New boss for NIT Prof G.N. Panda

Telegraph: http://www.telegraphindia.com/archives/archive.html
New boss for NITPINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Oct. 23, 2005: The National Institute of Technology in Adityapur finally has a director.
The Union ministry of human resource development, after keeping the matter hanging fire for about six months, has given the nod to a new chief for the premier technology school.
Officials said Ganapati Panda, a senior professor of electronics and dean (administration) of NIT-Rourkela, will take over as the director of NIT-Adityapur. Officials said the institute has been verbally informed about Panda?s appointment as the new director. A notification is expected to be issued by the Union ministry at the end of this week.
In March this year, the directors of about 15 NITs across the country, including the chief of the Adityapur institute, were removed by the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. The directors were removed on the ground that their appointments were not properly approved by the previous NDA government. There are 18 NITs across the country.
Debashis Bhattacharya, the former director of NIT, Adityapur, under whose short stint (about two years) the institute achieved new heights, had to quit following the Union government?s decision. S.K. Mukherjee, the senior-most professor of the institute, was asked to take over as a temporary arrangement.
Officials at NIT said the new director is expected to join his office in the first week of November. ?NIT?s chairman of the board of governors B. Muthuraman, is out of the country. As soon as he returns on October 28, he will sign a letter of contract based on which the Union ministry will issue a formal notification,? Mukherjee said.
NIT sources said Panda visited the campus yesterday to take stock of things. He also interacted with the faculty members and other staff.
A team of the National Programme Implementation Unit also visited the institute yesterday to assess academic activities and utilisation of funds.