. Not only medical education needs to be in sync with contemporary and futuristic thinking and practices, the issues of health economy and biomedical or clinical practices also need to be in tune with the social context. The seminar was coordinated by Dr K P Misra, cardiologist of international repute and Dr Dipika Mohanty, the award winning former Director of the Institute of Immunohaematology, ICMR, Mumbai. Among other things, the seminar generated a lot of interest in Vedanta University’s upcoming world class multi-specialty hospital and the school of medical sciences that will be based on the core objectives of service, training and research. 

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Vedanta University to Bring World-Class Medical Care to Orissa

April 6th, 2009

• Vedanta University announces the launch of 500-bed multi-specialty hospital
• Estimated cost is about Rs. 400 crore
• The hospital will commence services in 2011
• High-quality patient care affordable to the common man
• The Not-for-Profit institution is an initiative of the Anil Agarwal Foundation

April 5, Bhubaneswar:  Vedanta University today announced the launch of a world-class teaching and research hospital.  The hospital will address a long standing need for comprehensive healthcare services for the people of the region.

The University hospital, which will be built near the Puri-Konark marine drive, will be distinctive with its world-class facilities and infrastructure.  The hospital will place equal emphasis on patient care, research, and teaching.  It will be staffed by renowned doctors from India and abroad.   A Not-for-Profit institution, the University Hospital is committed to providing high-quality care at a cost affordable by the common man. Commending this initiative, eminent Indian cardiologist Dr. K.P. Misra said “the hospital will serve as a regional hub for critical specialties including cardiology and diabetology. As a teaching and research hospital, it will attract leading researchers and specialists in medical science from around the globe. The University’s research agenda will prioritize public health solutions that address the most prevalent medical issues in the region.”

On the occasion of the launch of the Vedanta University hospital project, a national seminar on “Optimum Medical Education and Ethics in Clinical Practice” was organized at Bhubaneswar.   The national conference was addressed by leaders in medical science of international repute, including Padma Vibhushan Professor M.S. Valiathan and Padma Bhushan Professor N.K. Ganguly.

The conceptual planning and design of the hospital has been prepared by the leading US-based hospital design firm Perkins + Will, who have previously designed state-of-the-art teaching and research hospitals at institutions such as Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at Los Angeles. “The 500-bed multi-specialty hospital will commence during the first phase of the University. Orders for construction have already been placed with Larsen & Toubro Limited,” added Sanjeev Anand Zutshi, Director of the project.

The University has already initiated research programs with local relevance.  Dr. Dipika Mohanty, a recipient of the Biju Patnaik award for Excellence in Science and Technology, has begun a Vedanta University-sponsored research project on interventions that can address the disproportionate prevalence of anemia in infants and children of Orissa.

The Vedanta University Hospital is a cornerstone of the institution’s larger commitment to serving public needs.  Students and faculty across disciplines will be encouraged to engage with local challenges, search for solutions that contribute to the development of Orissa, and pursue research priorities that have real impact on the lives of people.  In addition to initiatives in Medicine, the first phase of the University will include schools of Education, Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Management, and Nursing.    The hospital and initial academic programs will begin in 2011.

For further details, please contact:

Kishore Chandra Das

Head, Communications

Contact No. - 9437012258

E-mail id: kishore.das@vedanta.edu.in

Ashis Kumar Acharya

Public Relations Officer

Contact No. - 9937107444

E-mail id: ashis.acharya@vedanta.edu.in

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Vedanta University Floriculture Project Kindles Hope

March 28th, 2009

Puri, 25-03-09:  Surath Baral of Kantigoroda, Udayanath Pradhan of Kantasila, Dusasana Swain of Goindal, Manakrushna Barik of Chalisbhatia and some others like them have a story they can’t wait to tell. They came, they saw and they are about to conquer! Well, it is their poverty, a mundane hand-to-mouth existence despite all hard work that they are sure to overcome. “Aau asubidha haba nahin. Eniki manisha bes dui paisa kamei pariba aau bhalare banchi pariba (No more hardships. One can earn quite well henceforth and lead a better life)”, says Surath and his friends agree. Actually, they are part of the farmers’ G-20 that has been successfully trained recently in marigold cultivation. This training programme conducted by Mrs Babita Mishra, Subject Matter Specialist (Horticulture) from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kakatpur of Puri district is part of the farmers’ livelihood initiative SAFAL, undertaken by the Vedanta University Project and the Anil Agarwal Foundation.

