Huge pool of unskilled youngsters is disaster: Sibal (To go with main Kapil Sibal interview)

September 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal Monday asked the Catholic clergy to help the government in shaping the three pillars of education - "expansion, inclusion and excellence". Inaugurating the five-day triennial national assembly of the Conference of Religious India (CRI) here in which more than 550 major superiors of about 360 Catholic religious orders are participating, Sibal said there was still a lot to be done for people's education.

September 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government would not interfere in the administration of the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal has assured the protesting IIT teachers, even as he sought to clarify some of their contentions. "The IIT system can (be) rest assured Kapil Sibal will not interfere," the minister told Karan Thapar in an interview telecast on the CNN-IBN Sunday night.

September 26th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal Saturday expressed concern over the poor enrolment from schools to colleges in India, and observed that the national average was "just above" that in the sub-Sahara African countries. "The gross enrolment ratio - that is admission of students from high school to college - in the US is 50 to 70 students per 100 whereas in the Scandinavian countries it is above 70 percent," said Sibal here Saturday.

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday announced that more than 21400 new schools will be opened and over 52,000 teachers will be recruited during the current year under 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan'. Sibal said that assistance will also be provided to states in order to set up 100 new polytechnics in districts which do not have these institutes.

August 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday called on the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to create quality faculties in the field of technical education to match the growing demands. Speaking at the Convocation of IIT-Delhi, Sibal said despite growth in number of technical institutions, there had not been proportionate increase in quality graduates in the country.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Friday said the government is considering setting up autonomous colleges independent of universities. Addressing a meeting of principal secretaries and secretaries of higher education from various states here, Sibal said: "The government is thinking in terms of allowing the setting up of autonomous colleges." The minister's day-long interaction with the officials was his first initiative to evolve a consensus of the states for reforms in the education sector.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday came out with a proposal to have a single board in the country to make the 10th board examination optional and make the admission process smooth. Introducing a 100-day plan, HRD minister said the single board at the all-India level will replace various boards in the country and will hold a uniform examination for all students, which will be similar to the pattern of combined law entrances organised by law institutions.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government plans to establish an independent accreditation authority to rate schools, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said here Thursday. "At present there is no accreditation policy on schools.

June 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - HRD Minister Kapil Sibal announced on Monday that the government has decided that it will not accept any further applications of aspiring deemed universities and would conduct a thorough review of the functioning of such universities. "The ministry will set up its own committee, which will visit the deemed universities.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal Saturday won the Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi by over 200,000 votes. The cabinet minister got 465,713 votes, defeating rival Vijender Gupta of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 200,710 votes.

May 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Expressing confidence about forming the government again with allies, the Congress party said Friday it would bag around 200 seats in the polls. 'The party is running towards the 200 (seat) mark.

April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal, who is also the sitting MP of the Chandni Chowk constituency, Monday took a break from car rides and instead chose to campaign on the soleckshaw - a different kind of rickshaw - attracting the attention of many. Kicking off his campaign at 8 a.m., Sibal took the driver's seat and rode the rickshaw for a few minutes before taking the passenger's seat and campaigning through the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk for nearly an hour.

April 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party's Chandni Chowk MP Kapil Sibal has accused his BJP rival Vijender Gupta of violating the Model Code of Conduct. Sibal released a CD to the press on Saturday to prove his case.

April 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress leader and Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi was a victim of nexus between the saffron party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). "I think this is a political game of the BJP and the BSP.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Slamming Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi for his alleged communal speech and his unapologetic stand, union minister Kapil Sibal Wednesday said there was no place for people like him in politics and he should be arrested. The BJP candidate from Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh, who is facing a criminal case for his alleged hate-Muslim campaign speech, should be arrested, said Sibal.