Under the scheme, which comes under the social justice ministry, the monthly scholarships to day scholars from class one to 10 would be Rs 110, while hostellers would get Rs 700.

Besides, an annual ad hoc grant of Rs 750 for day scholars and Rs 1,000 for hostellers has been approved. Calling it a national shame, P Chidambaram said it is unfortunate that state governments give very low priority to such schemes, as a result of which such children slip into the same occupation of their parents, without getting the benefit of education.

A sum of Rs 54 crore has been earmarked for 2008-09 and the requirement of funds for the remaining four years of the 11th plan would be Rs 340 crore, he said.

"By implementing this scheme, CSIR seeks to recruit for its national laboratories scientific leaders, nationally as well as from amongst Scientists and Technologists of Indian Origin (STIOs), with proven track records of managing very challenging National, and International scientific programmes", the Cabinet said.

Such leaders would spearhead strategically important programmes of CSIR and mentor young scientists to take on leadership roles.

"The need to induct 'Distinguished Scientist' (DS) position, a HAG+ grade position would help achieve CSIR's overarching ambition to excel in all scientific domains and to enable it to realize higher levels of productivity, compete in knowledge driven global economy, strengthen its scientific work force, and to check migration or attrition of scientists", the Cabinet added.

These positions are critical for CSIR which is set to create vibrant 'Centres of Excellence' around cutting edge of Science & Technology, to drive mega projects, and setup mission oriented programmes in various frontier R&D areas of Science & Technology.

Speaking to The Hindu after he took over the top post this past week, Prof. Bandyopadhyay said: "As an educationist, I feel a university is known by the quality of knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination. These are two important components for the growth of any institution. IP University is on the growth path and at this time it requires a consolidated growth strategy."

The new V-C said that the University might start some new "topical" courses in the coming years.

"The University Court has decided to start courses in Urban Studies and Oceanography. But we are yet to concretise the ideas. Also, through our affiliated institutions we would like to promote a course in Child Psychology. At the same time, we want to be cautious in starting new programmes. The courses should be as per the demands of the market and should make students employable." Prof. Bandyopadhyay said he was keen on having a better coordination with 90-odd institutions affiliated to the University.

"The affiliations to these institutions are reviewed every year. A team of the University goes to check if all the norms are being followed or not and then we point out the shortcomings, if any. I have directed the Examination Cell that the performance of every affiliated college should be evaluated on different parameters of quality," he said.

"We will check how many students are passing at the end of a semester and finally at the end of the term. An affiliating university is known by the performance of the affiliated colleges and that depends on the quality of teachers. We will take proactive measures in quality enhancement of the faculty members," he said, adding that a series of pedagogy-related programmes could be held to strengthen the interface with the teachers of affiliated colleges. Prof. Bandyopadhyay, who formerly worked as the Director of the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, and was associated with Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, said the biggest challenge for him in the new job would be managing a large system.

"I come from a system where things are not that large and activity-wise things are visible. A university system is large. My biggest challenge would be in terms of managing such large systems and to be able to take it to the next orbit. The second test," he added, "would be how to bring the faculty members, who are knowledge workers, to one fold through inspirational leadership."

The new institutes like the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), the Indian Institute of Hotel Management, the National Institute of Fashion Technology, the National Film Institute, College of Art of National Institute of Design are emerging in the district.A sum of Rs 2,000 crore was slated to be pumped in by the state and the union governments to develop the required infrastructure for these institutes here, for which admission for some of the courses will be made from the next coming academic session.

Stating this the Lok Sabha member from Rohtak, Deepender Singh claimed at a press conference here this morning that this had been one of the largest investments for the development of educational infrastructure in any part of the country in such a short duration of time. He said majority of the institutes and their wings were likely to start their work from the next session and the students, who had to run to distant places for seeking quality education, would be benefited by the move.

Providing details of the projects, the Congress MP said while the IIM would be located at nearby Garnavathi village, he said the government would develop a hub of several buildings at a distance from the district headquarter to house the institutes of Hotel Management, Fashion Technology, Film Institute, College of Art and the National Institute of Design. The new IIM had been a part of the decision by the union government, which had announced to start 12 new IIM's across the country. While the state could not get any new IIT, the government had allocated a unit of the IIM in Haryana. This institute would have 200 seats and it would start its functioning from the next session with classes to be held at Government Polytechnic at Sanghi village, till the completion of the building and the campus at Garnavathi village for which land has already been acquired.

The district has already a large number institutions, including the Maharshi Dayanand University, Pt B D Sharma Institute of Medical Sciences, Pt B D Sharma university of Health Sciences, a Dental College and over a dozen colleges offering courses in medical, dental and engineering besides the disciplines of humanities, commerce and sciences up to the graduation level.

The opening of at least eight new engineering colleges (mostly in the private sector) and a dozen of BEd colleges in the district has provided an opportunity to thousands of students to get admission in their field of choice, claimed the MP. The government has also announced to shift the present ITI to a new location and to upgrade it with rising of the seat capacity to 2,500, making it one of the largest ITI in the northern India.