These farmers and their villages belong to the Puri-Konark area of Orissa where the world class Vedanta University is going to be built by Anil Agarwal Foundation, a philanthropic organisation established by the Chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc, Mr Anil Agarwal. Under SAFAL, acronym for Sustainable Action for Farmers’ Livelihood, the local farmers are being encouraged to move away from the low paying, traditional paddy cultivation and to take to more paying options like floriculture, vegetable (tomato and water melon) cultivation, pulses (green gram and black gram) and oilseeds (sunflower and groundnut) cultivation and dairy. The main objective of SAFAL is to increase the income of small and marginal farmers, empower them to organize into institutionalized community structures (farmer’s Co-operatives, SHGs, etc), facilitate their negotiation of key linkages in the value chains and thus, mainstream them.

As far as floriculture is concerned, the rationale is that flowers worth thousands of rupees are coming to Puri market daily from outside Orissa. Apart from some typical flowers used in the rituals of Lord Jagannath that are locally grown, none of these flowers are locally grown or supplied. Thus, farmers and suppliers from outside Orissa are making money. If, instead, the local farmers take to floriculture, they already have a ready and lucrative market. Therefore, local farmers like Surath, Dusasana and others are so enthusiastic about floriculture. They are to take up marigold and gladiolus cultivation that is more suited to the local soil and climatic conditions. The training programme on marigold cultivation is a successful step in that direction and demo cultivation of marigold that is going on in villages like Rahangiria, Kantasila and Kantigoroda, is already showing encouraging results.

A district level workshop on value chain analysis has also been held recently at Puri, under the aegis of Vedanta University Project of Anil Agarwal Foundation. The objective of this workshop was to share the findings of subsector value chain analysis of important crops/agricultural commodities in SAFAL operational villages. The SAFAL team had undertaken the subsector value chain analysis of six major crops/agricultural commodities like flowers, green gram, black gram, groundnut, sunflower and milk. The analysis has found that in order to improve the yield from floriculture and other cash crops and to ensure increased income for the farmers, the weak linkages in the value chain need to be strengthened. And for this, all concerned stakeholders, Govt departments, banks and marketing institutions should coordinate with each other. Findings of the study were discussed by the representatives of district level Govt departments like Agriculture, Horticulture, Irrigation and those of banks who participated in the workshop along with officials of Vedanta University Project and ACCESS, the partnering NGO. Assurance of all possible support from the participants has boosted the morale of the farmers. This, along with the commitment for community development reiterated by Mr Sanjeev Anand Zutshi, Director, Vedanta University Project has further heightened the upbeat mood. No wonder, when Surath talks of a new house, his children’s education and at least a bike for himself, others like him happily nod their heads in unison.

For further details please contact:

Kishore Chandra Das
09437012258
kishore.das@vedanta.edu.in

Ashis Kumar Acharya
09937107444
ashis.acharya@vedanta.edu.in

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Vedanta University Provides Infrastructure for DAV Oriya Secondary School at Puri

February 19th, 2009

Puri, 12-2-09: In keeping with its intent to serve the society and to provide quality education to the children of the project impacted villages, Vedanta University Project has decided to provide a new building and all necessary infrastructure facilities to the DAV Oriya secondary school at Puri. On the initiative of the Vedanta University Project of Anil Agarwal Foundation, this Oriya medium school, named DAV High School, has been started by the DAV society for the first time in Orissa. This school will cater to the educational needs of children from the Vedanta University Project impacted villages.

