The academy offers a 24-month programme for recent university graduates who have joined Accenture as trainees in the HR department, it said. The first batch has 34 trainees, who will be part of a work-study opportunity, wherein they will be employed with Accenture as they undergo the programme conducted jointly by XLRI and Accenture, with courses developed jointly by the two organisations, the statement added.

(Source: The Economic Times)

Officially the course module has been named YUVA-School Adolescent Education Programme. It will start from Class VI and continue right through Class XII. Delhi government has planned to train about 1,000 government teachers in the subject. Sources said that a special training programme will be held in this regard for the teachers. The state government will publish two handbooks for teacher’s training. The two volume hand-book has already rolled off the press. It would be published jointly by the Directorate of Education and the Delhi State Aids Control Society. Each module has comprehensive directions for teachers. The first volume is meant for classes VI-VIII while the second is for classes IX-XII. To kick off the programme, dashing batsman Virender Shewag has been roped in as the brand ambassador of YUVA.

The teaching method under this programme is supposed to involve fun and innovation. The innovative approach is studded with case studies like handling relationship with parents, siblings, peer groups, friends and friend from the opposite sex and so on. Some other issues are body language, getting comfortable with your body, interpersonal skills, adolescent nightmares, nutrition, respect for elders, and positive attitude towards life.

(Source: www.indiaedunews.net)

HBS sources said that the Mumbai centre will focus on research connected with Indian companies in a globalised economy, foreign firms looking for opportunities in India, and policy makers working to create a competitive environment. Along with the research, the centre will also have selected executive education courses, conducted by the Harvard faculty. Two such courses are slated for January 2006. Industry insiders feel that the initiative will help Harvard Business School to expand ties with prominent business leader, universities, and researchers in the world's most important economic region. The centre will be headed by Dr. Ajay Mukherjee.

(www.indiaedunews.net)

This is the first effort of the Institute in the international arena. NIFT will open its Mauritius campus in collaboration with a local institute. The framework of the curriculum and admission procedures will be guided by NIFT while the local partner will be taking care of infrastructural requirements. NIFT officials said that all the formalities are completed and an announcement will be made soon.

Industry insiders feel that this decision of NIFT will enhance its global presence. It will also promote the potential of Indian fashion designing industry worldwide. Recently the Textile Ministry has also announced to present a bill in the coming session of the parliament that will declare the NIFT as an Institute of National Importance. This will also give enough power and autonomy to NIFT. The most significant part of the bill is that it will enable the institute to confer degrees and conduct research in fashion design.

( www.indiaedunews.net)

Earlier the company gave its final consent to join the Open Content Alliance (OCA) group. The group is working to digitalise the contents of millions of books and put them on the internet. This content can be accessed by anyone. Along with MSN, Yahoo and several universities also joined in this mission of OCA.

( www.indiaedunews.net)

The report of the World Bank from various countries on brain drain has ranked India at number three above Mexico, Germany and China. The report puts Britain in number one slot and Philippines in number two. The report said more than 1,000,000 graduates from India sought jobs overseas. The report also said that a greater number of computer engineers, scientists, and academics are deserting the country for better opportunity abroad.

( www.indiaedunews.net)

The report said that for the fourth time in a row India leads the table of foreign students. India has secured number one position with 80,466 of its students admitted to US universities during the 2004-05 academic sessions. India is followed by China (62,523), South Korea (53,358), Japan (42, 215), and Canada (28,140). The study also said that overall, there is 1.3 percent decline in the flow of foreign students to America. During this academic year, the enrolment has come down from 572,509 to 565,039.

( www.indiaedunews.net)

The five member committee on examination reforms includes the Director of South Campus, Dinesh Singh, Dean of Planning, Vijay Verma, and the Controller of Examinations, B.S.Garg.

After 1922, it is the first time that the university is attempting at structural changes in the examination system. A senior officials of the university said that the university has grown in size and number over the years and it is the perfect time to restructure the exam system. The main objectives of the reform are to make the system tighter and more efficient. The committee will also look into the matter of timely declaration of the examination results.

( www.indiaedunews.net)

The new bill not only empowers the government to monitor reservations and fee structures in these intuitions but also give straight governmental claws over them. This bill makes minimum 25 percent reservation mandatory in private educational institutions for backward class students. In this regard the HRD Ministry has already prepared a draft bill which has been approved by the law ministry. The bill will be discussed at an all party meeting before being tabled in the coming winter session of the parliament.

