'Varsities not to be controlled remotely'

Union minister for human resources development Kapil Sibal on Monday said the university education system in India was set for a major change to promote the habit of research on their own. Congratulating winners of the Infosys Prize 2009 instituted by Infosys Foundation via video conferencing from Delhi, Sibal said the government was taking steps to maintain independence of the universities so that they could not be ‘controlled remotely by any one’.

As a part of the thrust for higher levels of research, the Centre has announced to set up 14 universities to be equipped with world class infrastructure and facilities. Sibal said India must invest in knowledge enterprises which will encourage creation of more IPs out of India.

Infosys Science Foundation on Monday announced three Indian scientists and two academicians as winners of its prestigious Infosys Prize 2009 for outstanding contributions to scientific research in four disciplines.

Describing the prize as the "India Nobel prize for the future", Sibal has suggested that the Foundation modify its statute which stipulates that the winner must have done his research work in India though he could be a person living outside India. "Given that we live in a globalised world, the stipulation could be modified to winner having done his research primarily in India," Sibal said. N R Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor of Infosys said the Board of Trustees would discuss it during its meeting in February.

The winners of the Infosys Prize 2009 will presented Rs 50 lakh per category, a medallion and citation at a function scheduled to be held in Delhi on January 4 next year. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the chief guest on this occasion.

Infosys Technologies spent about Rs 6.1 crore ($1.2 million) in this initiative through Infosys Science Foundation which was set up in February this year as a not-for-profit trust with an aim of promoting research in sciences in India.