Almost a third of teaching positions are vacant at India’s top public universities, the minister in charge of higher education told Parliament Wednesday, reports Sify, a news Web site. The vacancies are hindering the country’s leading institutions—the Indian Institutes ofTechnology and the Indian Institutes of Management. Kapil Sibal, the minister, said the government is trying to fix the problem through a variety of measures. They include raising the retirement age for teaching positions to 65 from 62 and offering new fellowships and start-up grants in various disciplines.