An official from the varsity said, "The course has been launched by the varsity in view of the growth potential of the industry. 15,000 jobs are likely to be generated in the next two years in the industry".

The programme has been jointly developed by IGNOU's School of Law and Legal Talent Management House, Rainmaker.

IGNOU plans to start the course from February 2009.

According to university officials, "The cut in the fee in the job-oriented diploma programmes such as diploma in value-added products from fruits, vegetables, cereals, pulses and oilseeds, diploma in dairy technology, diploma in meat technology would enable students to seek employment opportunities in the diverse processing industry."

Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU said, "A large number of students cannot pay the fee despite our fee being low. Most of our diploma courses are in vocational education and since a majority of our learners (60 percent) are from the weaker sections of society, it would enable them to get technical inputs and meet skilled manpower demand as per targets set under the technology mission in horticulture and food processing industries."

"The focus shall also be on areas of horticultural research, development, post-harvest management, processing and marketing," Prof. Pillai added.

According to university officials, the initiative has been taken to encourage more and more students from weaker sections to join the course to meet the growing demand for skilled manpower in the coming years.

The university would offer certificate, diploma and degree level courses in Arabic in its School of Foreign Language and the courses are likely kick-off from July next year.

`The programme aim at acquainting the beginners with basic essential rudiments of Arabic language and gradually and systematically inculcate in them and ability to write, read and speak the language with a certain degree of accuracy and confidence,' said a faculty member of IGNOU.

A 16-point credit programme has been introduced for the discipline and designed in such a manner that it introduces the basic structure of Arabic and help students develop a good command over the language, he said.

`The programme broadly targets skilled, semi-skilled and non-skilled individuals working or aspiring to work in the oil-rich Arab world,' he said.

Besides, it is also open for madrasa students who desire to enhance their knowledge of Arabic through modern educational system, he said.

The language is the mother tongue of more than 25 crore Arabs today, and its richness spreads across the world.

While several Indian universities offer Arabic language and literature at under-graduate and post-graduate levels, IGNOU seeks to take it to all aspirants under its objective of providing access to education for all, he added.

Neesa Leisure Ltd, the promoter of Cambay Institute of Hospitality Management and Orient Spa Academy, is offering professional training to students besides placing them in various organisations. The slowdown, however, does not have the group scurrying for cover most of the students are likely to be absorbed in its own group.

Arvind Gupta, managing director, NLL, said: "Usually, we absorb around 25-30 per cent of the students annually. But due to the ongoing slowdown, we expect to absorb a decent batch of students."

Instead of a tie-up with other organisations, private educational institutes are absorbing students in their own organisations. Indian Institute of Planning and Management invites companies to the campus, but also offers placements at its sister concern, Planman Consulting.

Corporate backing is helping these institutes provide jobs to the students, which otherwise could be difficult in the current environment.

Another firm which is absorbing students in-house is Silversmith. The company runs the Jewellery Design and Technology Institute.

BK Narula, managing director, Silver Smith India Ltd, says: "Absorbing students from the group's institute is a win-win situation for both the student and the group, especially during times of recession. The students are placed well and the company gets freshers who are better designers with new ideas, creative concepts and design capabilities. At least 5-10 out of 100 students get placed with the group every year."

The test transmission of the channel will take place from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on December 23 and initially the programmes will be in English and Hindi, he said.
Long time need

The science programmes would be available on Gyan Darshan-2 which is placed on the DTH platform of DD Direct Plus. This channel is also being carried by a few other DTH service providers.

On the rationale behind the channel, it is being said that for a long time, a need was being felt by IGNOU and various educational and scientific organisations for an exclusive television channel devoted to science and related areas. This channel will cater to all age groups with the objective of helping people realise the need and importance of various aspects of science and for developing a scientific temperament among the people.
All fields

The channel would cover all the fields of sciences such as aspects of sciences, application of sciences, scientific research, the history, philosophy, advancement in science, India's heritage and social aspects. It will contain educative and entertaining programmes which would enable the people to understand issues of their concerns and address these through a participatory process.

This channel will also telecast some interactive programmes designed to assure that everybody is not a viewer, but also a contributor. The content of the programmes and time will be dynamic and would be amended with the feedback received from the viewers.

The prime minister added: "If we are to become knowledge superpower all sectors should be ready for scientific and technical knowledge."

The government has sanctioned setting up of eight IITs, 30 central universities, 10 National Institutes of Technology, 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology, five Indian Institutes of Science Education, two new schools of architecture, 373 new colleges and over 1000 polytechnics, he informed.

According to Manmohan Singh, there is an urgent need to strengthen the research capability of IITs so that more research activities are done by them.

At the grass roots level, a series of school scholarship schemes have been launched by the government to provide access to quality education for under-privileged sections of the society, the prime minister said.

Acknowledging the contribution made by the 170,000 IIT graduates in various technology breakthroughs, he said: "Vast majority of IIT alumni have become leaders in different fields - science, business, and policy making bodies."

In his address, principal scientific adviser R. Chidambaram said national development and national security are two sides of the same coin.

"The second national knowledge network has put India at par with developed countries on the scientific field. We are in the process of strengthening the technology delivery systems for the rural areas," he added.