Vedanta University Project will provide 3 acres of land with the fully constructed school building of 10000 sq ft. The school will have all facilities like modern classrooms, staff room, laboratory, library, activity room, space for sports & games, computer room, toilets and the like that a model school must have. Basic amenities like water, electricity, furniture, etc will also be there so as to create a benchmark ambience. Before this, Vedanta University Project has also contributed towards the improvement of infrastructure in the existing DAV English medium school at Puri, including construction of a new block.

It may be recalled that Vedanta University Project of Anil Agarwal Foundation has signed an MOU with the DAV society to provide quality education to 500 children from the project impacted villages.  On the basis of this arrangement, 101 children are already studying in the DAV English medium school at Puri. As per the wishes of local community, an MOU was also signed with DAV to start the Oriya medium school and so far 174 children have been admitted there. Vedanta University Project of Anil Agarwal Foundation is paying for the education of these children in the DAV school and all of them are being provided free school uniforms, bags, books and study materials. Four school buses have also been provided for their transportation. Apart from all this, Anil Agarwal Foundation is also providing freshly cooked nutritious meals daily and free of cost, to all the students of DAV School, Puri.

Such people friendly and community development measures implemented by the Vedanta University Project of Anil Agarwal Foundation have been widely appreciated by the local people and the intelligentsia.

For more details, please contact:

Mr. Kishore Chandra Das
Head, Communications
kishore.das@vedanta.edu.in
9437012258
Ashis Kumar Acharya
Public Relations Officer
ashis.acharya@vedanta.edu.in
9937107444

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Construction Plans Begin to Take Shape

December 5th, 2008

Puri, 5-12-08: Construction plans for Vedanta University are on the anvil. The University project authorities have held discussions over the last two days with highly reputed construction companies like Larsen & Toubro Limited, Shapoorji Pallonji, Ahluwalia, B.E Billimoria and Simplex, regarding construction of the academic buildings as well as the hospital at the University project site on Puri-Konark highway.

The Master Plan of the University has been prepared by the renowned architects Ayers Saint Gross of Baltimore, USA. The design for the super specialty hospital has been developed by the world renowned hospital architects, Perkins+Will from USA. The Vedanta University Project envisages setting up a world class multidisciplinary university that will put Orissa on the global education map.

The super specialty hospital will answer a long standing need for providing comprehensive and specialized patient care for the people of Orissa and eastern India. Both the University and the hospital are ‘not-for-profit’ institutions.

For further details, contact:
Kishore Chandra Das
Head, Communications
Email   kishore.das@vedanta.edu.in
Mobile No.:  91-9437012258

Ashis Kumar Acharya
Public Relations Officer
Email – ashis.acharya@vedanta.edu.in
Mobile No.: 9937107444

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Vedanta University Launches Agricultural Livelihoods Initiative

October 14th, 2008

SAFAL – Sustainable Action for Farmers’ Livelihood

• At least 1500 farmer’s from 15 villages will be benefitted
• Focus on cash crop cultivation (Floriculture, Horticulture, Grafting, Nursery, etc)
• Aims at increasing family income &  improving living condition

14 Oct, Puri: In keeping with its avowed objective of ensuring a better life for the community while building a world class University near Puri, Vedanta University Project has launched a new livelihood initiative named, ‘SAFAL’ (Sustainable Action for Farmers’ livelihood). Set in motion on the sacred occasion of Gandhi Jayanti , this initiative has now taken a concrete shape with the formation of  28  farmers’ SHGs involving 500 farmers from 8 villages. The main objective of SAFAL is to take the local farmers away from the non remunerative ‘paddy paradigm’ and induce them to take up cash crop cultivation. It will ensure more income for them and hence, a better life also. At least 1500 farmers from 15 villages are going to benefit from it.

SAFAL has been launched after several rounds of need assessment surveys in the project impacted villages near Puri. It seeks to include more and more local farmers in its ambit and encourage them to switch over to floriculture, horticulture, nursery, etc, through SHGs. Vedanta University Project of Anil Agarwal Foundation will provide all forward and backward linkage support to these SHGs to make the initiative successful. For this purpose, Vedanta University project has tied up with ACCESS, a national level NGO, as a Technical Service Provider. ACCESS will impart knowledge and skills on high yielding cultivation practices to the farmers and will be instrumental in arranging any other necessary support including bank credit and market linkage. This is expected to result in a 150% increase in the income of at least 75% of the targeted farmers’ households.

