The Indian government is offering two scholarship placements for New Zealanders to pursue education in Indian universities.
Administered by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) of the federal government in Delhi, the scholarships would be available for students in New Zealand to pursue undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and other research courses. The scholarships are not available for Indian nationals.
The Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme covers a number of professional courses including Engineering, Pharmacy, Accountancy, Business Administration and Management. Scholarships are also given for learning Indian dance, music, painting and sculpture.
The Indian government established the Scheme to provide high-level education and training as a part of the ‘Commonwealth spirit and enterprise’ and share resources and facilities.
ICCR offers scholarships to citizens of Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Maldives, Mauritius, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, UK and Zambia.
A government statement said that Indian universities and institutes of higher education and research have made a significant contribution to the knowledge and enquiry in the frontiers of science and technology.
“In traditional subjects such as arts and humanities as well as in pure sciences, applied physics and chemistry, mathematics and in areas of technology, these institutions have been playing a leading role in transforming the country into a modern, industrialised and technologically-advanced state.
“The Green Revolution and dairy development have made India a major food-producing country. India has also advanced in space technology, production and launching of indigenous satellites and developed peaceful nuclear energy,” the statement said.
The government notification said that the Scholarship programme is a major activity for ICCR and that it offers about 2325 scholarships ever year under 21 different schemes.
“Of these scholarships, 675 are exclusively for Afghanistan and 500 for African countries. There are students in India under these schemes from about 80 countries. Most of the scholarship holders come from developing countries in Asia, Africa, South and Central America. However, there are quite a few students from the developed countries as well,” it said.
The last date for submission of application forms with the relevant documents is March 10, 2012.
For further information, visit http://www.iccrindia.net/commonwealth.html
