NEW DELHI: The Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) will induct foreigners as students and faculty and will also conduct medical courses, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal announced Friday.   Talking to reporters after a nearly three-hour meeting with the council of IITs, Sibal said the major decisions were taken to bring IITs at par with international institutes and to make them global in every sense.   "It was agreed that the IITs will have foreign students as well as faculty," Sibal said.   Appointment of foreign faculty could also give a boost to IITs' plan to enrol foreign students.   The foreign students, whose strength will be capped at 25 percent, will be enrolled in the post-graduate course while foreigners would account for a maximum of 10 percent of the faculty.   "The number of foreign students will be in addition to the Indian students already there," he said.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) will induct foreigners as students and faculty and will also conduct medical courses, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal announced Friday.   Talking to reporters after a nearly three-hour meeting with the council of IITs, Sibal said the major decisions were taken to bring IITs at par with international institutes and to make them global in every sense.   "It was agreed that the IITs will have foreign students as well as faculty," Sibal said.   Appointment of foreign faculty could also give a boost to IITs' plan to enrol foreign students.   The foreign students, whose strength will be capped at 25 percent, will be enrolled in the post-graduate course while foreigners would account for a maximum of 10 percent of the faculty.   "The number of foreign students will be in addition to the Indian students already there," he said.

MUMBAI: Plastic waste has been noticed around MV 'MSC Chitra', which collided with another ship MV 'Khalajia-3' off the Mumbai harbour exactly a month ago, even as the tilt of the ill-fated vessel has reduced considerably.   "Plastic debris have been noticed floating near the port side of the vessel. It appears that this plastic waste has come out from the containers of MV 'MSC Chitra'", officials of the Directorate-General of Shipping said on Monday.   Meanwhile, MV 'MSC Chitra' continues to be stable at about 19 degree list.   So far, 50 containers have been offloaded from the deck of 'MSC Chitra' and this operation is continuing. The first barge with 42 containers is awaiting berthing at GTI/JNPT for which Customs have given clearance. Actual time of berthing is being planned with port authorities. Five containers have fallen off 'MSC Chitra' and have sunk near it.

PUNE: The government is determined to improve communication connectivity in remote hinterlands of the country particularly tribal belts — for which plans are being laid out by the department of telecommunications to install communication towers in those areas, said Union minister of state for communication and Information Technology Sachin Pilot.   Interacting with the media after assessing a performance review of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Western Maharashtra here on Saturday, the minister said people in the hinterlands mainly Naxal-affected areas should not feel that they cannot reach the government or authorities in times of need.   Although Naxals have repeatedly targeted mobile towers to disrupt communication, efforts are on to develop an effective telecommunication network in the tribal belts, said Pilot, “We can only develop the telecommunication infrastructure but the job of securing these assets are with other agencies and departments.

Pilot lays stress on increasing use of Internet   PUNE: The central government has been taking measures to make its ambitious e-governance project compatible with 22 official regional languages spoken in different parts of the country, Union minister of state for communication and Information Technology, Sachin Pilot said here on Saturday.   “Almost 60 per cent of Indian population does not speak English,” he said,   justifying the use of non-English interface for the e-governance initiative.   Speaking at the inauguration of the ninth edition of Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) leadership series here, Pilot envisaged on a dream of taking the e-governance project to the doorstep of citizens, including those from rural areas. He underlined the need of increasing the Internet usage among population for widening the reach of e-governance. “Currently, the Internet usage is limited only upto around eight per cent of Indian population.