He insisted that his ministry had not only met the 100-day targets but even exceeded them in some cases.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal underlined expansion, inclusion and excellence as the three underlying principles for educational reforms.
The chances of 20 million children with physical and other disabilities to get the right to education has been jeopardised, as the Right to Education Bill, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha on July 30, excludes them.Disability rights activists who went and met Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal to point out this lacuna said he was dismissive of their appeal to delay the Bill and incorporate disabled children. The activists are staging an agitation from Monday.
The actor's decision comes after he reportedly had heated exchanges with lyricist Javed Akhtar and others over the issue of royalties in a meeting between producers and writers.
Harsh Roongta, CEO, Apnapaisa, feels that the interest rate subsidy on education loans will benefit only a handful of students.
Seeking to take forward reforms in education, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday asked the IITs to expand into new areas like medicine and law and evolve a framework in this regard.
"This is in thinking process. No decision has been taken. After the committee gives it report, it will go the Central Advisory Board for Education and Council of Boards of School Education in India (CoBSE)," he told media person on the sidelines of a conference on Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and other education programmes.
"The prime minister has directed the two ministers to sit together and discuss the matter and sort out differences," Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters after the cabinet meeting. He said the cabinet deferred a decision on the issue which was being argued before the court
An expert committee might have found 44 deemed universities "unworthy" for the status, but the remaining 86 may not be in safe zone. This is because the government seeks to bring in a new regime, which will require such institutions to go through entry barriers to become universities or go back to the status of colleges.
As part of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's state visit to the United States at the invitation of President Barack Obama on November 24, India and the US are endeavoring to announce the convening of a India-US Education Council on the lines of the US-India Business Council, Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal disclosed in Washington on Friday.
Opening a new front, Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal favoured more weightage be given to Class 12 Board exam for the Indian Institute of Technology entrance and felt that the required minimum of 60 per cent marks could be raised but left it to a committee to take a decision.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of IIM directors with HRD minister Kapil Sibal in which they discussed about the vision and autonomy of these prestigious B-schools.
The government on Wednesday ruled out giving to the Left the draft of the India-specific Internatonal Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement in connection with the Indo-US nuclear deal, but asserted that all their queries on this subject have been "answered." "It is not possible to give them (Left) the (safeguards) text. We have anwsered all their queries," Union Science Minister Kapil Sibal told TV channels.
This comes against the backdrop of an ultimatum given by the IIT faculty to the HRD ministry for holding a joint meeting of ministry representatives and teachers before October one to resolve the issue.
The All India IIT Faculty Federation went on the strike after their charter of demands, including withdrawal of 40 per cent cap on promotion of professors to senior grade, did not elicit response from the HRD ministry.
Pitching for transfer of clean technologies to enable the developing countries to adapt to climate change, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal asked the developed nations to keep politics aside while addressing environmental issues. Addressing a seminar on climate change here, he said it was time to think about 'alternative and workable' solutions to address the issue of carbon emissions.
The IIT faculty federation decided on Monday to observe a one-day hunger strike on Thursday to protest anomalies in the pay structure. The federation has been demanding flexible cadre system and regular appointment of Ph D holders at entry level.
The Centre will set up a high-level committee of secretaries for processing the Sixth Pay Commission's report for its employees. The Empowered Committee of Secretaries will be headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said after the Cabinet meeting.
Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal dismissed Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley's view that the new anti-terror law is likely to be misused against the minorities. "This is not true," Sibal said.
At a meeting of the Union Cabinet on Thursday it was decided to refer the matter to the Committee of Secretaries to work out details of the proposal, science and technology minister Kapil Sibal told reporters. The proposal, mooted several months ago, suggested that Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd would have a joint venture arrangement to provide ground and cargo handling facilities.
As part of efforts to reduce 'trauma' of students and parents and make the admission process smooth, government favours a single school board at the all-India level and make 10th board examination optional. Unveiling his 100-day plan, HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said a single board would replace various boards in the country and would hold a uniform examination for all students.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal announced the possibility of changing the marking system of the Class XII board exams to a grading system. Good move or bad?
Faced with increasing incidents of ragging in campuses, the government is launching a round-the-clock helpline to assist students in lodging complaints about such incidents for prompt action.
The minister was addressing a function after distributing prizes to winners of 'Future Cities India 2020' competition for high school students sponsored by the department of science and technology.
An internal committee of Department of Telecom had alleged that Bharti Airtel had continued to route national and international calls as local calls under a scheme till 2005 despite being told to stop it in 2003.
The government on Friday approved the draft of a new Companies Bill to incorporate far-reaching changes, including scrapping the minimum paid-up capital requirement and setting up special courts to try offences.
India has joined Brazil and South Africa in calling upon the international community to support the US-sponsored Annapolis West Asia peace conference in order to assist the peace dialogue between Israel and Palestine.
As part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's State visit to the United States on November 24, India and the US are planning to announce the convening of an India-US Education Council on the lines of the US-India Business Council, Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal has disclosed.
India will alert its neighbouring countries about possible tsunami hits using its newly-launched tsunami early warning system. "We will alert our neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, of possible tsunami strikes in the event of massive earthquakes," Union Earth Sciences Minister Kapil Sibal said in New Delhi on Wednesday. However, Sibal said that it would be up to the governments of the respective countries to issue alerts and order evacuations in such a scenario.
'We are part of a global nuclear embargo. We are subject to global nuclear apartheid. And we want to move on, so that our people get the opportunities that they deserve in the context of another option in the energy sector,' says Science & Technology Minister Kapil Sibal.
Improving the quality of education is the greatest challenge before the government, says Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.
As professors of Indian Institutes of Technology resorted to the unprecedented step of day-long hunger strike on Thursday over the salary issue, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said he is open to having any kind of dialogue with them to discuss their demands, but ruled out world-class salaries due to lack of resources.
Caught in a vicious grip of inflation, the government on Wednesday announced that the south-west monsoon, crucial for the nation's agricultural well being, would be near normal this season. "India Meteorological Department's long range-forecast for the 2008 south-west monsoon season is that the rainfall for the country as a whole is likely to be near normal," Earth Sciences Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in New Delhi.
Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal informed the Rajya Sabha that there are only 156 researchers per million of population in India. India also lags behind other nations in its R&D spending. The number of core researchers in India was about 1.5 lakh as compared to China's 8-10 lakh. R&D spending as percentage of GDP in India is only 0.8 per cent as compared to China's 1.23. In India, 80 % R&D is by public sector, while the private sector share is only 20 per cent.
"I have no idea. I have to study the issue. I don't know about it. I am just returning from Bali after attending a labour conference," he told reporters who sought his reaction on Jet's decision to retrench 1,900 employees.
Criticising the developed countries' failure to take the lead in reducing carbon emissions, India on Wednesday said the world might face a disaster if industrial nations do not cut carbon emissions.
Microsoft Research India on Thursday demonstrated the first prototype of a multi-lingual interactive digital map of India.
Congress leader and Union minister Kapil Sibal said at a press conference that the government has told the court that it had no clue about the source of income of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and how she accumulated this wealth. They could order a probe into the source of her money.
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