The Commission has also reiterated its advice to the universities to provide for reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for recruitment to the posts of lecturers in the universities and colleges and suggested mechanics for such reservations. Ten per cent of the research fellowship have been reserved for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In addition, the Commission continued to operate 20 senior and 50 junior research fellowships awarded annually exclusively to candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The universities have also been requested to set up within the university a special cell to ensure implementation of the orders regarding reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes issued by the Government of India from time to time.

With a view to strengthening academic contacts within the Border Hill Areas, the Commission has been operating annually 25 postgraduate scholarships for postgraduate studies in sciences humanities and social sciences for the students belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Backward Communities of Border Hill Areas within the territorial jurisdiction of (a) Lahaul Spiti, (b) Chamba, (c) Rural Areas of Poonch and Rajouri Districts, (d) Ladakh District, (e) Nagaland, (f) Tripura, (g) Almora, Tehri Garhwal, Garhwal, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh, (h) Manipur, (i) Meghalaya, (j) All the four districts of Sikkim, (k) Bhutan, (1) Mizoram and (m) Arunachal Pradesh.

For students coming from weaker sections of society, poor peasants and working classes from rural and urban areas, the Commission has agreed to provide assistance to universities and colleges for the appointment of supplementary staff or for payment of honorarium to the existing staff to enable them to provide remedial courses for bringing students at par with students from other sections of the society.

Adult Education, Continuing education and Extension

: The Commission has agreed to implement the scheme of adult education through universities, with a view to bringing universities closer to the community. To begin with, the Madras University was selected for the purpose and seed money was provided to it to formulate the projects of its departments and colleges. The

guidelines for the implementation of the scheme have been circulated to the universities and colleges. The guidelines for the introduction of adult education in tribal areas were also circulated to universities. By the end of 1979, 7,400 adult education centres had been sanctioned in 55 universities and 602 colleges. Training programmes for National Adult Education Programme were organised in 20 universities.

The Commission continued to implement the scheme of continuing education through universities. Twenty universities and two institutions deemed to be universities have been participating in the programme since 1978-79. The Commission organised a conference at Bhubaneswar for universities in the eastern part of the country as follow-up of the conferences held earlier at Hyderabad and Simla. On the recommendation of these conferences, universities have been requested to bring within the purview the programmes, schemes relating to education of people in rural tribal and backward areas and the weaker sections of the community, as already underlined in the guidelines.

Student amenities

: The Commission continued to give assis- tance towards provision of students' amenities and students' welfare, including the provision of hostel accommodation, study centres, non- resident student centres, student aid funds and health centres. The scheme of establishment of book banks in colleges was discontinued and the scheme of establishment of student aid funds was kept in abeyance in 1979-80.

The Commission with the help of a Working Group reviewed the implementation of the various programmes of student amenities and students' welfare and on the recommendations of the Working Group, has agreed to liberalised assistance for canteens, establishment of student aid funds, study centres, health centres. etc. Assistance will also be provided to the universities and colleges for improvement of living conditions in hostels, viz. sanitary facilities, proper dining halls, etc., on a 75 : 25 sharing basis. The Commission also agreed to provide assistance to the universities/ colleges for the construction of gymnasia and improvement of play fields.

Indo-Foreign Cultural Exchange Programme

: The University Grants Commission continued to implement items of the cultural exchange programmes with foreign countries assigned to it by the Government of India. These programmes involve exchange of academics for lecture-cum-study, development of bilateral academic links between institutions of higher learning of the two sides,

organisation of joint seminars, award of short and long-term scholarships/fellowships and provision of language teachers 'to uni- versities in India for teaching foreign languages.

During the period under review, 59 scholars from India visited foreign countries under this programme. The corresponding number of foreign scholars coming to India was 44. The continued exchange of scholars for quite some time has enabled the two sides to initiate an appraisal of this programme and the Commission has now shifted its emphasis from the exchange of general visits to the development of bilateral academic links between institutions of higher education in the two countries. This involves identification of areas of interest to the two sides for bilateral cooperation and identification of institutions to take up collaborative programmes. These programmes involve exchange of faculty for short and long term periods, organisation of bi-national seminars on topics of mutual interest and implementation of joint research projects. The areas for development of bilateral academic links have been identified under the cultural exchange programmes with USSR, GDR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, FRG, France, Romania, Poland and Belgium. In some cases, progress has been achieved in the development of collaborative programmes while in others the programmes are in various stages of finalisation. During this period, an agreement of general cooperation was signed between the University of Baghdad and the University of Delhi when a delegation from the former visited India. The details of this co- operation are being worked out.

During 1979-80, foreign language teachers in French, Russian, German, Romanian, Polish and Serbo-croation were provided to universities under the cultural exchange programmes.

