New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS): The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) on Monday launched a certificate programme in Russian, intended to provide students a basic learning of the language.

The six-month duration programme, worth 16 credits, is bilingual (Russian and English) and will be offered through self-learning material integrated with audio-visual components by way of open and distance learning mode.

"The programme is useful for all sections of society and especially for those engaged in tourism, defence, multinationals, education, BPO, KPO and small and medium enterprises (SME) sector.

"It is equally useful for fresh graduates who wish to go to Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) for further studies," Shivaji Bhaskar, Programme Coordinator and Faculty of Russian at IGNOU's School of Foreign Languages, said in a statement.

"The demand of Russian in India is ever-growing. As one of the official language of the UN, knowledge of Russian will certainly give an added advantage to learners in their respective fields," said SOFL Director Anju Sehgal Gupta.

The admission process of the programme has started and the last date to enrol is January 16.