The bill also purposes that besides minimum 25 percent a state government can opt for higher reservation percentage. A senior HRD Ministry official said along with accountability the bill also allows greater voice to the parent and students.

( www.indiaedunews.com)

Mr. Vijay Shukla, Director, BII, said “It is a matter of great honor that world’s top most university has recognized the quality of students comes out from the institute. Since the standard of education matches their requirements, so BII received this opportunity of referring their students. We will be highly pleased to see other institutions across disciplines also get similar invitations and make us proud as Indians.”

With the initiative of introducing some modern methodologies to support the curriculum, BII hope to bring a huge transformation in the education system in India, which leads to building the new generation for a better tomorrow.

Bioinformatics Institute of India is the largest academic body of Bioinformatics, Biotechnology and related sciences in India. BII has been setup as a premier bioinformatics society, for the promotion, growth and prosperity of bioinformatics sciences. The institute has been promoted as a non profit making educational, R&D and development centre of bioinformatics. Students from more than 18 countries have enrolled in different BII programs in earlier batches.

The aim and vision of the institute is to provide a platform for individuals, professionals, R&D organisations, Pharmaceutical & Software companies to utilize and harness the Indian bioinformatics potential.

The institute aims not only educational and research initiative in this direction but also vouch for creating a talent pool of professionals from various fields who can contribute for the growth and prosperity of Bioinformatics/Cheminformatics/Biomedical informatics as a career .

( www.education4india.com)

The Academy will be created with $ 10 million committed by John F. McDonnel, former Chairman of the board of McDonnel Douglas Corporation. Along with Boeing nine other multinational corporations and several foundations and individuals are supporting this endeavour. The Academy will select scholars from various discipline including sciences, arts, engineering, research and medicines, who will study at Washington University. The Academy will pay all the expenses of scholars. Announcing the establishment of the Academy, Mark S. Wrighton Chancellor of the Washington University said in future we will associate more Indian research varsities in this venture.

( www.indiaedunews.com)

Teacher and pupil speak to one another, type messages and use digital "pencils" to work on problems, highlight graphs and erase mistakes. A student can also use a scanner to send copies of assignments or textbook pages that he needs help understanding.

" India has very good teachers, especially in math and science. Also, these subjects are culture-free so it is comparatively easy for Indian teachers to teach them," says Kiran Karnik, who heads India's National Association of Software and Service Companies. "Online tutoring is an area which shows enormous potential for growth."

Most companies are reluctant to talk about earnings. But Shantanu Prakash, chief executive of India-based Educomp Datamatics, estimates that Indian online tutoring companies earned about $10 million last year, 80 percent of it from the United States.

That's small change in the Indian information technology industry -- a business built largely on the outsourcing that is shifting jobs from the West to cheaper, foreign locations. Annual export revenue from offshore outsourcing last fiscal year totaled $17.2 billion.

But about a dozen Indian software firms are banking that online tutoring will flourish in America, where falling standards are causing concern.

The first e-tutoring businesses started less than three years ago, and already thousands of Indian teachers coach U.S. students in math, science or English for about $15-$20 an hour, a fraction of the $40-$100 that private tutoring costs in the United States.

The Indian firms have benefited from the growing U.S. government-financed tutoring industry -- which had revenues last year of nearly $2 billion. That growth is partly due to the No Child Left Behind law, which requires schools to test students in math and reading every year from third grade through eighth grade.

While the outsourced tutoring companies are competition for their U.S.-based counterparts, the National Education Association -- a professional organization that represents millions of American teachers -- "enthusiastically supports the continued and expanded use of distance education," according to a statement and its guidelines for promoting quality teaching in class and online.

( www.cnn.com)

The THES based its rankings on the opinions of more than 20,000 academics around the world, who put the UK second to the US overall.

The London School of Economics and Imperial College London were also in the top 20. There were 24 British universities in the top 200. Cambridge was voted the world's top university for science.

A spokesperson for the university said it was pleased to have done well in a ranking that measured quality in both teaching and research.

