'Indo-US 21st Century Knowledge Initiative Awards' announced

Eight partnership projects between higher education institutes of India and the US were announced today, seeking to further broaden bilateral ties in the education sphere.
The 'Indo-US 21st Century Knowledge Initiative Awards', formerly known as 'Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative', is in continuation of the educational partnership between the two countries.
The awarded projects would receive an grant of up to USD 1,90,000 each that can be utilised over a three-year period.
It is aimed at "encouraging mutual understanding, educational reform, and economic growth, as well as the development of junior faculty at Indian and American institutions of higher learning," a US Embassy statement said.

The awards would be given to two categories of projects. While one category includes projects led by US-based institutions, the other one is those Indian-led institutions.
The US-led projects include Miami University's partnership with Karnataka-based Christ University for a training model for culturally competent and evidence-based mental health care for diverse societies.

Among others, Iowa State University has tied up with National Institute for Fashion Technology, Delhi (NIFT-Delhi) for developing a "multi-dimensional approach" to meet 21st century retailing education and industry challenges for India and the US.
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad would jointly work on a project titled "Cooperative-competitive, data-driven, operational strategies for extremely resource-constrained settings in emerging economies".

"Partnering to sustain India's biological diversity in the context of rapid environmental change" is the title of the project between Colorado State University and National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore and Centre for Ecological Research, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore.
Meanwhile, Dayalbagh Educational Institute's tie-up with Arizona State University figures in the list of Indian-led partnerships.
The other partner institutions include Cochin University of Science and Technology and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.
Jamia Millia Islamia and University of Minnesota would work on a project titled, "Indo-US Collaboration for Training in Environmental Health Sciences".
Tamil Nadu's Gandhigram Rural Institute and University of North Florida are the other partner institutions.

In November, 2009, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama had announced this initiative as an "affirmation" of their commitment to build an enhanced partnership in education.