Indo-British Universities Collaboration Programme

: The programme which provides for the development of academic collaboration between selected universities in India and the U.K. in identified fields was continued. A review of the programme was undertaken in the case of the following links : -

(i) Department of Chemistry, Poona University and Department of Chemistry,'Manchester University ;

(ii) Department of Physics, Poona University and University College, London/York University, UK ;

(iii) Department of Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh and its counterpart in Nottingham University, UK; and

(iv) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Liverpool University.

The link between the Department of Chemistry, Poona University and the Manchester University has been terminated on the expiry of its period of joint collaboration.

Owing to cuts in public expenditure in the U.K., the British Council informed the Commission that they would not be in a position to undertake links in new areas, and the question of continuing existing links would be examined on the merits of each case.

Indo-U.S. Fellowship Programme

: The programme initiated in 1975-76 was continued. The Commission was allocated ten fellowships for the visit of Indian scholars to the UK for advance postdoctoral research work and against this allocation, the Commission nominated seven scholars for a full-term fellowship of ten man-months and nine scholars for a visitorship of 13 weeks each. The Commission offered 15 fellowships to American nationals for research work in India under this programme.

Under the Indo-US Exchange of Scientists Programme, operated by CSIR, the Commission nominated five scholars for a visit of the USA and received two American scholars for work in India.

Under the CSIR-CNRS (France) Programme of Exchange of Scholars, the Commission received two French scientists.

Area Studies Programme

: The Commission continued to support this programme during 1979-80 at selected Indian universities. In the light of the recommendations made by the Standing Advisory Committee on Area Studies, the Commission issued revised guidelines to universities for the implementation of this programme. The Commission accepted the recommendations of the Area Studies Committee that some universities may undertake programmes of indepth study on Africa (excluding East Africa which is already being done by Bombay University). The Ford Foundation in consultation with the Government of India extended the period of validity of their allocation of 300,000 dollars to February 1982. This allocation is being utilised. for the visit of Indian scholars abroad for their field work, visit of foreign scholars to India in connection with the development of area studies in the universities, purchase of books and journals by the Area Studies Centres.

B. CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES

Aligarh Musim University, Aligarh

: During the year under report, over 27,700 applications were received for admissions to the different faculties for the academic session, 1979-80.

A new one-year Diploma Course in Designing and Drafting was introduced in the University Polytechnic under the Faculty of Engineering and Technology from the current session.

A new Hall of Residence with provision for 144 seats has been constructed to meet the increasing shortage of residential accommodation for students.

The construction of six new building projects was taken up during the year under report. These include (i) Administrative Block ; (ii) Staff Quarters for Professors,/Readers ; (iii) Department of Statistics ; (iv) Department of West Asian Studies ; (v) Extension of Engineering College Library ; and (vi) Laboratories and lecture theatres in the Women's College.

It is proposed to construct buildings for the Chemical Engi- neering Department, lecture theatres for the Engineering College, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Commerce.

The University Football team won the inter-varsity Asutosh Mukherjee Memorial Shield in Football at Tirupati on December 6, 1,979, beating Calicut University in the final.

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

: In keeping with the new pattern of education, the University has planned to introduce Honours Courses after 10+2 stage. The pre-Ph.D. Programme leading of M. Phil Degree has been planned to give new orientation with greater emphasis on Methodology and application of knowledge and technology to the service of community. The old Ph.D. Ordinances have been drastically revised with a view to making research more meaningful and relevant. The Schools of Material Science, Computer Science, Life Sciences, Bio-Engineering and Languages have been established. The scheme of Integrated Rural Development in Chiraigaon Block in Varanasi District has been launched.

There are over 17,000 students on the rolls of the university. Greater participation of students has been secured at faculty and departmental levels. The University is providing coaching facilities to students who have passed the preliminary screening test for the Central Services.

There are 90 Post-graduate Departments and 13 Faculties, where work is going on in over 550 research projects. The teaching staff of the university number over 1,400.

During 1979, the Bharat Kala Bhawan organised four exhibitions. The Malaviya Bhavan continues to be a centre for spiritual and cultural activities through its programmes of Gita lectures, discourses on our ancient scriptures, etc. A Yoga Sadhana Kendra continues to cater to the development of physical and philosophical aspect of personality development. A committee has been constituted to plan the collection and publication of speeches and writings of the Founder of this university, Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya.

University of Delhi, Delhi

: The University has decided to institute the following new courses in the various departments, viz., (1) Diploma Course in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Faculty of Medical Sciences; (2) M.A. in Buddhist Studies; (3) Intensive Course in English for overseas students in the Department of English; and (4) Advanced Diploma Course in Spanish Language in the Department of Modern European Languages.