Top 20 (last year in brackets)

1 (1) Harvard University, US

2 (3) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US

3 (6) Cambridge University, UK

4 (5) Oxford University, UK

5 (7) Stanford University, US

6 (2) University of California, Berkeley, US

7 (8) Yale University, US

8 (4) California Institute of Technology, US

9 (9) Princeton University, US

10 (27) Ecole Polytechnique, France

11= (52) Duke University, US

11= (11) London School of Economics, UK

13 (14) Imperial College London, UK

14 (23) Cornell University, US

15 (17) Beijing University, China

16 (12) Tokyo University, Japan

17= (20) University of California, San Francisco, US

17= (13) University of Chicago, US

19 (22) Melbourne University, Australia

20 (19) Columbia University, US

( www.news.bbc.co.uk)

The initiative is part of the ministry’s decision to improve the scientific research in universities and colleges. The ministry has approved the recommendations of a task force headed by Prof. M.M.Sharma.

According to the ministry, the UGC has already decided to make scientific research part of undergraduate courses. Universities are being asked to revise the syllabus to incorporate the new initiatives .The commission is also making changes to the National Eligibility Test (NET) – mandatory for the eligibility for a college teacher’s job – science subjects. The Central Scientific Research Institute, which conducts the test, is making the changes and the new format, will be introduced for NET 2006.

Furthermore, UGC is changing eligibility criteria while appointing science teachers in colleges and universities. Other changes include the exchange of faculty between different science institutions and doubling the intake of the PhD students to central and deemed universities by 2010 and improving the gender ratio.

Source: www.indiaedunews.com

Not Only Gaurav but Gaurav’s batchmate, Venkatesh Sankararaman has also been offered Rs 30 lakh per annum at the same bank’s Mumbai office. This is the highest domestic pay packet offered, so far, in business schools. These offers were made after the summer internships in April and May this year.

Last year, a student from ISB, Hyderabad broke the record for the highest foreign pay packet offer of $1,81,000 (Rs 80 lakh). The previous domestic high was Rs 25 lakh back in ‘00, while an ISB student was offered Rs 21 lakh last year.

Some 10 out of the 45 IIM-B students, who did their summer internship, an academic requirement at the institute, in New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Czech Republic and the UK, have already received offers with an average salary of over $ 1,00,000 per annum. The number is expected to increase with some big firms like Goldman Sachs and HSBC likely to come out with their offers next week. Eight students have received offers from Indian companies. About 180 people are doing their second year MBA course at the institute.

Sources at IIM-B’s placement cell say that the increase in number of international offers is largely because of companies hiking their recruitment intake through the summer internships route this year.

Regular recruiters from IIM-B include Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, HSBC, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas and Bank of America.

Source: www.indiaedunews.com

The Bank also praised the country, one of its founding members, for its initiatives in e-governance to reduce corruption and said it first looks forward to India for new development ideas.

"The Bank shares India’s vision of “Education for All.” The most significant contribution of DPEP has been its success in bringing primary education to the centre stage of the nation’s agenda," the World Bank, the largest financier for the programme, said in its review after an interaction with India.

What began with 42 districts in seven states in 1994 has spread to 242 districts in 15 states with over 50 million primary school children and over one million teachers at more than 3,75,000 schools, the Bank pointed out.

Source: www.indiaedunes.com

“If we have to maintain our edge in the services space, we have to introduce additional skill sets for children. We have to leverage technology in education early on and also make the teaching environment more student-centric. There is a need to promote enquiry-based learning. All this will help in generating a knowledgeable workforce for the future,’’ says Ashutosh Chadha, programme manager, Intel India Education.

Anand Swaminathan, manager, community initiatives, Wipro says, “A lot of students desist from opting for science and maths in high school because these subjects have been taught poorly in the tenth grade.”

The Intel Science Talent Discovery Fair (Intel STDF) aims to infuse a spirit of discovery in school children and increase their interest in science and technology. Intel is focusing on providing tools and resources for elementary and secondary education, community education for youth and programmes for higher education.

Under its elementary and secondary education programme, the company has trained over 4,50,000 teachers across India. “The whole objective of this programme is to educate teachers to integrate technology and computers in the teaching process.” Under its higher education initiative, the hardware major is focusing on industry-academia partnerships and is working with over 50 colleges in India.

Similarly, Wipro’s Applying Thought in Schools helps teachers equip themselves with newer teaching methods. The IT major is working in 14 states and with 15 partner organisations and till date, over 4,500 teachers, principals and school board members have undergone this programme. “Though theoretically sound, the Indian professional is weak in his ability to apply knowledge to real situations,’’ argues Swaminathan.

