Chandigarh: The Panjab University will next year start a course on intelligence and internal security system to teach aspiring students the nuances of countering global terrorism, an official said on Saturday.

The Centre for Defence and National Security Studies (CDNSS) of the university will run the one-year post-graduate diploma course in 'homeland security' from 2009-10.

The university senate unanimously gave its green signal to the decision at its meeting on Saturday, said CDNSS voordinator Rakesh Dutta.

"The curriculum of this course will focus on improving our intelligence system and to counter the global terrorism. We will avail the services of the both retired and serving officials of defence and various intelligence wings of the country," Dutta told sources.

"Our focus is to equip students with both technical and theoretical knowledge of countering every kind of terrorist attack and natural calamity. We will draft the curriculum of this course in consultation with senior defence officials," Dutta said.

There will be 25 seats in this course and the students will need to clear an entrance examination before getting admission.

"The university will be the first varsity in this region to start such a course dedicated for improving our internal security system. You can judge the importance of this decision from the fact that no senate member was against its approval," said a senior member of the senate.

"In today's time we cannot rely solely on our police and army for our safety. Need is to become self-sufficient. In fact, most of the universities in the US and Europe are already running this course." IANS