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English Release 25-May 2013
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- Presidents Secretariat
- President calls upon every University to identify at least one Department that can be made into a Centre of Excellence
- Speech by the Hon’ble President at the Inauguration of Maharaja Agrasen University,Solan, Himachal Pradesh, on May 25, 2013
- Vice President's Secretariat
- Vice President’s Address at Golden Jubilee Commemorative Summit of African Union at Addis Ababa
- Min of Defence
- Shri R K Mathur takes over as the New Defence Secretary
- Min of Law & Justice
- Government to go in for a Stand-Alone Central Legislation to Curb any Dishonest Activity in Sports
- Min of Youth Affairs & Sports
- Conference of Ministers and Secretaries of States and Union Territories in-Charge of Sports & Youth Affairs Concludes in New Delhi
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Ministry of Human Resource Development30-August, 2005 17:4 IST
| India decides to forgo any assistance under the Participation Programme of UNESCO in favour of least developed countries |
While addressing the General Body Meeting of the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO, the Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Arjun Singh informed the participants that India has decided not to take up any assistance under the Participation Programme of UNESCO for Member-States and have requested UNESCO to disburse these resources so saved for programmes in least developed countries. India is fast emerging as a nation willing to contribute more and more for programmes of benefit to the country and to the entire world especially the developing countries.
The Minister said that Indian institutions are emerging as “Centres of Excellence” in different fields. Our institutions like IGNOU, NIEPA, IITs, IIMS AND language institutes could well operate as ‘Regional Centres for Cooperation’ in these fields with the countries in the region. It may be mentioned here that IGNOU has not only been providing Distance Learning in India but also in other parts of the world with the support of UNESCO.
Shri Arjun Singh informed that recently the Cabinet has ratified the ‘Convention for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage’. The Cabinet has also approved the proposal to contribute to the “Fund for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage” at least every two years, which shall be @1% of the contribution India makes to the regular budget of UNESCO.
While welcoming the participants, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Shri M.A.A. Fatmi called upon the participants and UNESCO to work together on various global issues.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary for Secondary and Higher Education, Shri Sudeep Bannerjee appealed for need to strengthen the Right to Access to Knowledge. He lamented that the emphasis on intellectual property is encroaching upon the Right to Access to Knowledge.
The Secretary for Elementary Education, Smt. Kumud Bansal said that there was a need for literacy schemes to focus on districts with less than 30 per cent literacy. She also brought the attention of the Members of the Commission to the fact that the budget of UNESCO did not show any allocation of funds for “E-Nine Initiative”.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary for Information & Broadcasting, Shri S.K. Arora said that community radio should be given high priority. While it is in use in may educational institutions, it needs to be popularized in rural areas. Shri Arora said that UNESCO participation in the field of distant learning and E-learning should be deepened and broadened. The Secretary of I&B expressed his concern about the need to protect broadcasters as well as content providers from piracy. He also emphasized the need to protect the rights of viewers and the readers.
Many members of the Commission voiced their concern about quality of teachers. They suggested the urgent need for teacher training programmes and for enhancing of teachers’ skill in integrating cultural education in the present curriculum.
UM:SPS:NC
(Release ID :11708)
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