University of Illinois delegation visits BHU

Varanasi, October 4, 2010: A delegation of University of Illinois, USA, today called on Banaras Hindu University Rector Professor BD Singh and discussed at a length about the proposed Centre of Excellence in Agriculture Education at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in BHU under USAID (US Agency for International Development) programme.

The delegation comprised of Dr. Schuyler S Korban, Director, International Programmes and Professor, Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology and Dr. Prasanta K Kalita, Professor and Leader of Soil and Water Resources Engineering, came here under Urbana-Campaign. The University of Illinois, is an important member of this consortium which also includes Cornell University, Ohio State University, University of California-Davis and Tuskeegee University.

This consortium is working to develop a Centre of Excellence in Agriculture Education at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in BHU.

Earlier, BHU V.C. Prof. D P Singh had visited College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois and a MoU was signed on April 29, 2010 for future cooperation in areas of Food Science and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Molecular Breeding and Genetics and others related fields.

The purpose of the visit is to meet with the officers of the university and see the strength areas of the university before a formal collaboration between two universities takes off under USAID Project

BHU Registrar, Dr. K P Upadhyay, Finance Officer, Parag Prakash, Coordinator of International Cell Prof. M Joshi, Prof. R P Singh, Prof. Alok Jha and Dr. Tanveer Alam were present in the meeting.

Photo caption: BHU Rector Professor BD Singh (sitting left in top pix) holds meeting with University of Illinois delegates in Varanasi on October 4, 2010.

Source: PPP Cell-BHU