Prez to host VCs, heads of higher edu institutes next week

President Pranab Mukherjee will host Vice Chancellors and heads of higher educational institutions at the second Visitor's Conference next week.
The two-day conference is scheduled from November 16-18.
The President will also launch the National Student Startup Policy on the first day of the conference which will be attended by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
"The National Student Startup Policy has been formulated by AICTE with the aim to propel Indian youth to contribute to the nation's socio-economic progress through promotion of technology-driven student start-ups. Through an exposure on entrepreneurship, the policy will lend crucial soft skills like decision-making in the students," a statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhawan said.

"An Industry-Academia session will also take place on the first day of the Conference where eminent personalities from industry and academy will participate. 32 central institutions and 65 industry organisations will exchange as many as 68 MoUs on the occasion," it added.
Issues like creating world-class higher educational institutions, creating global alliance of institutes for research, innovation and technology development, making India a favoured destination for higher learning, technology-induced models of pedagogy, and funding options for higher education will be on agenda of the conference.

"On the second and third day of the conference, there will be panel discussions and group work on agenda items of the Conference as well as a presentation on converting Rashtrapati Bhavan into a smart township and extending the experience to select villages through Smart Model Gram project," the statement said.

The President is Visitor to 126 central institutes of higher learning.
"The Conferences at Rashtrapati Bhavan have accorded an opportunity to heads of central institutions to share their views on a host of important issues that affect the higher education sector in India.
"Recommendations and action points emerging from the deliberations are pursued by the administrative ministries, regulatory bodies, the institutions of higher learning and others concerned," the statement added.