pune some citybased institutes of higher learning have started making moves for collaborative academic and research projects with leading universities in the us this is in anticipation of the passage to the foreign education providers fep bill which is awaiting clearance from parliament some time next yearthe bill would enable the feps to establish their footprint across india either on their own or through partnership with indian universities and institutes of higher learningchief mentor of international institute of information technology i square it vijay bhatkar told toi over a telephonic conversation from us we are waiting for the fep policy to be announced a formal governmenttogovernment agreement would facilitate setting up of the degreeawarding institutions by the feps till then the focus will be on individual centretocentre collaborative arrangements between institutes from either countriesbhatkar better known as the creator of indias param series of super computers said i square it and the center for bits and atoms cba at the massacheusettes institute of technology mit us have agreed in principle to set up a joint project in the field of highend computing this would primarily be for interactive laboratory framework the process for a formal agreement between i square it and cba was being launched soon he said we are also exploring joint programmes in technology and technology management the advances in it and internet makes it imperative for us to look out for creation of next generation super computing structures these structures ought to be way different from what we have today he added in reference to his initial discussions with the cba similarly symbiosis international university siu is working towards a longterm association with the harvard medical school hms for establishing a centre of excellence in minimally invasive surgery at the upcoming rs 150 crore medicity project on sius integrated campus at lavle near the city we will soon move a formal proposal seeking the tie up with the hms said siu principal director vidya yeravdekar both bhatkar and yeravdekar were part of the federation of indian chamber of commerce and industries ficci delegation that accompanied hrd minister kapil sibal on a visit to world renowned us varsities including mit harvard yale dukes and georgetown last week the delegation comprised of vice chancellors and represenatives of indias leading universities and institutes of higher learning including manipal university birla institute of technology and science pilani and delhi technological university among others manipal universitys chief of academics bhushan patwardhan who attended the firstday session at new york hosted by the indian consulate for sibal and a group of academicians from us and india said sibal made out a strong case for the us varsities to establish their presence in india within the regulatory structure that is sought to be introduced through the fep bill patwardhan also a former head of university of punes interdisciplinary school for health sciences said indias requirement for us varsities to be involved in the proposed researchoriented innovation universties was aptly highlighted by the minister patwardhan