Transnational Alternate Learning for Emancipation and Empowerment thorough Multimedia (TALEEM) Research Foundation was set up by Subhash Chandra as a literary, scientific and charitable society and trust in May 1996.

Transnational Alternate Learning for Emancipation and Empowerment thorough Multimedia (TALEEM) Research Foundation was set up by Subhash Chandra as a literary, scientific and charitable society and trust in May 1996. TALEEM is an initiative of the Essel Group to channelize part of its creative and financial resources to address issues of national concern.

The TALEEM mission is to provide access and opportunities for quality education through distance and open learning leading to employment and income generation.

Under its auspices, the TALEEM Foundation has three main activities:

• Asian Communications and Creative-Arts Research Institute for Training and Information (ACCRITI)
  
  ACCRITI has continuously supported and promoted social science research with a focus on health, communication, social audit and poll studies. It is devoted to developing and using innovative techniques of information, education and communication. Since its inception, the Foundation has conducted a wide range of research projects funded by several national and international agencies.
  
  Among the health care projects, the Foundation has been entrusted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to conduct the Reproductive and Health Care survey in Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya. It has also conducted studies for World Bank supported projects in Maharashra and Uttar Pradesh, studies commissioned by the Indian Council for Medical Research, Save the Children, United Kingdom, the Danish Agency for International development Assistance and other NGOs.
  
  TALEEM has also conducted workshops on women and child development and tobacco control as well as media research studies.
  
  
• Programme for Rural Advancement, Guidance and Training Initiatives (PRAGATI)
  
  PRAGATI strives to create grass-root level awareness and contribute towards the empowerment of the disadvantaged through education and training. PRAGATI's activities are focused towards tribal and rural development by initiating need-based participatory action programmes for community development.
  
  After the devastating earthquake in Gujarat on January 26, 2001, the TALEEM Foundation and Zee Telefilms Ltd adopted Samakhiali village in Kutch District. The Group has contributed more than Rs 1.5 crore towards the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the village.
  
  The first step was to set-up communication links through satellite phones. Simultaneously, TALEEM set up a round-the-clock helpline facility at the Zee News office in Ahmedabad.
  
  The Zee Telefilm Relief Fund was set up with contributions from Zee viewers across the world. The fund was used to provide tents for temporary shelter, medicines and installation of water storage tanks at various locations. A girls' school, a children's play school, a veterinary hospital and a multi-purpose community centre were built at a total cost of Rs 1.5 crore.
  
  Further responding to the needs expressed by the community, Chandra and his brother Laxmi Narain Goel, initiated a second phase of construction of public utilities including an overhead water tank with a capacity of 1,00,000 litres, a Panchayat Ghar, a bus stand, crematorium and a shelter for cows. In addition, the office of the District Development Officer, at Bhuj in Kutch was reconstructed and support was provided to digitize land records by way of supplying computer hardware and manpower.



• University in the Sky
  
  The TALEEM Foundation is establishing and building the Himgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalaya in Dehradun, according to the Himgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalaya (University in the Sky) Act, 2003 dated July 11, 2003, passed by the Government of Uttaranchal. The University will focus on offering vocational education through open and distance learning, while emphasizing on globalizing education with the help of satellite television and information technology. The aim is to empower the poor and unprivileged youth through education.
  
  The objectives of the University are:
  
  
  1. To disseminate learning and knowledge by multimedia and other information and communication technology as well as conventional means, to provide opportunities for education to a larger segment of population.
     
  2. To benefit humanity without any discrimination on the ground of caste, creed, community, gender and religion according to its motto – Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam (World as Family)

The first programme - Bachelor's degree in Architecture has already commenced. Next on the agenda are a BEd course and a programme in communication.