In a meeting convened to formalize this initiative,  Mr Bhaskar Sharma, Collector and District Magistrate of Puri commended Vedanta University Project for such a noble initiative and expressed hope that it will surely improve the living condition of farmers in the project impacted villages.

Giving details of the new livelihood initiative, Prashant Hota, GM, PR & CSR, Vedanta University Project said, “ The success of  SAFAL will not only benefit the targeted farmers’ families, it will also motivate people in other villages to adopt similar activities both in farm and non-farm sectors to augment their income. This will ultimately ensure a better life for many.”

Mr. Sanjeev Anand Zutshi, Director, Vedanta University Project; Mr. C. Joseph, Head, Commercial; Mr. Kiran Naik, AGM, Finance and Dr B. N. Swain, Deputy Director, Agriculture Range Office, Puri were present in this meeting along with officials of ACCESS, members of newly formed farmers’ SHGs and a number  of local villagers.
Vedanta University Project of Anil Agarwal Foundation has been consistently trying to develop the villages in the project vicinity and improve the living condition of the villagers through a dedicated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy. SAFAL is yet another concrete step in that direction.

For further details, contact:
Kishore Chandra Das
Head, Communications
Email   kishorechandradas@gmail.com
Mobile No.:  91-9437012258

Ashis Kumar Acharya
Public Relations Officer
Email – ashis_pro@rediffmail.com
Mobile No.: 9937107444

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Expression of Interest

September 17th, 2008

As a part of vendor selection process for the Vedanta University Project, the
Foundation invites reputed contractors I suppliers I service providers with proven
track record and sound credentials in the following areas:

• PKGA 01 Construction of Institutional buildings and townships (Firms with an annual turnover of about 250 cr. need only apply)
• PKGA 03 Primary (132 KV) Electric sub-station, outgoing switch rooms, ring-mains, 33KV secondary sub-station with incoming HT switchgears and outgoing LT switchgears,
• PKGA 04 HVAC Systems
• PKGA 05 Interior works and Low end MEP
• PKGA 06 Site Grading and preparation work
• PKGA 07 Roads, drainage systems, pavements, culverts, bridges.
• PKGA 10 Afforestation , Horticulture - roughly 250 acres.
• PKGA 11 External electrification works such as street lighting, pathway lighting, traffic lighting.
• PKGA 15 Site facilities including offices, boundary wall, fencing etc.
• PKGA 16 Temporary power, water supply sanitation, lighting communication etc.
• PKGA 17 132 KV High tension line diversion ( approx 8 Kms.).
• PKGA 18 Landscape design roughly 250 acres.

Interested parties are required to submit their EOI mentioning the Package they are interested in along with their qualification details mentioning the package code, along with List of similar jobs and turnover during last three years. latest by 30 Sept, 2008.

To sumit online please click here.

Please submit the above to:
Head Commercial
Anil Agarwal Foundation
Vedanta University Project
CT Road, Puri, Orissa 5752002.
Phone: +91 9238100367
Email: commercial@vedanta.edu.in

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Vedanta University Celebrates Teachers

September 8th, 2008

Puri, September 8, 2008: In keeping with the intent and purpose of the Teacher’s Day, Vedanta University Project arranged a teachers’ get-together at Puri in order to felicitate them. Accepting invitation of the University Project Management, hundreds of teachers of the University Project area and of Puri came to Holiday Resorts for this get-together. It was a good opportunity for the University Project Officials to personally meet the teachers of the area, spend some time with them and exchange ideas. Eminent teachers, including the former Principal of SCS College, Puri, Mr Somnath Mishra; Retired Teacher of Municipal High School, Puri, Mr Dinabandhu Mishra; Retired Teacher of Biswambara Vidyapitha, Puri, Mr Basanta Kumar Mishra; Principal of DAV School, Puri, Mr Bibhuti Bhusan Parija and many others were present on the occasion.