Source: www.indiaedunews.com

The first batch of nearly 133 Indian students, selected under the program will travel different Universities in Europe in the coming October. This is the largest number from any country out of the total nearly 1000 students selected from all over the world.

The Erasmus Mundus programme (covering the period 2004-2008) aims to encourage students and visiting scholars from third countries to study at European universities as a means of promoting an important exchange of ideas between cultures both beneficial to the EU and the partner countries with a view to enhance the quality of Higher Education in Europe and attract more students and scholars to study in the EU.

The specialised "Erasmus Mundus Masters courses" also receive visiting scholars from universities around the world for teaching and research assignments lasting on average three months.

The new formula suggests two levels for such subjects. The primary level (the easier level) will be meant for all while the higher level will be available for those having special aptitude for the subject and this is likely to reduce the stress on the students.

The suggestion is based on the recommendations made by the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) in its National Curriculum Framework passed on last Wednesday.

These reforms are in addition to the recent suggestions of the CBSE to make the class X exams optional in the coming years.

The new road map laid by the NCERT has emphasized on reduction of test books, less class and homework and from the next academic year in its recommendations to make the whole system friendlier to the students.

To begin with, the Program will be launched in National Capital Region, followed by Mumbai and Bangalore. It will run for three months and around 36 key ITES-BPO companies and nearly 15,000 graduates will participate in the pilot.

The fee for the program is still to be finalised, it could vary between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. One of NASSCOM's key goals is to catalyse the expansion of India's English speaking manpower tool and ensure that the country's ITES-BPO talent resources are equipped with industry relevant skill-sets.

NASSCOM, alongwith Hewitt Associates and industry players, through the NAC will deploy the Assessment and Certification framework to ensure a steady supply of quality ITES-BPO professionals to meet the present and future requirements of the industry.

The Indian ITES-BPO industry is growing at a tremendous pace, employing 3, 48,000 people (as of March 2005) and expected to generate employment for around one million people by 2009. The industry, under the aegis of NASSCOM, is working towards sustaining this growth momentum, and proactive workforce development is a step in this direction.

In this context, NAC program of NASSCOM comes in handy as it will test the aptitude of a candidate on different skill sets. This will include listening and keyboard skills, verbal ability, spoken English, comprehension and writing ability, office software usage, numerical and analytical skills, and concentration and accuracy.

IIM-A feels this is not only fuelling the institute’s internationalisation drive, the move is also opening up doors to a growing overseas market in sponsored in-company programmes. After Beijing, IIM-A is eyeing this market in West Asia, South East Asia and even Europe.

In a bid to foster tech-savviness among its affiliated schools, the board, which first started the facility for online submission of application forms in May 2005, has decided to do away with the paper option. Schools can also check the status of their application forms by going to the board’s website www.cbse.nic.in.

Schools applying online will need to attach copies of the no-objection certificate/recognition letter from their respective state/union territory, copy of registration letter of the trust/society, land-ownership document, affidavit of non-proprietary character of the society and a staff statement.

After the form has been submitted, each school will be given a registration number and a registration page. The latter would be required to be sent along with the demand draft to the board’s office for further processing of the affiliation request.

The e-visa system taken up with the cooperation of the Australian Government is applicable for overseas studies through approved education agents. Each education agent will have a unique Login ID and password enabling him or her to access the service. IDP Education Australia Ltd., with seven offices in India, including one in Bangalore, is among the approved agents.

A student can apply for a student visa online if he or she has an Indian passport valid for six months, has an Electronic Confirmation of Enrolment for the course and has an acceptable international credit card. The student has to pay the charges, lodge the application through the Internet, satisfy other requirements and submit any medical documents needed.

Compared to the 270 student visas granted to Indians in 1994-95, the number has now grown to 21,000 and the forecast of 80,000 students in Australia by 2025 is fairly realistic. Indian students will now have to pass more than TOEFL; Australia required students to qualify the International English Language Training Study (ELTS), a testing procedure evolved by IDP, Cambridge University and British Council. There were a number of testing centres in India and in addition to Australia; a few other countries too may join this testing.

How? Scholarships! In fact, scholarships are a very necessary item on the 'must-have' list of any student planning to go abroad for further studies – except the super-lucky ones with private funding. Believe it or not, there are hundreds of scholarships for you on offer (mostly for post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral courses) that can translate your dream of studying at Oxford, Harvard or Princeton come true. However, the catch lies in, first, knowing about the scholarship and, secondly, unearthing the right scholarship from among the maze of information on scholarships available on the net. EduMedia, through this article on scholarships, tries to streamline and put into perspective the jungle of information just for you.

