NEW DELHI - Offering an opportunity to poor Indian students to study in Cambridge University, Britain, the British Council has announced the Dr. Manmohan Singh scholarships for 2010-12.

Instituted in 2007, the scholarships were launched by St. John’s college, Cambridge University, in honour of the Indian prime minister, who is a graduate and an honorary fellow of the college.

The three scholarships, exclusively for Indians, are worth around 35,000 pounds each and are for students aspiring to do their PhD or M.Phil in science and technology, economics and social sciences.

Vishu Sharma, who handles scholarships at the British Council here said: “These scholarships are fully funded and cover academic fee, international air fare, monthly stipend to cover living expenses and the visa costs.

“Although it works out to approximately 35,000 pounds, whatever maybe the total cost it will be fully funded by the scholarship,” Sharma told IANS.

The last date for application is Dec 15.

“Our prime minister graduated in economics from St. John’s college in the late 1950s and was a very bright student. Therefore in honour of him this scholarship was instituted only for Indian students back in 2007,” Sharma added.

Amongst those who have got the scholarship till now are Aquila Mukund Mavalankar, a student of the University of Pune, and Shruti Badhwar from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore.