Kerala Sports education initiative Widely advertised as India’s most advanced state in the fields of education, health and land reforms, Kerala (pop. 32 million) is all set to become the country’s role model for sports education, says Kerala sports minister M. Vijayakumar. Inaugurating the National School Athletics Championship in Kochi on January 7, Vijayakumar announced that Kerala will develop infrastructure facilities with the cooperation of local governments to provide one playground in each ward and a stadium/swimming pool in every village panchayat jurisdictional area. “The government cannot locate and nurture talent without sports infrast-ructure facilities. We need scientific training facilities,” he told a press conference. According to the minister, the state government is implementing a “total physical fitness” programme in all schools statewide to assess the athleti-cism of generation next. After evaluating their physical abilities, students will be trained according to their talent to develop their skills, he said. The state government’s Vision India project conducted by the Asian Football Confederation in collaboration with Kerala State Sports Council, is another sports education training programme. Highlighting the need for national sports planning, Vijayakumar said Kerala has constituted a Sports Commission to study and develop a national policy for sustained achievements in sports arenas around the country. Haryana Open offer to educationists The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUBA) has offered 11 sites to reputed education institutes for setting up world class institutions in its Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Sonipat which is being developed as a hub of higher learning and research in cutting edge technologies. Addressing media personnel in Chandigarh on January 8, a HUBA spokesperson said one site of 60-180 acres has been reserved for a reputed institution or private university. The other ten sites of three-25 acres will be offered to high profile institutions such as the IIMs, IITs, NIFTs, Central universities, National Law School and research institutions. “Not-for-profit institutions run by organisations, education societies and trusts with track records of over ten years, and institutes of higher education run by reputable business groups will be given preference,” he said. According to the HUBA spokes-person, institutions offering study programmes in cutting edge engineering technologies such as avionics, environmental sciences, bio-medical engineering, medical robotics, information technology and artificial intelligence, would be given preferential treatment. Study programmes in business management, finance, defence research, textile technology, film and media studies, are also a high priority. Andhra Pradesh Green light for TIFR second campus The Andhra Pradesh state government has allotted 210 acres of land on the Hyderabad University campus, to the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) for establishing its second campus in India, said the state information minister A. Ramnaryana Reddy at a press conference in Hyderabad on January 5. TIFR is an autonomous institute of the Department of Atomic Energy. TIFR had addressed a proposal to the state government to establish a new campus in Hyderabad to expand its research, education and related activities at a projected investment of Rs.2,500 crore spread over 12 years. TIFR recently signed a memorandum…
