India, France sign agreements in education sector
By IANSMonday, December 6, 2010
NEW DELHI - India and France Monday signed two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in the field of education, focussing on academic collaboration and research.
Under the first MoU, between France’s Institute de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD) and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, a joint laboratory for water sciences would be established in India.
Called Indo-French Cell for Water Sciences (IFCWS), or Cellule Franco-Indienne de Recherche en Sciences de l’Eau (CEFIRSE), the lab would focus on research, training and foreign collaborations.
The second agreement was signed between ParisTech and seven Indian Institutes of Technology (Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee).
The MoU will focus on student exchanges, research collaborations and other academic exchange programmes.
It also provides for IITs and ParisTech to participate jointly various European Commission initiatives.
The two countries also finalised a draft MoU to be signed between IIT-Rajasthan and France in areas of renewable energy, aerospace and mechanical engineering, among others.
The agreements are among the several signed between the two countries during French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s current India visit, including a $9.3 billion deal to set up two nuclear reactors in Maharashtra and a pact to upgrade Mirage 2000 fighter aircrafts.