The following scholarships have been instituted during the year:- (i) Shri D. D. Kapur Scholarship, (ii) Late Shri Vijay Kumar Chadha Scholarship, (iii) East-West Scholarship in International Law and Affairs, (iv) Two additional Scholarships each for Resident and Non- Resident Students studying in LL.M. Part II and Part III (Three years Course) ; and (v) Shri Ram Lobhaya Scholarship to a blind student on merit-cum-means basis. It has also been decided to establish a separate department of Business Economics independently. The university approved of micro-filming of the Ph.D. theses accepted, in the Department of Linguistics by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore.

The courses of studies in different subjects at the undergraduate level (Pass & Hons.) under the faculties of Arts, Science, Social Sciences, Education, Mathematics and Music & Fine Arts, were restructured under the pattern of 10+2+3.

The Delhi School of Social Work was merged with the university as the Department of Social Work.

The Central Institute of Education was merged with the University as the Department of Education. The Department of Education organised a two-day seminar on the draft of the National Policy on Education announced by the Ministry of Education early in 1979.

For the B. Ed. Programme, the following items of socially useful productive work have been started-Tailoring, Doll-making, Type-writing and Community Work which, among other activities, include cleanliness drive, adult education and helping backward school children. Co- curricular activities have also been organised through subject association and clubs.

Prof. R. C. Mehrotra completed his five-year term as Vice- Chancellor and relinquished the post with effect from 8th December, 1979. The Pro Vice-Chancellor, Dr. U. N. Singh is acting as Vice- Chancellor pending appointment of a regular incumbent.

The strength of teaching staff in the university during the year 1979-80 was 625.

During 1979-80 the student enrolment registered a fall due to the introduction of 10+2+3 pattern of education. There were 1,07,435 students on the rolls of the university during the academic year 1979- 80. There are, 1,869 Ph.D. and 918 M. Phil, students on rolls.

University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad

: During the year under report, post-graduate classes were started in the Departments of Economics, Political Science, History, Sociology and Anthropology, under the School of Social Sciences. Students were admitted for the first time for post-graduate courses in the Department of Hindi under the School of Humanities, and in Urdu and Telugu under the Centre of Regional Studies. Two more courses in the School of Life Sciences (M. Sc. Plant Sciences and M. Sc. Animal Sciences) with an intake of about 10 students each were also introduced.

Three hundred and fifty three students were admitted out of 2,912 candidates who applied for admission in response to an all India advertisement during the year under report. The total student strength during the year rose from 214 to 456. Special consideration in the matter of admission was given to students belonging to weaker sections, particularly Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes candidates. Up to 3 per cent of the seats in each course were reserved for physically handicapped students.

Of the 78 students who appeared for final year M.A./M.Sc./ M. Phil. examinations, five secured First Division with Distinction, 57 students were placed in the First Division and 10 students were placed in the Second Division.

As in the previous year, Merit scholarships and Merit-cum-Means Scholarships, each of the value of Rs. 100 p.m. were awarded to the students of M.A. and M. Se. courses. Fifty fellowships of the value of Rs. 400 p.m. each were awarded to M. Phil. students. The U.G.C. Junior Research Fellowships were sanctioned to 24 students during the year 1978-79. In addition, deserving students were granted freeships. Some of the research students are in receipt of scholarships,/fellowships from C.S.I.R., N.C.E.R.T., Ministry of Social Welfare and other similar agencies.

The excellent laboratory and library facilities provided by the University enabled the teachers and research scholars to produce more research papers. A number of research papers were published in reputed Indian and international journals. Several projects sanctioned by the U.G.C., C.S.I.R. and other agencies are also under operation in different Science Schools.

Some members of the Faculty obtained academic distinctions,/ awards during the year under report. Prof. V. S. Ramadas, School of Life Sciences, was elected as a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. Prof. Ramadas also received an award from the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, for outstanding contribution in Life Sciences including Agriculture. Prof. Goverdhan Mehta of the School of Chemistry was elected as a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He was also awarded the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award, for his outstanding contribution in the field of Chemical Sciences. As a token of appreciation, the Government of Rajasthan has announced a cash award of Rs. 5,000 to him.

Prof. G. S. Agarwal, School of Physics, attended the Fourth International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy, held in Munich, Germany, during June 1979. Thereafter he worked for a short-term as Visiting Professor at the University of Essen (Germany). Prof. D. Balasubramanian of the School of Chemistry was at the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (USA), as a Visiting Scientist for three months from May, 1979. He also worked as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Bio-Chemistry. Mahidol University in Bangkok (Thailand) for a month in December, 1979. / Dr. A. P. Pathak of the School of Physics attended the 8th International Conference on Atomic Collusions in Solids, held at Hamilton (Canada) in August, 1979. He also visited Denmark and availed himself of a Fellowship offered by the DANIDA. Dr. V. V. N. Somayajulu of the Department of Economics was deputed by the University Grants Commission to participate in the XVI International Seminar on Strengthening the