Vice Chancellors will now be named by eminent panel: Sibal

September 30th, 2009 CHENNAI - Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Wednesday urged the government to earmark 50 percent of the seats in central universities for students from rural areas.

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 26th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - In the backdrop of the row between the faculty of premier education institutes and the union ministry, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said here Saturday that education is neither about autonomy nor about flexibility, it's about taking the country forward. "Institutions demand more flexibility in their working and more autonomy from us.

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 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday announced a number of educational reforms ranging from making the Class 10 examination optional to setting up a central madrassa board and an educational tribunal to handle educational malpractices and urged state governments to make education "a non-political agenda". "If we can make educational a non-political agenda, we can not only change the future of students but also change the country, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after a Central Advisory Board on Education meeting attended by state education ministers.

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.

June 29th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh will adopt a zero-tolerance policy against ragging and will even cancel affiliation of the education institute where any such incident is reported, Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan said Monday.

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 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Saying the government was committed to improve education standards in India, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said Wednesday a new apex panel on higher education will be formed soon. The National Commission for Higher Education and Research, which will encompass in itself the existing professional councils and regulatory agencies, including the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Medical Council of India and the AICTE, is likely to be formed within the first 100 days of the new government, Sibal told reporters.

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 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - At least 15 more central universities, in addition to the existing 20, will be set up and start functioning from next year, the government said Thursday. The decision was taken at a two-day conference here during which vice-chancellors of the 15 new central universities presented their plans before the University Grants Commission (UGC) - the regulator of these institutions.

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.

December 22nd, 2008 NEW DELHI - The government is setting up a Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) to promote basic research work in science and engineering, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday. The SERB will be an autonomous body and a bill in this regard was passed by the Lok Sabha Dec 19, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told the Lok Sabha.