Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has said that the UPA Government has given high priority to the development of North Eastern Region and during its tenure since 2004, 10 National Institutes of Technology (NITs) were established in the region. Speaking at the foundation stone laying function of NIT Meghalaya at Cherrapunjee (Sohra) in East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya today, Mr. Sibal said that the setting up of high quality institutions in the region would help the youth to materialize their potential and achieve higher levels of excellence. Mr. Sibal urged the NITs to address state specific problems, where they are located.

 Noting that India is the fastest growing economy of the world with potential for further growth, the Lok Sabha Speaker Ms Meira Kumar, however, cautioned that interiors of rural India or a heaving urban slum is a recurring reminder that the high performance of country's economy must be balanced with equity and inclusiveness.

In her inaugural address at the India-Cambridge Summit in New Delhi this morning, Ms Kumar asserted that the litmus test for an egalitarian society is that the fruits of development must reach the disadvantaged and the marginalised. 

Referring obliquely

1. तिरछा
2.  टेढ़े तीर से
3.  तिरछे तिरछे

 to the impasse in Parliament created by the opposition during the recently concluded Monsoon Session, Ms Kumar expressed confidence that eventually the electorate निर्वाचक वर्गwill prevail upon राजी करनाtheir representatives in Parliament to run it smoothly. 

Taking pride in the thriving functional democracy of India, the Lok Sabha Speaker said that only through this system of governance India can achieve the goals of social cohesion the state of cohering or sticking together and inclusive growth.

Talking of the relevance of Cambridge, Ms Kumar said that for the last 800 years it has constantly excelled as the centre of higher learning with uncompromising standards of education, transforming knowledge to generate ideas for the benefit of the world. 

The Human Resources Development Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal, who also addressed the Summit, told All India Radio that the educational institutions have to collaborate across the globe to fight the global challenges in various areas. He said that government is there to see how they are implemented on the ground.

The Cambridge University Vice Chancellor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz said that there has to be an international engagement to face the global challenges. Commending the initiatives taken by India to make this happen, he said everyone has to play a part in combating issues across the borders.

 The government plans to set up 100 community colleges during the current academic session to impart vocational training. Addressing a global skills summit in New Delhi today, Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal said, of these colleges, Canada will partner in setting up of 10 colleges. He said, the government has recently launched a vocational educational programme in around 40 schools in Haryana and it would be done all over the country in the coming months.

Expressing concern over the quality of skill development training, adviser to the Prime Minister on skill development, S Ramadorai, emphasised on bringing about a dramatic change in the programme. He said, the challenges are the quality of inputs that go into training, infrastructure, training methodologies and acute shortage of faculty in vocational education.

Earlier, industry body FICCI and Association of Canadian Community Colleges signed an MoU to collaborate in skill development.

The MOU will enable meaningful partnership arrangements in capacity-building to evolve between Canadian colleges, institutes and polytechnics and Indian community colleges.

The Centre today launched an anti ragging web portal. The portal will look after the complaints related to ragging. It will have customised E mail management system and a mechanism to follow up the complaints and display of the progress regarding them. Any student can register his complaint any time on this portal, www. antiragging.in . After launching the portal in New Delhi, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said it will have data base of all the colleges and institutions of the country. The data base will be created out of the affidavits affirmed by students and parents and it will be stored electronically. 

On registering the complaint on the portal, student will be given an I D . The Minister said an antiragging toll free Helpline 1800 1805 522 is already working on all week days round the clock. The complaints recieved through the portal and helpline will be forwarded to the college or institute's administration. District administration and local police station will also be informed.

Mr Sibal said government is committed to eradicate the menace of ragging from the educational institutions and the portal will prove to be greatly beneficial to the students. It will help build confidence amongst them and their parents and provide an effective instrument of monitoring anti ragging programme of the government.

India and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,UNESCO, have signed an agreement to establish the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development as a UNESCO category-one centre in New Delhi. The institute is the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region and will be dedicated to research, innovation and capacity building. It will encourage knowledge exchange, regional networking and catalyse innovation by helping design and test new approaches to education.The Institute will propogate Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of peace and sustainability. AIR correspondent reports, an expert advisory group will soon be set up by the UNESCO to develop an agenda for the institute. The agreement was signed by Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal and Director General of UNESCO Irina Bokov at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sibal said, the institute comes at
the right time when the world is debating the contours( परिरेखा0 of the century ahead.

nion Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal has decided to set-up a Consultative Committee for the implementation of the scheme for imparting quality education in Madrasas. The committee will consist of 21 members including representatives from teacher associations, Madrasa Boards Chairmen, State Government officials and officials from Ministry of Human Resource Development. The commitee will meet twice a year to discuss and streamline various implementation issues of the scheme so that grievance redressal is prompt, implementation is faster and effective quality outcomes for students are possible. 
AIR correspondent reports, the scheme that has benefited over 10,522 Madrasas and 26,755 teachers, is also for introducing modern subjects like Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Hindi and English in Madrasa education. The Scheme also provides financial assistance for teachers. 
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal held a meeting recently with all stakeholders including Madrasa teachers, Madrasa Board representatives and State implementers regarding improving quality standards in Madrasas. The meeting also dicussed, teacher grievances, position of funds and their utilization as well as other Center-State implementation issues. The Ministers of State for Human Resource Development, E. Ahamed and Dr. D. Purandeshwari were also present on this occasion.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal today urged for improving the quality of teaching to improve the quality of learning. 

He also highlighted the need to get the best minds in the teaching profession to educate children. Addressing the 59th meeting of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the minister pointed out that, it is an accepted (established)fact that our teaching communities are not as educated as they should be. 

Mr. Sibal said, as a nation we need to change our mindsets and also need to rethink our strategy. The HRD Minister asked CABE members to throughly discuss the issues and invited their suggestions to improve the quality of teachers.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said in Mumbai on Monday that there is a need to improve the quality of education in polytechnics for generating a better and skilled workforce.

Speaking at the second national convention of the State Boards of Technical Education titled `Polytechnic Education and Achievements and Challenges Ahead’ he said that Polytechnics institutes should form tie-ups with the industry to upgrade the syllabus so that it is possible to get skilled workforce from Polytechnic institutes.

Stating that Polytechnics students are the future of the country Kabil Sibal said that Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are doing well in Polytechnic education.

However, he said that compared to the population of Northern states Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the number of Polytechnics institutes in these states are too low.

While there are 12 government and 07 unaided institutions in Bihar, there are 17 government and 186 unaided Polytechnics institutes in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Kabil Sibal also said that it is essential to provide assistance to students who have had their schooling in vernacular educational mediums by giving them study material in their own languages.

The government has said that there is an urgent need to improve the quality of teachers to meet challenges in the 21st century. Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal stated this while addressing the two-day International Policy Dialogue Forum on Teachers for Eduction for All in New Delhi today.

Observing that there is no system in place for life-long learning, he emphasized that entire process of teaching needs to be redefined. He said, the focus should be on teaching beyond texbooks in class rooms to prepare students for challenges in the age of information technology and communication. Mr Sibal also stressed the need to create a pool of quality teachers to promote their exchange between countries.

Touching upon the issue of non-uniformity in recruitment, salary and post-retirement benefits for teachers, Mr Sibal urged the states to come up with attractive incentives to motivate teachers into teaching profession. Terming children as the capital asset of a nation, the minister opined that quality training and education should be the focus of investment. 

Mr Sibal, said that to produce quality teachers in a diverse country like India, the entire education system should be able to create modules that fit into diverse environments. The minister said globalisation of education can become a reality in the 21st century and for that to happen, inequality and discrimination need to be done away with. He called for bringing about equality of opportunities for quality teachers in schools and colleges.

Government has announced a Joint Entrance Examination, JEE from 2013 for admission into the central funded engineering institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) , National Institutes of Technolgy (NITs) and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs).

Joint Councils of these institutes also decided that as part of reform in the Examination system, the results of Class 12 examination too would be given due weightage towards entrance.

Announcing this at a press conference in New Delhi, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said a Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) will have a new format consisting of two tests JEE main and JEE advanced which would to be conducted on the same day. For IIT, 50 per cent weightage each would be given to Class XII Board result and main test.

He said for all other centrally funded institutions, 40 per cent weightage for class 12th examination, 30 per cent weightage for performance in JEE-main and 30 per cent weightage in JEE advanced would be given. The proposed changes will be effective from 2013. These reforms in longer term will improve the quality of secondary education.

The minister also said those students who have appeared in the 12th board examinations in 2012 and wish to improve upon their performance can appear again for the board examinations in 2013. Mr Sibal informed that a meeting of the state education ministers' is proposed for 5th of next month where the participation of states in the common national test process would be deliberated upon.

Mr Sibal informed that two day international policy dialogue forum on teachers for education for all will begin tomorrow in New Delhi. The minister said it will be co-organized by the International Task Force on Teachers for Education for All (EFA) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The minister said the meet will focus specifically on Teacher Challenges for Education for All in India and will provide a platform for discussion on inclusive education and public-private partnerships to address the issue. Mr Sibal said the government has earmarked 6,300 crore rupees for teacher education mission in the 12th plan.

Parliament gave its seal of approval to two amendment bills on the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) with the Rajya Sabha adopting the measure by voice vote today. The Lok Sabha had already passed the two bills -the Institutes of Technology bill 2011 and the National Institutes of Technology bill 2011.

Replying to the discussion on both the bills, the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal assured the House that the character of the Benaras Hindu University will not be changed by upgrading the status of its Engineering College to that of an IIT. He also assured that the integration of the BHU will not be disturbed. 

Mr Sibal also called for innovative methods to bridge the gap between sanctioned strength and filling of the posts in the faculties. He said the budgetary allocation to the higher education has been the highest during the UPA governme

The World Autism Awareness Day is being observed today. Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mukul Wasnik, has said that the Centre will formulate a new guideline for up-liftment of people with autism.

 World Autism Awareness Day at New Delhi the Minister said the guideline will be prepared jointly by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Human Resources Development. He said the new guideline will be implemented during 12th Plan Period.

In his address, Union Commerce, Industry and Textile Minister Anand Sharma called for creation of more awareness on Autism. He suggested formation of a national corpus fund jointly by the government and corporate sectors for up-liftment of people with Autism.

Presently there are 10 million persons with autism in India.

It affects as many as one in 110 children and one in 70 boys. There is no medical cure for autism, but early diagnosis and intervention can help a person to adapt and function better.

The World Autism Awareness Day is being observed today. It aims to create awareness about autism, especially in children. Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders affect the way the brain processes information and prevents individuals from properly understanding what they see and hear, resulting in difficulties in communication and behaviour. Autism is a developmental disability that remains with a person whole life. The first signs usually appear before a child is three . It is a kind of brain disorder that causes kids to experience the world differently from the way most other kids do. People with autism often have problems with verbal and non-verbal communication and find social interaction difficult. It makes hard for them to communicate with others and react to things going on around them in the usual ways. When someone smiles, for instance, a kid without autism knows that the smiling person is happy or being friendly. It's difficult, too, for kids with autism to link words with their meanings.  Nobody knows for sure what causes autism. Scientists are still trying to understand how and why this happens. Parents should immediately consult the doctor for unusual behaviour rather than wait for the child to grow older.