Felicitating the teachers and thanking them for their gracious presence, Director of Vedanta University Project, Mr. Sanjeev Anand Zutshi said that everybody, no matter how big and famous, is indebted to their teachers and no one can ever repay the debt.

Mr. Prasanta Kumar Hota, GM, PR & CSR, Vedanta University Project said that children are the future of India and the teachers are the makers of that future as they educate and groom the children. Speaking about the proposed Vedanta University, Mr Hota said that the University will one day be a milestone in the education sector where financial constraint will never be a problem for any deserving student to access higher education.

A presentation was shown to the teachers on the purpose, the vision, the unique architectural plan of the proposed University as well as the socio-economic development the project is expected to bring to the local area and to the state and country as a whole. The presentation was followed by an open discussion where various queries of the teachers regarding Vedanta University were answered by the University Project’s officials. On behalf of all the teachers, Mr. Gangadhara Mishra, Sanskrit teacher of Harish Chandra Memorial High School, Chhaitana, thanked the officials of the University Project for arranging the get-together and expressed the hope that Vedanta University will one day make Puri the best education destination.

Among others, Mr M K B P Mohapatra, Associated Vice President and senior officials of the Vedanta University Project were present on the occasion.

For further details contact:

Mr. Kishore Chandra Das
Head, Communications
Email   kishorechandradas@gmail.com
Mobile No. :  91-9437012258

Ashis Kumar Acharya
Public Relations Officer
Email – ashis_pro@rediffmail.com
Mobile: 9937107444

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Vedanta University Project Celebrates Teachers

September 8th, 2008

Puri, September 8, 2008:  In keeping with the intent and purpose of the Teacher’s Day, Vedanta University Project arranged a teachers’ get-together at Puri in order to felicitate them. Accepting invitation of the University Project Management, hundreds of teachers of the University Project area and of Puri came to Holiday Resorts for this get-together. It was a good opportunity for the University Project Officials to personally meet the teachers of the area, spend some time with them and exchange ideas. Eminent teachers, including the former Principal of SCS College, Puri, Mr Somnath Mishra; Retired Teacher of Municipal High School, Puri, Mr Dinabandhu Mishra; Retired Teacher of Biswambara Vidyapitha, Puri, Mr Basanta Kumar Mishra; Principal of DAV School, Puri, Mr Bibhuti Bhusan Parija and many others were present on the occasion.

Felicitating the teachers and thanking them for their gracious presence, Director of Vedanta University Project, Mr. Sanjeev Anand Zutshi said that everybody, no matter how big and famous, is indebted to their teachers and no one can ever repay the debt.

Mr. Prasanta Kumar Hota, GM, PR & CSR, Vedanta University Project said that children are the future of India and the teachers are the makers of that future as they educate and groom the children. Speaking about the proposed Vedanta University, Mr Hota said that the University will one day be a milestone in the education sector where financial constraint will never be a problem for any deserving student to access higher education.

A presentation was shown to the teachers on the purpose, the vision, the unique architectural plan of the proposed University as well as the socio-economic development the project is expected to bring to the local area and to the state and country as a whole. The presentation was followed by an open discussion where various queries of the teachers regarding Vedanta University were answered by the University Project’s officials. On behalf of all the teachers, Mr. Gangadhara Mishra, Sanskrit teacher of Harish Chandra Memorial High School, Chhaitana, thanked the officials of the University Project for arranging the get-together and expressed the hope that Vedanta University will one day make Puri the best education destination.

Among others, Mr M K B P Mohapatra, Associated Vice President and senior officials of the Vedanta University Project were present on the occasion.

For further details contact:

Mr. Kishore Chandra Das
Head, Communications
Email   kishorechandradas@gmail.com
Mobile No. :  91-9437012258

Ashis Kumar Acharya
Public Relations Officer
Email – ashis_pro@rediffmail.com
Mobile: 9937107444

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