India-US Collaboration Programme will commence in October
Two years back Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and US President Barrack Obama has announced collaboration for higher education. The initiative is all set to launch and it will roll out in this month. Human resource development minister Kapil Sibal and US secretary of state Hillary Clintonwill meet in Washington on 13 October to discuss the bilateral programme. 
This collaboration was announced in November 2009 during Manmohan Singh's visit to US. India has already made public the modalities and some features of the collaboration.
As per the HRD Ministry Proposal document; key collaboration areas will be:
- Energy studies
- Sustainable development
- Climate change
- Environmental studies
- Education and educational reform
- Community development and innovation
India wants to set up 14 theme-based universities, promote research, train teachers and brand a group of leading educational institutes the Indian Ivy League under the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative or OSI. The initial funding will be of $10 million (around Rs. 50 crore) and it will be shared by both partners.
This initiative will promote increasing university linkages, junior faculty development exchanges and teachers training. As per the data available to the HRD ministry, premier higher education institutes in India are facing a crunch of faculty of about 20-35%. To overcome this situation, institutes have been allowed to hire non-resident Indians and foreigners as well as opt for faculty exchange programmes.
For this meeting a delegation comprising industry experts, academicians, vice-chancellors of some Central universities and representatives of industry bodies will accompany Sibal.
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Source: Richha Bhatnagar (Shiksha Team)
