Other States - Orissa   

France beckons Indian students

Correspondent

Number of French language centres to be enhanced to 30 this year

BHUBANESWAR : In an attempt to lure more Indian students to take up higher studies in France, the French government has instituted several scholarships recently while enhancing the existing numbers.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the French film festival in the city on Saturday, cultural counsellor to the embassy of France Philippe Martinet informed that with a thrust on engineering, his government has earmarked 50 scholarships for IIT pass outs while there has been a rise in number of scholarships by 50 per cent this year for the Indian students.

Scholarships

French government has further instituted 12 post doctoral scholarships for research on language while the number of French language centres will be enhanced from 18 to 30 this year, he disclosed and added that there have been fellowships for media persons as well. "Media plays an important role in strengthening of bilateral relations," he felt.

Martinet further mentioned that the Kolkata-based French Association has got an offer from Bhubaneswar-based Inscreen film society to mount French film festivals in the city.

Thrust area

The Association and the Embassy are keen in collaborating in this area as cinema happens to be another thrust area of the French government, he pointed out.

The film festival was organised by Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) of the state government in association with the French Association of Kolkata and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France as part of the French language promotion programme being undertaken by the Centre. Minister for information technology and culture S.N.Patro inaugurated the event.

Addressing on the occasion, information technology secretary S.N.Tripathi stated that OCAC has laid an emphasis on extensive use of computer and commerce in governance. Introduction of French language learning programme has been an effort in that direction, he added.

Programmes

Elaborating the language programmes being offered by the OCAC, centre director Vishal Dev announced that OCAC will launch Arabic, Spanish and German language teaching programmes soon. The Centre has already launched Japanese, French and Russian courses, he added.

Two French films- `The last metro' and `Work is known when it starts' directed by Brigitte Rouan and Francois Truffaut was screened on the occasion.

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