University creates William and Kate scholarship

LONDON (AP) - The Scottish university where Prince William and Kate Middleton met and studied is giving the royal couple an early wedding gift - a scholarship in their honor.

The University of St. Andrews will present the scholarship Friday when the couple visits it to launch its 600th anniversary fund-raising campaign.

The scholarship - which has not yet been named - will pay for up to 70,000 pounds (about $115,000) in tuition costs, accommodation and living expenses for a four-year undergraduate degree in science, arts, medicine or divinity.

It will be open to applicants of all nationalities, and will be awarded annually to a student who would have been unable to attend the university without such financial support.

'This will be the first scholarship of its kind at St Andrews and a reflection of this university's commitment to ensure that we find, attract and support the most gifted students from anywhere in the world,' said Louise Richardson, the university's principal and vice-chancellor.

William and his fiancee will attend a reception at the university Friday and about 600 staff and students will greet them.

The couple studied history of art together and shared a house in the town.

William graduated in 2005 in geography after switching subjects, while Middleton graduated with a degree in art history.

Source:http://www.globalgoodnews.com/education-news-a.html?art=1298750679117948447

DU to come up with new hostel complex for girls

New Delhi: In what comes as welcome news for female students from cities outside Delhi who would like to join the Delhi University (DU), the varsity has decided to come up with a 1500 seat hostel complex.

The complex would be the largest to have been built so far and would be situated about 2 kilometers away from the North Campus in the Dhakka are near Mukherjee Nagar.

The accommodation that is to be built would be exclusively for female students who are pursuing postgraduation or studying in colleges at the Delhi University.

A special task force was set up by DU Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh last week to accelerate the work ok the accommodation project so that the new hostel rooms are ready for allotment by July this year when the new academic session at the varsity commences.

The task force, headed by proctor professor H.P. Singh, would begin its work on Thursday.

The vice chancellor Dinesh Singh said that he had been aware of the problems faced by girl students of the university from other cities who had to face trouble while looking for accommodation at the time of admissions at DU.

"The new hostel accommodation that is being built will have seats for postgraduation students as well as undergraduates and some seats will also be reserved for students from the north-eastern region," he stated.

He further added, "I have made a special task force that will ensure that the project is completed in time for the July admissions. This task force will also be responsible for the allocation procedure of the hostel rooms and coming up with other details such as eligibility. This hostel accommodation is going to be a benchmark."

Students had always suffered due to a dearth of hostel accommodation at DU. Currently, there are only 16 hostels for postgraduate students at the university, out of which four are solely for women.

Two of these hostels, namely Ambedkar-Ganguly Students House for Women and International Students' House for Women are located in Dhakka. Students at these hostels also have a bus facility for commuting to the campus and back.

There are 11 hostels for undergraduate students in individual colleges and eight of them have facilities for women. However, there are no separate hostel accommodation facilities for only girls provided by the university.

The situation had been worse during admissions last year as most hostels for undergraduate had been taken up for the Commonwealth Games delegates. For this reason, students had been asked to vacate their rooms for the duration of the games.

The construction for the new hostel complex had begun in the year 2009. the complex would include two hostels, a facility block, two dining halls and the residence of the warden and the provost.

The Rajiv Gandhi Girls Hostel would be made in the color schemes of grey and yellow and will have 400 double-seat rooms for the accommodation of students pursuing postgraduation at the university.

From the 400 rooms, 250 will be allotted to students from the northeastern regions because the ministry of tribal affairs and the North-East Council had contributed Rs.23.33 crore for their construction.

The Undergraduate Hostel for Girls will have 350 rooms. These are being made under the expansion plans of the university due to the other backward classes (OBC) reservation.

The hostel rooms at both hostels will include wardrobes and storage spaces for every inmate along with a shelf-cum-study table. Apart from two dining halls, the complex will have arched roofs and glass work for natural light. The facility centre at the complex would include an internet caf�, a gymnasium, a TV lounge, a sick room, reception and an administration block.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Delhi/DU_to_come_up_with_new_hostel_complex_for_girls_13576/