Thursday, September 28, 2006

 

Foundation stone for IISER in Punjab; IIM and National Inst of Physical Health coming soon

AN IIM soon in Mohali

Manmohan Singh lays stone for IISER; MoU signed between Punjab govt and Public Health Foundation of India for NIPH in SAS Nagar

Varinder Bhatia

Chandigargh, September 27: September 27 will go down as a red letter day in the history of SAS Nagar. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today not only laid the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at NIPER, but also promised the new district a first-of-its-kind National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and an Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

While the groundwork for NIPH was done with the PM presiding over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Punjab government and Public Health Foundation of India, Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh promised an IIM soon.


The action-packed evening in Mohali started with the PM laying the foundation stone of IISER soon after his arrival around 6 pm.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Singh said: “I am delighted to lay the foundation stone of a new temple of learning in Punjab. The Department of Atomic Energy is setting up a similar facility at Bhubaneswar. It is now the turn of Punjab to claim its rightful place in the evolving knowledge economy of India and to become a first ranking state in science education.”

Earlier, Sudeep Banerjee, Secretary, Higher Education, HRD Ministry, welcomed the PM and briefed the audience about IISER. “It will be the third one after Kolkata and Pune, which have already started functioning this year and are attracting good response both in terms of faculty and students,” he said.

MP Pawan Kumar Bansal used the opportunity to demand an Indian Institute of Management for the tricity. Responding at once, Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh not only promised an IIM in SAS Nagar, but also said it would be done shortly.

Thanking Arjun Singh for granting another premier institute to SAS Nagar, CM Capt Amarinder Singh underlined the need to improve the education system in the country.

“Much needs to be done at the school level. The education at school level should be world standard. Our government has brought computer literacy to the level of Class X and above,” he said.

On the occasion, representatives of Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Punjab government signed an MoU for the first of the five NIPHs to be set up in SAS Nagar. The institute would train 1,000 healthcare professionals annually.

Punjab Governor Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), Union Minister Ashwani Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal were also present on the occasion.


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