Japanese Cash Jolt To IIT

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Japan has refused to invest funds in the new Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad. The investment was supposed to be part of an agreement discussed between the two countries during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's ongoing Tokyo trip. &quot;It is a last-minute bombshell. The agreement with Japan on the IIT is stuck. Japan wants credit for the IIT but is unwilling to invest financially,&quot; an official said. IIT Bombay was started with both financial and technical assistance from Unesco and the Soviet Union. IIT Madras was assisted by West Germany and IIT Kanpur by the US. But Japan has told India it does not want to commit any financial investment in the memorandum of understanding, the sources said. The IIT Hyderabad project was discussed during Singh's talks with his Japanese counterpart today. Following the meeting, the report of a joint working group was released. The 10-year collaboration, it says, will focus on environment and energy, digital communication, design, manufacturing, nano-science and civil engineering. It lists faculty exchange and joint research as areas of collaboration. But the report does not mention financial assistance. &quot;Without financial assistance, what is all the fuss about Japan helping us set up an IIT?&quot; an Indian official asked in Delhi. Tokyo was initially interested in Bihar, the birthplace of Buddhism, the majority religion in Japan. But in April, Japan said it would prefer to assist IIT Hyderabad after the IIT alumni association in that country advised that the southern city was better connected than Patna, sources said. That Japan hopes to gain from its tie-up with the IIT brand is evident from the working group report. It cites &quot;Japanese-style&quot; business management as a course that ought to be taught at the new IIT. Japanese language courses, too, should be taught at the IIT &quot;in order to make it easier for them (students) to continue their studies or to find jobs in Japan&quot;. A source said the decision to withhold funds could have been influenced by a &quot;poor perception of India in terms of corruption&quot;. Courtesy: The Telegraph