Hyderabad, Feb 9 : British Council, the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural exchange, and the Telangana State government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to initiate a partnership in the areas of Education, Arts and Innovation, with an aim to create global opportunities for the youth of Telangana. The MoU was signed in the presence of Telangana Principal Secretary (IT & Industries) Jayesh Ranjan, Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) Director General Ajit Rangnekar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana British Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Fleming and British Council Director (South India) Janaka Pushpanathan. The MoU underlines the Telangana State’s trust in the UK as a chosen partner as it plans to engage further with the UK and its devolved administrations to explore collaborative opportunities. Under the extended three-year MoU between the Government of Telangana and British Council, a new memorandum of understanding has been agreed between Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) and the British Council, that will see both organisations work closely to engineer new partnerships between universities, research institutions and centres of excellence in the UK and in Telangana. The British Council will be the key knowledge partner of RICH to facilitate partnerships between RICH and UK higher education institutions (HEIs) in the areas of Aerospace, Defence, Life Sciences and Pharma, Food and Agriculture, and Sustainability. The two partners will also partake in joint innovation or entrepreneurship initiatives, like sharing of best practices and/or development of bespoke courses to develop relevant skills amidst the young people of Telangana. Speaking on the occasion, Jayesh Ranjan said “we are glad to have found a partner in the UK that understands our philosophy and is able to work with us to achieve our vision. The positive impact of British Council’s work in the state is visible and we are hopeful that the programmes with UK and Wales continue to help our young and bright minds get international exposure, and for Telangana’s education system to become truly global.” Janaka Pushpanathan, said, “The new three-year MoU is a testament to the deepening of partnership between the progressive State of Telangana, and the UK and its devolved governments. The road ahead has been built on the back of the impact of our work with the Telangana Government and for the youth of Telangana and the TSCHE (Telangana State Council of Higher Education) in the field of Education, English and Arts. We are excited about the road ahead and acknowledge the trust that has been placed in the British Council as the facilitator of the Telangana-UK programmes.” Ajit Rangenekar said “in Collaboration with the British Council and the Government of Telangana is going forward, we want to make Telangana and Hyderabad the preferred location in the world for anything related to Life Sciences including sustainability and personalized medicine. UK and India have been in the forefront in this sector, given the vaccine discovery and production.” “With a large number of universities already in place, our focus will now be to help create centers of excellence. We are actively working with universities in the UK to foster collaborations that are mutually beneficial,” Ajit said. “The Telangana-UK programmes – facilitated by the British Council – have translated into greater exchange and collaboration between higher education stakeholders from both sides, increased collaboration between Telangana and UK artists and increased opportunities for Telangana students to study at some of the world’s best universities in the UK,” Ajit added. In 2019, with the support of TSCHE, the British Council hosted the largest delegation of 25 UK University Vice Chancellors to South India for an extensive study of the higher education landscape in the State for representatives from 18 UK HE Institutions. Two of Telangana’s largest university systems – Osmania University and Kakatiya University – are collaborating with two top universities in Wales – Bangor University and Aberystwyth University to reform curriculum that will benefit 800,000 learners year on year in the state. From an arts and culture standpoint, collaborations between UK and Telangana artists took center stage at the recent editions of the Hyderabad Design Week and the Hyderabad Literary Festival – inspiring many future artists.(UNI)