Cambridge announces scholarship for Indian students

The University of Cambridge announced a new scholarship programme for Indian students in the name of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also an alumnus of the university. Around 1.5 million pounds have been invested for supporting ten "Manmohan Singh undergraduate scholars". Prime Minister Manmohan Singh graduated from Cambridge with a first in Economics in the late 1950s.

The scholarship programme in his honour will provide full funding, covering fees and maintenance, for undergraduate study in any subject at any of the colleges that are part of the university.

The programme will complement the three Manmohan Singh Scholarships that were launched for post-graduate students at Singh's former college - St John's College, Cambridge, in Nov 2007.

The number of scholarships would be proportional to the level of need of students identified on the basis of outstanding academic record and potential assessed form admission forms.

The first set of Manmohan Singh undergraduate scholars to Cambridge would be ushered in 2010.

The programme is being financially supported primarily by Cambridge Assessment as well as Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Company Bharati Airtel and Sir Evelyn and Lady Lynn de Rothschild through the Eranda Foundation.

This year the university has entered its 800th year. It will also be signing a MoU with Infosys for collaborating across several areas, including management, architecture and engineering. Earlier also, MoUs with CII (Confederation of Indian Industries), Tata Sons and Astra Zeneca had been signed with the University of Cambridge.

At present, there are around 18,000 students at the university, of which 17% are from abroad. About 220 students are from India, of which about 70 are undergraduate scholars.