Extremely competitive scholarships

If you are one of those with a never-say-die attitude, then you should go all out for the scholarships listed below. Be warned that they are extremely competitive but, at the same time, the very best in the world. If you can sweat enough to become the recipient of one of these, take our word, your life is made.

 Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes scholarships, one of the oldest and most prestigious international fellowships, were initiated after the death of Cecil Rhodes in 1902.It now attracts outstanding students from the Commonwealth, Germany, and USA to Oxford University. Indian Rhodes scholarships are awarded on an All-India basis. Six Scholars are elected from India every year. For information, check: http://www.rhodesindia.com

 Chevening Scholarships
Chevening is the UK government's flagship scholarship scheme, aimed at future leaders, opinion formers and decision-makers. The programme is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and managed by the British Council worldwide, supporting over 2,300 international students annually to study in the UK. For general information on the British Chevening Scholarship Programme, visit web site:
http:// www.chevening.com

World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program
In 1987, the World Bank, with funding from the Government of Japan, established the World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (WBGSP) for graduate studies in subjects related to economic development. Each year, the Program awards scholarships to individuals from World Bank member countries to undertake graduate studies at renowned universities throughout member countries of the Bank.

The Program's objective is to help create an international community of highly trained professionals working in the field of economic and social development. The objective of these Programs is to prepare the participants for effective policy-making roles in their home countries and regions. For information visit: http: //www. worldbank.org/wbi/ scholarships/

Erasmus Mundus Scholarships
The Erasmus Mundus programme aims at improving the quality of higher education in Europe and at promoting intercultural understanding with third countries. It has a budget of EUR 230 million for the period 2004-08.

Erasmus Mundus programme is addressed to third-country graduate students/scholars who apply to and are accepted by selected Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses. Students apply to follow the Course, scholars apply to carry out teaching and research assignments and scholarly work in the institutions participating in the Course. You can get complete information regarding the program at: http://www.delind.cec.eu.int/en/eco/erasmus_mundus.htm

Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships
This is an annual scheme made available to all Commonwealth countries by the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission. The India programme is managed jointly by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU, UK ); Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India and the British Council. The award is given for Master's/M.Phil/ PhD/ six-months clinical training/Fellowship.

Contact:

For Scholarship

Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD)
Department of Education
External Scholarships Division
A-1/W-3, Curzon Road Barracks
Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001
T: +91-11-338 6401

For Fellowships

University Grants Commission
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi -110001
T: +91-11-323 3895

Fulbright Fellowships
The Fulbright Program is designed to promote cross-cultural interaction and mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and the people of other countries. It offers the grantees opportunities for intellectual, professional and artistic growth and has created a large academic and cultural network around the world. United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) has administered the Fulbright Program in India since 1950 and has awarded approximately 7,400 Fulbright fellowships to Indian and U.S. nationals. It has also administered approximately 8,250 fellowships funded by the U.S. Government under such programs as the Faculty Research Abroad Program, Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program and Group Projects and Seminars Abroad Program.

For further details visit http://www.fulbright-india.org or contact USEFI offices in Chennai, Mumbai or New Delhi .

Others
Besides the prestigious scholarship programs listed above, there are many other scholarships offered by countries from around the world through the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education under the Cultural Exchange and other Programmes. The subject fields are generally chosen for those areas, facilities for which are available in the donor country and also keeping in view the national needs.

For complete information check: http://www.education.nic.in/htmlweb/scho.htm

Those seeking to go abroad for higher studies should also be informed that most US, European and Australian colleges themselves provide scholarship. It is up to the student to do the necessary research and find out such colleges.

With technology on our side, the best way to go about looking for information is through the net. Many of the embassies or their related offices also provide valuable information. For example, a visit to the USEFI in India provides all the information that you need regarding education and scholarships in the US. Hence, it is important for the students to explore these options too.

How to find scholarships that are right for you

The worst way to apply for scholarships is by using the so-called “shotgun” approach. This is where you blast out an application, often hastily written, to every scholarship that you find. Unfortunately, this approach will most likely result in a pile of rejections.

To win a scholarship, you need to be selective in the application process. This means that for every 10 or so scholarships you find, you may only end up applying to one of them. But how do you find the scholarships that are right for you?

Start by throwing your scholarship net far and wide: To find the right scholarship, you need to have a lot to choose from. Search the Internet, scour scholarship books and talk to your counselor. Your job is to find as many scholarships that you could apply for.

Look for scholarships within your interests: Instead of finding scholarships that match your interests, why not look at your interests to find scholarships. If you're interested in computer graphics, check out all of the makers of the software and hardware that you use for awards.

Read newspapers properly: Newspapers often announce scholarship winners. Use this information to learn about scholarship opportunities.

Start eliminating scholarships that don't match you: Look at your list of scholarships with the idea of eliminating those that simply don't match your background and talents. Don't feel bad since each scholarship that you remove means less time wasted and more time you can spend on scholarships that you can win.

Prioritize your scholarships: After you have eliminated the obvious awards that don't match you, the next step is to prioritize the awards that do. You will need to be familiar with each scholarship and understand the goals behind the reason for giving the award.

Consider timing: There's more to your life than applying for scholarships, which means that you will need to consider deadlines when deciding which scholarships to apply to. You simply can't apply to every scholarship, and you'll need to use this as another way to prioritize.

UNESCO has invited young post-graduate researchers with a Master’s degree (or equivalent) from developing countries to apply for fellowships. Each fellowship is worth a maximum of US$6,000 to US$10,000. The same will be awarded under UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowship Programme. Fellowships are financed by Japan through funds-in-trust dedicated to the development of human resources. The programme is named after the late Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. Prime Minister Obuchi was known for his commitment to development issues. Programme offers a total of 20 fellowships to researchers active in one of the four fields: environment, inter-cultural dialogue, information and communication technology, and peaceful conflict resolution. This is the sixth year running that Japan has awarded these grants.

In a series of letters, Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has called on all of UNESCO’s National Commissions, delegations and field offices to invite potential candidates to apply for the fellowships, through their National Commission. Applications must reach UNESCO Headquarters in Paris before January 13, 2006 .

The entry of Foreign Education Providers (FEPs) in India may end up being little more than rhetoric.

Rules framed by the Indian government on various counts, albeit with the “good intention” of blocking fraud universities, are likely to result in Foreign Education Providers (FEPs) being able to offer only the same courses, which domestic institutions currently do.

The government wants all Foreign Education Providers (FEPs) to register under the Indian Societies Act to open school here or alternatively find a suitable partner.

This has so much potential for operational and logistical problems that it will clearly deter any Foreign Education Provider (FEP) who might be interested in the Indian market. Foreign funds cannot be sent or received by a society, effectively denying a foreign university the possibility of fair returns on its investment.

The fee to be charged and the student intake per course will also be prescribed by the AICTE.

Collaborations, partnerships and twinning arrangements can only be permitted to Indian partners who are already operational and have AICTE approval. No franchisee arrangements are permissible. This amounts to a restrictive trade practice as new players are clearly being denied entry and older players are being denied a level playing field.

The Foreign Education Providers (FEPs) having passed a stringent procedure in developed nations for accreditation will have to go through a second set of accreditation compliance measures here. Incidentally, as per the new rules, all FEPs that want to operate in India whether directly or through collaboration with an Indian partner must get a no-objection certificate from the embassy of the country of origin confirming their “genuineness”.

The Foreign Education Providers (FEPs) are also expected to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the AICTE here, which in some cases is just not possible as the original accreditation abroad requires them to be subject to jurisdiction of the country of origin.

The Centre is planning to bring in the long-awaited legislation on the admission and fee structure in private professional institutions. A draft bill for the private educational institutions has been prepared and circulated to states and members of the Central Advisory Board for Education for comments.

The government hopes to introduce the final legislation in Parliament during 2005 Winter Session. The provisions would be applicable from the academic session beginn ing .

He proposed legislation will cover way beyond the private unaided colleges. It will also cover aided, unaided, minority professional colleges and deemed universities with professional offerings. As against earlier plans, the central legislation will be more than a model Act.

The Central government plans to come out with a legislation to pave the way for commercialization of technologies discovered by Indian universities and research institutions to create a strong domestic biotech industry.

With the proposed legislation in place, Indian universities, institutions such as the Indian Council of Medical Research and Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will also be empowered to stake claims on discoveries they make for commercialization on a large scale through government funding and otherwise.

The government also plans the setting up of a venture capital fund to help promote funding of early stage innovations by young scientists and engineers to ensure domestic growth.